Travel and photography are two pursuits that are often intertwined. While photographers who've been bit by the travel bug will usually have a long list of destinations they plan to visit in their back pocket, others may need a little inspiration or encouragement to head in a particular compass direction. Lonely Planet is happy to help out, as always, with its annual list of top travel destinations. Read more

Commercial Photographer and camera blogger Ming Thein has shot with almost as many mirrorless cameras as we have, and has put together a list of all the things they get wrong or, at least, all the things he thinks they should all do. It's a fairly comprehensive list that we very much agree with. Thein echoes a lot of our own concerns about camera handling, behavior and operation, as he works through camera design point-by-point. Read more

Lytro, a company known for its light field cameras and technologies, has introduced Immerge, a professional-grade cinematic virtual reality rig. According to Lytro, this is the first 'end-to-end' virtual reality hardware and software solution, with the entire system comprising four primary components: a light field camera array, storage and processing server, an editor, and a video player. Read more

Sony Europe has announced a new Alpha-mount camera, the a68. High on its list of features is a 79-point phase detect '4D FOCUS' AF module likely borrowed from the a77 II. With a 24MP APS-C sensor and Sony's translucent mirror technology, the camera is capable of 8 fps shooting with AF tracking. Read more

Mikey Schaefer is no stranger to the great outdoors. As a professional photographer who specializes in shooting in some of the most extreme environments on earth, he tests his body - and his gear - to the limits. In this field test we're following Mikey on a sports lifestyle / editorial shoot with Canon's EOS 5DS and 5DSR, near his home town in Oregon. Read more

We've all witnessed the megapixel race in digital cameras and, just a few years later, the trend has caught on in the smartphone camera sector. Lately though, manufacturers seem to putting more of an emphasis on low light performance. This may be the case with the newest Samsung Galaxy device, expected to launch in early 2016, which is rumored to use a 1/2-inch 12MP imager. Read more

Over the span of a 35-year career as a professional photographer, Joe McNally knows what it means to chase light. Known for his work with studio and off-camera lighting, McNally is just as well-versed in the art of natural light as he is in artificial. In his PIX 2015 talk, he discusses the choices he makes about lighting to help bring out the most from his location and subject. Read more

Medium format and aerial camera maker Hasselblad has sold a minority stake to the Chinese drone giant SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, in what the two companies describe as a 'corporate partnership'. The exact size of the stake has not been revealed, but both sides are keen to point out that there will be no merging of the businesses and from an external viewpoint nothing will change. Read more

StatGear, a Brooklyn-based manufacturer of first aid and EMS products, is venturing into photography accessories with BOOMR, a unique camera strap featuring internal bungee cords for shock absorption and increased comfort. The design is inspired by bungee cord rifle slings, and the company is seeking funding for the product on Kickstarter. Read more

Emerald Expositions, the company that owns PhotoPlus Expo and the WPPI Wedding and Portrait Photography Conference, announced today the formation of a new association - the Professional School & Sports Photographers Association. The group will exist under the company's Photo+ umbrella, alongside properties that include PPE, WPPI, PDN and Rangefinder magazine. Read more

Sony's a7 II will receive a firmware update that will boost its AF performance with adapted lenses as well as adding support for uncompressed Raw. The update adds a menu option that pushes the camera to either use phase detection (for speed) or contrast detection (for accuracy) when using non-native lenses. Read more

On paper, the Sony a7R II is one of the best-specified cameras we've ever tested, and it is generating a lot of interest. We wanted to see whether the a7R II's impressive specifications live up to their promise in the real world, so we decided to subject it to perhaps the ultimate stress test: a professional sporting event. DPReview writer Jordan Stead headed to a pre-season NFL game to see what the a7R II could bring to the football field. Read more

C&A Marketing, a Polaroid licensee that makes the Cube action cameras, has sued GoPro over its newly introduced Hero4 Session camera. The new GoPro model is cube-shaped and resembles Polaroid's own Cube and Cube+ action camera models, allegedly infringing upon C&A's design patent. Read more

Manfrotto has announced a new travel tripod in the BeFree series. Only the second BeFree model, the BeFree One is designed to fold away into a compact form and to be lightweight for easy transportation. The aluminum model uses 4-section legs to collapse to just 32cm/12.6in from a maximum height of 130cm/51.18in. Read more

Most smartphone cameras seriously struggle when it comes to macro photography. A number of accessory macro attachment lenses are available, but many of them are device-specific and bulky enough to discourage carrying every day. Now the makers of the 150x Micro Phone Lens microscope attachment have come up with an ultra-portable and very affordable solution compatible with virtually all smartphone cameras - a stick-on macro lens. Read more

The accessory brands Lastolite and Manfrotto, both of which are owned by the Vitec Group, have combined to form the new brand 'Lastolite By Manfrotto'. The new brand name will eventually encompass the entire Lastolite product range, but for now it includes a new version of the Ezybox Speed-Lite softbox for hotshoe flash units and three new scene-painted backgrounds. Read more

Sunset is coming early in the day again, and while that marks the start of a grey season here, the beginning of fall makes for some glorious golden hours. Recently, Tech Editor Rishi Sanyal ventured out with the Sigma 24-35mm F2 Art for a sunset portrait session. Take a look at our expanded real-world samples. Read more

Tenba has introduced the Cooper, a luxury leather and canvas bags collection. The new collection is styled after classic messenger bags, and is made from canvas alongside full grain leather trim and other high-end touches. Tenba created the bags with photographers' needs in mind, using Quiet Velcro to allow the bags to be opened silently when needed. Read more

Nikon has released updated firmware for its D810 DSLR, taking the software from version C 1.02 to C 1.10. The new firmware brings with it several changes, the majority of which are bug fixes. In addition to correcting issues, v1.10 adds an external recording control option for using the camera to start and stop third-party recorders connected over HDMI. Read more

Google has announced Snapseed version 2.1 for Android, introducing the ability to edit Raw DNG files. While quite a few high-end Android smartphones have allowed Raw shooting for some time, editing those files hasn't been easy. This update to the extremely popular Snapseed app will certainly change that. Read more 

Leica has released a major firmware update for its T (Typ 701) APS-C mirrorless camera. Firmware 1.4 promises to make autofocus twice as fast, and improves touchscreen responsiveness by three times. The company has also announced plans to release two new prime lenses for the T in 2016. Read more

Manfrotto's Digital Director, introduced in April, is a departure from its usual array of tripods and tripod heads. It's a device designed to hold an iPad Air tethered to a DSLR, providing a large live view screen, access to camera controls and wireless sharing options. Shooting with a large screen can be a revelation compared to using a 3" LCD, but the Digital Director is pretty pricey. Is it worth the cost? Read more

Brian Ach has shot for just about every big-name publication you can think of, and he's photographed his share of A-list celebrities, including a stint as Prince's official tour photographer. In short, he knows how to get the shot. But he argues there's an important distinction between getting a shot and getting the right shot, and it all comes down to context. Read more

With smartphone screens growing larger and nearing what used to be tablet territory, it's probably natural that the latter are increasing screen size as well. Apple launched the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in September and now Samsung, which already has the 12.2-inch Galaxy Tab Pro in its line-up, has gone one step further and launched the gigantic Galaxy View with an 18.4-inch display. Read more

Canon's Imaging Systems business has reported its third quarter sales fell by ¥26.5bn ($220m), compared to the same time last year. The company blamed a decline in worldwide demand for its interchangeable lens cameras 'due to market shrinkage,' with unit sales down 17% year-on-year, despite sales increases in Japan and Europe. Read more

It came out of nowhere, a brand-new full-frame professional level mirrorless camera and lens system: the Leica SL. It combines a new lens system (using the existing mount from the T) with an extremely high resolution viewfinder and a sensor based on the one used by the coveted Leica Q. Take a look at some preliminary (beta) studio test results from the Leica SL. Read more

Ricoh Imaging US has announced the Medium Format by PENTAX Advantage Program, a new support and service offering for the Pentax 645Z camera. Under this program, camera owners are given three years of extended service and support from the date of purchase, as well as loaner lenses and camera bodies and a toll-free support number. Read more

The Droid Turbo 2 is Motorola's latest high-end device, bearing a 21MP sensor and an F2.0 aperture. Camera specs are mostly shared with the Moto X Style, but the new provides a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, shatter-proof display and a battery good for 48 hours on a single charge. With a DxOMark Mobile score of 84 the Droid Turbo 2 cracks DxOMark's top mobile rankings. Read more

The Droid Turbo 2 is Motorola's latest high-end model for US carrier Verizon, and in terms of specification ranks even above Motorola's current flagship Moto X Style. With the Sony 1/2.4-inch 21MP IMX230 sensor and an F2.0 aperture, the camera specification is pretty much identical but the Droid Turbo 2 offers improved performance in a few key areas. We got our hands on the Turbo 2 before launch - check out our impressions sample images. Read more

Researches from German university Ruhr-Universitat Bochum spent half a decade creating the largest astronomical image created to date, a 46-gigapixel image of the Milky Way, which is now available via an interactive online viewer. The image is made up of 46 billion pixels, and the file weighs in at a hefty 194GB. Read more

For a few years now, InVisage has been working on a new kind of smartphone image sensor that claims to offer higher dynamic range and zero rolling shutter than the chips currently found in mobile devices. It appears the technology is now at a stage where its benefits can be demonstrated, and for this purpose InVisage has commissioned a short movie called Prix  shot entirely on a prototype device using InVisage's QuantumFilm technology. Read more

At PIX 2015 we took the opportunity to sit down and talk with industry leaders while they were in our neighborhood. Sony's Alpha system has made some interesting moves over the last year, and we asked product manager Kenta Honjo all of our burning questions, including what's in store for the future of the system. Read more

There's really no event on the photo industry's yearly calendar like PhotoPlus Expo. Occupying the Javits Center in Manhattan, it's an opportunity for us to get our hands on new gear and talk with manufacturers about what's coming next. There's nothing like a show in the Big Apple - see for yourself. Read more

Landscape and nature photographer Erez Marom has a lot of experience getting images in tough locations all over the world. Getting great shots takes a lot of work, but how many of us spend any time considering how to name our images? In this article, Erez takes us through his thought-process when titling his images, and explains why he thinks it's so important. Click through to read the full article