Samyang has announced two manual focus lenses for cameras with APS-C or Four Thirds type sensors, a 16mm f/2.0 wideangle for SLRs and mirrorless, and a 300mm f/6.3 for mirrorless. The 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS offers a 24mm-equivalent angle of view with an unusually bright maximum aperture, and comes in a wide range of mounts to fit almost every brand of camera. Its RRP is €395, or €435 for the Nikon mount 'AE' version. Meanwhile the Reflex 300mm f/6.3 ED UMC CS is a compact catadioptric or 'mirror' lens to fit Micro Four Thirds, Canon, Sony and Fujifilm models, and comes in a choice of silver or black for €259. Both will be available in July.

Now that he has his own copies of the new Zeiss Touit lenses, Roger Cicala of Lensrentals decided to crack into the Planar 32mm F1.8 lens. His mission was to see if the renowned build quality of Zeiss optics was compromised to make the lenses more affordable. His teardown detailed the Touit's polymer construction and its use of a DC motor. Click through to see what he thought.

As if the plethora of blurry cat photos flooding social photo sharing sites weren't enough, a new app promises to deliver even more by helping furry felines capture their own self-portraits. Snapcat is the result of a 24-hour coding spree during EyeEm's Photo Hack Day 3 in Berlin. You just have to laugh, and for a few more giggles, click over to connect.dpreview.com to see how Snapcat works.

Fotodiox has announced the new DY-200 LED-based Fresnel Light for film work and studio photography. The lamps use very little power, are cool to the touch, and are flicker-free. They can be controlled via a built-in LED display, wireless remote, or with a DMX-compatible lighting control system. The DY-200 is available in daylight or 'W' tungsten versions, and is now available for $1199.95.

The Berlin Foto Festival is again highlighting mobile photography at this year's show. A new exhibition, Berlinstagram, features the work of Berlin smartphone photographer and prolific Instagrammer Michael Schulz. Schulz uses a smartphone to capture both the street scenes and architectural structure of Germany's capital city. See more of his striking photos on connect.dpreview.com.

We've just deployed an update to the forums that adds tabbed filtering by thread type and a new 'photo post' option, designed for users wanting to share images. We've also added filtering by product (to the product forums) and a swanky new 'grid view' for browsing forums by images (rather than thread titles). Finally we've fine-tuned the 'classic' skin and deployed some fixes and enhancements to the text editor.

Fresh from the Pentax Ricoh launch event in New York, we've put together a real-world samples gallery from the Pentax K-50. The 16MP mid-range DSLR builds on the very likeable K-30 and promises improved image processing. We take a closer look at the K-50 and its similar sibling, the K-500, to see just what they bring to the table, as well as presenting a selection of full-resolution sample images.

Pentax has refreshed its entry level DSLR lineup with the announcement of the K-50 and K-500. The K50 is an update of the K-30, featuring less controversial styling and slightly tweaked processing, helping it offer a maximum ISO of 51,200. The K-500, meanwhile, gets most of the K-50's features - the main loss being weather sealing - in a less expensive package. While not radically different from the K-30, both cameras bring twin dial controls and 100% glass prism viewfinders to price points ($799 and $599 respectively), where both those features are rare. Alongside the cameras, Pentax is launching revised, DA-L versions of its 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 WR and 55-200mm F4-5.6 WR lenses.

Pentax Ricoh has announced the Q7 - its latest Q-mount camera and the first to feature a larger, 1/1.7" type sensor. The 7.44 x 5.58mm, 12MP BSI CMOS sensor is the same size as the one used in many enthusiast compacts, with the company claiming a 60% improvement in S/N ratio over the existing Q10. This improvement also allows the camera to focus faster in low light. The Q7 will cost around $500 with the '02' 5-15mm zoom lens and can be custom-ordered in any of 120 color combinations. The company has also introduced a body-cap 'Mount Shield' lens for the Q system - the 11.5mm F9 lens will cost around $80.

Just posted: Our review of the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens. In the latest of our lens reviews brought to you in partnership with DxOMark, we take a look at Canon's slimline 'pancake' prime for its APS-C and full frame SLRs. It's one of the smallest and cheapest lenses currently on the market, and includes a stepper motor for silent focusing during movie recording. But does its small size and low price result in compromised optics? Read our review to find out. 

Sony’s flagship Xperia Z offers some head-turning specs, including a 13-megapixel primary camera and a high-definition 1920x1080 443 ppi display on its 5-inch screen. It's even water- and dust-resistant — the ad campaign shows users rinsing the Xperia Z off by pouring water over it. We were eager to see if these exciting features make for a quality mobile camera. See our findings on connect.dpreview.com.

Samsung has officially unveiled the Galazy S4 Zoom - the nearest thing yet to a true camera / phone hybrid.  The 'camera side' features a 24-240mm equivalent F3.1-6.3 lens with a zoom ring around the barrel, in front of a 16MP 1/2.3" CMOS sensor. It includes optical image stabilisation, a built-in xenon flash, ISO 100-3200, 4 fps continuous shooting, and 1080p30 HD video; images are stored to internal memory or microSD. On the 'phone side' you get a 4.3" Super AMOLED display, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and all the other features you'd expect of a modern smartphone. The S4 zoom will go on sale this summer.

In a world that can feel visually oversaturated with images, some photographers are seeking solutions that draw viewers' attention and ask them to linger a little longer. Model Coco Rocha recently shared her take on the dynamic image trend, exploring how animated GIFs, Cinemagraphs, Lytro images and interactive 360-degree panoramas are helping photographers stand out. We take a longer look at connect.dpreview.com.

Fujifilm and Panasonic have announced the joint development of a sensor technology that combines a light-sensitive coating on top of a CMOS chip. The companies claim higher dynamic range and sensitivity than current CMOS sensors, along with the ability to receive light at steeper angles - making it easier to design cameras with wide-angle lenses and allowing lenses to be mounted nearer to the sensor. The announcement extends from the work Fujifilm has been conducting on organic (carbon-based) photo-senstive materials and combines it with CMOS underpinnings developed by Panasonic. The result is a chip that uses CMOS technology only for circuitry - with the organic layer taking over the role of converting light into electrons.

A new smartphone gadget promises to use your mobile device to digitize your 35mm film. Compatible smartphones snap photos of backlit film inserted into the device while an app automatically inverts the negative image. See the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner in action on connect.dpreview.com.

Microsoft has announced a Raw compatibility update for Windows Vista, 7 and 8, adding support for 22 cameras. This includes the previous generation of Canon Rebel cameras, along with the Pentax K-01, Sony RX100 and the Fujifilm X10. It also adds support for the Canon EOS 6D and Nikon D600, along with 'richer' support for images shot in AdobeRGB.

Apple updated its Raw engine to include more cameras. The new update applies to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11. Cameras now supported include the Canon EOS-1D C, Canon EOS Rebel SL1 / 100D / Kiss X7, Canon EOS Rebel T5i / 700D / Kiss X7i, Hasselblad Lunar, Nikon Coolpix A, Nikon D7100, Nikon 1 J3, Nikon 1 S1, and Sony Alpha NEX-3N.

Leica has officially announced its much-teased (and leaked) X Vario - the world's first compact camera with an APS-C sensor and fixed zoom lens. Its Vario Elmar 18-46mm 1:3.5-6.4 ASPH lens offers a 28-70mm equivalent range, and sits in front of a 16.1MP CMOS sensor. Viewing is via a 920k dot 3" LCD, or the same optional plug-in EVF as used by the M Typ 240 and X2. The camera has control dials on the top plate for shutter speed and aperture, and zoom and focus rings around the lens barrel. The price tag is a hefty $2850/£2250.

Samsung has announced a 10mm F3.5 Fisheye lens for its NX mirrorless cameras, which it says is the smallest and slimmest of its type. It offers a 180 degree diagonal angle of view, and includes Samsung's unique 'i-Function' button that allows the manual focus ring to re-purposed to operate other camera controls. It's just over 26mm / 1" thick, and is a featherweight 71g (2.5 oz). It'll be available at the beginning of July, in black or white.  

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin have won the 2013 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for their War Primer 2 publication — a collection of screen grabs and smartphone images paying homage to Bertold Brecht's original War Primer project from 1955. "The jury awarded the prize to Broomberg & Chanarin for their bold and powerful re-imagining of Brecht's War Primer," said Brett Rogers, director of The Photographers' Gallery. Learn more on connect.dpreview.com.

Do-it-yourselfers will love our instructions for a scrappy smartphone case that better serves your photography needs - complete with a tripod mount - which can be built for the bargain price of $7.38. A trip to the hardware store, some super glue and these directions will help you create a case designed with the serious mobile photographer in mind: click through to connect.dpreview.com.

Just Posted: Our review of the Canon EOS 700D / EOS Rebel T5i. The 700D may be a near-identical twin of the short-lived EOS 650D, but it's still a worthy option for novice DSLR upgraders, combining high image quality and an articulated LCD with a comprehensive touchscreen interface. This new model also ships with an STM version of the 18-55mm kit zoom, providing another welcome option for faster, silent AF. What else does the 700D have to offer? Read our review to find out.

As expected, Apple revealed iOS 7 today at the 24th annual World Wide Developers Conference, and there's plenty for mobile photography enthusiasts to be excited about. From photo filters built into the Camera app to better automatic organization within the Photos app, we take a look at Apple's forthcoming revamped mobile operating system and what it will bring to photographers on the go.

We've just published our first impressions of shooting with the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art lens. We've tried to express just why we're so excited about this lens, which offers APS-C DSLR users access to some of the depth-of-field and low-light capabilities that full-frame shooters get from their F2.8 zooms. We're hoping to hear about pricing and availability soon so, in the meantime and in the light of our first impressions, what would you expect to pay for this lens? Click through for a link to the article and for your chance to comment. 

Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad is finally shipping the 'Lunar'. This 24 megapixel camera - essentially a rebadged Sony Alpha NEX-7 - was announced at Photokina last year and comes with your choice of grips: black or brown leather, carbon fiber, and wood: mahogany or olive, to be precise. The Lunar includes an 18-55mm lens and is priced at $6995/£5280. 

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 5, the latest version of its workflow and image editing software. Available as either an individual license or as part of a Creative Cloud subscription, Lightroom 5 adds a more advanced healing/cloning tool, automatic image leveling and perspective correction, a new selective editing tool and the ability to edit files that are offline. US pricing is $149 for new customers and $79 for the upgrade. Click here for more information, including our features preview and download links.

Adobe has released Camera Raw 8.1 and DNG Converter 8.1, as final versions of updates that were originally posted as 'release candidates'. ACR 8.1 is designed to work with Photoshop CC but, as promised, is also compatible with Photoshop CS6. It brings support for 7 additional cameras, including the Olympus PEN E-P5 and E-PL5, Ricoh GR and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6, along with profiles for 16 more lens, including Sigma and Zeiss's latest models. Click through for more details and how to download.

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. Click through for this week's strip.

In this article, photographer Erez Marom explains how he created his image 'Dark Matter', which was captured at glacier beach in Iceland earlier this year. Marom sheds light on everything from from composition and gear choice to post-processing, and finally, what to call the final, dramatic picture. Click through for a link to the full article.

Photographers and star-gazers in the upper United States were treated to a rare display of Aurora Borealis when the 'Earth passed through a region of south-pointing magnetism in the solar wind,' according to spaceweather.com. More aurorae are expected in the late hours of June 8 or early June 9, with NOAA forecasters estimating a 65% chance of geomagnetic storms. Click through for images and more details.

A new app asks users to step back into the darkroom as it offers digital equivalents of the developing process. Koloid is inspired by 19th century's wet-plate collodion photography. The app creates a unique texture and exposure on a black and white image. Koloid takes a little longer than most camera apps but it also gives the satisfaction of using something other than a one-touch filter. We give it a go on connect.dpreview.com.

Rumors are flying about a supposed Nokia EOS smartphone that would surpass even the 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView model. Reports indicate that the 'EOS' will sport the same size sensor that made the Nokia 808 so remarkable. Photos of a purported EOS prototype also show a similar raised camera profile as the 808. See what other speculations are likely by clicking through to connect.dpreview.com.

Following the widely-reported layoffs at the Chicago Sun-Times a former Visual Editor at the paper, Robb Montgomery, has written a thoughtful piece for CNN.com about what the decision to move to a freelance work force means for the paper, and the industry as a whole. The same article also includes a video interview with Pulitzer price-winning photographer John H. White, who was among those laid off at the Sun-Times last week. Click through for extracts and a link to the full article at CNN.com.

We're on the lookout for freelance writers to contribute news and short feature content for our homepage. If you're an experienced writer with great editorial instincts who loves ferreting out interesting and unusual photo-related content, we want to hear from you. Also, DPReview is hiring! We have two open full-time positions available: we're looking for an Editor to join our team of writers and reviewers, and a Software Manager. Click through for more details.

Just posted: Our review of the Nikon Coolpix A. With a 28mm-equivalent wideangle lens, and the same 16MP DX format sensor as used by the D7000 SLR, the Coolpix A is designed as a serious compact camera capable of professional-quality results. But it's up against stiff competition, in the shape of the similarly-specified but cheaper Ricoh GR that was announced a month later. In our 16-page comparative review, we take a detailed at how the Coolpix A measures up to the challenge posed by its close rival.

Just posted: Our hands-on preview of the Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM. Canon's third lens for its EOS M mirrorless camera is its first image-stabilized wideangle zoom, and first with a collapsible barrel design. With an 18-35mm equivalent angle of view and silent STM focusing, it could be an interesting option for photographers wanting the wider view but looking to travel light. Click through for our first look.

Tokina has announced a US price of $599 for its AT-X 12-28mm F4 Pro DX lens. Soon to be available in both Canon and Nikon mounts for APS-C bodies, this lens was announced at the CP+ tradeshow back in January and will replace the company's existing 12-24mm F4 wideangle zoom for APS-C cameras. 

Capturing the perfect panorama shot with a smartphone can be tricky. A new gadget currently gaining ground on Kickstarter could help you achieve a perfect panning motion, and even aid in motion time lapse photography. Spinpod works with both iOS and Android devices, as well as cameras. See it in action on connect.dpreview.com.

In advance of Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference next week, we're sharing our photographer's wishlist of the announcements we're hoping to see from the annual event. Compare our thoughts with yours on an expected new iOS 7 mobile operating system, whether or not we'll see a new iPhone and more at connect.dpreview.com.

Canon has announced the EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM - an image-stabilized wideangle zoom for its EOS M mirrorless camera. It's Canon's first wide zoom with IS, promising three stops of stabilization for stills and 'Dynamic IS' for video. A linear stepper motor offers silent autofocus during movie shooting, and a retractable barrel design makes the lens about the same size as the 18-55mm kit zoom. It should be in shops at the end of June, at an MSRP of £379.99 / €399. A firmware update for the EOS M (v.2) will give full compatibility with the 11-22mm, and faster autofocus with all lenses.

For nearly forty years, photographer D. James Dee has documented artwork and installations for seminal artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and prominent New York City galleries. He's now closing up shop and faces the prospect of finding a home for roughly 250,000 color slides and negatives that chronicle the explosive growth of the Soho art scene of the 70s, 80s and 90s. So far he's found no takers. Is this trove of recent art history headed for the dumpster? Click through to read more. (via The New York Times)

If you've ever spent any time as a self-employed photographer, you've no doubt heard countless rationales from clients about why you should work for free, or at least lower your rate. PhotographyTalk.com posted a pitch-perfect list of five classic lines that not only ring true to those of us on staff with freelance backgrounds, but would be perfect punchline setups in an Aaron Johnson 'What The Duck' comic strip. Click to see if any of them sound familiar. (via PhotographyTalk.com)

DxO Labs has announced availability of FilmPack 4, the fourth version of its film-simulation software. FilmPack 4 adds 65 'even more aesthetically-pleasing renderings'. Available in two editions, Essential and Expert, a single DxO FilmPack 4 license can be used as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and DxO Optics Pro, and as a standalone application for Mac and Windows. Click through for the press release.

DxO Labs has released version 8.2 of its DxO Optics Pro software. Both the Elite and Standard versions gain support for the Canon EOS Rebel SL1, the Sony SLT-A58, and the Ricoh GR. Version 8.2 of DxO Optics Pro also supports all features of the newly announced FilmPack 4 as a plugin. Click through for a download link and the full press release.

We've been lucky enough to get our hands on an early pre-production sample of one of the most anticipated lenses of the year, the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM, and bring you a gallery of full-resolution sample images shot with it. This lens is the fastest zoom ever made for SLRs and, in principle, should provide the depth-of-field control and low-light image quality on an APS-C DSLR that you'd get using an F2.8 zoom on 35mm full-frame. We've shot a samples gallery including a variety of subjects, using a range of apertures, focal lengths and subject distances, to try to give an initial flavor of how the lens performs.

The HTC One smartphone made headlines with its claims about 'ultrapixel technology,' which the company used to describe the device's 4MP CMOS sensor. While current competitors boast 8-13MP cameras, HTC is betting on fewer, larger pixels a same-sized sensor to offer better image quality. But does the innovative approach work? We've put the HTC One and its ultrapixels through our rigorous real life and studio testing trials to find out. See how it fared at connect.dpreview.com.

Scientists at Bell Labs have built a prototype camera that uses no lens and a single-pixel sensor. This idea is based around a grid of small apertures that each direct light rays from different parts of the scene to the sensor, and can be opened and closed independently. The sensor makes a series of measurements with different combinations of open apertures, and uses this data to reconstruct the scene in front of the camera. No lens to focus the resultant image means infinite depth of field and low cost. Click through for more details and a link to the original research. 

We just posted a review of the Pentax K-5 II, which also covers its near-twin the K-5 IIS, a version of the camera that lacks an AA filter for higher resolution (in theory). Offering 16MP CMOS sensors, a unique shake reduction system, and a rugged weatherproof body, the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIS are compelling little cameras and in this review we'll explore their various standout features, as well as look at the difference in image quality between the two models. Click through for a link to the full review.

Rob Hart was amongst the 28 members of the Chicago Sun-Times photography staff laid off last week. He's been pointedly documenting his experience via Tumblr ever since, deliberately opting to use his iPhone over his Nikon D3 because, as he says of himself in his blog, he was "replaced with a reporter with an iPhone, so he is documenting his new life with an iPhone, but with the eye of a photojournalist trained in storytelling." We spoke to him about it for connect.dpreview.com.

Pentax has announced a white version of its WG-3 rugged waterproof camera and an entry-level point-and-shoot compact. The white version of the WG-3 shares all the features with the existing model but comes in a different color scheme (we'll let you guess what that is). We'll be testing the GPS version of the WG-3 as one of our forthcoming waterproof camera tests. Meanwhile, the 'Efina' is an inexpensive 14MP CCD-based camera that's exactly the sort we thought Pentax had stopped making. Still, it comes with decorative patterns on it, which seems to be this season's thing - so that's something. The Efina, announced in Japan in January, will cost around £80, while the white WG-3 will retail for $299/£289.