Thypoch, part two: after the 50/1.4, the Thypoch Simera 28/1.4 review is due. The lens rightfully comes into focus. A fast 28mm lens is a favourite choice for reportage projects and many other purposes. And, of course, it suits rangefinder cameras well, as most of them support 28mm as the shortest focal length their built-in finder can handle. But is the Simera a viable option, or maybe even the universal wide-angle lens for M-Mount users?
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Leica Store London Mayfair: Snaps from the opening
Leica’s new London flagship opened its doors at 14 Dover Street this morning. The red carpet was out, and much of Leica’s top team was there for the occasion. I went along with my M11-D and the 35mm Apo-Summicron to record the event. The words are few this time, so treat this as a snaps piece. Yet one important figure was missing from the line-up…
Viltrox Air 40mm Review: Leica Q3 43 field of view on a budget
Macfilos authors and readers love the Leica Q3 43, especially its 43mm focal length. It’s an impressive piece of kit, but will cost you almost $8,000. The recently launched Viltrox Air 40mm f/2.5 offers an inexpensive way to add a comparable focal length to your L-Mount kit. But does it run the risk of being neither fish nor fowl?
TTArtisan 40mm review: the perfect all-rounder for L-Mount photographers?
The L-mount has suddenly become a crowded place for anyone who likes a 40mm lens. Viltrox has just brought four of its Air primes to the system, among them a new 40mm f/2.5 (which was reviewed separately by my colleague, Keith James), and Panasonic launched its compact Lumix S 40mm f/2 earlier this year. With so much attention on those two, it is easy to overlook the other good-value options in this focal length. One of them, the TTArtisan AF 40mm f/2, has been on my Leica SL3-S for the past few weeks, and it earned its place there for a reason that has little to do with outright sharpness. . .
Vintage Digital Cameras: The point-and-shoot revival
There has been a rather noisy revolution under way in the photographic world for the past few years. It’s nothing to do with the major manufacturers, nothing to do with new models, and certainly nothing to do with sales statistics. It has everything to do with social media, and with the endless videos and blog posts about point-and-shoot cameras from the mid-naughties. Yet, it also creates an opportunity because the latest fad offers a once-in-a-generation chance to unload your heirlooms . . .
Leica opens new London flagship store in Dover Street
Leica has a new home in London. The company’s UK flagship now fills four floors of a Mayfair town house at 14 Dover Street, a few steps from Piccadilly. It takes over from the Duke Street store, which closes, while Leica Store Harrods carries on as before. And to mark the opening, Leica has asked a West London engraver to decorate just 14 examples of the Leica M-A . . .
Panasonic Lumix S 100-500mm review: Full reach, light weight
With the Leica SL3-P now sitting alongside the Lumix S1RII, the L-mount system finally has two high-speed, high-resolution bodies genuinely capable of drawing serious action and wildlife photographers into the fold. The question, though, is whether the lens line-up has caught up with them, and whether there is yet a sufficient variety of long telephoto and tele-zoom options to actually put that speed and resolution to work. This review looks closely at Panasonic’s newest entry into that segment, the Lumix S 100-500mm f/5-7.1, and weighs it — quite literally, as it turns out — against a stable of well-regarded Sigma tele-zooms I have carried, and occasionally struggled with, over the past two years.
Getty Images bankruptcy: Not dead, just going private
The headlines this week have not been kind to Getty Images. “Collapse” is the word doing the rounds, and it conjures up visions of liquidators boxing up the Hulton Archive. The reality is less dramatic. On 21 October, Getty filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, but this is a prepackaged restructuring designed to take the company private, not to wind it up. Even so, something has ended. The world’s best-known picture agency is leaving the stock market after barely four years. And the reasons why say a great deal about photography in 2026 . . .
All in a Day’s Work: Out and about with the Leica M10-P
My Leica M10-P is the digital camera I have owned the longest, yet it does not get used nearly as often as it deserves. For the best part of a year it sat on its perch, untouched. Recently, I finally took it down for a full day of general shooting: the kitchen, the dog walk, the streets of New York, and an evening event. I expected the muscle memory to come back. What I did not expect was the photograph waiting for me on the card that night…
CIPA August 2026: Compacts surge as full frame slumps
Fewer cameras are leaving the factories, yet the camera makers are collecting more money for them. That is the message from the latest figures published by CIPA, the Japanese industry body, covering the first eight months of 2026. Shipments of all digital cameras fell by 3.2% compared with the same period last year, while their value rose by 3.7%. Fixed-lens compacts continue to defy the smartphone, and the DSLR is fading into a footnote. But the most striking number of all concerns the format on which many Macfilos readers have spent a small fortune…
LCE Photographer of the Year 2027: Free to enter, £10,000 to win
London Camera Exchange has opened entries for its LCE Photographer of the Year 2027 competition. The contest offers a £10,000 prize fund across 14 categories. Entry is free and open to photographers aged 18 and over, at any level of experience. Entries close at midnight on 20 January 2027.
Leica Summicron-M 66 f/2 review: The classic Elcan 66 remake
On 3 September, Leica announced the latest in its range of classic remakes. This lens was a little different, however. Whereas most of the previous classic lenses went into serial production, this lens was limited to 660 numbered pieces. Leica has received orders for more than the number it will make, so unless you’re very lucky, or you are willing to pay a premium, you will not be able to own one … So, why write about it (you might ask)?
Sigma FP2 and 50mm f/1.4 CL: Small camera, big ambitions
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 . . .
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…