Laughing Hyena
  • Home
  • Hyena Games
  • Esports
  • NFT Gaming
  • Crypto Trends
  • Game Reviews
  • Game Updates
  • GameFi Guides
  • Shop
Tag:

camera

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera review: a decent, if inessential accessory
Product Reviews

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera review: a decent, if inessential accessory

by admin October 4, 2025



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: Review

If you’re looking to make the most of GameChat for online multiplayer, the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera is a decent way to go about it. Its basic design may lack the charm of the Hori Piranha Plant Camera, but rest assured that the official Switch 2 Camera is a significantly better product, even if I wouldn’t classify it as one of the best webcams out there.

I’m a believer that contemporary webcams should be aiming for at least 720p picture quality, with 1080p being the ideal. The Switch 2 Camera clears Hori’s product on this front, boasting 1080p picture quality over the Piranha Plant’s disappointing 480p. As a result, your face will come through crisply on GameChat, as well as on PC for work meetings or chats with friends.

Price will definitely be a bit of a sticking point, though. At $54.99 / £49.99 / AU$, it costs less than the Hori Piranha Plant Camera in the US, but a good deal more than it does in the UK. You’re basically paying for the official branding here, really, especially as you can pick up 720p and 1080p webcams that perform just as well for much less.

(Image credit: Future)

While the Switch 2 Camera can be used when you’re playing in handheld mode, its rigid design (not to mention the lack of a clip or mount) makes it best suited for when your console is docked. The tall stem upon which the camera sits is likely the way it is for this reason, so it can still reasonably capture your face while you sit back on the couch.

  • Nintendo Switch 2 Camera at Amazon for $17.99

It’s likely also designed to support its wide field of view, which is around 110 degrees. That’s a good deal more than most PC webcams, but it does make sense given Nintendo’s family-friendly approach. If you have a few folk sitting in the room while playing with GameChat, that wider viewing angle does a decent job of capturing everyone in the same frame.

You can also adjust the vertical angle of the camera itself by a total of around 30-40 degrees or so. That’s fairly acceptable when you take into account its otherwise unmoving design. And when you want to hide yourself, a privacy shutter is included via a circular dial around the camera. You can also manually turn off the camera feed in GameChat’s settings by hitting your controller’s ‘C’ button during play.

(Image credit: Future)

As for performance, the camera’s 1080p output is decent, if a little soft around the edges. While you’re using GameChat, the Switch 2 attempts to crop you out of the background and place you onto a blank one that takes on the color of your profile picture. That’s a nice touch, and also means you don’t have to fiddle around with blur settings.

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

One major problem I had, though, had to do with the space between myself and the blank background. I have a blank wall behind me in my office space, and the surroundings were still noticeably fuzzy. I also had moments during a Mario Kart World play session where I appeared to phase in and out of existence on the screen, so it’s not a perfect implementation by any means. To be fair, your mileage may vary here depending on your background and lighting conditions.

Thankfully, the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera is blissfully simple to set up. Being an officially licensed product, simply plugging it into the console via USB-C caused it to be registered immediately. That was the same case on PC, too, when using it as a webcam. There’s no fussing with drivers or installs. Just plug it in and you’re good to go. It also works with a USB-A adapter on both Switch 2 and PC, if you prefer that.

(Image credit: Future)

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: Price & Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Price

$54.99 / £49.99 / AU$69.95

Resolution

1080p at 30fps

Field of view

Around 110 degrees

Dimensions

6.3 x 2.5 x 1.5in x 160 x 64 x 38mm

Weight

0.3lbs / 136g

Compatibility

Nintendo Switch 2, PC, MacOS

Should you buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera?

(Image credit: Future)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: Also consider

How I tested the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera

  • Tested for one month
  • Used for Switch 2 GameChat multiplayer and as an office webcam
  • Largely tested with Mario Kart World and chat apps like Discord

I’ve been using the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera for a little over a month now, as both a Nintendo Switch 2 GameChat device and as a webcam for work and social gaming sessions over Discord. On Switch 2, I primarily played in docked mode while using the camera with an AOC Gaming 24G2SP 1080p gaming monitor.

While gaming, I tested the camera’s functionality with sessions of Mario Kart World with my TechRadar Gaming colleague Dash Wood. While here, I also made sure to test out GameChat’s various settings, including screen size and in-game face capture options.

  • Read more about how we test
  • First reviewed: October 2025

Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: Price Comparison



Source link

October 4, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
This Tiny Action Camera Got Swacked by a Sword, and Survived
Gaming Gear

This Tiny Action Camera Got Swacked by a Sword, and Survived

by admin September 17, 2025


My brother punched his rapier toward my head. The blade missed me by inches, but the clever duelist swiped down and chopped at my crown, sending the $450 action camera attached to my fencing mask spinning away. The magnetic pod for Insta360’s Go Ultra tumbled to the floor, the light still blinking red, still recording. His sword left a gash along the side of the lens and a scuff on plastic. The camera still works, so if you were wondering how durable the Go Ultra is, know that it passed the “getting hit by a sword” test.

Insta360 Go Ultra

You won’t find a smaller action cam that’s this portable with video quality to stand up to your favorite GoPro.

Pros

  • So light and portable
  • Records at 4K/60 fps
  • Magnetic mount with wide variety of uses
  • Durable against sword blows
  • Fast charging

Cons

  • Battery doesn’t last too long
  • Overheating issues
  • No internal storage

I had been looking for a camera light enough to stick on my fencing mask without rigging up a mount for a much larger recording device, and I think I found it with the Insta360 Go Ultra. The pricey action camera looks like your average GoPro when both of its main parts—the “Standalone Camera” case with the flip-up display and “Action Pod” with the image sensor and lens—are connected. But its detachable design means you can stick the smaller practically anywhere, so long as you rig up the right mount for the appropriate situation.

The Go Ultra doesn’t have all the capabilities of its contemporaries. It’s not the best for slow-motion footage or shooting at the highest possible resolution and frame rate. But because of its light and idiot-proof design, the Go Ultra is now my favorite little device to take on adventures or whenever I next enter the dueling pit.

An action camera for ants?

The Standalone Camera and Action Pod serve as the two pieces to the Go Ultra’s whole. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

The Action Pod can communicate with the Standalone Camera up to about 30 feet away, which helps you compose a shot when you can’t physically see the camera’s orientation. Whereas the average rugged action camera, such as the GoPro Hero 13 Black or DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, can take a hit and keep on filming, the Go Ultra is still durable and can adhere to any magnetic strip or ferromagnetic metal (though you still want the strongest mount to keep it from going astray). However, if you’re planning to attach the Go Ultra’s Action Pod to any moving object, you’ll want a strong magnetic attachment to keep it secure. Compared to the Insta360 Go 3S from 2024, the Go Ultra’s Action Pod is much larger with longer battery life and a bigger sensor that makes it better for low-light shooting.

The Insta360 Go Ultra contains a 14.27mm focal length lens with an f/2.85 aperture and the ability to shoot up to 50-megapixel still photos. With those specs, the lens fits somewhere in between higher-end action cameras and a simple point-and-shoot video camera for recording your family’s antics. It can shoot in a max 180Mbps bitrate with a variety of preset video modes, though most of the time you’ll stick with either “Video” in daylight or “PureVideo” for low-light environments. With a wide-angle lens, you’re more likely to get the shot without having a death grip on a selfie stick.

The Go Ultra comes packed with a magnetic clip and a necklace you can wear under your shirt. The necklace will sit center-mass on your chest, which I found good for doing point-of-view shots when I was reporting on the ground from IFA 2025 in Berlin. The clip can help your lens hitch a ride on a hat or helmet and still feel light enough you may forget it’s there. I clipped the Go Ultra Action Pod on a thin tree branch and managed to get a shot without needing a tripod. The Action Pod is light enough I never had to worry about it weighing down anything it was attached to.

The older Insta360 Go 3S may be lighter, but it’s to such a small degree that the trade off is worth it. Speaking of changes from the older Go-series action cameras, the Go Ultra doesn’t come with any internal storage, unlike the Go 3S. Instead, it records to a microSD card that slots into the Action Pod. I would have appreciated some buffer of internal capacity in case I ran out of storage on the memory card while shooting, but I vastly prefer SD cards to being stuck with limited built-in storage.

Depending on what kind of bundle you buy, you may end up with more attachment points. The Standalone Camera housing can attach to a Quick Release Mount with your traditional GoPro two-pronged threads, a tripod, and a Pivot Stand with a suction cap. There’s even a $17 “Toddler Titan Hat Clip,” which Insta360 implies parents will hang from a child’s cap facing toward the body to take extra-close shots of the tyke’s wide-eyed expressions. I would not blame any toddler who takes that camera and chucks it across the room. Inevitably, it will be up to innovative camera aficionados to create their own magnetic mounts for their needs. To that end, the Action Pod allows for more creativity in how and where you set up your camera.

Better than most for low-light shooting

Insta360 sells several magnetic and non-magnetic mounts, such as its Pivot Stand, but you can DIY your own mounting rig with a little ingenuity. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

We all want to believe our action cams can take footage as beautiful as those slickly-produced GoPro promotional videos. The true footage you can get from such a small lens will inevitably disspaoint. The Insta360 Go Ultra shoots at 4K resolution at a max of 60 fps, though the camera will default to 30 fps in most scenarios. If you want to shoot with HDR—aka high-dynamic range for better contrast—you’re also limited to 30 fps. For my amateur hour fencing video that I published straight to Instagram, that’s perfectly acceptable. For those hoping for video footage requiring minimal editing, just know you’ll never get the quality you’ll see in all the promotional video that Insta360 shares to its social feeds. You’ll find that your phone may present better-quality footage for quick and dirty POV feeds.

Still, I would put the Go Ultra’s quality up there with the expensive action cameras I’ve used. Small sensors often struggle with low-light scenarios, a problem that has plagued action cameras since the beginning. The Go Ultra’s “PureView” mode does a fair job brightening up images to make them more visible. I could spot a little bit of noise from the video once I brought it to my PC, but for my purpose the footage was good enough to flip over to my socials. As for the shots I took in the dim halls of IFA, the quality was a mixed bag. Some clips still appeared dark without great contrast. Overall, there’s only so much you can expect from a small sensor.

The Go Ultra may not be your first go-to choice for extreme sports, especially if you were planning to shoot in slow motion. You can choose to film in 60 fps, but if you want automated slow-mo video, 4x slow-mo at 120 fps is limited to 1080p recording. Like Insta360’s 360-degree cameras and its upcoming Antigravity A1 drone, the Go Ultra also includes options for automatic dewarping to correct the fisheye effect of the rounded lens, but you may end up going for “Ultra” setting to capture as much of the scenery in one go. The video above used the standard “Ultra” wide field of view, which felt on the money for hands-on shots. With any of these modes, the camera’s automatic FlowState stabilization did a good job even as I was whipping a sword at my fencing partners.

The action camera can shoot in both vertical and horizontal just by changing the orientation of the lens. The default 16:9 shots are when the camera lens is positioned in the top right. When rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise and the lens is on the top left, it will shoot in 9:16. There’s nothing on the Action Pod to mark when it’s vertical or horizontal, and there were times I would lose the Action Pod, reattach it, only to realize I was now shooting in the wrong orientation. This wasn’t a problem on older Go models with the oval-shaped pod compared to the square on the Go Ultra. A small indicator arrow on the Action Pod itself may have resolved this small headache.

Not the longest battery, but it charges up real quick

The Insta360 Go Ultra is about the same size as a GoPro Hero camera, though the detachable Action Pod is much smaller and lighter. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

The Go Ultra can’t last you an entire afternoon’s worth of continuous shooting. Filming in 4K at 60 fps, I found it would last a little over 40 minutes before I needed to shove the Action Pod back in its case to let it recharge. In those cases, the Standalone Camera housing essentially acts as a way to give the Action Pod a little extra juice. But after depleting the Action Pod, the Standalone Camera and its limited 500mAh capacity battery won’t be enough for more than 1.5 hours, especially if you’re shooting in low-light or higher frame rate modes.

Though the battery isn’t the best, the more concerning hurdle you’ll run up against is heat management. The Go Ultra alerts users as soon as they choose the 4K 60 fps mode that this could cause overheating, which would also hinder battery life. Outdoors, in the shade, the Action Pod didn’t feel hot to the touch, but it still alerted me about overheating after an extended shoot. A few minutes set aside in its Standalone Camera case eventually let continue recording.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

The latest GoPro Hero 13 Black lasts a little more than 2 hours of continuous recording at higher resolutions. The Go Ultra Action Pod should last longer—closer to 2 hours if you drop the frame rate down to 30 fps and only shoot at 1080p. I wouldn’t suggest you limit resolution for the sake of battery life unless it becomes absolutely necessary. To make up for the limited battery, Insta360’s small action camera supports fast charging. I could recharge up to 80% from empty in around 15 minutes. A full charge takes about 40 minutes for both the Standalone Camera and Action Pod.

Most amateurs looking to post their snowboarding tricks to their TikTok won’t have any complaints with image quality. Those with more professional setups could find extra use for a small-form camera. Since the Go Ultra’s Action Pod is so compact, it becomes another arrow in the quiver when you need to get POV footage. It won’t have all the enhanced zoom, resolution, and frame rate options as other action cameras, but in my time using the Go Ultra, I didn’t miss 5.3K resolution or any of the other features, especially when the Action Pod is so damn light. It’s so small I don’t need to duck into a full head or chest mount to get quality shots.

Those imagining all the action shots they can take with the $450 Insta360 Go Ultra need to remember what they may be sacrificing for the sake of portability. The Hero 13 Black’s costs $430 while Insta360’s Ace Pro 2 demands $400. At the very least, the move to smaller magnetic cameras is pushing the industry forward. Multiple leaks have implied DJI is planning to launch its own pod-based action camera. Until somebody comes along and does it better, the Go Ultra has just the right balance of camera quality and portability.





Source link

September 17, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
DAAPrivacyRightIcon
Product Reviews

Kodak’s mini camera fits on your keyring and is smaller than an AirPods case

by admin September 14, 2025


Kodak has shrunk a camera to fit onto a keyring, but it still manages to shoot both photo and video. It’s hard not to compare the Kodak Charmera to the ubiquitous Labubu craze, considering the highly collectible nature of Reto Pro selling these officially licensed mini cameras as a single blind box for $29.99 or a full set of six for $179.94. The keyring cameras, which only weigh 30 grams, are already sold out on the Reto Pro website, but are expected to be restocked.

The blind box can be unwrapped for one of seven designs, including one secret version that has a transparent shell to show off the tiny camera’s internals. According to the website, the basic style odds are one out of six, while the secret edition has a probability of one out of 48. Whichever design you get, each Charmera comes with a keyring to Labubu-bify it to your belt loop or bag and a USB-C cable to export your photos or videos to other devices.

Inspired by Kodak’s first single-use camera from the ’80s called the Fling, the Chamera sports a throwback design that can shoot 1.6-megapixel images with a 1,440 x 1,080 resolution and videos at 30fps. Nobody should expect any ultrasharp images, but you can customize your shots with Kodak frames, vintage filters and a date stamp. We’re not expecting the Charmera to deliver the highest-quality images, but just like the Gameboy Camera, that won’t make it any less fun to use.



Source link

September 14, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
DAAPrivacyRightIcon
Product Reviews

Nikon’s ZR is its first cinema camera co-designed with RED

by admin September 10, 2025


Nikon has unveiled its first cinema camera developed in collaboration with the company it acquired last year, RED. The Nikon ZR (the “R” is for “RED” I imagine) is a camera that neither company could have made on its own, marrying RED’s color science and video codecs with Nikon’s advanced subject detect AF and in-body stabilization. It will go up against other creator-oriented models like Canon’s new C50 and the Sony FX3 but at a much lower price.

Nikon’s mirrorless cameras are known for their high dynamic range and the company is leaning into that for the ZR. It has a partially stacked 24MP sensor with a Dual Base ISO of 800/6400 that promises 15+ stops of dynamic range for high low-light sensitivity and greater detail in shadows and highlights. Though it doesn’t quite match the C50’s 7K resolution, it will output 12K RAW 6K video at 60 fps, or 4K at 120 fps.

The internal RAW format used will be RED’s new R3D NE and a log format called Log3G10 with the same color science as RED’s high-end cinema cameras (so it can match those in post). That’s a lighter codec designed exclusively for Nikon, but the ZR also supports Nikon’s N-RAW format along with ProRes/ProRes RAW and H.265. If you want to apply RED’s LUTs, you can load and monitor up to 10 at a time.

Nikon focused on audio as well, offering 32-bit float internal audio recording and Nokia’s OZO surround sound tech via three built-in high-performance mics. You can choose from five pickup patterns including front (super directional), front, all directions, rear and stereo (binaural) for any situation from interviews to vlogging to ASMR.

The ZR comes with subject tracking hybrid phase-detect autofocus, making it more palatable for content creators than any RED camera that has ever existed. That includes AI tracking of people (eyes, head and body) along with animals and vehicles, with nine types total. It also has five-axis in-body stabilization with 7.5 stops of smoothing, something palpably lacking in Canon’s new C50. Another key feature is digital focus-breathing compensation.

Since the ZR has no viewfinder, Nikon made the screen as big, bright and sharp as possible. It’s a 4-inch 16:10 display with 1,000 nits of brightness and full DCI-P3 HDR color coverage, with 3070K dots of resolution, one the highest of any camera display. Meanwhile, the tiny 540 gram (1.2 pound) body dissipates heat well enough to allow 6K 60 fps RAW recording for up to 125 minutes at 25C (77F) temperatures. It supports audio capture through a the digital hotshoe or a 3.5mm input and has a USB-C port for charging, data transfers and webcam/streaming, along with a headphone input. The HDMI port is unfortunately a small and flimsy Micro HDMI type, however.

For its capabilities, the Nikon ZR looks like a stunning bargain. It starts at $2,200 for the body only without accessories, which is nearly half the price of the Sony FX3 and $1,700 cheaper than Canon’s C50. Shipping is expected to start on October 20, 2025. It supports any Nikon (or third-party) Z mount lens or F mount glass with an adapter. Nikon also unveiled the $339 ME-D10 digital shotgun mike that’s compatible with the camera’s 32-bit float audio.



Source link

September 10, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Reolink's New Floodlight Camera Uses Sensors and AI to Detect Where It Can't See
Gaming Gear

Reolink’s New Floodlight Camera Uses Sensors and AI to Detect Where It Can’t See

by admin September 6, 2025


Reolink rolled out a new smart home security camera at IFA 2025 that the company says can see beyond its dual camera lenses. It’s called the TrackFlex Floodlight WiFi, and it looks kind of like the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi, a camera I recently reviewed, but with a ball-shaped camera housing that rotates to see things that three sensors above them have detected.

This sensor-based approach gives the camera a 270-degree detection range at any given time, according to a press release that Reolink emailed to Gizmodo. The three motion sensors wrap around the front and sides of the unit. A representative I spoke with at Reolink’s IFA booth suggested installing the camera on the corner of your home, surveying a driveway that stretches from the street to a garage farther back, a scene impossible for one fixed-view camera to cover—the TrackFlex could detect that a car is entering the driveway, swivel to face it, then watch it as it drives to the garage.

© Wes Davis / Gizmodo

Like other Reolink cameras, this one stores recordings locally, either with microSD cards (up to 512GB) or Reolink’s NVR and Home Hub devices. Saving videos to a network-attached storage (NAS) device via FTP is also an option. This is Reolink, so expect to be assaulted with options in the company’s app.

As for the TrackFlex’s dual cameras, they’re not recording one broad field of view like the Elite Floodlight WiFi. Instead, one is a standard wide view while the other is a 6x zoom, capable of capturing a lot more zoomed-in detail than the wide lens can. The two floodlights looked exactly like those of the Elite, and can articulate to point up or down, or to bathe a wider area in light. They also offer the same brightness and temperature adjustment as the Elite.

The camera uses the company’s new local AI system called ReoNeura Core, which enables the TrackFlex to do the same sorts of natural language video search that we’re seeing with a lot of other connected-camera AI systems. (See SwitchBot’s new AI Hub.) So, if you want to search your locally stored video for a moment, like when a person with a brown shirt walked into your garage last, you can do that. The Reolink rep I spoke with took me to a pair of displays that showed me what was happening behind the scenes.

© Wes Davis / Gizmodo

On the left, it was a view of what a user might see while using the event notifications screen; you see the camera’s live feed. While on the right, a list of events with descriptions that were mostly pretty accurate—there were people interacting at a convention, and others were walking around in the background—but it got some details wrong. We weren’t at an outdoor event, for example (although it was quite bright in there).

© Wes Davis / Gizmodo

Meanwhile, on the right, the screen showed individual characteristics of the things the model was identifying. Seeing everyone broken down by their attributes had a very police-station-surveillance vibe. ReoNeuro identified one person as a middle-aged male wearing a green, short-sleeve shirt, along with a hat and a bag. In the bottom panel, another middle-aged male—although that person definitely looked younger than me, and I’m still in my prime, I swear—is identified as wearing a long-sleeve shirt with pants, both blue, and as having short hair. All of that detail is effectively keywords for your searches later, and they all seem like things you’d type if you’re looking for specific events that you know the TrackFlex recorded.

But woof, it’s more than a little unnerving to see this in action, and it felt a little off-key to have a Reolink rep so proudly showing it to me. It’s great that this is all happening on device, as I’d rather that than have it happening in a cloud server over which I have no control. It’s convenient and there’s no doubt that I want the convenience of casually searching my footage, but that sure didn’t stop seeing how the sausage is made from giving me the willies.



Source link

September 6, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
The new Skate made me want to skate, but it also made me want to get my camera and shoot - and it's all thanks to its new, living city
Game Updates

The new Skate made me want to skate, but it also made me want to get my camera and shoot – and it’s all thanks to its new, living city

by admin August 27, 2025


The new Skate game is free-to-play and pretty much massively multiplayer. It’s a cross-platform live service game to its core, and it drops you into a shared open-world map with up to 150 other skaters. And, as you might expect from all these things being name-checked, my first half hour with the game involved trying to understand a muddle of regular unlocks, an in-game currency, a levelling system, a fast travel system and various other bits of UI shenanigans.

Please note, EA has been clear from the off that the game’s real-money shop will only ever let players pay for cosmetics, which is great. The team’s promise is that you will not be able to buy power or pay to win. Even so, the onboarding still involves trips back and forth to an unlock shop, albeit one with a clever name I won’t spoil. It involves lots of freely dished-out in-game currency spent on boxes that, once opened, contain new clothes, skateboard art, levelling points and the odd new ramp or whatnot to drop into spots. But a lot of it went over my distracted head. It’s Skate, but even when you’re dealing with just in-game currency, this really isn’t the skating part.


To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

Manage cookie settings

Luckily, none of this matters. Skate’s trajectory for me at least involved half an hour of muddling through all of this stuff before learning that the game, as is so often the case with skating, is a two-step affair. You move around the level – in this case an entire open-world city called San Vansterdam – completing challenges to unlock missions that take you out across the sights and introduce you to a council of skating elders who run the place. But what you’re really learning, what I’m really learning, is to step away from all that and just enjoy freeform skating, with the flips, grabs and other tricks the legendary Flick-It system is so good at conjuring. All of this unspooling in a bright, cheerful world that’s perfectly made to be skated over and under, around and around. I was learning to leave the game stuff behind and just play.

To this end, Skate is a game that wants to distract you. It wants to trick you into finding your own path through it. This clicked for the first time when I left behind the AR trail that lead me to the next bit of official business and just started to climb. The new Skate has a lot of off-board stuff, largely revolving around gentle parkour. There was a building behind me at the time – a huge tower with a Miami white facade and grass sections growing on it. These grass sections had Zigzag metal planters set through them that looked pretty useful. I climbed for a few minutes and suddenly I had what I didn’t know I had wanted: a view over a huge stretch of city. Then I pulled up the map and saw there were some stunt challenges nearby. So off I went. The pleasures of distraction!

Stunt challenges are those hilarious chaotic challenges that are less about skating and more about chucking yourself into the abyss for points. In one, I had to just bounce my way down a skyscraper hoping to land in a dumpster. In another, a while later, I had to plummet for a while, then get on my board, then do a grab and a flip trick and land somewhere fiercely specific. These things are just lovely: five to ten to thirty minutes of comical bone-shredding failure followed by an exhilarating one-shot success. Stunting!

Skate seems filled with these things – challenges, of course, and of all different types and often rotating in and out with the passing of time. But also just stuff. On a radial dial you can access a video editor for cutting together and exporting clips of your tricks. There’s also a music system that allows you to literally grab in-game tracks as you pass them in the world and hold onto them and probably whack them into playlists. There’s also a Quick Drop editor which allows you to add ramps and rails and what-have-you to make your own spot pretty much anywhere on the map. All of this before, you know, the massively multiplayer bit and the 150 other players sharing the city with you.

Flick-It real good. | Image credit: EA

At the core of it all, however, is Skate’s legendary Flick-It system. The system in which you ping the right stick around in different directions to pull off different tricks. This has been part of Skate since the start, and the current Skate team talks about it with a certain reverence. In fact, Skate’s executive producer Mike McCartney (no relation), explains to me that, back in the day, Flick-It was fun before it even had much of a game to sit within.

“Basically, the idea was, when we first designed the Flick-It system, the first prototype that we made was a text-based prototype where you input it into the on the controller,” he says. “And it would just say ‘Ollie’ on screen. Or ‘Kick Flip’, or ‘Heel Flip’ or whatever. And as we added tricks, we kept checking that to see if the fidelity was good and it was recognizing the proper tricks.

“And as a team, one of the early things that we did was we played games of SKATE,” McCartney continues, “where I do a trick and then you have to match that trick. So we would play games of SKATE on this prototype, and we were having fun as a team doing that, even without an actual character or a skateboard or physics or anything. We were having fun and laughing and joking around. That was sort of the spark that sort of kicked off, like, ‘Hey, I think we got something here with this, with this core toy.'”

Flick-It is still effortless fun, allowing you to make even the quietest moment into a few seconds of something cool happening at board level. It’s great for practicing and it’s great for showing off to other players. But, speaking of other players, it’s interesting to me that I’ve spent my most memorable moments so far in this busy game on my own.

San Vansterdam is huge, healthy, and hopeful. | Image credit: Full Circle

Example: there’s a lovely mission about an hour in that just has you skating from one spot in the city to another to get a sense of the place, and tricking and earning points as you go. The area I started in is a kind of cross between downtown LA on a gloriously unbusy day and somewhere like Seattle with the skyscrapers running up against the water. There are lovely plazas to uncover. There are buildings to climb and maybe chain moves between. There’s a genuine sense of place to these areas.

Threading through the whole thing, meanwhile, is the Skateway, a looping track that’s based on New York’s Highline park, and which allows you to mobius your way around a pretty large open world without resorting to fast travel spots.

The open world aspect of Skate is important, and it’s fascinating to me, too. Because in skating games, an open world is more than a place to move from A to B through, and more than a place in which to mount a series of bespoke missions. It’s a place to dawdle in and doodle around on a board, looking for lines on even the most forgettable and unpromising of street corners. It’s a place to stop and linger, a place where anywhere could suddenly become somewhere special, just because you’ve decided to hang out there.

This stuff is tricky, I imagine. And when I put this to Jeff Seamster, the head of creative on Skate, he agrees. And he suggests it’s all about creating connections – or the possibilities for connections in each part of the world.

“A lot of it is created where our world design team and our world art team will sort of move through the world and let the opportunities speak to them,” Seamster explains. “It’s not a thing where we’re just having you FedEx [yourself] around the whole world. It’s like: okay, let’s make sure that there’s a clear line to get from here to here to here to here to here to here to here.

“It’s very much about creating these places with a lot of rich moments and environments,” he says. “And sometimes they can be really small, like it can just be like a corner of a stair, and it’s just like: man, people are going to just session the hell out of this place! And we’re talking about this tiny piece of the world. If you think about the scope and the scale of a Spider-Man [game] or whatever else, this is a thing that flicks by in a moment.

“But our game is much more about this almost intimate connection to the city. And there are even places where we will look around the world and decide, this is just going to be a great place to hang out. So it’s not necessarily designed for action, but we want places where players can hang out, chit-chat together, watch other players session a spot. So we’ll have these perches that are there around the world. This is just a great place to meet up, and they have landmark design around them.”

Lip service. | Image credit: EA

Skate’s open world will also change over time. I’m picturing something a bit like Fortnite. Skate will have seasons that all come with their own themes to their additions and tweaks. (It will also have a Skate Pass, which is essentially a Battle Pass, right down to the paid and unpaid tiers.) It’s going to be fascinating to see San Vansterdam change in that shoemaker’s elves way that Fortnite changes. It’s clear that the team wants this to be a place where people come to just hang out, as they do in Fortnite. To this end, along with Seamster’s perches, there’s even a spectator mode, which allows you to just zone out and watch any of the skaters on your server doing their tricks.

A lot of time has passed since the last Skate game. And what’s interesting is that it’s very clear now that this kind of game is not a million miles away from the current cozy game phenomenon. Like a lot of cozy games, it’s about enjoying the beauty of a game world and slowing down to let the moments find you.

Real talk: I am a terrible but extremely committed 35mm film photographer these days, and San Vansterdam made me want to skate, sure, but it also made me want to bust out my Canon point-and-shoot, in exactly the way a lot of cozy games do. And this is something EA appears to be aware of too.

“I think we all to some degree talk about film and filmic things and how things look through the camera quite a lot,” Seamster laughs. “We all just happen to love things that happen on camera. But it also is a very specific tie to the history of skate culture. Photography and videography of skating over the years have [been interlinked].”

Perhaps because of that, the team’s attuned to the way that photography can change a place just like skating can – like any activity done with thought and passion can. “I can’t believe I’m going here,” he laughs, “but, like, macro gardening photography is a very specific way of looking at the world, for example. And if you talk about Skate and skateboarding, we talk about how we frame screenshots and how we capture our own footage: there’s a way of positioning the camera, to bias the action and show action opportunity, and to frame things up. And it turns into this cool new appreciation. And I have even found myself in my own photography – I take photos in cities – approaching things in a very different way than I would have otherwise [as a result of Skate.] I’m getting down close to things.

“And it’s like, this is a cool thing to look at, but this is also a great thing to grind, or a great thing to launch over.” He laughs. “Or whatever else it might be.”



Source link

August 27, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hasselblad’s flagship medium format camera is cheaper than you’d think.
Product Reviews

Hasselblad’s flagship medium format camera is cheaper than you’d think.

by admin August 26, 2025


We’ve spent most of the year talking about gadgets getting more expensive. Thanks to US tariffs, prices are rising every few months, and even small upgrades have come with big price hikes. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the new Hasselblad X2D 100C II will actually be cheaper than its predecessor, coming in at “just” $7,400 for the body.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s far from cheap. But Hasselblad is trying to get this camera in the hands of a wider audience. I’ve been looking at my account balance ever since I started this review, trying to figure out if I can justify buying one for myself. I probably can’t — but not because I don’t want to.

Here’s what you need to know about digital medium format cameras like the X2D. They’re bigger and slower than full-frame or crop-sensor cameras. They take longer to process images and usually have slower autofocus. And yes, they cost a lot more money. But you get nearly perfect photos with incredible detail and sharpness unlike what you can get with any other camera. And the photos I got from the X2D II are some of the best photos I have ever taken. The question is whether they’re worth sacrificing speed, size, and money.

It’s been three years since the last X2D, and the new version comes with some exciting updates: it’s using LiDAR to assist with autofocus, it’s the first medium format camera capable of taking HDR photos, and it has 10-stop in-body stabilization. It also has one new button and a joystick! That might sound minor, but it has made handling this camera a lot faster and let me rely less on touchscreen commands, which I was never fond of. Medium format cameras are lethargic, so any bit helps!

But in many other ways, the new one similar to its predecessor. The body has the same handheld shape, it still takes 100 megapixel photos, and it offers similar dynamic range (15.3 versus 15 stops). Want to shoot video? In 2025, you might expect that option from a medium format camera, like you would in Fujifilm’s GFX line or the five-year-old Leica S3. But we’ll have to wait a few more years for that. This is strictly a photographers’ camera — fortunately, it’s a very good one.

$7399

The Good

  • Incredible image quality
  • More buttons
  • Price

The Bad

  • LiDAR is just ok
  • Still a bit slow
  • Bulky

Last year, DJI released a product called DJI Focus Pro LiDAR, which combines a LiDAR sensor with a mechanism that attaches to your camera and lets you use autofocus with your manual-focus lenses. I haven’t used one, but it’s popular with some content creators. LiDAR has made its way to cameras as part of the standard autofocus system, and it’s also the first real sign of DJI’s influence over Hasselblad since the acquisition in 2017.

The LiDAR module on this camera is much smaller than the one on the Focus Pro module, and it works in tandem with the existing phase detection and contrast detection autofocus.

LiDAR is a big new features with the X2D 100C II, but you won’t notice a big change in autofocus performance in everyday use.

So, is it good? It is good. Is it impressive? It’s not bad. Is it flawless? Not quite. In my few weeks with the X2D II, I found the LiDAR system to bereliable, pin-point accurate, and just fast enough where it almost feels like a modern mirrorless camera. Think more like a Fuji than a Sony: a bit slower but still good.

But sometimes it also felt like the LiDAR was questioning itself. It would often focus behind a subject and then work its way forward, especially when using continuous autofocus. The same goes for subject detection and eye autofocus: if the subject wasn’t looking directly at the camera, then the system would often decide to focus on the subject as a whole, not the eye. This happened more with animals than people (sorry, most of my friends are four-legged) and would sometimes make me miss out on potential photos. On the other hand, it was also able to capture subjects from far away; it worked well in the dark and low light.

Autofocus performed marginally better with the lens that Hasselblad is releasing alongside this camera — the XCD 35-100 mm, which will cost $4,599. In its press release, Hasselblad called this lens “compact,” but it isn’t even close. It is a very large lens. In fact, it is so large that Hasselblad had to release special UV and ND filters for the 86mm diameter lens. At least it’s not too heavy for its size, at 1.97 lbs.

The Hasselblad X2D II comes with a built-in 1TB SSD, which makes processing those 100MP images fairly fast (I’m grading on a curve here). There’s still some delay before you can review your photo on the screen, especially in burst mode — about four seconds per exposure. But it’s fast enough that it didn’t slow me down too much. You can still keep shooting without a problem. I’m not a spray-and-pray photographer; I tend to be more intentional with my shots, so it’s fast enough for me, but it could feel sluggish for some. And yes, there’s still a CFexpress type B slot for extra storage, and I haven’t noticed any improvements or hindrances when using those.

The Hasseblad X2D 100C II adds a few new buttons which makes operating this camera much faster. It’s the little things.

Photos from the X2D II look crisp and gorgeous. The details are sharp, the edges look razor-thin, the bokeh from the 25mm prime lens that I mostly used is silky with that signature Hasselblad 8-point starburst effect. (For full-size samples, be sure to download images from this folder.)

The camera is rated for 15.3 stops of dynamic range, which made the 16-bit photos extremely lifelike. Pair that with incredibly accurate colors, and I was constantly amazed with the results. I truly couldn’t wait to review each and every photo across as many screens as possible — especially the HDR ones, since this is the first medium format camera capable of capturing true HDR photos.

1/11The level of detail and sharpness from the Hasselblad’s medium format sensor is truly spectacular. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

In general, I am not a fan of the HDR look that you usually get out of smartphone or action cameras, but it looks more natural here. In some extreme and high contrast scenes, you’ll see lots of processing, particularly in the shadows, which are heavily lifted, and you’ll also see noise creeping in. In more even exposures, the HDR processing and the noise looks much better and well sustained. I encourage you to take a look at these on an HDR monitor and pay attention to the highlights, which retain lots of information and look great. If you’re into that punchy look with rich highlights, then you’ll enjoy what you get out of the X2D II.

When you connect this camera to the new Phocus 2 app, you can control how much HDR processing you want to apply. This is definitely the best way to go about processing HDR photos with this camera, and it’s made me use HDR a whole lot more. Also, shout out to Hasselblad for making a minimalistic and simple companion app that looks great and works well. I’ve had minor connectivity issues with it, but far less than with other apps I’ve used in the past. (For HDR samples, download images from this folder.)

Noise in both HDR and non-HDR photos looks well maintained, and only at about ISO 6400 does it slowly start to jeopardize the image. The lowest ISO on this camera is 50, down from 65 on the X2D. If you’re worried about noise in this camera, you shouldn’t be. But if you are, the 10-stop stabilization will help you open up that shutter a bit longer.

Hasselblad says that you can get clean handheld exposures up to “several” seconds. It’s hard to tell what several seconds actually means, but I was able to get some long exposure of waterfalls by handholding a camera up to three seconds on a bright and sunny day, albeit while leaning against the railing. For other photos, I was comfortable with handholding for up to a second.

We live in an age where camera specs are slowly fading away. Every digital camera shoots great photos, they all have great autofocus, and they all get similar colors. It really comes down to how a camera makes you feel when you use it: Can it become an extension of one’s self? Can it help you express yourself as a photographer?

This Hasselblad is gorgeous and bold. The dark gray body and matte finish look like a luxury supercar. The grip on the side has a new, extremely comfortable, and good-looking texture. It feels so good in your hand: robust, and every corner well-made. You feel like you’re in the driver’s seat, buckled up and ready for a smooth ride.
The three-level tilting screen, buttons, joystick, dials, and everything else is very Hasselblad — made with care and precision. But it’s also a heavy camera that will tire you out after a long day of filming. And for me, the novelty of carrying a Hasselblad started to wear off toward the end of my review period — that is, until I looked back at the photos that I took and the memories that I was able to create. And gosh, I am so glad that I made those memories with one of the greatest cameras I have ever used.

Photography by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

15 CommentsFollow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

  • Vjeran PavicClose

    Vjeran Pavic

    Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All by Vjeran Pavic

  • Camera ReviewsClose

    Camera Reviews

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Camera Reviews

  • Featured VideosClose

    Featured Videos

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Featured Videos

  • ReviewsClose

    Reviews

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Reviews

  • TechClose

    Tech

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Tech



Source link

August 26, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Best GoPro Camera (2025): Compact, Budget, Accessories
Product Reviews

Best GoPro Camera (2025): Compact, Budget, Accessories

by admin August 23, 2025


The Top 3 GoPro Hero Cameras Compared

GoPros to Avoid

GoPro doesn’t sell anything older than the Hero 12, but there are plenty of Hero 11s and even Hero 10s out there for sale on the internet. We suggest avoiding them. They may work fine, but modern accessories designed for later models won’t work, and these cameras have likely been through the wringer. (They are action cameras, after all.)

GoPro

Hero 11 Black

GoPro no longer sells the Hero 11, but it’s still commonly available on Amazon and other retailers. Unfortunately it’s usually the same price as the Hero 12 (around $300) and therefore not worth buying.

GoPro

Hero 10 Black

The Hero 10 is really showing its age at this point, but it can sometimes be found on sale for $200, but the video quality and stabilization aren’t nearly as good as the Hero 13, which also sells for about $220 and is better in every way.

What About the GoPro Max?

Photograph: GoPro

What most people call a “GoPro” is in fact the Hero Black camera. GoPro makes a few other cameras as well, most notably the Max. The Max is GoPro’s attempt at three cameras in one. It can shoot 360 footage and Hero-style video and photos, and it works as a vlogging camera. While the 360-degree time lapse feature is awesome, and the sound is pretty good, it’s been a while since GoPro updated it, and there are better 360 cameras. Our top pick is Insta360’s X5. The GoPro Max might be more durable, but in nearly every other way the X5 bests it. Hopefully, GoPro will update the Max in 2025.

The Best GoPro Accessories

Photograph: GoPro

Should you buy a bundle? Generally, I say no. Get the camera, figure it out, and see how you end up using it. When you find yourself trying to solve a problem, start looking for an accessory. Here are some of my favorite things that I’ve tested and used, but if you have favorites you think I should try, drop a comment below.

A good MicroSD card for $60: According to GoPro’s recommendations, you want a microSD card with a V30 or UHS-3 rating. That said, GoPros can be finicky about SD cards. I’ve had good luck with, and recommend, the Samsung linked here. Another card I’ve used extensively is the Sandisk Extreme Pro.

GoPro Media Mod for $80: By far my most used accessory, the media mod does add some bulk, but in most cases this is more than made up for by the fact that you can plug in a real microphone (I use mine with a Rode Wireless). Sound quality is radically improved with this one. This may be less necessary if you get the Hero 12 or later, since those models do have support for Bluetooth mics.

GoPro Handlebar Mount for $40: I’ve been doing a lot more riding lately and this mount pretty much lives on my bike these days. It’s been rock solid in my testing, and beats any of the third-party mounts I’ve tested.

GoPro Tripod Mount Adapters for $30: Unless you have the Hero 12 or 13, which have a tripod mount built-in, you’ll need a few of these to mount your GoPro to a tripod like the GorillaPod above.

GoPro Floaty for $35: If you’re getting anywhere near the water, grab one of these. Trust me, you will drop your GoPro and when you do, you will glad you have this (unless the water is clear and you’re a good free diver.) GoPro also makes a Floating Hand Grip ($23), which not only floats but has a leash for diving or surfing.

GoPro Selfie Stick for $80: This 48-inch extension pole collapses up surprisingly small and isn’t very heavy. It’s the best selfie stick I’ve used. I rarely use it for selfies, but it makes a great monopod on soft ground, like a sandy beach.

DaVinci Resolve Studio for $300: This is my video editing software of choice. There is a free version, but I got tired of converting media to fit the restrictions of the free version. Best money I ever spent when it comes to making better videos.



Source link

August 23, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
The Pixel 10 Pro puts generative AI right inside the camera
Product Reviews

The Pixel 10 Pro puts generative AI right inside the camera

by admin August 21, 2025


At The Verge, we like to ask “What is a photo?” when we’re trying to sort out real and unreal images — especially those taken with phone cameras. But I think there’s another question that we’ll want to add to the mix starting right now: what is a camera? With the introduction of the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL, that answer is more wild and complicated than ever, because generative AI isn’t just something you can use to edit a photo you’ve already taken; it’s baked right into the camera itself.

I’m talking about Pro Res Zoom, which is not to be confused with Apple’s ProRes video format or Google’s Super Res Zoom, so help us all. Pro Res Zoom kicks in when past 30x, all the way up to 100x digital zoom. Typically, the camera uses an algorithm to help fill in the gaps left by upscaling a small portion of your photo to the original resolution. Typically, the results look like hot garbage, especially when you get all the way to 75x or 100x, despite every camera maker’s best efforts over the past two decades. Pro Res Zoom aims to give you a usable image where you wouldn’t have gotten one before — and that’s where the diffusion model comes in.

It’s a latent diffusion model, Google’s Pixel camera product manager Isaac Reynolds tells me. He doesn’t see it as an entirely new process — more like a variation on what phone cameras have done for years. Algorithms have long helped identify subjects and improve detail, producing unwanted artifacts as a byproduct that engineers squash in subsequent updates. “Generative AI is just a different algorithm with different artifacts,” he says. But as opposed to a more conventional neural network, a diffusion model is “pretty good at killing the artifacts.”

That might be an understatement. In the handful of demos I saw, Pro Res Zoom cleaned up some pretty gnarly 100x zoom photos remarkably well. The processing all happens on device after you take the photo. Reynolds tells me that when Google started developing the feature, it took around a minute to run the diffusion model on the phone; his team got the runtime down to four or five seconds. Once the processing is done, the new version is saved alongside the original. I only saw it work a handful of times, but the results I saw looked pretty darn good.

1/3The original photo before Pro Res Zoom.

Pro Res Zoom has one important guardrail: it doesn’t work on people. If it detects a person in the image, it’ll work around them and enhance everything else, leaving the human be. This is a good idea, not only because I do not want a phone camera hallucinating different features onto my face, but also because it could be problematic from a creepiness standpoint.

Google has also taken a responsible step to tag photos taken with the phone using C2PA content credentials, labeling Pro Res Zoom photos as “edited with AI tools.” But it doesn’t stop there — all photos taken with the Pixel 10 get tagged to indicate that they were taken with a camera and whether AI played a role. If a photo is the result of merging multiple frames, like a panorama, that’ll be noted in the content credentials, too.

The Pixel 10 labels all photos taken with its camera using C2PA content credentials.

It’s all in an effort to reduce the “implied truth effect,” Reynolds explains. If you only apply labels to AI-generated images, then anything without an AI label seems to be authentic. But that only really means that the origin of an image is unknown, especially in an age of easy access to AI editing and image generation tools. It could have been edited with AI and not tagged as such, or the tag could have been removed by taking a screenshot and sharing that image instead.

The thing is, C2PA credentials can’t be modified once they’re created. Looking for a tag to positively identify an image as being camera-created becomes one of the only surefire ways of knowing that what you’re looking at isn’t AI. If that’s the future we’re moving toward, then there’s a massive gap between that reality and the one we live in now.

“I do think there’s going to be a period of education,” Reynolds acknowledges. He thinks that phase is already well underway, and I agree. But there is still potential for real harm — to people and our institutions — between now and that future, and that’s what makes me most uncomfortable about this whole moment.

Is a camera that uses AI to clean up your crappy zoom photos still just a camera? Probably, for now

Misgivings aside, I still had one question I needed an answer to: what exactly is an image taken with Pro Res Zoom? A memory? A robot’s best guess at what a tree looks like? A moment lost in time, like tears in the rain? If I take a Pro Res Zoom picture of the Statue of Liberty, is it really a photo that I took? Reynolds thinks so.

“Pro Res Zoom is tuned very carefully to just be a picture,” he says. “There’s nothing about Pro Res Zoom that changes what you’re expecting from a camera. Because that’s how we built it, that’s what we wanted it to be.”

Is a camera that uses AI to clean up your crappy zoom photos still just a camera? Probably, for now. But there’s a door open for someone who wants to build something else — and a lot of questions to ask in the meantime.

Photos by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

  • Allison JohnsonClose

    Allison Johnson

    Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All by Allison Johnson

  • GoogleClose

    Google

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Google

  • Google PixelClose

    Google Pixel

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Google Pixel

  • Hands-onClose

    Hands-on

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Hands-on

  • MobileClose

    Mobile

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Mobile

  • ReviewsClose

    Reviews

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Reviews

  • TechClose

    Tech

    Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

    PlusFollow

    See All Tech



Source link

August 21, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Ricoh GR IV
Gaming Gear

Ricoh Announces Updated Version of My Favorite Travel Camera

by admin August 21, 2025


With pocket camera popularity on the rise, Ricoh has announced the GR IV, an updated version of its excellent, diminutive (and quite old) GR III. It’s a fixed-lens camera that can easily fit in a pocket, but inside is a big APS-C image sensor — far larger than what you can get in a phone. Larger image sensors typically mean better image quality compared to smaller sensors.

I really liked the GR III and picked it as the best point-and-shoot camera for travel. The images it captured were better, especially in low light, than most of the other small cameras I tested. However, it felt quite dated. The new GR IV, on paper at least, seems to improve on many of the GR III’s more aged aspects but keeps the vast majority of the camera the same. That’s generally a good thing.

Big sensor, little camera 

Ricoh

  • 25.7-megapixel images (6,192×4,128)
  • 18.3mm f/2.8 lens (28mm in 35mm equivalent)
  • 1080p/60 video
  • 5-axis image stabilization
  • Faster startup compared to previous GR cameras (claimed to be 0.6 seconds)
  • Built-in ND filter (2 stops)
  • 53GB internal storage (also microSD)
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.3

The two benefits of the GR III and its predecessors carry over to the GR IV: It’s an extremely small camera with a big image sensor. The body is 4.3 by 2.4 by 1.3 inches, which is roughly the same width as a smartphone, thicker but shorter. It should fit easily in most pockets. The IV is very slightly smaller than the GR III. 

Again, inside is a new APS-C-sized image sensor, though it’s the same size used in the GR III and basically the same resolution. Ricoh says it has “higher sensitivity and reduced noise” compared to the sensor in the GR III. It would have been great to see a higher-resolution sensor, allowing for more detail when cropping in on an image, considering the GR IV has a fixed, wide-angle lens. 

Ricoh

That lens is an all-new design, with an 18.3mm focal length (equivalent to 28mm). That matches the GR III, as does its f2.8 aperture. This is on the narrow end of what’s typically considered a wide-angle lens, but it’s similar to the field of view of the main cameras on most smartphones. Ricoh says the lens’s glass elements allow for “edge-to-edge sharpness.”

The GR IV has 5-axis shake reduction, up from 3-axis on the GR III, to help reduce blurriness during longer shutter speeds. Ricoh says this offers up to six stops of stabilization. This, along with the higher sensitivity of the image sensor, could mean the GR IV does really well in low light.

Ricoh

Along with the launch of the GR IV, Ricoh has announced several accessories, most notably a compact flash that connects via the hot shoe on top of the camera. After years of cameras trying to reduce the need for flashes, the resurgence of retro digital cameras and their aesthetic is bringing them back. Additionally, there will be some cosmetic alternatives, including a metal hot shoe cover, plus a wrist strap (pictured in the top image) and a lens adapter to fit the GW-4 wide conversion lens that’s currently available for the GR III.

Should you wait for the GR IV?

Ricoh

On paper, the updates to the GR IV seem fairly mild. Same overall design, same resolution, same focal length. However, there’s definitely an “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it” aspect to all of that. The GR III worked great, creating high-quality images in a pocket-size camera. It’s often said the best camera is the one you have with you, and it was very easy to have the GR III with you.

The new lens, image sensor and stabilization could be solid upgrades. I won’t know until I test the GR IV (likely next month when it launches). I’m a little disappointed it’s not higher resolution. That’s not a huge deal, but I’ve been using a fixed-lens camera for several months now as my main camera, and being able to crop in on the 40MP images has come in handy. Then again, if I were in a situation where I wanted to capture something in the distance, I’d usually just use the telephoto on my Pixel 9 Pro. 

If you’re interested in a GR camera, I’d recommend waiting a few weeks if you can. Either the GR IV will be a worthy upgrade and worth getting, or it will just be a minor improvement and the older, and likely cheaper, GR III will be the better option. The Ricoh GR IV will be available in mid-September for $1,500.

Ricoh



Source link

August 21, 2025 0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
  • 1
  • 2

Categories

  • Crypto Trends (1,098)
  • Esports (800)
  • Game Reviews (733)
  • Game Updates (906)
  • GameFi Guides (1,058)
  • Gaming Gear (960)
  • NFT Gaming (1,079)
  • Product Reviews (960)

Recent Posts

  • Marathon still lives, as Bungie announces new closed technical test ahead of public update
  • AirPods 4 Are Now 3x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro, Amazon Is Offering Entry-Level Clearance Prices
  • Wildgate Review – A Shipshape Space Race
  • Battlefield 6 physical copies are content complete and require no initial install, according to early copy holders
  • KPop Demon Hunters Uploaded A New Song, But Something’s Off

Recent Posts

  • Marathon still lives, as Bungie announces new closed technical test ahead of public update

    October 8, 2025
  • AirPods 4 Are Now 3x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro, Amazon Is Offering Entry-Level Clearance Prices

    October 8, 2025
  • Wildgate Review – A Shipshape Space Race

    October 8, 2025
  • Battlefield 6 physical copies are content complete and require no initial install, according to early copy holders

    October 8, 2025
  • KPop Demon Hunters Uploaded A New Song, But Something’s Off

    October 8, 2025

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

About me

Welcome to Laughinghyena.io, your ultimate destination for the latest in blockchain gaming and gaming products. We’re passionate about the future of gaming, where decentralized technology empowers players to own, trade, and thrive in virtual worlds.

Recent Posts

  • Marathon still lives, as Bungie announces new closed technical test ahead of public update

    October 8, 2025
  • AirPods 4 Are Now 3x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro, Amazon Is Offering Entry-Level Clearance Prices

    October 8, 2025

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

@2025 laughinghyena- All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by Pro


Back To Top
Laughing Hyena
  • Home
  • Hyena Games
  • Esports
  • NFT Gaming
  • Crypto Trends
  • Game Reviews
  • Game Updates
  • GameFi Guides
  • Shop

Shopping Cart

Close

No products in the cart.

Close