While the DJI Air 3S tips the scales at 724g, over the magic 250g weight that attracts the lowest level of regulation, it strikes a nice balance between portability, performance and value. That makes it a strong contender in the mid-range drone market, it will likely make it to out best drones with cameras list as well. Its extra weight means it’s considerably more robust than lightweight drones like the DJI Mini 4 Pro while being far more affordable than the premium DJI Mavic 3 Pro.

DJI Air 3S at a glance:

• $1,099 / £959 with RC-N3 Controller
• $1,399 / £1,239 Fly More Combo with RC-N3 Controller
• $1,599 / £1,439 Fly More Combo with RC2 Controller
• 50MP, 24mm equivalent camera with 1-inch type sensor
• 48MP, 70mm equivalent camera with 1/1.3-inch type sensor
• 4K video recording at 24/25/30/48/50/60p/120fps
• 48GB internal storage and micro-SD slot
• 3-axis mechanical stabilisation
• Weight 724g

Like DJI’s other recent drones, the Air 3S is very easy to fly but it’s essential to make a few checks and update the firmware before your first flight. With charged batteries, the drone and controller connect quickly and the propellers are easy to fit (taking note of their diagonal pairing). If you’re unsure of the Drone Regulations, visit the CAA’s website at caa.co.uk/drones to check you’re ready to fly legally. 

As usual, the Air 3S has three flight modes, Cinematic, Normal and Sport, that are selectable via a switch on the controller. Cinematic mode is a great choice when you’re shooting video because the flight movements, including acceleration and deceleration, are super-smooth. The drone zips about at up to 10m/s in Sport mode, which is fun, but use it with caution because it’s easy to overshoot your intended stopping point. Thankfully, the gimbal does a great job of ironing out the jerks from poor piloting or breezy conditions.

FC9113 · f/1.8 · 1/120s · 8.67mm · ISO100

DJI Air 3S – Key features:

• Folding design: the Air 3S’s arms fold against the body to make it easier to transport
• Bayonet-fit propellers: the four propellers are easy to fit and replace with no tools required
• Omni-directional object detection: sensors around the drone help it avoid objects and stay safe during flight
• Twin Cameras: the two cameras are well-matched with a 24mm f/1.8 50MP wide-angle and a 70mm f/2.8 48MP short telephoto

DJI Air 3S – Dual Cameras

At the heart of the Air 3S is a dual-camera system, comprising a primary camera with a 50MP 1-inch CMOS sensor paired with a 24mm equivalent lens, and a 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS telephoto camera with a focal length equivalent to 70mm. This combination enables a level of creative flexibility familiar to anyone used to zooming from 24mm to 70mm on a full-frame camera, or 16-50mm on an APS-C format model. The main camera’s larger sensor and bigger aperture enhances its low-light capability and give it the edge for still image quality. But both cameras support 12MP or full-resolution stills-shooting and 4K video recording up to 60fps, or 120fps in slow motion mode.

FC9113 · f/1.8 · 1/15s · 8.67mm · ISO400

The cameras also support advanced video modes, including 10-bit D-Log M and HDR, for creators looking for greater flexibility in post-production. DJI also promises up to 14 stops of dynamic range for more natural gradations and better tonal detail in high-contrast scenes. In practice, this means detailed footage even in challenging lighting, such as during sunrises or sunsets, and raw files with a good level of latitude.

DJI Air 3S – Automated features

The Air 3S introduces a ‘Free Panorama’ mode, which simplifies capturing wide scenes with multiple frames and stitching them together in-camera. Alternatively, you can combine the images manually for greater control. This feature is particularly useful for landscapes and architectural photography, however, the 70mm lens is a better choice if you want to avoid the distortion associated with combining images captured using the wide lens.

FC9113 · f/1.8 · 1/120s · 8.67mm · ISO100

DJI has equipped the Air 3S with a collection of safety features, including an omni-directional obstacle-sensing system. Six vision sensors and downward-facing infrared sensors enable obstacle detection even in low light, for greater flight safety. They work well, but I shied away from flying the drone towards objects in Sport mode to see if it would stop in time.

The Smart Return to Home (RTH), Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS), ActiveTrack 360 and Subject Focusing also work seamlessly to prevent collisions and help you get smooth, sharp footage.

The Air 3S’s maximum flight time is listed as 45 minutes, but I found that in normal flying conditions, 32 to 38 minutes is a more realistic duration. The controller gives you plenty of warning when the battery life is low and will activate the Return to Home feature when there’s around 5 minutes left. You can override this to get more flying time but expect lots of alarm beeping.

DJI Air 3S – ND Filters

The Air 3S’s camera lenses are protected by a filter that can be removed with a slight twist and replaced with a neutral density filter. In sunny conditions, an ND filter is essential to keep the shutter speed down to a level suitable for recording video. DJI sells a set of three ND filters separately and in the Fly More Combo kits. 

FC9113 · f/1.8 · 1/100s · 8.67mm · ISO200

DJI Air 3S – Verdict

The DJI Air 3S is an excellent drone that bridges the gap between lightweight models and premium offerings. Its dual-camera setup, advanced safety features and robust flight performance make it a versatile choice for photographers and videographers alike. It’s also capable of producing video footage that will impress and still images that stand scrutiny. Flare can be an issue in sunny conditions, but it tends to appear as a small hotspot that can be cloned out.

The DJI RC 2 Controller, which has its own screen, is a much nicer option than the DJI RC-N3 Controller. But it bumps the cost significantly.

Related reading:

• DJI Mavic 3 Classic Review
• DJI Mini 4 Pro review – drone above others for value
• DJI Mini 3 Review – high flyer at a lower price

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The post DJI Air 3S review – versatile mid-range drone appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Leica’s Q series cameras stand apart as the only fixed-lens full-frame models on the market. When I reviewed the original Leica Q3, which like its predecessors sported a 28mm f/1.7 lens, I was extremely impressed, and considered it the best compact camera around. Now the firm has decided to mix things up, with a variant that sports a brand-new 43mm f/2 lens – the Leica Q3 43.

Leica Q3 43 at a glance:

• $6,895 / £5,900
• 60.3MP full-frame sensor
• 43mm f/2 optically stabilised lens
• ISO 50-100,000
• Up to 15 fps shooting
• 5.76m-dot, 0.76x viewfinder
• 3in, 1.84m-dot tilting screen
• 8K 30p; 4K 60p; Full HD 120p video

So what makes the Q-series so special? Fundamentally, it’s a combination of classic design and full-frame image quality. When the original Leica Q appeared in 2015, it was deliberately styled to resemble the firm’s iconic M-series rangefinders, complete with traditional control dials and rounded ends. In 2019 and 2023, the Q2 and Q3 brought successively higher resolutions and updated features, while employing the same 28mm f/1.7 lens. But not all photographers want a 28mm as their only lens – hence the Q3 43.

At this point, many readers will surely be wondering about the rationale behind that odd-sounding 43mm focal length. Why not something more familiar, like 35mm or 50mm? But the idea is that 43mm is equal to the diagonal of the sensor, and lenses of this ilk bring a particularly natural-looking perspective to your images. Many photographers – myself included – prefer lenses in the 40-45mm region to either 35mm or 50mm.

This isn’t a new idea, by any means. Plenty of 35mm film rangefinders from the 1960s and 1970s used similar focal lengths; most obviously, the compact M-mount Leica CL came with a 40mm f/2 lens. The same was true with fixed-lens cameras; for example, the Canonet QL19 and Olympus 35SP had 45mm f/1.9 and 42mm f/1.7 optics, respectively.

What is for sure, though, is that the 43mm lens is going to work best for different kinds of photography than a 28mm. As a result, the Q3 43 should be better suited to subjects such as environmental portraiture, street shooting, and general family photography. But the original Q3 would arguably be the better choice for landscapes, cityscapes, and travel photography.  

Given its $6,895 / £5,900 price tag, the Q3 43 is pretty much one-of-a-kind on the market. Perhaps the closest alternative is the Ricoh GR IIIx ($1050 / £1100), which pairs a 24MP APS-C sensor with a 40mm equivalent f/2.8 lens, and is itself a derivative of a 28mm (equivalent) design. But this offers a very different shooting experience, as it has a fixed screen and no viewfinder.

There’s also the Fujifilm X100VI ($1600 / £1600), with its 40MP APS-C sensor and 35mm equivalent f/2 lens. But it’s so absurdly in-demand that you’ll struggle to find one. In reality, I guess most potential buyers will actually be deciding between the two Q3 models. So which should you get, 28mm or 43mm?

Features

Obviously the most interesting new feature of the Q3 43 is its lens. Labelled APO-Summicron 1:2/43 ASPH, this employs 11 elements in 8 groups, including 7 aspherical surfaces for cross-frame sharpness. That APO designation is particularly important, as it indicates that colour fringing due to chromatic aberration should be suppressed almost completely.

In the lens’s standard configuration, the minimum focus distance is 60cm, but twisting a dial on the barrel to the Macro position brings this down to 27cm. Optical image stabilisation is built in, which cleverly includes an Auto mode where it’s only enabled at slower shutter speeds where its needed. As on the Q3, there’s a thread for 49mm filters.

Physically, the new lens is 5mm longer than before, which also brings a slight increase in the camera’s overall weight to 772g. But Leica has compensated for this by making the screw-in rectangular hood shorter, so the Q3 43 should fit into all the same size bags.

Aside from the lens, though, the Q3 43 is essentially the same camera as its wider-angle stablemate, the Q3. It’s built around the same excellent 60MP full-frame BSI-CMOS sensor, which includes phase detection elements for autofocus. Handily, you don’t have to shoot in full resolution all the time, but can also record both JPEG and raw files at either 36MP or 18MP, when you don’t need such huge levels of detail and would rather save on card space.

In concert with the Maestro IV processor, the sensor offers a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-100,000, plus a ‘pulled’ ISO 50 setting. It also enables continuous shooting at up to 4 frames per second with continuous AF, and 15 frames per second with focus fixed, with a buffer of at least 63 shots in raw. Subject recognition is included for people and animals.

Shutter speeds are available from 120sec to 1/2000sec using the in-lens mechanical shutter, extending to 1/16,000sec with the electronic shutter. For long exposures, you get a handy ‘T’ mode, which is far more convenient than the usual Bulb option; one press of the button starts the exposure and a second ends it.

Leica also exploits the 60MP sensor to offer a genuinely useful Digital Zoom that crops into the image to match familiar focal lengths. The image area is indicated by a frameline in the viewfinder, with the camera saving both a cropped JPEG and full-size raw file alongside (with the crop embedded into its metadata). You get 60mm, 75mm, 90mm, 120mm and 150mm options giving 31MP, 20MP, 14MP, 8MP and 5MP files, respectively. You can see how these look in the slideshow below.

Other useful features include an intelligent Dynamic Range (iDR) option, which aims to boost JPEG shadow detail in high-contrast situations. There’s also a Perspective Control option which can automatically correct converging verticals in JPEG files, but that’s perhaps more useful on the original Q3 with its wider-angle lens.

When it comes to video, the Q3 43 supports 8K recording at 30fps, 4K at 60 fps, or Full HD at 120fps. Leica has included an HDMI output for connecting an external monitor or recorder and a USB-C port for power. Other advanced video features include ProRes recording, Leica’s L-log profile, and LUT compatibility. Unfortunately, there’s no microphone socket for higher quality sound, but Leica says you can connect certain RODE microphones to the USB-C port.

Fundamentally, though, the Q3 43’s design and lens means it’s best seen as a stills camera, which can also be used to record high-quality video if necessary.

Looking at wireless connectivity, both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are built-in for use with the Leica Fotos app for Android and iOS. This is unusually easy to set up, at least with an iPhone, ironically by the simple expedient of wiring the two devices together via a USB-C cable. The app can also be used with a wired connection for faster transfer speeds and a more reliable connection. But if you have an iPhone with a Lightning connector, you’ll need to use Leica’s proprietary cable.

Leica Fotos provides full remote control over the camera and allows both images and videos to be copied to your phone for sharing. It also provides access to ‘Leica Looks’, which are additional colour profiles that are more stylised and interesting than those built into the camera. At the time of writing, seven options are available. However, there’s only space to store six of them on the camera at any given time.

Leica Q3 43: Key features

The Q3 43 is essentially the same camera as its 28mm stablemate, just with a new 43mm lens.

• Video: You get a separate optimised interface for shooting video, if that’s something you want to do.
• Storage: A single UHS-II SD card slot is found in the base of the camera, behind a hinged door that’s right beside the tripod socket
• Power: The BP-SCL6 Li-ion battery is shared with the Q3 and SL2, and rated for 350 shots per charge.
• Connectors: There’s a micro-HDMI port for video output, along with are USB-C for power delivery, battery charging, and direction connection to an iPhone / iPad
• Wireless charge: Leica is offering the add-on HGF-DC1 Wireless Charging Handgrip, along with a charging pad that’s matched to the camera’s size and shape
• Shutter release: In a nod to Leica’s film-camera heritage, there’s a traditional screw-in cable release connector on the shutter release button
• Customisable: A wide range of accessories is available, including leather straps and half-cases, plus metal thumb-rests, lens hoods, hot-shoe covers and soft-release buttons, all in a choice of colours

Build and Handling

In terms of design, the Q3 43 looks almost exactly like the 28mm version, with the most visible difference being that the body covering is grey rather than black. Of course the lens markings have changed too, and there’s no f/1.7 position on the aperture ring. On closer inspection, the section of the lens barrel that’s immediately adjacent to the body is longer, too. But otherwise, the body design and control layout are identical.

This isn’t a small camera, though, by any means. At 13 x 8 x 9.8 cm and 793g, it’s considerably bulkier than its APS-C counterparts, and similar in size and weight to the Sony Alpha A7CR fitted with a 40mm F2.5 lens. But it still feels surprisingly comfortable and secure in your hands, thanks to the signature curved ends. Needless to say, build quality is exemplary, with a robust all-metal body shell that includes weather sealing to the IP 52 standard.

Looking at the main shooting controls, you get a set of traditional analogue dials, complemented by a modern electronic interface for secondary options. Along with aperture and focus rings on the lens, there’s a shutter speed dial on top. An electronic thumb dial is used to set exposure compensation or fine-tune shutter speeds, with a button in its centre for ISO. On the back, a 4-way d-pad is used for positioning the focus area.

All the key controls are well placed for shooting with the camera to your eye. The dials operate with satisfying clicks, while the manual focus ring is lovely and smooth. This all makes the camera a real pleasure to use.

Rear controls are strikingly simple compared to other high-end cameras. Play and Menu buttons are placed above and below the d-pad respectively, while two unmarked buttons are positioned beneath the shutter speed dial. The left-side of the two is slightly raised, making them easier to distinguish by touch. One operates digital zoom and the other switches between photo and video modes, but you can reconfigure to other functions of you prefer.

Pressing the Menu button first brings up an onscreen status panel, which provides a quick way of changing secondary settings using the touchscreen. Subsequent presses cycle through the main menu system, which includes just six pages of settings, but never feels like it’s missing anything essential. Compared to the insane complexity of most modern cameras, it’s a breath of fresh air.

Viewfinder and screen

For composing and viewing your images, the Q3 43 employs the same excellent 5.76m-dot viewfinder as the Q3, with a decently large 0.76x magnification. You get the option to switch between 60fps and 120fps frame rates, depending on whether you prefer to conserve battery life or see super-smooth motion. 

Leica previews colour processing and exposure, and offers various ‘Capture Assistants’ including grid lines, electronic levels, a live histogram, and a zebra pattern overexposure warning. Pressing the button in the centre of the d-pad cycles though the various information displays.

In a welcome change since I reviewed the Q3, the camera stops down the aperture when you half-press the shutter button, in both auto and manual focus modes. In effect, this provides depth-of-field preview for every shot.

One of the Q3’s most important updates over its predecessors was a tilting LCD screen, and that’s retained here. It facilitates such things as low-level macro, discreet waist-level shooting for street photography, and the ability to maintain a better connection with your subject when shooting environmental portraits.

Unfortunately the screen only tilts up and down, rather than using a 3-way design like some other brands. This means it’s of limited use when you’re shooting in portrait format. But it does help keep the body size down.

One design quirk, though, is that while there are notches on the top and bottom edges of the screen to grab when tilting it, you don’t get any kind of grip on the side, as is common on other cameras. This is something you’ll get used to, but it still feels like a strange oversight.

Autofocus

When it comes to autofocus, the Q3 43 again essentially replicates the features and performance of the standard Q3. Phase detection AF is available anywhere within the frame, with the camera offering multiple focus area sizes ranging from a fine spot to a multi-point zone covering approximately one-third of the image width and height. There’s also a conventional tracking mode based on pattern and colour. Alternatively, you can let the camera choose what to focus on.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2 · 1/250s · 43mm · ISO100

Click on any sample image to see the full-resolution version

Subject detection is available via the AF area menu, with options either for people alone, or people and animals. When enabled, the system will recognise a person’s body, face, and eyes as they get larger within the frame, which I found to be useful both for portraits and street shooting. When the camera detects multiple possible subjects, it’ll outline the one it’s concentrating on in yellow and the rest in white, and you can select between them using the d-pad.

In practical use, the autofocus is quiet, accurate, and reasonably quick. Ultimately though the camera is still limited by the speed with which the lens can adjust focus, and while it’s pretty snappy, it’s not as lightning fast as the latest mirrorless setups. So I wouldn’t necessarily expect it to keep up with fast, erratically moving subjects. But most of the time it should do perfectly fine.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2.8 · 1/1250s · 43mm · ISO100

When you have time for slower, more considered shooting, the camera is also a pleasure to use in manual focus mode. To switch between AF and MF, you simply twist the focus ring while pressing a small interlock button on the focusing tab. The focus ring itself feels much like using a traditional manual control, despite operating electronically.

Turning the focus ring automatically activates magnified view, with a choice of 3x or 6x settings. This is quite modest, but it’s assisted by a focus peaking display that highlights in-focus edges. These two aids complement each other well, and I was able to get consistently sharp results.

Performance

When you take it out and start shooting, you’ll find the Q3 43 is fast, responsive, and essentially silent. This is great for many of the subjects that the 43mm lens is ideally suited to, such as street photography or events.  

The camera’s continuous shooting performance is more than adequate too, given that it’s not a camera you’re likely to choose for sports and action. I can’t see much reason why you’d consider setting it to 15fps, but the option is there if you need it. However, the ability to shoot at 4fps with autofocus can be genuinely useful.

Battery life looks OK without being outstanding. It’s rated for 350 shots per charge, but I got rather less, more like 200-250 shots depending on how assiduously I was trying to conserve power. However, this is always highly dependent upon your shooting habits – you’ll get more if you tend to shoot bursts, or make a point of turning the camera off between shots. You can keep the battery topped up from a powerbank during breaks in shooting, but as always I’d recommend getting a spare.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/8 · 1/250s · 43mm · ISO100

Leica’s metering is pretty reliable, if perhaps over-conservative at times. Auto white balance tends to give very neutral results, and in many situations, I’d prefer a warmer look.

New 43mm lens: optical quality

Of course, what we’re really interested about with the Q3 43 is its new APO-Summicron 43mm f/2 ASPH lens. Obviously, we should have high expectations, given that it’s a Leica lens on a camera that costs the best part of £6,000. But just how good is it?

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2 · 1/2000s · 43mm · ISO100

Honestly, optically it’s sensational. It consistently churns out wonderful-looking images, regardless of aperture or focus distance. You can shoot at whatever setting you please, based solely on your aesthetic intention for each shot, and be perfectly confident that your images will be sharp and packed full of detail. I’d say that technically, it’s better than the Q3’s 28mm optic, and by some margin.

Even if you go pixel-peeping, you’ll see seriously impressive resolution. Wide open at f/2, it’s blisteringly sharp in the centre of the frame, and gets only fractionally softer towards the edges and corners. Indeed in my tests, it looks sharper at f/2 than at f/11, which is quite something.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/8 · 1/320s · 43mm · ISO100

Stop down to f/5.6 or f/8, and images are ludicrously sharp from corner to corner. At smaller apertures, the finest details soften again slightly due to diffraction. But really this is just nit-picking, and insignificant in real-world use.

This extreme sharpness is maintained in the ‘macro’ mode, too, aided by the fact that the largest aperture here is limited to f/2.8. The maximum magnification is about 0.25x, so it’s quite handy for close details without being a ‘true’ macro lens.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/11 · 1/80s · 43mm · ISO1000

There’s no hint of colour fringing from chromatic aberration, and no distortion, either. Of course, there’s going to be some software correction going on under the hood to help achieve this. Adobe Camera Raw applies lens compensation automatically, via settings that are stored in the DNG raw files.

As this is a 43mm f/2, you won’t necessarily get a huge level of background blur compared to something like a 50mm f/1.4 prime. But you can get a reasonable level when shooting at close distances, especially if you keep the background distant. Crucially, the bokeh is rendered very nicely indeed.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2 · 1/160s · 43mm · ISO100

The lens’s optical stabilisation works well, allowing me to get consistently sharp shots hand-held at 1/10sec. By taking multiple replicates, I was able to get the occasional usable shot at speeds as slow as 1/3sec, but that was the exception rather than the norm.

While this is certainly useful, the in-body stabilisation systems in the latest mirrorless cameras can reliably go even slower. Overall, though, the OIS ensures that you get the most from that high-resolution sensor.

Image quality

When it comes to overall image quality, the Q3 43 is capable of astonishingly good results. However for JPEG shooting, I’m not a great fan of Leica’s built-in colour profiles. The default Standard option is distinctly muted, while Vivid perhaps veers too far the opposite way. But on a more positive note, I like the high-contrast B&W option a lot.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/8 · 1/125s · 43mm · ISO100

For those who want to create more interesting JPEG output, help is at hand from Leica Looks. But these aren’t installed by default – instead you have to download and install them using the Leica Fotos app.

There are certainly some interesting options here, including the slightly muted, Kodachrome-esque ‘Chrome’ and the punchy ‘Eternal’, which gives the impression be having been inspired by Fujichrome Velvia. You also get some nicely toned monochrome options. If you want to share finished files directly from the camera, this is the way to go.  

LEICA Q3 43 · f/16 · 1/10s · 43mm · ISO50

Whether or not you like the JPEGs, though, there’s absolutely no questioning the quality of the DNG raw files. We’ve seen this 60MP sensor plenty of times before – not only in the Q3, but also in the M11 rangefinder and mirrorless SL3. Not to mention the Sigma fp L and the Sony A7R IV, A7R V, and A7CR. It’s very much a known quantity, and in terms of outright image quality, unquestionably the best full-frame sensor around.

With that 60MP resolution, the Q3 43 can match any other full-frame camera on the market in terms of detail rendition. Not only does it give really excellent results at ISO 100, there’s barely any drop in quality at ISO 800, even when viewing files close-up onscreen. Fine detail starts to blur away at ISO 1600, and noise progressively overtakes the image at higher settings.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2 · 1/80s · 43mm · ISO3200

Even so, I’d be quite happy shooting at up to ISO 25,000, especially given the capabilities of the latest AI noise reduction software. There’s little practical need to go any higher.

Not only are raw files packed full of detail, there’s also immense dynamic range, especially at low ISO settings. With files shot at ISO 100 to ISO 400, I could pull loads of extra detail out of deep shadows without being concerned by excessive noise. You can see this in the comparison below between an edited ISO 400 raw and the ‘straight’ conversion.

Even at moderately high settings such as ISO 1600, I was able to shoot to preserve highlights, and then bring up the shadows by two or three stops. Overall, the raw files feel almost infinitely malleable, and you can manipulate the tonality sliders in raw processing to your heart’s content.

Of course, one problem with shooting 60MP DNG files all the time is the sheer amount of disk space they take up. But here, as with Leica’s other 60MP models, you can just drop the DNGfile size down to 36MP or 18MP without losing the benefits of raw. Even at 18MP, you should be able to make an extremely detailed A3 print, so this is a really useful option to have available.

Our Verdict

When I reviewed the original Leica Q3, I was extremely impressed, and ended up calling it the best compact camera in the world. But now, I’ve been forced to change my mind. Instead, I have to conclude that the best compact camera you can buy is the Leica Q3 43.

I’m joking a bit here, of course. The choice between 28mm and 43mm lenses will be a very personal one for each photographer, and it’s not for me to declare which is ‘better’. But while I always enjoyed the previous 28mm Qs, the Q3 43 has me completely smitten. In part this is down to extraordinary quality of the image files it creates, with the best full-frame sensor around complemented by a truly phenomenal lens. You can’t get better than this without stepping up to medium format.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/8 · 1/80s · 43mm · ISO125

But aside from the crazy technical quality, it’s also all about how natural the photographs look. That 43mm lens means that your images appear completely uncontrived in terms of perspective. It’s almost as if you’re really there, standing on the edge of the scene, looking in. This lens is the perfect match for the kinds of photographic situations the Q design excels at.

LEICA Q3 43 · f/2 · 1/6400s · 43mm · ISO100

The fact that you can use digital zoom to mimic a short telephoto, while retaining plenty of resolution, adds further to the appeal.

Sadly, the Q3 43’s price places it beyond the means of most photographers. That’s just how things are with Leica. But for those who have the means, this is surely one of the most desirable cameras on the planet right now.

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Leica Q3 43 full specification

The post Leica Q3 43 review – compact perfection? appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic at a glance

• Drone with integrated Hasselblad camera
• Up to 46 minutes flight time per battery
• 20MP Four Thirds CMOS sensor
• Max video resolution of 5.1K (5120 x 2700) at up to 50fps
• 24mm (equivalent) f/2.8 lens
• 3-axis motorised stabilisation
• 895g take-off weight
• £1049 drone-only, £1,219 with DJI RC controller,

DJI has introduced the Mavic 3 Classic as a more affordable alternative to the Mavic 3 that was announced in November 2021, with the specifications of the two drones being almost identical apart from in one respect, the camera(s). Whereas the DJI Mavic 3 has two cameras, the Mavic 3 Classic has just one. That might sound like a deal-breaker, but in this instance, it’s a shrewd move on the manufacturer’s part. That’s because the Classic has the Mavic 3’s 24mm equivalent 20MP Hasselblad camera with a Four Thirds sensor and it eschews the 162mm equivalent camera with a 1/2-inch sensor, which is really only suitable for checking distant objects and route planning.

Consequently, the Mavic 3 Classic is able to shoot 20MP, 12-bit DNG raw files or 5.1K video at up to 50p while 4K video can be shot at up to 120p, which is ideal for anyone wishing to create slow-motion videos.

Unlike with smaller drone cameras, the Mavic 3 Classic gives control over the aperture, ranging from f/2.8-11. That’s useful for controlling the shutter speed and keeping it to twice the frame rate for video. In addition, the sensitivity can be set in the range ISO 100-6400 for stills or video and the shutter speed range is 8-1/8000sec.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Key Features

• Single camera: While the Mavic 3 has two cameras, the Mavic 3 Classic just has the more useful one
• Folding legs: The legs fold in against the body to make the Mavic 3 Classic easier to transport between flights
• Object detection: Omnidirectional sensors help avoid collisions during a flight
• Storage: There’s a microSD card slot and 8GB of onboard storage
• Classification: The Mavic 3 Classic is a Class 1 drone and can be flown in the Open category

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Flight time

Aside from the photographic specifications, one of the most impressive aspects of the Mavic 3 Classic is its flight time on a single battery charge. Like the Mavic 3, this is quoted as up to 46 minutes in flight or 40 minutes hovering. As before, I found these figures a little optimistic, but the wind strength and temperature play a role in how long the battery lasts. Nevertheless, I was able to fly for 36 minutes in still conditions at around 0°C. That’s a long time in drone terms, but I’d still be inclined to buy an extra battery (£179) or two, or invest in the Fly More Kit (£529) that includes two batteries, a charging hub, a car charger and spare propellers along with a bag.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Easy flying

DJI allows you to take full control over the flight of the Mavic 3 Classic, but the onboard navigation systems (GPS, Galileo and BeiDou) take the pressure off, ensuring that the drone it hovers where you release the control sticks and doesn’t drift.

There’s also an omnidirectional object avoidance system that does a great job of spotting objects in the Classic’s flightpath. It can be set to stop the drone or fly around the object, or if you’re feeling confident, you can turn the system off to allow you to fly around the object manually.

As usual, the Mavic 3 Classic has DJI’s QuickShots modes (Drone, Rocket, Circle and Helix) that fly the drone in specific patterns while recording to get professional-looking footage. There’s also the MasterShots mode that strings together some of the QuickShots modes to create dynamic footage, and ActiveTrack 5.0 that makes it easy to keep a subject in the frame while you take control of the flight.

Stills photographers will be pleased to learn that the Mavic 3 Classic can shoot JPEG and DNG raw files, and there’s a panorama mode that captures a sequence of images that are stitched together automatically but can also be stitched using your preferred software.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Image quality

As it has the same camera as the main camera on the Mavic 3, it comes as no surprise to find that the Mavic 3 Classic produces superb video and stills with a good level of detail. Straight from the camera, the JPEGs look a little more vibrant and more share-ready than the raw files, but it only takes a few seconds to get the raw files looking great. Further good news is that DJI seems to have toned down the saturation of blue skies, so they look natural from the get-go.

It’s also good to see that flare is controlled well and directing the camera straight towards the sun, or moving so the sun’s rays scud across the front element, didn’t cause any major issues with hot spots in my images.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Controller options

DJI sells the Mavic 3 Classic in three kits. The most affordable is the drone without a controller, for those who already have a compatible unit. The next kit includes the DJI RC-N1 controller which has a clamp and cables to connect it to a smartphone. Alternatively, there’s the kit with the DJI RC controller which has a built-in screen so you don’t need to connect your phone. If you can stand paying the extra £130, the DJI RC controller is quicker and easier to use, and it’s nice to have your phone free to use as normal.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic: Verdict

As much as I like the DJI Mavic 3, the DJI Mavic 3 Classic would be my pick of the two drones. I don’t really have a need for the 162mm camera and the 24mm camera does a great job for stills and video.

Like all DJI’s recent imaging drones, the Mavic 3 Classic is easy to set up and fly, and seeing the images on the controller screen is bound to put a smile on your face.

Related reading:

• Best drones with cameras in 2024
• DJI Neo review – this budget drone kicks ass!
• DJI Mavic 3 Pro Review

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Alfie Cameras is a family run business that started creating compact 35mm half-frame cameras after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2022. The line-up started with the Alfie Cameras Tych model. We first saw it at The Photography Show, and the Alfie Cameras Tych+ is its premium successor. Though having the same compact build and rotary lens board design, the main difference is in the additional premium glass 33.3mm f8.0 lens (the Tych camera has three lenses only) and bright glass viewfinder.

At a glance:

• 35mm half frame camera
• ISO 12-6400
• Rotary lens board with 4 lens options
• Focal length 33.3mm, 30mm, 25mm and 25mm
• 33.3mm (50mm equivalent) F8 rapid rectilinear lens with 4 elements in 2 groups
• – 30mm F8 single element meniscus lens
• – 25mm F56 zone plate
• – 25mm F125 pinhole
• Shutter speed 30sec – 1/500sec
• Built in light meter for automatic exposure
• USB charging
• 120g, 90mm x 79mm x 45mm (measured without viewfinder)
• £499

The Tych+ camera is available for £499 and is currently only for sale via the Alfie Cameras website. The original Tych retails for £299. The Tych+ comes with a Lens Hood, camera strap and USB C charge cable. A range of other accessories are available – shutter release cable, external flash and collapsible sport finder.

Being similar in price, the Tych+ will certainly be rivalled by the new half-frame film camera on the block, the Pentax 17. But the Tych+ stands on its own, not only in build and features, but target audience and purpose. Read on to find out how I got on with it… 

Alfie Cameras Tych+ Features

The Alfie Cameras Tych+ offers a hybrid shooting experience. It gives you the feeling of shooting film whilst also having electronic light metering, screen, and rechargeable battery.

The camera itself looks quite complicated, however after reading the quick start guide and looking through the settings menu a few times before starting, I got my head around it.

The lens rotary board on the front of the camera holds four lenses: the 33.3mm (50mm equivalent) f8 rapid rectilinear lens; 30mm (45mm equivalent) f8 single-element meniscus lens; 25mm f56 zone plate and 25mm f125 pinhole lens (both 38mm equivalent). All four lenses are fixed focus. The pinhole and 25mm lens range from 0m to infinity, the 33.3mm 2m to infinity and 30mm 1.5m to infinity. The viewfinder has a field of view equivalent to the 25mm pinhole and zone plate lenses, with a slightly narrower field of view for the optical lenses.

The lens rotary board is easy to use with each lens clicking into place upon rotation. The different options encourage some creativity and opportunities to create unique images. A feature that hasn’t been seen before on cameras like this, if at all, allowing it to fall into its own experimental niche and put it apart from other cameras.

The camera has a built-in light meter for automatic exposure and ISO from 12 to 6400. Each lens has an auto mode, you can switch between auto f8, f56 and f125, or manual mode. There is also a mode for flash use. There is shutter delay and exposure compensation is available up to +/-2 stops in ½ stop increments. It took me some time to find (or perhaps notice in my ignorance) each auto mode and the ability to change between F stops. But once found, it was simple enough to use the pinhole and 25mm lenses as well as the standard F8 lenses without using the fully manual mode.

The wind on wheel doesn’t automatically stop when you reach the next shot. The good thing about that is you can take multiple exposures without any hacks or tricks needed; as the camera doesn’t require you to wind on for the next shutter. But this could be seen as a blessing and a curse if you aren’t aware of the status of your current film position. 

Alfie Cameras Tych+ Design and Handling

The Tych+ camera has a smart, all black, unique design. The camera body is made of Anodised aluminium / MJF hybrid construction camera body. 

On the front, we have the lens rotary board and neat looking TYCH branding. The top contains the viewfinder and small LCD screen which allows the user to see settings and the electronic shutter count. A small button just below the screen allows you to change settings. The camera is charged by USB-C, a handy inclusion.

It is very small in size, lightweight and fits in the palm of your hand. It weighs just 120g and is 90mm x 79mm x 45mm. Much smaller than other film cameras like the Pentax 17, easily fitting into a pocket or slipped into a bag. I found it easy to hold and use in my small hands, others with larger hands may have a fiddlier experience. The only issue I have had when using the camera is the rewind knob, even with small fingers it was quite awkward to rewind without the viewfinder or my own fingers getting in the way. However, the viewfinder can be slid off, which makes winding back the film much easier.

There is a large Wind Wheel at the bottom of the camera, and next to it is the Frame Indicator. It’s worth noting you need to watch until you wind on to the next white square, as it doesn’t automatically stop when you reach the next frame like other film cameras. It does also have a habit of winding too far – whether that’s from human error or when in a bag. I made sure to check each time I got the camera out of my bag as more often than not the white square was half visible having wound on. If you do go too far, you can use the rewind knob to return to the correct position. 

Alfie Cameras Tych+ Performance

Overall, whilst the Tych+ has been interesting to use, for me it doesn’t feel as straightforward as other film cameras – which is part of its niche. The camera was easy enough to set up and load the film, but it took some time to figure out the different settings and options.

From a standard 36 exposure roll of film, I was able to get over 72 shots (approx. 76-80 photos). I generally shot in Auto mode, and found the best, and sharpest, results came from the 33mm f8 lens. I found the 30mm meniscus lens produced some images that were softly blurred. Once I got the hang of finding and changing the settings I gave the pinhole and 25mm lenses a try. But in a lot of cases, the results were indecipherable. I did have some luck when using manual mode and the pinhole lens, however. So, this camera really is about trial and error, which might not be to everyone’s taste. During shooting I found myself making a few notes so I could try remember which lens matched up to the photo. 

The LCD is a great addition, and through which you can set your ISO, reset your shutter count and more, including changing settings. The Tych+ also has a useful electronic light meter that selects the appropriate shutter speed for the chosen lens and aperture settings.

The camera and shutter were very discreet and quiet, which works well for street photography. I also enjoy doing multiple exposures, and being able to do them on this camera without needing to use any hacks was a plus. 

I had no issues with battery life, during my time using the camera I didn’t need to recharge, it still remained on the full three bars after two films, and being switched on and off. 

Alfie Cameras Tych+ Verdict

Whilst it looks quite complicated initially, the Alfie Cameras Tych+ is a good challenge and fun to use. It offers a lot of room for experimentation and brings modern design and electronic features to film photography. 

It is small, quiet and discreet, which is great for travel and street photography in particular. 

It’s on par with the Pentax 17, in terms of price. But this feels like a camera nerd’s investment piece. Despite being one that you can indeed go out and point and shoot with in Auto and the standard 33mm lens, this camera needs a lot of time dedicated to fully understand and make use of its full functionality. 

The Alfie Tych+ is definitely for more competent photographers and camera users. Depending on your style, the results produced are very interesting and more experimental and creative. Sometimes that means sacrificing sharpness and clarity. It would make a great gift for the hardcore film enthusiasts. It’s likely too expensive for a point and shooter or a beginner film photographer who wants something for more sporadic use.

Related reading:

• Pentax 17 vs Kodak Ektar H35N – half-frame film cameras compared
• Ondu: the success of handcrafted wooden pinhole cameras
• How to make a pinhole camera and take photos in 10 steps
• New CubeFF 35mm full-frame pinhole camera!

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The post Alfie Cameras Tych+ review appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Leica’s Q-series premium compacts are unique in combining a fixed prime lens with a full-frame sensor. Sony and Zeiss have previously dabbled in the same sector, with their RX1-series and ZX-1 cameras, but it seems only Leica has the cachet to sustain a genuine line. The Q3 is set to be one of the best compact cameras on the market.

Leica Q3 at a glance:

• $6,295 / £5,550
• 60.3MP full-frame sensor
• 28mm f/1.7 optically stabilised lens
• ISO 50-100,000
• Up to 15 fps shooting
• 5.76m-dot, 0.76x viewfinder
• 3in, 1.84m-dot tilting screen
• 8K 30p; 4K 60p; Full HD 120p
• Leica.com

Following on from the Leica Q of 2015 and the Q2 from 2019, the new Leica Q3 brings an exciting slew of updates and new features. Chief among them are a higher-resolution 60MP full-frame sensor, a tilting screen, and significantly upgraded autofocus.

The essentials that define a Q remain in place, however. On the front, there’s a fixed, optically stabilised 28mm f/1.7  lens, whose barrel plays host to traditional manual focus and aperture rings. The body is styled to be reminiscent of Leica’s M-series rangefinders, including a stepped top-plate, shutter speed dial, and rounded ends. There is also a large corner-mounted electronic viewfinder.

At its price, the Leica Q3 is anything but mainstream. Perhaps the nearest thing it has to a competitor is the Fujifilm X100V, which uses a similar design but a smaller 26.2MP APS-C sensor and a narrower 35mm equivalent f/2 lens, for £1,350.

There’s also the pocket-sized Ricoh GR III for £949, with its 24MP APS-C sensor and 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens. But this offers a very different shooting experience, as it has a fixed screen and no viewfinder. Then at the top end of the spectrum is Leica’s classic M11 rangefinder, which costs $9,395 / £7,800 before even adding a lens.

Let’s consider the Leica Q3’s specifications in more detail.

Features

Firstly, it uses a variant of the excellent 60MP full-frame BSI-CMOS sensor, previously deployed in the M11. But here, it includes phase detection elements for autofocus; presumably, even more closely related to those used in the Sony Alpha A7R IV / A7R V and Sigma fp L. As on the M11, you don’t have to shoot in full resolution all the time, but can also record both JPEG and raw files at either 36MP or 18MP, when you don’t need such huge levels of detail and would rather save on card space.

 As on previous Q models, the sensor is paired with a fixed Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens, which employs 11 elements in 9 groups including three aspherical elements. This has a couple of unusual tricks. Unlike most full-frame large-aperture wideangle primes, it includes optical image stabilisation, which cleverly only kicks in at slow shutter speeds when it’s needed.

Also, while the standard minimum focus distance is about 30cm, twisting a ring at the back of the barrel shifts the lens into macro mode, so that it now focuses as close as 17cm. An attractive rectangular screw-on hood is included, and there’s a thread for 49mm filters.

In concert with the new Maestro IV processor, the sensor offers a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-100,000, plus a ‘pulled’ ISO 50 setting. It also enables continuous shooting at up to 4 frames per second with continuous AF, and 15 frames per second with focus fixed, with a buffer of at least 63 shots in raw. Shutter speeds are available from 120sec to 1/2000sec using the in-lens mechanical shutter, extending to 1/16,000sec using the electronic shutter. For long exposures, you get a handy ‘T’ mode, which is far more convenient than the usual Bulb option; one press of the button starts the exposure and a second ends it.

The new sensor also facilitates an addition to the camera’s Digital Zoom mode. This exploits the high-resolution sensor to enable in-camera cropping to match a familiar set of focal lengths. The image area is indicated by a frameline in the viewfinder, with the camera recording both a cropped JPEG and a full-resolution uncropped raw file alongside it. With the 35mm, 50mm and 75mm equivalent options already on the Q2, there’s a new 90mm setting on the Q3. These crop modes give 39MP, 19MP, 8MP and 6MP files respectively, which makes them genuinely useful – especially the 35mm and 50mm options.

Turning our attention to the autofocus system, Leica has brought on board plenty of extra ‘L²’ technology from its strategic alliance with Panasonic. Not only does the Q3 now include phase detection, promising five times quicker autofocus, it also gains subject recognition for people and animals. Interestingly, Leica says it also exploits Panasonic’s depth-from-defocus (DFD) system to build up a depth map of the scene.

Other features new to the Q series include an intelligent Dynamic Range (iDR) option, which aims to boost JPEG shadow detail in high-contrast situations. There’s also a new Perspective Control option for fixing converging verticals, which previously appeared on the M11. When the camera is pointed upwards, it automatically detects the angle, which allows it to produce geometrically corrected JPEG files without any user input. But the really clever bit is that it draws trapezoid-shaped framelines live in the viewfinder (or onscreen), indicating the area that’ll end up in the final image.

Another big upgrade is the Q3’s video potential, with the camera now supporting 8K recording at 30fps, 4K at 60 fps, or Full HD at 120fps. Leica has added an HDMI output for connecting to an external monitor or recorder and a USB-C port for power. Other advanced video features include ProRes recording, Leica’s L-log profile, and LUT compatibility.

All of this makes it a surprise that there’s no microphone socket for higher quality sound. Leica is promising a firmware update that will allow audio input via the USB-C port, and suggests that in the meantime, you can use an external recorder.

When it comes to connectivity, both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are built-in for use with the Leica Fotos app for Android and iOS. This gives full remote control over the camera and allows both images and videos to be copied to your phone for sharing. Unusually, the camera can also be wired directly to iOS devices using Leica’s proprietary USB-C Lightning cable, which should give a more stable connection. Unfortunately, Android users have no such luck.

Leica Q3 key features:

Leica has maintained the essence of the Q design, while adding some compelling new features:

• Storage: A single UHS-II SD card slot is found in the base of the camera, behind a hinged door that’s right beside the tripod socket
• Power: Leica has introduced a higher-capacity BP-SCL6 Li-ion battery, which promises 350 shots per charge. It’s the same size and shape as the BP-SCL4 used by the Q2, and cross-compatible
• Connectors: There’s a micro-HDMI port for video output, along with are USB-C for power delivery, battery charging, and direction connection to an iPhone / iPad
• Wireless charge: Leica is offering the add-on HGF-DC1 Wireless Charging Handgrip, along with a charging pad that’s matched to the camera’s size and shape
• Shutter release: In a nod to Leica’s film-camera heritage, there’s a traditional screw-in cable release connector on the shutter release button
• Customise: A wide range of accessories is available, including leather straps and half-cases, plus metal thumb-rests, lens hoods, hot-shoe covers and soft-release buttons, in a choice of colours

Build and Handling

From the front, the Q3 looks almost exactly like its predecessor, with the same classic styling. However, there’s a major change at the back: for the first time on a home-grown Leica camera, the screen now tilts up and down rather than being fixed. This has knock-on effects to certain aspects of the control layout and handling.

For the most part, though, the Q3 offers a very similar experience to its predecessors. Needless to say, for a £5,500 camera, build quality is exemplary, with a robust all-metal body shell that includes weather sealing to the IP 52 standard. At 743g it’s pretty weighty, but still feels surprisingly comfortable and secure in your hands, thanks to the signature curved ends. Crucially, the tilting screen mechanism feels just as robust as the rest of the camera, too.

The Q3 adheres to Leica’s philosophy of stripping a camera back to its essentials, and not getting bogged down with peripheral features and obscure menu settings. All the main shooting controls are essentially unchanged, meaning you get a set of traditional analogue control dials complemented by a modern electronic interface for secondary options. Along with aperture and focus rings on the lens, and a shutter speed dial on top, there’s also a thumb dial to set exposure compensation or fine-tune shutter speeds, with a button in its centre for changing ISO. A 4-way d-pad on the rear is used for positioning the focus area.

All these key controls are well placed for shooting with the camera to your eye. The manual focus ring is lovely and smooth, while the dials operate with satisfying clicks. This brings a real tactile pleasure to using the camera, and makes it extremely engaging to shoot with.

The tilting screen does, however, necessitate a change in the rear control layout, as there’s no space for the column of three buttons that ran down the left side of the screen on the Q2. As a result, the Play and Menu buttons have moved above and below the d-pad respectively, while the Fn button migrates to a position below the shutter speed dial, alongside a second unmarked Function button. In typical Leica attention to detail, the left-side of these two buttons is slightly raised, making them easy to distinguish by touch with the camera to your eye.

Pressing the Menu button first brings up an onscreen status panel, which provides a quick way of changing secondary settings using the touchscreen. Subsequent presses cycle through the menu, which includes just six pages of settings. This is not to say that the Q3 left me thinking that any important option was missing. Compared to the 49-page menu of the Sony ZV-1 Mark II that I was testing at the same time, it’s a breath of fresh air.

As a result of this rearrangement, the Q3 operates a bit differently to other current Leica cameras, so existing users may need time to adapt. But it didn’t take long for me to conclude that this new layout counts as a clear improvement in usability. All the buttons are now within reach of the right thumb, rather than requiring a shift in grip of your left hand to operate the Menu or Play buttons. I just wish the Menu and Play buttons were the other way around, to make the former that bit easier to press with the camera to your eye.

Viewfinder and screen

For composing and viewing your images, the Q3 gains an upgraded viewfinder compared to the Q2, with a 5.76m-dot panel in place of the previous 3.69m-dot unit. It really is an excellent viewfinder, with a decently large 0.76x magnification and the option to switch between 60fps and 120fps frame rates, depending on whether you prefer to conserve battery life or see super-smooth motion.  Leica previews colour processing and exposure, and offers various ‘Capture Assistants’ including grid lines, electronic levels, a live histogram, and a zebra pattern overexposure warning.

One oddity comes with respect to depth-of-field preview, which is completely unavailable in autofocus mode, as far as I can tell. However it is available all the time in manual focus, with the camera stopping the lens down to the taking aperture when you half-press the shutter button. It’s a strange operational quirk, but quite handy once you know realise what’s going on.

For me, though, one of the Q3’s most important updates is its tilting screen. It’s great for a whole range of subjects, facilitating such things as low-level macro, discreet waist-level shooting for street photography, and the ability to maintain a better connection with your subject when shooting environmental portraits. I’d actually go so far as to say that it transforms how you can use the camera.

One small operational quirk is that while there are notches on the top and bottom edges of the screen to grab when tilting it, you don’t get any kind of grip on the side, as is common to similar designs on other cameras.

It’s also worth noting that the screen only tilts up and down, rather than being a 3-way design like those used by Fujifilm, Nikon and Panasonic. So it’s of rather limited use when you’re shooting in portrait format. Clearly Leica wanted to maintain its usual build-quality standards without making the camera body too thick. All in all, I think it’s an acceptable compromise.

Leica Q3: Autofocus

Another aspect of the camera’s operation that sees a significant update is autofocus. Not only does the Q3 boast on-sensor phase detection, it also gains subject recognition for humans and animals. So while the Q2 was best suited to shooting static subjects, the Q3 can now also plausibly track focus on those that move. But it’s still limited by the speed with which the lens can adjust focus, so don’t expect it to keep up with fast, erratic subjects.

Click on any sample image to see a full-resolution version

Phase detection AF is available anywhere within the frame, with the camera offering multiple focus area options ranging from a fine spot to a multi-point zone covering approximately one-third of the image width and height. There’s also a conventional tracking mode based on pattern and colour, which like the subject recognition options, is accessed from the AF area mode. Alternatively, you can let the camera choose what to focus on.

Switch to subject detection for people, and the system will recognise the body, face, and then eye as they get larger within the frame, which I found to be really useful both for portraits and street shooting. When the camera detects multiple possible subjects, it’ll outline the one it’s concentrating on in yellow and the rest in white, and you can switch between them quickly and easily using the d-pad.

This all works just as we’d expect, with pretty quick, quiet and accurate autofocus. However, when you have time for slower, more considered shooting, the Leica Q is also a real pleasure to use in manual focus mode. In a neat bit of design, switching between AF and MF is done simply by twisting the focus ring, while pressing down a small interlock button on the focusing tab. The focus ring itself feels almost exactly like using a traditional manual control, despite operating electronically.

Once you’re in manual mode, turning the focus ring automatically activates magnified view, which gives a choice of 3x or 6x settings. This is quite modest in terms of enlargement, especially given the 60MP resolution, but thankfully it’s assisted by a focus peaking display that highlights in-focus edges. It turns out that in practice, these two aids complement each other well, and I was able to get consistently accurate results very easily.

Performance

Shooting with the Leica Q3 is pretty much a unique experience. With its fixed 28mm lens and analogue control dials, this isn’t a general-purpose, do-anything camera – instead it’s best suited to certain types of subjects. This also means that all aspects of its performance have to be judged accordingly.

In practical use, the Q3 is fast, responsive, and essentially silent, which is great for such things as street photography or events. Its continuous shooting performance is more than adequate, given that it’s far from being the obvious choice for sports and action. I can’t see much reason why you’d ever set it to 15fps, but the option is there if you need it. However, the option to shoot at 4fps with autofocus is genuinely useful and works pretty well.

I had no concerns about battery life, with Leica’s 350 shot per charge rating looking perfectly reasonable. The ability to top up from a powerbank during a break in shooting is very welcome, too.

Just as we’ve seen with previous Q models, the lens is an excellent performer. It’s capable of resolving plenty of fine detail in the centre of the frame when used wide open at f/1.7, and just gets better when stopped down. As I used it at normal full-frame working apertures around f/8 to f/11, it’s seriously sharp from corner to corner. Diffraction takes the edge off the sharpness at f/16, but this is often an acceptable trade-off for the increased depth of field. Aberrations such as distortion and lateral chromatic aberration are corrected in software, leaving you with clean-looking images.

I found the lens’s optical stabilisation allowed me to get consistently sharp results at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6sec. While this is certainly handy, the in-body IS systems in the latest mirrorless cameras can reliably go even slower. That said, the Q3’s combination of large aperture, effective OIS and strong high-ISO performance make it great for low-light shooting.

Leica’s metering tends towards the conservative, which means that the camera generally does a very good job of protecting highlight details from clipping. Likewise, auto white balance is technically very accurate. Aesthetically, though, that’s not necessarily always what you want, and in many situations I’d prefer a warmer rendition. As a result, the camera’s output can look great in sunlight, but equally, it can be decidedly muted on dull days.

Indeed, this isn’t a camera that I’d personally choose for shooting JPEG files. I’m not a big fan of Leica’s colour rendition, with the default Standard profile being rather muted, while Vivid veers too far the opposite way into over-saturation. However, this is very much a matter of personal preference. The conventional black & white mode is a touch too flat for my liking, too. But the exception is the high-contrast B&W option, which I liked a great deal, and used a lot.

Just as with the M11, though, any shortcomings the Q3 may have as a JPEG shooter are easily forgiven the moment you start working with its raw files. Not only are they packed full of detail, there’s also immense dynamic range at low ISO settings. With files shot at ISO 100, I was easily able to pull at least four additional stops of detail out of the shadows without being concerned by excessive noise. In practice, this means that you can shoot directly into the setting sun and bring up foreground detail that’s invisible in the JPEG output.

Of course, one objection to shooting 60MP DNG files all the time is the sheer amount of disk space they take up – my sample images ranged from 67MB to 100MB in size. But on the Q3, you can just drop the file size down to 36MP or 18MP without losing the benefits of raw. Even at 18MP, you should be able to make an extremely detailed A3 print. This is a neat feature with a real user benefit.

One feature that I really appreciated was the Perspective Correction mode. We’ve seen various other in-camera means of fixing converging verticals, but nothing this simple and effective. It just makes perfect sense for shooting buildings, to the extent that you wonder why nobody else has done it before. But the real beauty of Leica’s implementation is that it’s just as useful for raw shooters, providing a means of visualising how you need to frame an image to include all the elements you want.

Likewise, I’m a fan of Leica’s version of Digital Zoom. That 28mm lens isn’t ideal for everything, but the extreme cropping capability offered by the 60MP sensor helps make up for it. Again, it’s not just for JPEG shooters, but is also really a useful means of visualising how best to frame a shot that you’re going to process from raw.

ISO and Noise

Due to its fixed 28mm lens, I’ve chosen not to test the Q3 with our standard test scene. Instead, I’m showing an ISO series of a different setup, which I shot using the 50mm digital zoom setting, giving 18MP files. Keep this in mind if you download and examine the full-resolution images.

With its 60MP sensor, the Q3 can match any other full-frame camera on the market in terms of detail rendition. Not only does it give really excellent results at ISO 100, there’s barely any drop in quality at ISO 800, even when viewing files close-up onscreen. The very finest detail starts to blur away at ISO 1600, and noise has an ever-increasing impact thereafter. But even so, I’d be quite happy shooting at up to ISO 25,000 if the situation required, especially given the capabilities of the latest AI noise reduction software. But I’d avoid going any higher.

Below are 100% crops from each ISO setting, shot in DNG raw and converted using Adobe Camera Raw. Click on any one to see the high-resolution version (18MP 50mm crop).

Leica Q3: Our Verdict

When Leica first invited me to see the new Q3, I must admit that I wasn’t expecting all that much. This isn’t a slight on Leica, instead it’s testament to how the Q2 felt like an almost perfectly realised concept, and I couldn’t see how it could be dramatically improved. But it turns out that I rather underestimated Leica’s designers.

While the new 60MP sensor improves image quality beyond the Q2’s already impressive levels, that’s arguably the least important of the major updates. I think there’s almost as much to be said for its ability to shoot in raw at lower resolutions; as it’s not as if we make poster-sized prints routinely. But the dramatically improved autofocus and the tilting screen bring more significant benefits to shooting: how you can use it, and the kind of pictures you can successfully take. They render the Q3 a much more capable photographic tool.

Of course, you still get all the ingredients that make the Q series so tasty, including the classic design, traditional controls and superb build quality. I’m not entirely convinced by the aesthetics of the screen’s design, though; it’s a shame that Leica hasn’t made it fit flush to the camera’s back. As a result, the Q3 doesn’t look quite as elegant as its predecessor from some angles. But that’s a small price to pay for the additional shooting flexibility.

Overall then, the Leica Q3 is a superb performer that’s lovely to use, and capable of producing fantastic images. It’s a very real upgrade over the Q2. Unfortunately, it’s prohibitively pricey for most photographers. For those with deep enough pockets, it’s the best of its kind you can get.

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Leica Q3: Full Specifications

The post Leica Q3 – our in-depth review of this premium compact camera. appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

A decade ago, you could buy cheap-but-good point-and-shoots from the all main camera makers. But now, smartphones have them killed off. Instead, if you search for ‘cheap digital camera’, all you’ll find is a load of generic unbranded models. But might one of these cameras actually be any good? To find out, I decided to buy this silver-and-black retro-styled model, which looks like a ‘fake X100’.

‘Fake X100’ digicam at a glance:

• £110 (approx, full-price on Amazon UK)
• Small-sensor digicam
• 28mm (equivalent) lens
• 48MP max image size
• 4K video recording
• Optical viewfinder
• 2.8in fixed LCD

Styling cameras to make them look like much more expensive models is nothing new, and this one is clearly trying to make unwary buyers think it’s the wildly popular Fujifilm X100VI. It tends to be listed on Amazon by marketplace sellers for about £110. But I sourced it from AliExpress instead, where it came in at under £40, including shipping from China. Come to think of it, that probably wasn’t a good sign.   

Listings for this camera tend to include a jumble of keywords, along the lines of “Digital Camera 4K 48MP Autofocus Optical Viewfinder 16x Zoom Vlogging Camera for Photography Flash Anti-shake Rechargeable Compact Camera for Beginner“, but no actual product name. When it arrived, it turned out to be labelled simply as ‘Digital Camera DC202’, and be made by the Shenzhen Sonida Digital Technology Co Ltd. I wasn’t expecting it to be particularly good, but nothing prepared me for quite how bad it’s turned out to be.

Is it really a ‘Fake X100’?

Of course, this camera isn’t a ‘fake’ as such. Neither the maker, nor any seller with a shred of sense, is going to associate it with the Fujifilm X100 series. But just take a look at the slideshow below showing the Sonida DC202 side-by-side the Fujifilm X100VI. It really isn’t hard to work out where the design inspiration has come from.

Missing specs

Obviously, the first thing I’ll look for when assessing a camera is the main specifications. But that’s not so easy here. Yes, there’s a spec table in the instruction manual, but it’s missing key information. Most importantly, there’s nothing on the sensor size, type, or resolution.

Instead, we’re simply told that that camera can output JPEG images at a wide range of sizes, from 2MP right up  to 48MP. But 12MP is the default, which perhaps suggests this might be the native sensor resolution. Video can be recorded in the AVI format at up to 4K resolution, but with no mention of framerates, let alone bit rates.

At least we know what the lens is, right? It’s emblazoned with “F/2.2 3.37mm Auto Focus” on the front, along with “16X Powerful Zoom”. Except when you look at your images on a computer, it reports as 6mm f/2.8 in the EXIF. Whichever of these it really is, it gives a roughly 28mm equivalent view.

That ‘16x zoom’ claim isn’t really true, though. In reality, the camera provides up to 4x digital zoom, with image quality inevitably going downhill fast. This does equate to getting 1/16 of the original image area, but that’s not what ‘X’ means when talking about zoom. At least the autofocus is real, although it only uses a single, relatively large area in the centre of the frame.

Manually selectable ISO settings are limited to 100, 200, and 400, but the camera will go much higher when set to Auto. Exposure compensation can be set across +/-3 EV, but only in whole-stop increments.

A continuous shooting setting is included, which turns out to take 3 frames at roughly 1-second intervals, so it’s not exactly a speed monster. You also get time-lapse shooting modes for recording still images or creating a video.

Along with a basic Auto mode, you get a set of scene modes for different types of subjects – night, portrait, landscape, sports, etc. An array of in-camera processing ‘Effects’ is available, with some being fairly standard fare, such Vivid and Monochrome. But others are quite strange; for example, there’s an ‘IR’ option that just adds a very strong magenta tint. As the camera only shoots JPEGs, these effects are baked-in to the image file.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/2353s · 6mm · ISO102

A small flash is built-in, but it’s of the LED type, rather than a much brighter Xenon tube, as found in ‘proper’ compact cameras. This makes it of rather limited usefulness. There’s also a hot shoe on top, complete with centre contact, but I couldn’t persuade it to trigger any of my external flash units that work fine on other cameras.

Files are recorded to a MicroSD card, and you’ll need to copy your images off this for sharing them, as there’s no smartphone connectivity of any kind. Power is provided by an NP-60 battery, which charges via the USB-C port. The same battery type was widely used by compact cameras in the past, from brands including Fujifilm, Kodak, Pentax, Panasonic, and Ricoh, which means spares are fairly easy to find.

Cheap build, poor handling

Given the price, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that this camera feels cheaply built. The maker doesn’t even bother to provide any dimensions in the manual, but I measured them as 115 x 72 x 45mm and 227g. This is noticeably smaller than the Fujifilm X100VI, and well under half the weight. The silver-coloured top and base plates are, of course, plastic.

Thanks to a small finger grip on the front and a textured covering, the camera is actually surprisingly comfortable and secure to hold one-handed. But this is about its only redeeming feature, because in every other respect, it’s horrible to use.

On the top, you’ll find a power button, shutter button, and mode dial. The latter is extremely loose, so when you take the camera out of your bag, it’s unlikely to be in a same position as you left it. Instead, it’s a lottery as to what mode the camera will be in when you turn it on.

You don’t get the usual PASM shooting modes, not least because the aperture is fixed. Instead, an unintelligible set of icons denotes Camera, Multi-Snapshot, Time Lapse Photo, Time Lapse Recording, Slow Motion, Motion Detection, Setup, and Video modes. Some of these are also available as menu options in the standard camera mode, but others are not.

Ridged rings around the lens and the power button are clearly supposed to look like proper control dials. But in reality, they’re nothing more than cosmetic mouldings. Instead, a small cluster of buttons on the back controls the camera. There’s a pair of buttons marked + and – to operate digital zoom while shooting, and to magnify images in playback. Otherwise, almost all the functions and settings are accessed via the Menu button.

Menus are cartoonishly drawn, with large, square onscreen buttons arranged in a grid. This layout will look instantly familiar to anyone who’s ever used a smartphone (i.e. everyone), with the catch being that the camera doesn’t actually have a touchscreen. Instead, you have to use the 4-way d-pad to adjust anything. This rapidly gets annoying – for example, it takes up to 11 button presses to change the ISO manually.

Many other aspects of the camera’s operation are dreadful. For example, you can’t quickly exit playback or the menus to take a photo by half-pressing the shutter button. Instead, to exit playback you have to press ‘play’; what’s more, if you’re in a zoomed or thumbnail view, you have to hit ‘OK’ first. From the menus, you need to press either Menu or OK to return to shooting, depending on where you are. You will inevitably forget to do this at times, and consequently miss shots.

Early digicams had a similar problem with getting stuck in play mode, so I guess it brings a certain retro feel. But the real camera makers recognised and fixed this problem a couple of decades ago. No matter that you’re doing with a camera, it should always be possible to get back to shooting just by tapping the shutter button.

Terrible viewfinder

One thing that initially attracted me to this model is that it has an optical viewfinder, which is now vanishingly rare on compacts. But I needn’t have bothered, as the viewfinder is remarkably poor. Everything looks blurry, and the viewing angle is dramatically tighter than the actual lens. Once again, it feels like a feature that exists only to make the camera look like something it isn’t.

Thankfully, the rear LCD screen isn’t quite as bad. It’s decently sized, at 2.8in in diagonal, and appears to preview colour and exposure pretty accurately. It’s not very bright, though, and can easily get overwhelmed in sunlight. Even so, I ended up using it all the time.

If you do choose to use the viewfinder, a sensor beside the eyepiece switches off the screen automatically to conserve power. Strangely, though, the screen will light up briefly to confirm autofocus before shooting, and then display the image for a second afterwards. This behaviour can’t apparently be changed.

Glacial autofocus

It’s almost a surprise to find that a camera of this type has proper autofocus, rather than relying on the extensive depth-of-field provided by the small lens and sensor. Unfortunately, though, the focusing is tediously slow and uncertain.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/120s · 6mm · ISO192

Half-press the shutter button, and the lens will rack back and forth for a second or two before, eventually, the AF box goes green and the camera (perhaps) deigns to take a picture. Don’t even think of trying to focus on anything that moves.

Autofocus is limited to a square area that’s fixed in the centre of the frame. So for off-centre subjects, you need to fall back on the good old-fashioned focus-and-recompose method.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/1324s · 6mm · ISO100

Help appears to be at hand, though, in the form of face detection. Enable it, and the camera will outline human faces and then track them, somewhat hesitantly, around the frame. It’s not entirely clear why, though, as when you half-press the shutter, it can still only autofocus in the centre of the image.

I thought I’d try to take a selfie in front of an iconic London skyline, but the camera decided to focus on the background instead. It’s probably for the best.

Poor performance

When you try to use the DC202 in practice, you’ll find it’s extremely slow and annoying. It takes a couple of seconds merely to turn on, and the cheery ‘Welcome’ screen that’s displayed while you wait counts as little consolation as you watch your subject move on elsewhere. It says ‘Bye Bye’ when you switch it off, too; I’m afraid my reaction was rarely as polite.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/40s · 6mm · ISO127

Shutter lag is terrible, too, and there’s no clear feedback to indicate if or when the camera has actually managed to take a picture. Use this camera for street photography, and you’ll find it’s perfectly attuned for shooting at the indecisive moment. I had to train myself to hold the camera still for longer than seems remotely necessary. Even so, I got plenty of images that were unusably blurred after I moved the camera too soon after pressing the shutter release.

Battery life isn’t exactly great, but is somehow made to feel even worse by the way the power indicator works. It starts off green, but only very briefly, then goes white, before alarmingly turning red. But then the camera happily keeps on shooting for quite a while longer. I was able to get 180 shots from a single charge, or in other words, about 170 more than you’re ever likely to want to take.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/2353s · 6mm · ISO102

Image quality is broadly in line with what I’d expect from a digicam with a tiny sensor and lens, i.e. not very good at all, even at ISO 100. Examine the 12MP JPEGs close-up onscreen, and you’ll see little in the way of fine detail, just smudging due to noise reduction, and ugly sharpening haloes. Select a larger output size, and the files are simply upsized.

Using the digital zoom turns out to be a bad idea. The zoom actually works in two stages: the first is shown in orange on the onscreen zoom scale, covering up to 2.5x zoom. Beyond this, the scale goes red through to 4x zoom. At lower zoom levels, things aren’t necessarily completely terrible. But in the red zone, images look poor even on the camera’s own LCD, and are awful on a computer screen.

Dynamic range is inevitably limited, too, with highlights clipping to white all too easily. Colour rendition as nice enough at least, especially on sunny days. But even so, pretty much any smartphone should take considerably better photos these days.

Video quality isn’t great, either. 4K video looks reasonably crisp and detailed, but with jerky motion that looks like it’s recorded at about 15fps. On the other hand, Full HD video is mushy and lacks any real detail. Perhaps the least-bad compromise overall is 2.7K.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/125s · 6mm · ISO100

Unusually, the audio gradually fades in at the start of the recording. The camera’s built-in mic is terrible, and easily gets overwhelmed by wind outdoors. You can use an external mic via a 3.5mm socket, but the camera doesn’t provide the plug-in power that basic on-camera mics require. Instead, you need a microphone with its own battery, which will probably cost more than the camera.

It’s also possible to use the DC202 as a webcam, simply by plugging it into a computer via its USB-C port, and then selecting the ‘PC Camera’ mode. But the problem here is that autofocus doesn’t function, with the focus instead being fixed on the background. This really isn’t what you want a webcam to do.

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/331s · 6mm · ISO100

Given all these failings, it almost comes as a surprise to find out that the camera’s HDMI output works entirely sensibly. You can use it to view photos and videos on a TV, or even attach an external monitor for video shooting.

Our Verdict

OK, I bought a camera on AliExpress for less than £40. I shouldn’t have expected much. But while I knew it would be bad, this ‘fake X100’ has turned out to be terrible in all sorts of ways I could never have imagined. Whenever I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it found yet more ways to surprise me.

Everything about the camera seems to have been designed to trick unwary buyers into thinking they’re getting something they’re not. Particular lowlights include the terrible viewfinder, fake ‘control dials’, and the menu system that’s designed to look like a touch interface, but on a non-touch-sensitive screen. Photo and video quality are poor, and will be easily surpassed by any recent smartphone.

I’m trying my hardest to think of something this camera might be good at, but honestly, there’s nothing. No matter what you try to do with it – portrait, landscapes, or street photography – it’s equally unaccomplished. Perhaps that makes it an all-rounder of sorts – or should that be a no-rounder? 

DC202 · f/2.8 · 1/580s · 6mm · ISO100

Even if you’re after the trendy vintage digicam look, this camera is a poor choice – check out our recommendations for Vintage digital cameras you should actually buy instead. I guess that for the £40 I paid on AliExpress, it might might perhaps make sense as a starter model for kids. But don’t even contemplate paying two or three times that on Amazon. Overall, I don’t think I can really recommend it – or any other cheap digicam like it – to anyone.

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Specifications (best guess)

The post The worst camera I’ve ever used! Sonida DC202 ‘fake X100’ review appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

The best Sony cameras provide a suitable choice for enthusiasts and professionals alike. The RX100 series has produced some of the best compact cameras of recent years, and when the RX100 VII landed in late 2019 it marked a further leap forward in capability.

While it may share the same 24-200mm effective focal length, pop-up EVF and tilting touchscreen as its predecessor, the Sony RX100 VI, the latest model introduced a new 20.1-MP, 1-inch type Exmor RS CMOS sensor to the series, along with Sony’s Bionz X processing engine.

Sony RX100 VII: At a Glance

• New price $1,298 / £1,049
• Used price around $1,180 / £1,000
• 24-200mm equivalent, f/2.8-4.5 lens
• 20MP 1in sensor
• Pop-up electronic viewfinder
• Tilting touchscreen LCD
• 20 fps shooting
• 4K video recording
• Sony

Aiming it at the growing vlogging community, Sony also gave the RX100 VII a 3.5mm mic port, enhanced video features and a more sophisticated AF system.

Sony revolutionised the pocket camera in 2012, when it released the original RX100 that employed a 1-inch type sensor to give significantly better imager quality compared to anything that had come before it. Since then, smaller-sensor cameras have lost favour with enthusiast photographers, with only Canon and Panasonic continuing to challenge Sony in this area of the camera market.

Sony released successive RX100 generations almost every year up until the RX100 VII debuted in 2019. The most significant updates came with the Sony RX100 III, which sported a large-aperture short zoom and a pop-up electronic viewfinder, and then the RX100 VI, which adopted a then brand-new 24-200mm equivalent zoom. Rumours abound that a version VIII may be on its way: for now the Sony RX100 VII remains the latest iteration of the camera.

Sony’s RX100-series compact cameras have always been at the top end of the price bracket, and the Sony RX100 VII became the most expensive to date with a retail price of $1,198 / £1,200 at launch. In the UK, its price has come down slightly in the three years since launch and you can now find it for around £1,000. However, in the USA, it’s $1,298: higher than its launch price.

The problem, as is often the case with Sony, is this price tag puts it squarely at the top as the most expensive compact camera of its kind around. For comparison, Panasonic’s long-zoom Lumix ZS200D / TZ200D can be found for around $650 / £679.

Canon also offered an interesting competitor, in the shape of the PowerShot G5 X Mark II with its large-aperture 24-120mm equivalent zoom, and much cheaper than the RX100 VII: but this is scarce in 2024. In any case, how can the RX100 VII justify its astronomical cost?

• For more options have a look at the best Sony cameras

Features

On paper, the RX100 VII has almost the same core specifications as its predecessor. It’s built around a 20-million-pixel 1in stacked-CMOS sensor that offers a sensitivity range of ISO 100-12,800. The lens is the same 24-200mm equivalent f/2.8-4.5 zoom, and the pop-up viewfinder and tilting touchscreen are unchanged. Indeed in one respect, the VII has gone slightly backwards, with ‘just’ 20 frames per second continuous shooting rather than 24 (still twice as fast as you’ll likely need).

So what actually changed? Most importantly, Sony the combination of a new generation sensor with its latest Bionz X processor; a significant update to the camera’s hybrid AF system. It now combines 357 on-chip phase-detection points covering 68% of the frame with 425 contrast-detection areas. Sony claims that the AF acquisition time has reduced from 0.03sec to 0.02sec. While that 1/100sec difference won’t be noticeable very often, it should help with fast-moving subjects. The new innards also eliminate viewfinder blackout during continuous shooting.

What’s more important in practice is that you get the firm’s impressive Real-time Eye AF and Real-time Tracking systems, which in its recent cameras has proven to be incredibly effective at holding focus on subjects as they move around the frame. Set the camera to continuous focus and tracking, and you can almost forget about moving the AF area or changing focus modes ever again.

Sony also added an oddly-named ‘Single Burst Shooting’ option, which takes a burst of seven frames from a single press of the shutter button in very quick succession; either 90fps, 60fps or 30fps. The idea is that you then select one frame that catches the perfect moment, similar to modes we’ve seen on some recent smartphones. It can be combined with the self-timer in a bid to catch group shots where nobody’s blinking, which requires a separate trip into Sony’s impenetrable menus to set up.

Other additions include a comprehensive intervalometer function for timelapse shooting, as first seen on the Alpha 6400.

As usual from Sony, the RX100 VII has an impressive video specification. It can record 4K 3840 x 2160 footage at 25fps with full pixel readout, which delivers highly detailed footage with no field of view crop. There’s a raft of additional advanced features, including S-Log2 and S-Log3 profiles for easier colour grading in post-production, Hybrid Log-Gamma for HDR recording, and super-slow motion video at 250fps, 500fps, or 1000fps.

Real-time Eye AF is also available during video recording, to keep human subjects in focus no matter how they move. At long last, there’s a microphone socket for recording higher quality audio, but with no hot shoe, you’ll need to use a bracket to fix one to the camera.

Wi-Fi is built in for connecting to your smartphone or tablet, using Sony’s Imaging Edge Mobile app. This allows remote control of the camera from your phone, with a live view display and the ability to change most camera settings. Inexplicably, though, you can’t set the focus point by tapping on your phone’s screen, which is generally the second-most useful control after the shutter button.

Also, while the app has a playback option, it doesn’t show the pictures on your camera’s memory card; only those already transferred to your phone. To copy images, you’re expected to browse them on the camera instead, and push them over by pressing the Fn button (which actually works well). Sadly, there’s still no in-camera raw converter for optimizing your images before sharing them.

Bluetooth is also on board, but disappointingly is only used for geotagging your images. Unlike with Canon or Panasonic, you can’t use your phone as a simple remote release, or browse through your photos while your camera is safely stowed in your pocket or bag.

Focal points

The RX100 VII shares its core design with its predecessor, with the main changes being internal

• The 24-200mm equivalent 8x zoom lens uses 15 elements in 12 groups, with 8 aspheric elements including 4 Advanced Aspheric lenses, and 2 ED glass elements.
• The Micro USB connector can be used for charging the battery or powering the camera directly, attaching a wired remote control, or copying your images onto a computer. Below it is a micro HDMI port, with a stereo microphone input now found above.
• One disadvantage of the pocket-sized body it that is can only accommodate the small NP-BX1 battery, which is rated for just 240 shots using the viewfinder, or 260 with the LCD – 20 more than the RX100 VI.

• A tiny flash unit pops up out of the top-plate, released by a sliding switch just behind the power button.
• The RX100 VI’s touchscreen gains no new functions, which means it can only be used to set the focus point and zoom into your images in playback, but not change settings. It can be set facing forwards for selfies or vlogging.
• Secondary settings are accessed most easily using the onscreen function menu, by pressing the Fn button. It’s clearly laid-out and quick to use, and can be customised for stills and video independently.
• Built-in Wi-Fi allows connection to a smartphone or tablet for image transfer or remote control via Sony’s free Imaging Edge Mobile app for Android or iOS. NFC can quickly set up a connection with compatible Android devices, while Bluetooth can be used for geotagging your images.

Build and handling

While the RX100 VII gained new innards and features compared to its predecessor, in other respects Sony recycled the same old design. Unfortunately, this isn’t entirely a good thing. On the positive side, the metal-shelled body feels reassuringly robust, and the clean lines make it easy to slip into a pocket. But Sony neglected to fix any of the RX100 design’s many and varied handling flaws.

As a result, the super-smooth body will try to slip through your fingers like a bar of soap at an inopportune moment, so you’ll need to use a wrist strap, at least. In fact, the first thing buyers should do is add the stick-on Sony AG-R2 grip, which adds nothing to the camera’s size while vastly improving its handling. It should really be included in the box, or even better built-in from the start. Instead you need to pay $15 / £12 extra just to keep a proper hold of the camera.

As with the previous six RX100 generations, the latest model is pretty horrible to use for anything more than a basic point-and-shoot. A good camera should get out of your way and facilitate change of its key settings, but the RX100 VII is obstructive every step of the way. The control dial on the back is awkwardly positioned, while the smoothly rotating one around the lens is awful, as it gives no tactile feedback at all. Both do the same thing by default most of the time, which completely misses the point of a two-dial camera.

The buttons are all tiny and difficult to locate by touch with the camera to your eye. The most important exposure settings (ISO and exposure compensation) are on buttons as far away from the thumb’s resting position as Sony could possibly have put them. Luckily, it’s possible to set the front dial to control exposure compensation directly.

As on the RX100 VI, the zoom lever works just a bit too quickly, making it difficult to set precise composition. This speed is customisable, but only to an even-faster setting. You can get more precise control by assigning zoom to the lens dial, but this feels like a waste of the camera’s limited control set.

Secondary functions are accessed from the well-implemented onscreen Fn Menu. Usefully, this can be customised separately for stills and video shooting, reducing how often you need to delve into the huge, poorly organised and often cryptically-labelled menu system – that’s now ballooned to more than 170 settings spread across 35 sections. Thankfully you can build a list of your most-used settings in the My Menu section, and save multiple shooting configurations for recall from the MR position on the mode dial. Both are well worth taking the time to set up.

One interface update inherited from the Alpha 6400 is the My Dial function, which allows you to temporarily re-assign the two controls dial by pressing a function button. This should be a valuable feature, but unfortunately it suffers from the same fundamental flaw of not telling you what it’s doing during viewfinder shooting, which makes it surprisingly awkward to use.

With other brands’ small cameras we find the touchscreen goes a long way to offsetting their handling quirks. Unfortunately, Sony still hasn’t programmed it with many functions. You can select the focus point when shooting with either the screen or the viewfinder, and double-tap to zoom into images during playback, then scroll around them to check focus and detail. But you can’t change any shooting settings, or make menu selections by touch. This is a poor showing from Sony, given that Canon and Panasonic both have excellent, fully integrated touch interfaces.

Overall, it’s impossible to ignore that the RX100 VII’s technological prowess has completely outgrown its body design and control layout. You have to question the logic of adding all its clever autofocus and continuous shooting features if they take so long to find and set up that you’ve missed the moment anyway.

Viewfinder and screen

The RX100 VII really excels in composing images, thanks to its pop-up EVF and tilting screen. The latter’s double-hinged design means it can tilt 90° downwards for overhead shooting, or 180° forward for selfies or vlogging. Its main failing is that it’s not bright enough to be usable in direct sunlight. A super-bright Sunny Weather menu setting is available to help with this – I’d add it to the My Menu.

Popping-up the viewfinder also turns the camera on, which makes perfect sense. Unfortunately pushing it down again turns the camera off, which is irritating given that you probably just wanted to use the screen instead. Thankfully you can disable this behaviour, but only by trawling through the menu to decipher ‘Function for VF close’ and set it to ‘Not Power OFF’.

On a more positive note, the viewfinder itself is very good: the 2.36-million-dot OLED is bright and clear, and its 0.59x equivalent magnification gives a decent sized view. Its design is a considerable improvement on the Canon PowerShot G5 X II or the short-zoom RX100s, as you don’t have to pull out the eyepiece after popping-up the EVF, or retract it before pushing the finder back down. But I still prefer using a finder that’s fixed in place and always available, like on Panasonic’s ZS / TZ models.

Autofocus

Sony’s big update across all of its camera range was its AI-based real-time autofocus. Technically, the firm says that the RX100 VII keeps track of the subject by analysing its colour, pattern and distance in real time, including face- and eye-recognition, while the camera conducts 60 autofocus calculation every second. The camera can seamlessly switch between focusing on the subject’s face and eye, and even hold focus if they turn away from the camera.

Real-time Eye AF works for both humans and animals, although not at the same time. Instead you have to select in the menu whether you prefer your family or your pets to be in focus. Also, while Eye AF can be combined with focus tracking for humans, this isn’t allowed for animals, which is odd, as pets have been known to run around a bit, too. Otherwise, the RX100 VII’s AF system has real practical advantages. When photographing people, you no longer have to specifically enable Eye AF by pressing a function button – it just works all the time.

The tracking mode is also incredibly good at sticking to your specified subject, no matter how it moves or you recompose your image. I found that I didn’t even have to move the focus area around the frame – instead being able to acquire focus and recompose, with the AF point sticking to the subject and keeping it in correct focus. With a camera like the RX100 VII that doesn’t have a dedicated AF area controller, this turns out to be a godsend.

Out of the box, AF tracking isn’t enabled, and when you try to turn it on, the camera will first declare that you can’t, because you need to switch to AF-C first. But once it’s set up, it works really well, with autofocus being ludicrously quick, essentially silent, and highly accurate. Even with fast-moving subject the hit-rate is very high, and the camera is no longer prone to dropping a sequence of three or four frames slightly out of focus like its predecessor did.

If you’d prefer to specify the focus point manually, this is still an option, and when shooting with the rear screen, you can simply tap on the subject. But with the viewfinder you’ll need to either enable the Touch Pad function to use the touchscreen, or if this doesn’t work for you, press the button in the centre of the rear dial then use the d-pad to set the focus point. This is pretty clunky, but no zoom compact is really much better. Thankfully, you can now set the focus area to be displayed in red, rather than the invisible middle-grey Sony has favoured in recent years.

Performance

Just like its predecessor, in most respects the Sony RX100 VII is an exceptionally snappy performer. It powers up in about a second, and from then on responds instantly to all of the controls. In particular its high-speed focusing and shooting means that you should very rarely miss a shot, just as long as you can set it up in time.

Auto white balance likewise does a very good job, and Sony seems to have reduced the tendency towards overly cool results in sunny conditions that I observed with the previous model. The JPEG colour has also been pepped up a bit, and the overall result is that the RX100 VII gives some of the most attractive files directly out-of-camera that I’ve seen from any Sony camera. In many cases I’d be perfectly happy to share them on social media directly, although some still benefit from brightening and colour-cast correction.

I found the metering to be exceptionally reliable in the multi-pattern mode, so while the usual array of modes are available such as average and spot, I didn’t need to use any of the others. The electronic viewfinder gives a reliable preview of how the image should turn out, so you can apply exposure compensation if necessary. There’s perhaps a slight tendency towards underexposure in certain conditions, which means the camera generally won’t clip highlight detail. Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimiser function does a great job of bringing out shadow detail in high-contrast scenes.

Like all compact cameras, the lens-shutter design is extremely quiet in operation. In fact if you turn off the various operational beeps and fake shutter sounds and engage the electronic shutter, the camera is completely silent. Thankfully in a welcome improvement over the RX100 VI, it uses the same subtle visual cues as the high-speed Alpha 9 to indicate when it’s shooting.

The camera only has a conventional SD slot rather than the faster UHS-II type, so it can take a long time to record a burst of images to card, especially if you shoot 20fps bursts. This doesn’t have too much impact on operation, as you can still shoot more images and change many settings while the camera is writing. However you can’t initiate video recording until it’s finished, or adjust the flash or drive modes.

The lens is an excellent performer, especially considering its relatively long range. It’s very sharp in the centre wide open, but the corners are slightly soft, particularly at the extremes of the range. As a result, you’ll want to close it down a stop or two when shooting scenes such as landscapes where there’s detail right across the scene. I’d avoid the minimum aperture of f/11, as it gives very soft images due to diffraction.

Battery life isn’t great, with the small NP-BX1 rated for 240 to 640 shots per charge, depending on whether you use the LCD or viewfinder. To get the most out of it I’d recommend setting more aggressive power-management settings than Sony’s defaults, and making a point of powering the camera off after shooting. Even then, it makes sense to buy a spare battery and a charger to ensure you can get through the day.

Image quality

While the RX100 VII sports the most recent generation of Sony’s 20MP 1in sensor, this doesn’t bring much obvious change in terms of image quality. So just like the RX100 VI it delivers highly detailed images at low ISO settings, while keeping noise fairly well under control at sensitivity settings up to ISO 1600 or so. The top ISOs are just about tolerable if you convert to black & white, but even then, visible banding artefacts can creep into shadow regions.

This means that the RX100 VII has no significant advantage over other compact cameras with the same size sensor, including the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II and the Panasonic ZS100 / TZ100 and ZS200D / TZ200D in terms of raw image quality. Instead the main differentiators between these cameras will be the lens, and for JPEG shooters, the in-camera processing.

Resolution

Looking at the JPEG output, the camera resolves around 3200 lines per picture height at ISO 80, with the camera’s processing blurring higher frequencies in a bid to minimise sampling artefacts. Switch to raw and this improves dramatically, with almost 3600 lph resolved in our chart test. As always, increasing the sensitivity results in a progressive drop in resolution, with 3200 lph achieved at ISO 400, and 2800 lph at ISO 3200. The top two settings deteriorate even more rapidly, with just 2600 lph attained at ISO 6400, and 2400 lph at the highest option of ISO 12,800. From the 100% crops below, multiply the number below the lines by 200 to calculate the resolution.

ISO and noise

At low ISOs the RX100 VII produces excellent image files with no visible noise and plenty of fine detail. There’s very little deterioration up to ISO 400, but beyond this, noise becomes more prominent and fine detail deteriorates. However you’ll still get entirely usable images at ISO 1600 if you don’t need to print them large. However at ISO 3200, fine low-contrast texture has essentially been swamped by noise. The top two settings really don’t look great, with lots of noise and some banding creeping into shadow areas. ISO 6400 might be OK when there’s no other option, but I’d steer clear of ISO 12,800 completely.

Sony RX100 VII: Verdict

With the RX100 VII, Sony has done what it does best, and crammed an astonishing amount of technology into a tiny package. Somehow it’s fitted a 24-200mm equivalent zoom, electronic viewfinder, tilting screen, 20 fps shooting and 4K video recording into a body that you can slip into a jacket pocket. Its autofocus system is a genuine advance too, especially if you regularly shoot erratically moving subjects such as sports or children. This is, without doubt, the most accomplished pocket camera on the market.

Unfortunately, though, the RX100 VII is also a glaring example of Sony doing what it does worst, and cramming complex features into an interface and body design that’s ill equipped to integrate them. Sometimes it’s merely unpleasant to use, but other times it feels actively obstructive. It’s a real shame that Sony hasn’t put the same effort into improving the RX100 design as it has into evolving its Alpha 7 series models.

The big other question is whether you’re prepared to pay a huge premium for a bunch of advanced features you may rarely, if ever, use. Its cheaper competitors may not match its capabilities, but they’re really not that far off. For a small pocket camera with a viewfinder for creative photography, then the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II might be a better bet – if you can find one. Meanwhile if you just want a long zoom lens and decent image quality in a compact design, Panasonic’s Lumix ZS100 / TZ100 or ZS200D / TZ200D both deliver this at a much lower price.

Ultimately, then, the RX100 VII is much the same story as its predecessor: incredible technology in a deeply flawed body design at an eye-watering price. And much as I said with the RX100 VI, I’d struggle to justify spending $1,298 / £1,049 on a point-and-shoot that’s so frustrating to use, no matter how good the results. But if you can afford it and are prepared to live with its flaws, the Sony RX100 VII is a phenomenally capable pocket camera.

Specifications

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The rise of smartphones, with their slimline convenience and rapid improvements to their cameras, has seriously disrupted the world of dedicated compact cameras. Despite the effects on demand for these, Canon, Fujifilm, Ricoh, Panasonic, Sony and Leica continue to make them.

Many of the brands focus on producing ‘premium’ type of compact, which are known for offering large sensors, superb electronic viewfinders and fast, high-quality lenses. We rated the Fujifilm X100V as the top retro compact camera in our best compact cameras article. Before you read the full Fujifilm X100V camera review, here’s a quick look at its features.

At a glance:

• $1,399 / £1,365
• 26.1MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor
• X-Processor 4
• Fixed 23mm F2.0 lens
• Hybrid Viewfinder (OVF&EVF)
• Two-way tilting touchscreen
• 4K video at 30fps
• Compatible with legacy conversion lenses

Fujifilm’s popular X100-series has gained an excellent reputation with street and travel photographers. The combination of classic design, fast fixed lens, large APS-C sensor and hybrid viewfinder has been its recipe for success.

With the fifth member in the X100-series, Fujifilm has continued to find ways to improve it by listening carefully to those who use it routinely. But does the X100V still appeal and justify a four-figure price tag from new? It’s time to find out…

To find out what it’s like to own and use the Fujifilm X100V, have a look at our Fujifilm X100V Field Test.

Features

Viewed from the front, the X100 does not appear so different from its predecessors. While it retains the soul of the X100 and X100S, X100T and X100F, the X100V has changed in many ways.

Rather than inheriting the lens from the X100F, Fujifilm has reconfigured it. The configuration of 8 elements in 6 groups remains unchanged, but the lens now unites a pair of aspherical elements in its construction. Previous generations have had just one.

The 23mm fixed focal length (equivalent to 35mm) and aperture range (f/2 to f/16) is the same. It also upholds a minimum focusing distance of 10cm. Fujifilm say the newly added aspherical element results in better edge-to-edge sharpness, lower distortion and improved performance at close focus distances. The lens is, however, prone to extending and retracting very slightly when focusing.

There’s good news for those who own existing adapters or legacy conversion lenses. The dimensions of the lens are identical to existing models, making them fully compatible. You can also unscrew a ring at the front and attach Fujifilm’s wide conversion lens (WCL-X100 II) or tele-conversion lens (TCL-X100 II), turning the X100V’s 23mm lens into a 28mm equivalent (0.8x) or 50mm (1.4x) equivalent.

It’s important to acknowledge that Fujifilm’s first-generation conversion lenses remain compatible. Unlike the second-generation versions, the X100V doesn’t automatically detect these when attached. Instead, you manually select ‘tele’ or ‘wide’ from the conversion lens option in the menu; or from a pre-set function button.

Behind the X100V’s lens lies the same sensor and processor combination as many of Fujifilm’s premium X-series mirrorless models. The back-illuminated 26.1-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS 4 APS-C sensor and quad-core X-Processor 4 bring a number of benefits to the X100V. You get a wider sensitivity range of ISO 160-12,800 (extendable to ISO 80-51,200). There’s also continuous shooting rates of up to 11fps with the mechanical shutter, 20fps with the electronic shutter, or 30fps with a 1.25x crop.

It’s great to see Fujifilm using its latest generation X-Trans CMOS 4 technology inside an X100-series model for the first time. Although, such fast shooting speeds aren’t a prerequisite for its street, travel or documentary users.

The X100V’s autofocus has been improved, too. Like Fujifilm’s premium X-T and X-Pro models, the X100V spreads 2.16-million phase-detection pixels across the surface of its sensor and obtains focus as hastily as 0.02sec. There’s the ability to acquire focus in light levels as low as -5EV. Plus, users get to choose from 117 AF points arranged in a 9×13 formation across the frame, or increase this to a 425-point layout (17×25 grid) for more precise positioning.

The X100V is also equipped with face and eye detection, AF-C custom settings and Fujifilm’s AF range limiter function. You can use the latter to tell the lens to focus across a specific range of distances. This can be useful when the distance to the subject remains consistent and you’d like to stop the lens focusing across a wider AF range than necessary.

As we’ve seen on other X-Series models, the X100V’s mechanical focal plane shutter has a 1/4000sec limit. By activating the electronic shutter, there’s the option to shoot at up to 1/32,000sec. When you’d like to work with wide apertures in bright conditions, this option can be particularly useful. Helpfully, the X100V has its own 4-stop ND filter built-in too, which goes one better than the 3-stop ND filter offered on the X100F.

Monochromatic colour mode gives users precise control over how warm or cool images appear. Eterna and Classic Negative film simulations are added too and every film simulation is available when shooting video. For more on film simulations, check out our guide to Which camera company has the best film-simulation modes?

You can shoot 4K video footage at 30p/25p/24p with a bit rate of 200Mbps for up to ten minutes. Full HD video at up to 120fps is available for a maximum record time of fifteen minutes. Plus, you can record in 10-bit, 4:2:2 via the X100V’s HDMI port. It’s good to see video mode supporting face/eye detection, too. At the side, the X100V is equipped with a 2.5mm mic input, USB Type C port and HDMI (Type D) micro connector.

Like the X100F, the X100V accepts Fujifilm’s widely used NP-W126S battery. Shooting stamina is upped to 350 frames using the EVF, or 420 shots using the optical viewfinder. In-camera charging via USB is supported, and a USB cable (type A to C) comes supplied in the box. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth feature too, enabling wireless transfer and wireless remote control. Both require you to install Fujifilm’s Camera Remote app on iOS and Android mobile devices.

Weather Resistance

One of the criticisms X100-series models have received in the past is their lack of weather resistance. Many photographers want to have the option of shooting in all weather. So, Fujifilm added weather resistance around the body and to the viewfinder to ensure the X100V is more durable. In addition, it released an optional weather-resistant kit that consists of an AR-X100 adapter ring and PRF-49 protection filter.

The kit seals the lens from water, moisture, dust and sand. It costs $123 / £99 and is available in black or silver to match the two available camera finishes. You can find used versions of the weather-resistant kit online from $98 / £79.

Build and Handling

I’d say the X100V has received the biggest shake up in the history of the X100-series in terms of build and handling. You’ll notice the finish to the edge of the body is sharper, as the top and bottom plates are single pieces of aluminium.

The aluminium covers are built around a magnesium alloy frame to uphold a high level of robustness. These are exquisitely finished in a satin coating. Furthermore, the all-black version is anodised rather than painted to give it a deep black finish.

Fujifilm have removed the four-way buttons from the rear on this model. And the drive dial is where the view mode button was on the X100F. You’re forced to nudge the joystick to navigate the menu as a result. There aren’t any buttons beneath your thumb for quick access to customised functions, either.

Shifting the Q-menu button to the right a little has helped prevent accidental presses. However, it is slightly too small. There were times when I was searching for it with the viewfinder raised to my eye. The rear dial, like the front dial, benefits from a better-knurled finish. You can be depress both to activate user-defined functions.

Like the X100F, the X100V features an ISO dial built around the shutter speed dial on the top plate. To address criticisms that it was too fiddly on the X100F, Fujifilm has redesigned it. It’s similar to the arrangement on the X100F – you lift the outer portion of the dial to adjust the ISO value. Another plus is it no longer requires lifting it and rotating it simultaneously. Pull the outer ring up and you can rotate the ISO dial freely with your thumb before you push back down to lock it in place.

To adjust sensitivity on the fly, you can set the ISO dial to its ‘C’ setting and use the front dial. This has always been my preferred way of working when needing to setup and shoot quickly. As we’ve seen before, the on/off switch encircles the X100V’s threaded shutter button that accepts traditional style screw-in cable releases. Although the button next to it is no longer labelled as a function button, you can hold it down to assign it a setting.

Like previous generations, the X100V feels solid and well constructed. It certainly is ready to put up with some rough and tumble as well as daily wear and tear. Its premium build quality is immediately obvious when you pick it up. Better still, it’s neither too big or heavy that it feels a burden to carry on days out.

Another benefit of its new weather resistance is that it allows you to head out with just one camera. In the past, many X100-series users have been known to carry a weather-sealed X-series body, such as an X-Pro2, in their bag for when wet weather strikes. Pack or attach the weather resistant kit before heading out and a second weather-sealed camera is no longer a necessity.

Viewfinder and Screen

Once again the X100V sports a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder. In its optical mode, the finder provides parallax-corrected frame lines, detailed exposure information and other icons that reveal battery status, film simulation and image quality settings around the outside of the frame. I should point out, though, that you can’t always view these easily in bright or backlit conditions.

Compared to the X100F’s optical viewfinder, which offered 92% coverage and a 0.5x magnification, the X100V’s has increased to 95% coverage and 0.52x magnification. The EVF is the best we’ve ever used on an X100-series model. To activate EVF, pull the switch at the front of the body. The jump in resolution to 3.69-million dots, higher 0.66x magnification and improved brightness, contribute to a clear and refined viewing experience.

An entirely new LCD screen compliments the upgraded viewfinder, and you can use this for composition and playback purposes. The X100V is the first X100-series model to feature a two-way tilting 3in, 1.62-million-dot touchscreen. This assists with shooting from the hip or any awkward angles.

Fujifilm has implemented a tilting screen without adding any bulk by making it thin but not flimsy. One thing to note is when you angle the screen down you need to pull it out a little first. The touchscreen control extends to the quick menu, but not the main menu. You can control both with Fujifilm’s entry-level X-A7 and X-T200 mirrorless camera screens.

Performance

I conducted side-by-side tests with an X100F that MPB.com kindly loaned to us. Just like the X100F, the X100V produces impressive corner-to-corner sharpness with minimal distortion and chromatic aberration.

At long focus distances, the X100V’s lens produces marginally sharper results towards the edge when you use at its maximum aperture. Where the obvious difference lies though is at close focusing distances (see above examples). Images taken on the X100F appear very soft when you attempt to focus on subjects as close as 10cm. Identical shots I took on the X100V revealed that sharpness at close distances is far superior. You won’t find that you’re forced to stop down to f/4 or smaller like you are on the X100F.

These findings confirm that the changes to the optical design have made a notable difference. That said, the lens does continue to exhibit veiling flare in instances when you shoot directly towards the sun. The lens hood (LH-X100) that Fujifilm makes for its X100-series can be purchased for $87/£69 to help mitigate flare.

The camera’s start-up time is rated at 0.5secs. That’s slightly slower than the X-Pro3, but not something I found to be a deal-breaker. The auto power off function can be set between 15secs and 5 minutes. By setting this up you can preserve battery life, plus it saves you using the on/off switch quite as often.

The advantage that comes with having many more phase detection points spread across the sensor is more responsive autofocus acquisition. The X100V doesn’t tend to hunt as much as the X100F. I picked up on that behaviour when the focus point was positioned towards the edge of the frame and I attempted several shots in a dim indoors environment.

The fact the lens moves in and out during focusing does mean it can’t perform at the same rapid speed of today’s internal-focus lenses. Saying that, I didn’t encounter any missed opportunities during my testing because it failed to achieve focus fast enough. Just like Fujifilm’s latest mirrorless cameras, face and eye detection makes critical focusing a breeze when you’re shooting portraits. A yellow square inside the green face detection box reveals which eye it’s locked onto.

From the main menu, the X100V provides a plethora of options to aid with day-to-day shooting. The mechanical shutter is very quiet. However, there’s the option to take images in silence by activating the electronic shutter. This feature is great for street photographers who’d like to go about their work unnoticed.

A couple of batteries should suffice for a day’s shooting. However, be warned that transferring images wirelessly can see the battery level drain very quickly. The option to plug the X100V into a USB power-bank or USB car adapter is very convenient.

There are no surprises in terms of the X100V’s sensor output. In typical Fujifilm fashion, the quality of images straight out of the camera sees faithful colour and accurate exposure met by high levels of detail and excellent noise control.

The new Classic Negative simulation has quickly become a favourite of many X-Photographers. It produces a vintage film vibe with increased saturation and more contrast than you get using Classic Chrome. Returning to Standard/Provia mode after using some of the rich film simulation modes colours can appear a little dull and lacking in vibrancy.

Experimenting with the tone curve using the highlight tone and shadow tone options that you’ll come across in the Q menu or main menu lets us to maximise the dynamic range in JPEG images without affecting raw files. Increasing the highlight tone to a positive value brightens the highlights and decreasing it to -1 or -2 retains detail in brighter areas. As for the shadow tone, increasing it to a positive figure darkens the shadows, whereas decreasing the value to -1 or -2 retains detail in the darkest areas. One slight peculiarity you’ll need to get your head around when adjusting these settings is the counterintuitive operation of the rear dial.

A fast burst performance isn’t the be all and end all for street and documentary photographers, nevertheless it’s something we always make a point of testing. Loaded with a fast SDHC UHS-II card capable of 260MB/s read and 240MB/s write speeds the X100V managed to record 18 raw files at 8fps or 11fps using its mechanical shutter. This figure increased to 40 frames at 11fps when the image quality was set to Fine JPEG.

Engaging the X100v’s electronic shutter allowed 17 raw files to be recorded at 20fps before slowdown occurred – one frame more than was recorded at 30fps with a 1.25x crop. Approximately 33 Fine JPEGs were recorded at 30fps before the camera showed signs of slowing.

Image Quality

The X100V features the tried and tested 26.1-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS 4 APS-C sensor that’s used by the X-T4, X-T3, X-Pro3 and X-T30. It has a back-illuminated structure to enhance low-light performance and with no optical low-pass filter users will find extremely fine detail is preserved high into the ISO range.

While the finest image quality is achieved by shooting in Raw, the quality of JPEGs straight out of the camera is astonishingly impressive. JPEGs don’t suffer from being too heavily processed, with colours remaining punchy and true-to-life.

Resolution

The level of detail recorded by the X100V’s sensor is comparable to the detail resolved by the X-T3, X-T30 and X-Pro3. It resolves a maximum of 3,400l/ph between ISO 100 and ISO 400, with resolution dropping ever so slightly at ISO 800 to 3,200l/ph. Pushing past ISO 800 sees the level of detail stand up extremely well with 3,200l/ph being resolved at ISO 1600 and 3,100l/ph at ISO 3200. Detail dips below 3,000l/ph when the sensitivity is pushed beyond ISO 6400. The detail resolved at ISO 12,800 (2,900l/ph) remains high and the sensor even manages to resolve 2,400l/ph when shooting in the expanded ISO 51,200 setting.

Noise

The X100V is the fourth Fujifilm X-series camera we’ve tested that uses the 26.1-million-pixel X-Trans CMOS 4 APS-C sensor. Shoot between ISO 80 and ISO 800 and you’ll be guaranteed wonderfully clean images free of noise. It’s only when you select ISO 1600 that you start to notice noise appearing under close inspection. Noise is so well controlled at the ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 settings that users won’t find themselves shying away from using them. ISO 6400 is useable too with some noise reduction applied, but luminance noise does start to become a little more pronounced in images captured at ISO 12,800. The detail that’s resolved at ISO 12,800 isn’t quite what it is at ISO 3200, however this wouldn’t put me off pushing the X100V to ISO 12,800 in low-light situations. The extended settings should be given a wide berth if you want to preserve optimum image quality.

Fujifilm X100V Review: Verdict

It’s clear that Fujifilm has a good thing going with its X100-series. We’ve seen it evolve a long way and the X100V continues to preserve the iconic design and classic styling that X100-series cameras have become known and loved for.

With the X100V, Fujifilm hasn’t updated it by simply adding their latest X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor and fastest processor. They’ve advanced it to the nth degree and created a better tool for photographers who like the simplicity that comes with working with a fixed lens compact and others who’d like a beautifully designed camera that conveniently fits a jacket pocket, which can be pulled out in a moments notice to capture truly stunning images.

The X100V improves in many crucial areas, not least its lens, which contributes to much sharper, crisper images when shooting close subjects at wide apertures. Then there’s the autofocus system, which is snappier in operation and covers a wider area of the frame. The ability to record 4K video, albeit up to 10 minutes in length and without being able to employ the ND filter, is good to have too and the new tilting screen is so thin it allows users who’d like to shoot inconspicuously from the hip to do so without adding any extra bulk to the body.

There will be some who’d prefer it if it was weather sealed out of the box or supplied with the weather resistant kit at no extra cost, but this is a minor gripe on what is otherwise a very robust and extremely well finished camera. The removal of the four-way buttons at the rear is my only real criticism, which I’d like to have seen preserved like they are on Fujifilm’s X-T3 and X-T4. Though I accept the touchscreen can be swiped to access different functions, this isn’t the same in my opinion to having physical buttons below your thumb that you can quickly and easily access with your right hand.

To conclude, the X100V is a gorgeous little camera that’s as satisfying to look at as it is to shoot with. It has a special thing going for it in the way it inspires you to venture out and take pictures, which I put down to how easy it is to carry and the great images it creates straight off the bat. Anyone who buys the X100V can’t fail to fall in love with it.

If your budget doesn’t quite stretch to the fabulous X100V, check out the best Fujifilm cameras, and don’t miss our guide to the best Second-hand Classic Compact Cameras. If you can’t find the X100V, then have a look at our guide to the best retro Fujifilm X100V alternatives. 

Our first impressions – what follows are our observations when the camera was first released:

Fujifilm X100V: At a glance

• $1,399 / £1,349
• 26.1MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor
• X-Processor 4
• 23mm F2.0 lens
• Hybrid Viewfinder (OVF&EVF)
• Two-way tilting touchscreen
• 4K video at 30fps
• Compatible with legacy conversion lenses

Hot on the heels of its latest entry-level mirrorless release, the X-T200, Fujifilm has unveiled its fifth model in its iconic and stylish X100 series. The all-new Fujifilm X100V replaces the Fujifilm X100F from 2017 and introduces a number of improvements to make it the most advanced premium fixed lens compact in Fujifilm’s history.

Top of the list of new and improved features are a redesigned 23mm F2.0 fixed lens, a two-way tilting screen and advanced weather resistance – things we’re told Fujifilm has received many requests for from existing X100 users.

We recently laid hands on the X100V at Fujifilm’s X-Summit 2020 live broadcast in London where we got a chance to study it in detail and form some early impressions.

Features

The X100V is the latest X-series camera to inherit Fujifilm’s 26.1MP X-Trans CMOS 4 APS-C sensor and quad-core X-Processor 4. These are also used in the X-T3, X-Pro3 and X-T30. Together they deliver a sensitivity range of ISO 160-12,800 (extendable to ISO 80-51,200), along with continuous shooting rates of 11fps with the mechanical shutter, 20fps with the electronic shutter, or 30fps with a 1.25x crop.

To compliment the X100V’s sensor, Fujifilm has designed a new 23mm F2.0 lens for the X100V that promises better resolution, lower distortion and improved performance in the corners and at close focus distances. The good news is that the improvements to the optics have had no influence on the size of the lens, meaning it remains fully compatible with existing adapters and legacy conversion lenses.

Photographers can use the wide conversion lens (WCL-X100 II) or tele-conversion lens (TCL-X100 II) to extend the X100V’s fixed 23mm focal length (equivalent to 34.5mm in 35mm terms) to a 28mm equivalent (0.8x) or 50mm (1.4x) equivalent lens.

In addition to weather sealing around the body and viewfinder, Fujifilm has designed a weather resistance kit for the X100V (£99) to enhance its operability in poor weather. The adapter ring (AR-X100) and protection filter (PRF-49) make the X100V fully weather resistant and for UK customers this kit will be sold at half price (£49.50) when purchased with the camera.

Like its predecessors, the X100V features a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder. In its optical mode, the finder continues to provide parallax-corrected frame lines, along with detailed overlaid exposure information, but now offers wider 95% coverage and a higher 0.52x magnification. As for the EVF, this has been upgraded to offer a clearer viewing experience with a 3.69-million-dot resolution, 0.66x magnification and improved contrast and brightness.

The X100V’s autofocus performance goes one better too. It can now focus down to -5EV in low light and spreads no fewer than 2.16-million phase-detection pixels across the surface of its sensor. Users can select from 117 AF points laid out in a 9×13 formation, which can be increased to a 425-point layout consisting a 17×25 grid.

Furthermore, the X100V provides enhanced face and eye detection and is equipped with Fujifilm’s focus limiter function that can be used to set the lens to a specific range of distances, which can be useful when the distance to the subject photographed remains consistent and fast focus is required.

Other new additions include built-in 4-stop ND filter, which improves on the X100F’s built-in 3-stop ND filter, and a wider selection of film simulation modes. These include the Classic Negative mode that made its debut in the Fujifilm X-Pro3.

Videographers benefit from having the ability to record 4K video at 30p or Full HD at up to 120fps. Those who’d like to record in 10-bit, 4:2:2 can do so via the X100V’s HDMI port, it has a 2.5mm microphone input at the side, and film simulation modes, such as Eterna, can be applied to video footage.

Another welcome improvement is the X100V’s improved battery life. This lasts for 350 frames when using the EVF, or 420 frames using the optical viewfinder (OVF). With a USB Type-C port at the side, users have the option to charge on the go, and just as you’d expect, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is built-in to enable wireless transferring and remote control with devices running Fujifilm’s Camera Remote app.

Build & Handling

The X100V shares the same charm and elegance with its predecessors, however there are quite a few differences that aren’t immediately obvious. With regard to its build quality, the top and bottom plates are now manufactured from single pieces of aluminium, resulting in a much cleaner and crisper finish around the edge of the body than previous versions.

The aluminium covers, which are built around a magnesium alloy frame to uphold a high level of robustness, are also exquisitely finished in a satin coating, with the all black version being anodised rather than painted to give what Fujifilm calls a ‘deeper black finish’.

On the top plate, the X100V, like the X100F, benefits from an ISO dial that’s built around the shutter speed dial. It’s rather similar to the arrangement you’ll find on Fujifilm’s X-Pro3 in that the outer portion of the dial is lifted to adjust the ISO value, but it’s also vastly improved in the way it doesn’t have to be lifted and rotated simultaneously. Pull the outer ring up and the ISO dial can be rotated freely with your thumb before it’s pushed back down to lock it in place. It’s a much-improved design that we can see other X-series models benefiting from in the future.

At the rear of the camera some further changes have been made. The most significant is the new two-way tilting 3in, 1.62-million-dot touchscreen that replaces the fixed screen of old. By designing the screen unit incredibly thinly, users get the benefit of a tilt screen with no additional bulk – indeed you wouldn’t really know it’s a tilt screen if it wasn’t for the cut-out at the bottom corner of the body that makes it easier to pull out.

Touchscreen control extends to the quick menu, however the X100V doesn’t support navigation of the main menu by touch like we’ve recently seen on Fujifilm’s entry-level X-A7 and X-T200 mirrorless cameras.

The other change at the rear is the absence of a four-way controller. Instead users are encouraged to use the joystick and the Menu/OK, playback and DISP/Back buttons that are aligned beneath. A quick menu button remains, but this has been shifted to the right a little to prevent accidental thumb presses.

Though the thumb grip is said to have been refined, the feel of the X100V in the hand when you’re shooting is almost identical to its predecessor, the X100F.

First Impressions

It’s clear that with the X100V, Fujifilm has listened carefully to what existing X100 users have had to say and responded by making a series of valuable improvements to key areas of its operation and design.

If the examples we were shown of how the new lens resolves sharpness is anything to go by, we can expect the X100V to produce far better image quality in the corners, plus with the addition of weather resistance, photographers will no longer be afraid of using it, or feel forced to switch to a different camera when the weather conditions takes a turn for the worse.

Adding a tilt screen will be of huge benefit to street photographers who like to shoot inconspicuously from the hip and other tweaks such as improving the hybrid viewfinder, refining ISO control from the top plate and giving it an even more premium finish are likely to allure existing X100 users into thinking about an upgrade. We instantly fell in love with the X100V in the short time we used it. This review declares the Fujifilm X100V camera as small and great.

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DJI is back with a new action camera and this time it’s added Pro to the name. Action camera fanatic, Matty Graham, discovers if the performance and features of this new version will live up to its grand new title…

Most content creators out there know all about DJI’s action cameras. After all, this is the fifth iteration from the brands popular Osmo Action range that took the fight to GoPro, among other contenders in the sector, such as Insta360.

2023 saw DJI take a big step forward with the Osmo Action 4, swapping out a 1/1.7-inch sensor in favour of a larger 1/1.3-inch version, which resulted in a big bump to video quality, particularly in low light conditions.

At A Glance – DJI OSMO Action 5

• Sensor 1/1.3 inch sensor
• Waterproof depth: 20 metres (without case)
• Screens: Dual OLED High-Brightness touchscreens
• Stills Resolution: 40-megapixel
• Max video resolution: 4K
• Operating time: 240 minutes
• Internal storage: 47GB
• Built-in pressure gauge: Yes
• £329 standard combo

For full disclosure, I’m a big action camera fan, owning models from GoPro, Insta360 and every iteration from DJI has released – from the original, right up to this latest model. I use them predominantly for filming automotive content, bolting the action cameras onto the side of tracking cars because, let’s face it, using a five grand cinema camera at those speeds is just too damn dangerous.

But action cameras have grown to record extreme sports, and content creators now employ them in a multitude of applications from vlogging to B-cameras.

Well fast-forward and the Action 4’s successor has landed, in the shape of the Osmo Action 5 Pro – the first camera in the range to carry the ‘Pro’ moniker, suggesting that a more entry-level version of the action camera could arrive a little way down the road.

For now though, we’re focusing on the Pro, what’s new about it, what hasn’t changed and, most importantly, whether the video quality has seen a further leap forward.

Features – If it ain’t broke…

The Osmo Action series has proved popular for a simple reason; it works and it works damn well, giving content creators a small, lightweight camera that is supremely rugged and easy to use.

DJI aficionados will point out that the Action 2 deviated from this form factor and features a modular design, but we’ll park that for a moment as we explain that the body is pretty much exactly the same as the Action 4, bar a few changes.

Firstly, weather sealing has seen a bump and when you undo the battery compartment latch and feel the sealing area, it does feel just that little bit more serious. The proof of this statement is that the Action 5 can dive deeper underwater without the need of a waterproof case (20 metres compared to 18 on the Action 4) and this will appeal to scuba shooters who want to record their dives.

What’s more a new built-in pressure gauge will display both depth and altitude data, further exciting adrenaline junkies out there who want to record their adventures.

Operating time is also up to 240 minutes from 160 minutes on the older Action 4 and that’s a big jump that will make a serious difference out in the field.

But for the most part, the form factor is the same, with the buttons and latches in the same place.

Be aware though that, with an ever so slightly more pronounced Rec button on the top plate, some third-party cages (like my PGYTECH case) will not fit the new Action 5.

If you already own a DJI Osmo Action 3 or 4 and have invested in extra batteries, the good news is that they are compatible with the Action 5, although the new camera ships with batteries that boast extra capacity (1950mAh compared to 1770mAh) and the package includes DJI’s clever charge case so that up to three batteries can be charged at once.

The field of view is the same at 155-degrees and features the same f/2.8 maximum aperture, although the physical diameter of the lens area is slightly larger. This is bad news for anyone (like myself) who has invested in additional CPL or ND filter accessories.

Features continued – Same but different

Here’s the good news and the bad news; the Action 5 features a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which is the same size as the Action 4, and this will disappoint those who had their hearts set on a 1-inch sensor.

However the silver lining is that, despite being the same size, DJI says the sensor inside the Action 5 is an all-new version and that this unlocks the door to some new features that will offer more tolerance when colour grading footage.

Carried over from the Action 4 is 10-bit D-Log, but all-new for the Action 5 is the introduction of an HLG profile.

Video resolutions are the same with 4K capture at 60p or 120p in case you wish to use that footage for a slow motion sequence and, with the Action 5, 4K 120p can be shot in the 4:3 format.

DJI claims the new sensor returns a Dynamic Range of up to 13.5-stops and there’s also a night mode to film in low light conditions.

In truth, to truly discover a lot of the newer features, your best bet is to sit down and just work your way through, navigating through the settings and trying each mode out. Some come with compromises; for example, the new Subject Detection mode works only up to 2.7K, which is frustrating, but this is countered by how scarily well it identifies subjects in the frame and is a great option for those vlogging with the Action 5.

Present still are the Rocksteady and Rocksteady+ stabilisation modes, which work well, but still come second to the stabilisation offered by the gimbal-stabilised Osmo Pocket 3. When it comes to Vloggers, choosing between the two models will be a tricky task.

AC004 · f/2.8 · 1/1500s · 3.33mm · ISO399

This dilemma is made even harder by the fact that the Action 5 now offers connectivity support to dual DJI mics, so you can use the brilliant DJI Mic 2 system to record interviews and this again will be a massive plus for Vloggers.

Also new with the Action 5 is 47GB of internal storage – super handy if you have forgotten a Micro SD card or you simply need emergency space to save your content.

Performance – Beefy stills, better video

While the Action 4 was a great camera for videographers, it left those shooting stills a little cold as the cam could only capture 12-megapixels stills (JPEGs/RAWs).

AC004 · f/2.8 · 1/1500s · 3.33mm · ISO400

Well, the Action 5 moves things on massively as you can now capture 40-megapixels JPEGs or RAW. This translates to a jump in max pixel size from 4000 x 2256 pixels on the Action 4 to 7296 x 5472 pixels on the Action 5. That’s almost double the pixel size of the Action 4 and will mean you can crop in on frames to adjust the compensation without overly compromising image quality.

Better still, I found that when editing the RAW stills files in Lightroom, the frames had a lot of tolerance and flexibility to recover Highlights, boost shadows and generally push the pixels harder to suit your vision of the frame.

So here’s the big question; is the video footage better? And the answer is undoubtedly yes. I tested the Action 5 against the Action 4 in a range of different scenes with varying lighting conditions – from bright blue skies to low light dusk.

I have to say, viewing the footage side by side, the Action 5 seems noticeably brighter, crisper and simply more pleasing to the eye. My preference is to film with the HLG profile, but I’m not disappointed by the 10-bit D-Log footage either and all profiles are capable of returning pro-looking footage that can be edited and further graded on software such as Premiere Pro.

To push the look of the footage further, I would have liked to have seen some additional accessories that users of the new GoPro Hero 13 Black can take advantage of, such as the Macro and Anamorphic modular filters. You can view high-speed video here.

Verdict

As a long-time DJI user who owns every single version of the Osmo Action, I can honestly say the Action 5 is a decent leap forward that builds on a tried and tested system. The improvements may not be headline-grabbing but they will make a difference out in the field and to the overall quality of your footage.

The lack of 5.7K is a shame, but 4K is more than enough for most and does offer advantages in terms of storage space and balancing the burden when editing on your computer.

In reality though, the biggest rival for the Action 5 isn’t GoPro, but the brand’s own Osmo Pocket 3. For vlogging, I would still prefer to shoot with the physical gimbal offered by the Pocket, rather than the electronic stabilisation from the Action 5. That said, if there is ANY chance your filming in wet or dangerous conditions then the Action 5 is the no-brainer choice.

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The DJI Mini 4 Pro claims to be the ultimate all-rounder amongst lightweight portable drones: it may even join our list of best drones with cameras.

At under 249g, it punches above its weight for its image-quality. Angela Nicholson has been at the control sticks and took this compact drone for a test flight. Read on to find out how the Mini 4 Pro performs in aerial photography.

DJI Mini 4 Pro – At a glance

• $759 / £689 with the DJI RC-N2 controller
• $1,159 / £869 with the DJI RC2 controller
• Drone with integrated camera
• Weighs less than 249g
• 12/48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor
• 4K video recording at up to 100p
• 24mm equivalent f/1.7 lens
• 3-axis mechanical stabilisation
• www.dji.com

DJI Mini 4 Pro – Features

• Folding design – As usual, the drone’s arms fold against the body to make it easier to transport
• Propellers – The four propellers are user-replaceable, but a small screwdriver is required to attach each blade
• Object detection – Sensors around the drone’s body inform the object avoidance system
• Vertical or horizontal shooting – The camera can be rotated through 90° for vertical shooting

The DJI Mini 4 Pro remains the most recent of DJI’s line-up of drones weighing less than 250g. This weight is crucial as it means you only need to get an Operator ID from the CAA to fly the Mini 4 Pro in the UK. Once that’s sorted, provided you have the landowner’s permissions to take-off and land, you can fly it almost anywhere except for designated flight restriction zones such as airports, military zones, and prisons. It’s a different story in different states of the USA, as our readers there will doubtless know. If not, you can find out.

Predictably, ensuring the Mini 4 Pro stays under the 249g mark inclusive of its battery, propellers, and a microSD card, gives it a rather fragile feel. But like its predecessor, the Mini 3 Pro, you still get a 1/1.3-inch type sensor in the camera.

Again like the Mini 3 Pro, the standard Intelligent Flight Battery that comes with the drone allows up to 34 minutes of flying. A beefier Intelligent Flight Battery Plus boosts that to 45-minutes but it pushes the drone’s weight above 250g, so DJI doesn’t sell it in the UK.

Camera capabilities

DJI appears to have used the same camera hardware in the Mini 4 Pro as is in the Mini 3 Pro. Consequently, its sensor has a quad-Bayer design. Essentially, this means every pixel is split into four sub-units that can report individually or collectively, so there’s a choice of shooting 12MP or 48MP images in DNG raw and JPEG format.

The lens is also the same 24mm-equivalent optic with a fixed aperture of f/1.7. There’s a familiar sensitivity range of ISO 100-6400 in Normal mode and a shutter speed range of 1/16,000 to 2 sec when shooting 12MP images, or 1/8000 to 2 secs when shooting 48MP images. What is new, however, is a switch to Normal, 10-bit HLG (for compatible TVs) and 10-bit D-Log M video profiles instead of Normal and D-Cinelike. In addition, the frame rate in SlowMo mode for 4K (3840 x 2160) video is boosted from 60fps to 100fps. In regular video mode, the maximum frame rate for 4K video is 60fps.

Interestingly, DJI has ditched the 2.7K video option that’s available with the Mini 3 Pro but Full HD recording is still possible up to 60fps (200fps in SlowMo mode).

Automated features

Like most of DJI’s other recent drones, the Mini 4 Pro incorporates nifty features like Mastershots, FocusTrack, and QuickShots that simplify capturing dynamic video. It’s also possible to rotate the camera through 90° for portrait orientation shooting with a tap on the controller.

In addition, DJI has upgraded the Mini 4 Pro’s obstacle avoidance system to omnidirectional by adding upward-facing sensors. That’s useful if you’re flying under trees or bridges. Overall, the system performs very well, although it’s deactivated when the drone is flying in an automated mode, so you need to be alert to potential collisions. There are also times when you’ll need to turn off the obstacle avoidance system to let you get close to a subject or fly between trees. This is in the Safety section of the menu on the controller.

The Mini 4 Pro has a claimed wind resistance of 10m/s (22.3mph) and it stays put in a light breeze, but you’ll hear the motors change pitch as it’s buffeted. Nevertheless, the gimbal does a great job of stabilising the footage.

Image Quality

While they may not match those from a full-frame camera, the results from the DJI Mini 4 Pro are impressive and certainly capable of delivering the ‘wow’ factor. In the Normal colour setting, the colours are vibrant and just the right side of being too saturated while the contrast is good. Switching to D-Log M delivers flatter footage with scope for grading to get it looking as you like.

Generally, the JPEGs look punchier than the raw files and they can look great. However, when the results are viewed at 100% on a larger screen, the sharpening and contrast sometimes look harsh, especially in 48MP images. Consequently, after even light editing, the raw files often deliver more acceptable images.

Flare isn’t a major issue with the Mini 4 Pro, but it is an occasional problem. In video you may see bands of low contrast pass across the frame as the drone moves relative to the sun, which isn’t a big problem and can be attractive, but there’s sometimes a bright spot that draws the eye in stills and video.

Controller choice

DJI offers the Mini 4 Pro with either the DJI RC-N2 controller or the DJI RC2 controller. Of the two, the DJI RC2 is the better choice as it has its own screen and doesn’t require a smartphone to be connected. This means its quicker and easier to get ready to fly, plus your phone is free for normal duties. But it adds a hefty £180 to the price.

DJI Mini 4 Pro – Verdict

The DJI Mini 4 Pro doesn’t make any significant upgrades on the Mini 3 Pro, especially for those more interested in aerial photography than videography. It’s certainly not enough to tempt most Mini 3 Pro users to upgrade. However, its price is so close to that of its predecessor that it makes the logical choice between the two.

The Mini 4 Pro packs an impressive array of features into its tiny, lightweight form and is very easy to fly. And while the Mini 3 (£429 with the DJI RC-N1 controller or £459 with the DJI RC) maybe a more palatable price for first-time drone pilots, the Mini 4 Pro is a great option for experienced fliers looking for a smaller alternative to their main drone.

Related reading:

• DJI Mini 2 review
• DJI Mini 3 review
• DJI Pocket 2 vs DJI OM 5 review

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