Seven years ago, Sigma surprised the photographic world with the fp, a full-frame camera small enough to slip into a coat pocket. It was ingenious, highly capable for video and, for many stills photographers, something of an acquired taste. Now Sigma has unveiled its successor, the FP2, and by the company’s own reckoning it is still the world’s smallest camera body of its kind. This time, though, the list of changes reads like a reply to almost every reservation about the original. And alongside it comes a compact, all-metal 50mm lens that sets out to be deliberately imperfect . . .
Home Blog
Leica vs OM System: the weather-sealing verdict
I am by temperament a fair-weather photographer. Rain sends me indoors for a cup of tea rather than out with a camera, and I’ve never once had cause to test whether my M11-D, for instance, would survive a downpour because I’ve never let it near one. I’m fortunate, however: I can choose my moments, I’m not a professional and I don’t have fixed assignments that have to be completed whatever the weather. So, for me, camera weather sealing is nice to have, but I don’t need to rely on it. Perhaps you do, and this article might give you some solid ground on which to stand.
Leica Q3 43 Formula 1 Edition: Carbon fibre comes to Wetzlar
Leica and Formula 1 have signed a licensing partnership, and the first fruit is a special edition of the Q3 43. It goes on sale today. The camera underneath is the familiar 43mm Q, but the dress is pure motorsport, with genuine carbon fibre, red accents and a covering modelled on a racing steering wheel. There is also a Leica Look of its own, available on no other camera. All this for £7,300…
DxO ViewPoint 6: AI masks bring local geometry control
DxO has announced ViewPoint 6, the latest version of its software for correcting geometry, perspective, and distortion. The main addition is AI masking inside ReShape Fusion, the tool that arrived with version 5 for reshaping parts of a picture from within the frame. The company is keen to stress that nothing is generated. Every pixel in the corrected image, it says, was there when the shutter fired. So what, exactly, do the masks bring to the party . . .
Wanted: Macfilos camera and lens reviewers
Macfilos continues to grow, and the flow of gear through our hands grows with it. Lenses, cameras, and accessories arrive faster than our staff can properly test them. We need at least one extra pair of hands — and eyes — to help carry the load. If you are a good photographer who enjoys putting new equipment through it paces and writing about what you find, we would love to hear from you.
Nightlife Manifesto: Photographing Chicago after dark
I met Francisco Malavé a few weeks ago at a “Beers and Cameras” meetup in Chicago. For most of us, the world Francisco explores and lives in is very different from our own, but it reveals some fascinating insights. This article is a chance to tag along with Francisco and explore it for ourselves. His book, Nightlife Manifesto, is in press as we publish this.
Jon Cheffings
Young Railway Photographer of the Year: Entries now open
The National Railway Museum in York has opened entries for the third Young Railway Photographer of the Year. The competition is for photographers aged 25 and under, and it began accepting submissions on Monday 12 October. Entry is free. The deadline is 4 April 2027, which gives a full winter, spring, and Easter holiday of travelling to fill a portfolio. This year, though, the museum has made a change that should bring in a much younger crowd than before…
Leica 0-Series No. 103 sells for €4.25 million at Wetzlar Camera Auctions
A Leica built in 1923, two years before the first production cameras reached the shops, changed hands in Wetzlar on Saturday October 10 for €4,250,000. The buyer secured 0-Series No. 103 after a 20-minute contest between several telephone bidders. The final figure was more than double the upper estimate of €2 million. It was the headline lot at the eighth sale held by Wetzlar Camera Auctions (WCA), but by no means the only Leica to sell for a six-figure sum that afternoon…
Bristol Photo Festival 2026: “Time Machine”
The third edition of Bristol Photo Festival, the international biennial of contemporary photography, will open this week with the theme “Time Machine.” The second edition successfully drew over 115,000 visitors, and this latest festival is expected to attract still more visitors.
Behind the Scenes: Rhythm and Form art exhibition
I recently posted an article describing the thinking behind a set of photographic images I created for submission to a local art exhibition. Its theme was Rhythm and Form. My interpretations featured composite images of dancers, acrobats, and fireworks. The exhibition’s jury selected three of them for inclusion. This is what happened next.
The Leica Q4: what does the opinionated crystal ball say?
Is 2027 really likely? We have yet to see signs of an M12, so can we realistically bank on a Q4 in 2027? I would suggest two major camera launches in one year is possible, but to do so would eat resources for preparedness, firmware, production, and marketing. So, what might we expect to see in a Leica Q4? There’s much to discuss.
Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2026: Damir Faizulin wins
The results are in from Wetzlar. Damir Faizulin, a former professional wrestler who turned to photography only six years ago, has won the 46th Leica Oskar Barnack Award. Laila AnnMarie Stevens takes the Newcomer prize. And the first LOBA Women Grant goes to a name nobody outside the jury room knew until this evening…
Photographing in ordinary time: An ode to my Leica Q3 43
Mike Evans’s recent article on the ongoing success of Leica’s Q3 line left me nostalgic for the Qs of purchases past. I have owned almost every variant of the Q at one time or another, including the gorgeous matte-black Q-P. Still, I always found the 28mm lens a touch too wide for general shooting. I never quite got used to framing with the M-like frame lines set to 35mm, my preferred focal length. So, after a long queue of 28mm Qs, I welcomed the news of the Q3 43.
How your phone does the job of geotagging for your camera
“Where was this taken, darling?” That question used to end in a search through shoeboxes and half-remembered itineraries. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sang “If I had ever been here before, I would probably know just what to do. Don’t you?” GPS location data really comes in handy when trying to remember somewhere off the beaten path — but preferably not out of cellphone range! It has quietly become part of how a photograph tells its own story. Can your camera and GPS help you tell a story about a previously undiscovered location? Do you want to share where it is?
Leica: A rare European manufacturing success
Leica has caught the eye of the Wall Street Journal. In a feature published on 27 September, Bertrand Benoit, the paper’s Germany bureau chief, holds the company up as a rare European manufacturing success at a time when much of the continent’s industry is in retreat. For Macfilos readers, though, the more interesting thread is how Wetzlar got here…