credits: PolarPro PolarPro has announced a new creative filter called the CineFlow, meant to introduce a sense of motion to your photos, directly in-camera. The filter will be available in a wide range of sizes, covering 49mm, 67mm, 77mm, 82mm, 86mm, and 95mm, along with support for PolarPro’s Helix MagLock system. It is a motion-based optical filter that uses a carefully designed internal geometry to create directional streaks and flowing lines across the shot. Unlike ‘simple ‘blur effects, the idea here is to keep the main subject relatively sharp while introducing controlled motion patterns in highlights and background areas. By rotating the filter, you can change the direction and intensity of the effect, going from a subtle linear movement to a more pronounced, dramatic look. There are two filter options, the standard screw-in versions, which behave like any traditional filter, and the Helix MagLock variant, that allow for fast attachment and removal, which of course is useful when switching filters during a shoot. Pre-orders are open through PolarPro’s own store, with shipping expected to begin in late January 2026. Pricing is at $100.

credits: Cosina Cosina has announced the new Voigtländer Portrait Heliar 75mm f/1.8, coming to Nikon Z and Canon RF mounts. It is a full-frame lens with a 75mm focal length and an angle of view of roughly 33 degrees. Physically, the lens weighs 580 grams, measures roughly 71mm in diameter and 90mm in length. It has an all-metal barrel and a standard 62mm filter thread up front. Minimum focusing distance is 0.7 meters, which is fairly typical for a lens in this class. Optically, the lens uses a relatively simple construction of six elements in three groups, but the standout feature is the spherical aberration control ring built into the barrel. This ring lets you actively adjust how spherical aberration is corrected. In practical terms, dialling it one way keeps the plane of focus clear while making background blur more bubbly, turning it the other way softens contrast and highlights, producing smoother, more diffused bokeh. Although focusing is entirely manual, the lens does include electronic contacts for communication with the camera body. This enables EXIF data recording, support for in-body image stabilisation on compatible cameras, and access to focus aids like peaking, focus frame colour changes, and magnification. Pricing is at $699 with availability listed as ‘‘soon’’.

Soft Focus Photography Soft focus is when you intentionally reduce sharpness (just a little) to get a gentle, glowing image. It smooths out textures (especially skin), reduces contrast, and gives your photo a kind of, let’s say ‘ethereal’ look. It is often used in portraits, dreamy landscapes, artistic/fine art work, vintage-style shots or even editorial fashion photography It is not the same as being out of focus. Good soft focus still has structure in it. You can usually tell what you are looking at, it just feels calmer, more organic, and a little bit, well like a dream. The Different Ways to Create Soft Focus There are quite a few ways to do it. Let us take a look at some: 1. Shoot Wide Open Probably the most simple way to introduce softness is to use your lens near its widest aperture. For this you want to: Use a fast lens (f/1.2–f/2) Focus carefully on the main subject Let depth of field fall off naturally Wide apertures often introduce, slight optical softness, low in highlights, gentle edge blur etc. → Older lenses (vintage glass) are especially good at this. 2. Use Diffusion Filters Soft focus filters are designed specifically for this (but you obviously have to reach in your $ pocket a bit). Some popular options are → Black Pro-Mist, White Pro-Mist, Soft FX filters. What diffusion filters do: Bloom highlights, lower micro-contrast, create the look but still keep the photo readable. 3. Put Vaseline on the Camera Lens This is the classic DIY method. It is cheap, effective, and delivers surprisingly good results when you do it carefully. So, here is how to do it: Make sure to always use a clear protective filter on your lens Apply a very thin layer of Vaseline around the edges only (you can always add more later) Leave the centre of the filter clean so the subject stays sharp This naturally diffuses light and creates the soft glowing look while keeping the centre relatively sharp. The more Vaseline you apply, the stronger the effect of course, but subtlety works best in my opinion. 4. Use the Stocking Trick

credits: Rollei According to reports coming out of China, Nikon just filed a lawsuit against lens maker Viltrox, with the dispute focusing on patent licensing fees related to Nikon’s Z-mount technology. Multiple outlets claim the case has been accepted by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court and reportedly names three defendants, Viltrox itself, its parent company, and a Shanghai-based distributor. A hearing is apparently scheduled for March 2, 2026, although neither Nikon nor Viltrox has publicly commented so far. The story started circulating around January 17 and has since been picked up by multiple camera news sites, all pointing back to Chinese court and business databases such as Qichacha and Tianyancha. Accessing those databases from outside China is not straightforward, which makes independent verification difficult, so for now the details are based entirely on secondary reporting. Based on what is being said, the issue seems to centre on Viltrox’s planned Z-mount teleconverter. In 2025, Viltrox published a patent for a 2× teleconverter that would be the first third-party option for Nikon’s mirrorless system, although so far it has only been released for Sony E-mount. Comparisons to Canon’s 2022 action against Viltrox are inevitable, but there is an important difference here, Nikon is reportedly pursuing licensing fees rather than demanding an immediate stop to sales. For photographers already using Viltrox Z-mount lenses, there is no reason to worry at this point, as the reports suggest the dispute is limited to the teleconverter and not existing lenses.

credits: 7Artisans 7Artisans officially announced the M 75mm f/1.25 Mark II, an updated version of its ultra-fast manual focus portrait lens for Leica M-mount cameras. The Mark II follows the original 75mm f/1.25 with a similar core concept, fast aperture, compact rangefinder-friendly design, but with a series of refinements. From an optical standpoint, the Mark II uses a 7-element, 6-group construction, which includes extra-low dispersion and high-refractive index elements. This combination is intended to control chromatic aberration and maintain contrast, especially wide open where fast lenses tend to struggle. The aperture ranges from f/1.25 to f/16 and uses 12 diaphragm blades, which should help keep out-of-focus areas smooth and circular as the lens is stopped down. The angle of view is 32.83°, and the minimum focusing distance is 0.8 meters, typical for a Leica M lens of this type. Handling-wise, the lens weighs around 514 grams, uses a 62mm filter thread, and is built entirely from metal. One small but practical detail is the inclusion of luminous markings on the focus and aperture scales, making them easier to read in low-light situations, something that actually matters with a manual lens. Pricing for the M 75mm f/1.25 Mark II is at $469. You can see full details and sample shot on 7Artisans’ website here

credits: Fujifilm There has been some chatter recently that the Fujifilm X-H2S might be nearing the end of its life, but Fujifilm says that is not the case. The speculation started after Fuji Rumors noticed the camera disappearing from a few retailers. At the same time, B&H lists the X-H2S as “temporarily out of stock,” which can happen for all kinds of routine reasons. Other major retailers, like Adorama and Amazon, still have the camera available. As the story spread, it started popping up in other corners of the photo world, including Japanese site Asobinet, which questioned whether these changes could hint at a future X-H3S. To clear things up, Fujifilm North America was asked directly about the situation, and their response was pretty straightforward, the X-H2S is still an active and popular model in the X Series lineup. In other words, despite the noise, Fujifilm has not signalled any change in the camera’s status. That said, the X-H2S is no longer new. It was announced back in May 2022 and introduced Fujifilm’s stacked 26-megapixel APS-C sensor, which still makes it the fastest and most capable X Series body, particularly for video with features like 6.2K 10-bit 4:2:2 recording. It is natural for photographers and hybrid shooters to wonder what comes next, especially as competitors push newer hardware.

credits: Ricoh Ricoh has now officially added the GR IV Monochrome to its lineup, and just like earlier Monochrome models, this one is built around a true black-and-white sensor. There is no colour filter array sitting on top of the 25.7-megapixel APS-C BSI CMOS sensor, which means every pixel is only measuring brightness, not colour. In practice, that usually gives you cleaner fine detail, less noise in the shadows, and smoother tonal transitions compared to converting a colour image to black and white later. Ricoh also built in a red contrast filter, which works like the classic darkroom filter photographers used with film to deepen skies and boost separation between tones. Hardware-wise, the Monochrome version is the same camera as the regular GR IV. It uses Ricoh’s updated 28mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens, paired with improved autofocus and better low-light focusing compared to the GR III generation. There is also a 5-axis image stabilisation system rated at 6 stops, which helps a lot when you are shooting handheld in dim light at slower shutter speeds. On the back you get a 3-inch, 1.04-million-dot touchscreen, plus 53GB of built-in storage and a microSD slot for overflow. Video is pretty basic at 1080p up to 60 fps, which makes it clear this camera is meant mainly for photos. Where things get more complicated is the price. The GR IV Monochrome costs $2,199.95, which is $700 more than the standard GR IV, a pretty big jump for a camera that loses colour. For people who really care about black-and-white output straight from the camera, that might make sense. For everyone else, it is a pretty steep premium for a very specific shooting style.

credits: Cyme Peakto 2.6 is here, the latest update of Cyme’s macOS photo and media management software. The main change in this version is a new system-wide duplicate and similarity detection tool. Instead of only scanning a selected folder or catalog, Peakto can now analyse your entire photo library at once, no matter where the files are stored. That includes internal drives, external storage, network drives, and catalogs from various apps. The goal is to identify similar images, near-duplicates, and redundant files across everything in one pass. This builds on Peakto’s approach of acting as a layer above different editing apps and storage locations. The software already supports a wide range of platforms, including Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Capture One, Luminar, ON1, DxO PhotoLab, Apple Photos, and Premiere Pro. Peakto indexes photos from all of these sources and shows them in a single interface, where you can search by content, people, or metadata and build albums that pull from multiple locations at once. Alongside the scanning and indexing improvements, version 2.6 also updates Peakto’s web tools, allowing teams to view and share libraries online. Peakto 2.6 is available as either a subscription or a one-time purchase. Subscriptions start at $10 per month for individual use, while a lifetime license for the standard (non-collaborative) version costs $270.

credits: Fujifilm Fujifilm’s long awaited X-T6 is now expected to arrive in September 2026, and one of the strongest hints so far is coming from an unexpected place, a Vietnamese retailer. Fujifilm Shop by X Camera has already put up a placeholder product page for the X-T6, noting that the camera hasn’t been officially announced and that the details are “for reference only.” Even so, the page includes a long list of specifications that line up surprisingly well with what has been rumoured elsewhere, suggesting this might actually be pulled from internal distributor material. According to that page, the X-T6 will use a 40-megapixel X-Trans CMOS 6 HR BSI sensor paired with the X-Processor 6, which would put it right in line with Fujifilm’s current high-resolution APS-C platform. Burst shooting is listed at up to 60 fps, and video is claimed to reach 8K at up to 120p, though that figure is likely optimistic. A more realistic spec further down the page mentions 8K 30p in 10-bit 4:2:2, along with 4K HQ oversampled from 8K, F-Log2, and 12-bit ProRes or Blackmagic RAW over HDMI. Autofocus is said to jump to around 500 phase-detect points, backed by AI subject detection for people, animals, birds, and vehicles. IBIS is rated at up to 8 stops, and Pixel Shift Multi-Shot would allow 200MP composite images. The biggest design change might be the screen. The Vietnamese listing says Fujifilm is moving away from the X-T5’s three-way tilt to a fully articulating vari-angle LCD. The EVF is listed as 3.69 million dots with 0.8× magnification, while the rear screen grows to 1.84 million dots. The body is still described as compact at around 526–550g, but now with over 60 weather-sealing points and cold resistance down to –15°C. Connectivity also gets a bump with Wi-Fi 6, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, micro-HDMI, mic input, PC sync, and a remote port, and battery life is quoted at up to 750 shots using the NP-W235. You can see full details and product photos on the retailer’s website here

credits: Brightin Star Brightin Star is teasing two new lenses, and there is already a surprising amount of detail that has been leaked through official company spec sheets. The first is a 50mm f/1.05 full-frame manual focus prime, available for Z, E, RF, and L mounts, and the second is a 60mm f/2.8 APS-C macro lens with 2× magnification, coming for Z, E, X, MFT, RF-S, and EF-M mounts. The 50mm f/1.05 is based on a 10-element, 7-group optical design that includes two high-refractive-index elements, which should help keep aberrations under control at such a bright aperture. It covers a full-frame image circle and uses a 15-blade diaphragm. The aperture runs from f/1.05 to f/11 and is de-clicked, making it suitable for video work as well. Focusing is fully manual with a range from 0.57 meters to infinity, and the lens takes 58mm filters. Physically, it measures 68mm in diameter and 86.8mm in length, with a weight of about 614 grams. The 60mm f/2.8 macro takes a more technical route, offering true 2× magnification and a minimum focusing distance of 0.182 meters. It uses a 9-blade aperture with a clicked ring and half-stop control for more precise exposure, and the aperture range spans f/2.8 to f/16. Brightin Star also lists a special IMC coating to help with contrast and flare, which matters when you are shooting reflective surfaces or working under controlled lighting. The lens is physically larger at 72.8mm wide and 110mm long, weighs about 696 grams, and uses a 67mm filter thread. Brightin Star says both lenses are planned for release in January, with the 50mm arriving first and the 60mm macro following later in the month.

credits: Thypoch Thypoch just added a new ultra-wide, manual-focus lens to its Leica M lineup with the Ksana 21mm f/3.5 ASPH. It covers a full-frame image circle and delivers a 90.6-degree diagonal field of view, which puts it in the usual 21mm rangefinder category. Physically it is relatively small at about 27.3mm long and weighing 131 grams. The lens uses a 39mm filter thread, has a 42mm front diameter, and is offered in both black and silver finishes. On the optical side, the Ksana uses eight elements in six groups and is rated from f/3.5 to f/22. Thypoch lists a gold coating on the glass to help manage reflections and stray light, which is especially relevant for wide-angle rangefinder lenses where the rear element sits close to the sensor. The nine-blade aperture should give reasonably round highlights when stopped down, though at this focal length depth of field is already fairly deep. Minimum focusing distance is 0.5 meters measured from the sensor plane, which is about as close as M-mount rangefinder coupling allows. Full-frame coverage also means it works across current Leica M bodies without cropping or vignetting. Pricing is sitting at $550/€480.95. You can see full details and sample shots on Thypoch’s website here

credits: Fujifilm An all-white version of the Fujifilm X Half has been announced. The camera was first mentioned last week as an “overseas” release, which left a lot of room for guessing, but it has since been clarified that the special colour-way is only planned for the Chinese market for now. Fujifilm hasn’t shared any details on pricing or when it will go on sale specifically. The white edition keeps the same design as the standard X Half, just with a new look. Photos show a two-tone finish, with the main body and lens cap in a clean white, paired with a light grey textured grip. The lens itself stays black, which gives it a bit of contrast against the lighter body. Region-exclusive models aren’t unusual for Fujifilm either, last year’s GFX100RF Fragment edition was only sold in Japan, so this kind of limited release fits their recent pattern. The camera itself remains unchanged under the skin. The X Half uses a 1-inch 3:4 vertical CMOS sensor with 17.74 megapixels, paired with a 32mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens. It weighs 240 grams and has a few special, creative features like film camera mode for blind shooting, 13 film simulations, 19 creative filters, and a 2-in-1 collage mode for photos and video. While this white version is, as mentioned, locked to China, a wider release is rumoured to happen at some point in the future. You can see all released product photos on Photorumors’ website here