In today's episode a photographer uses camera traps in Africa to capture elusive animals, Fujifilm teases a new camera and Nikon leverages RED.
You can find the show notes here.
You can find the show notes here.
Show Notes
Welcome back to the show, Liam Douglas here with the Liam Photography Podcast and today is Episode 451. On today’s show, Camera Traps in Africa, a new Fujifilm camera being teased and Nikon leveraging RED acquisition.
Photographer Will Burrard-Lucas spent 12 months operating remote cameras deep in the Congo rainforest to reveal some of the region’s most elusive species in breathtaking detail.
The dense jungle environment in Central Africa provides plenty of hiding spaces for lesser-seen forest elephants, golden cats, and red river hogs. But Burrard-Lucas couldn’t just wander around with a camera in the jungle to get pictures of these animals. The thick vegetation means he could find himself dangerously close to a wild animal before realizing the hidden danger.
“This project was one of the most difficult I’ve ever undertaken, but the results were worth the effort,” says Burrard-Lucas. “The rainforest is teeming with life, yet so much of it remains unseen. Camera traps provide a rare window into a hidden world.”
Burrard-Lucas recently wrote about his experiences capturing forest elephants in the Congo for PetaPixel. But that wasn’t the only wildlife he was interested in preserving on film. He brought several Camtraptions camera traps to Mbeli Bai, a vast forest clearing deep in the Congo Basin.
“One of the animals that I was most keen to photograph was a leopard. To select spots for my camera traps, I was relying on researchers and Bayaka trackers who had been studying the wildlife around Mbeli Bai for years,” Burrard-Lucas writes on his blog.
“They were able to point me in the direction of a couple of trails that they thought would be most likely to yield results and I set up my traps, each consisting of a camera in a housing, a sensor, and two or three flashes. The mere possibility of capturing a photograph of such an elusive creature was incredibly exciting.”
Throughout the course of the project, Burrard-Lucas encountered difficulties maintaining the camera traps as bad-tempered elephants were prone to destroying the gear and he even had problems with ants eating rubber bungs and seals. One night during a storm, a tree branch landed on one of his flashes and obliterated it.
“Despite the challenges, it wasn’t long before the traps started generating results. Checking the cameras was a real treat, as most species captured were rarely seen or photographed,” he adds.
Despite the numerous challenges of undertaking such a project in a difficult area, the effort paid off — Burrard-Lucas captured mongooses, duikers, and a golden cat, along with many other rarely seen species. But one creature stood out more than most: a large male leopard which a remote camera caught on a secluded trail close to Mbeli Bai.
“Beyond the excitement of seeing rare and elusive wildlife, our hope is that these photographs can contribute to conservation efforts by inspiring and connecting people with the biodiversity of the Congo Basin,” Burrard-Lucas writes.
“While camera traps are widely used for scientific research, capturing high-quality images of rarely seen species can help bring attention to these hidden ecosystems and underscore the importance of protecting them. Many of the animals photographed remain poorly studied, yet their survival is already threatened by habitat loss. Every image is both a celebration of the forest’s richness and a reminder of what is at stake if these ecosystems are not safeguarded.”
Fujifilm released a new video early this morning that teases a new camera. The new camera promises “half the size, twice the story.”
Details are incredibly scarce, and the 19-second video shows very little. The only angle of the upcoming mystery camera shown in the video is from behind, and most of the nitty-gritty details are obscured in shadow. Unfortunately, even adjusting levels has little consequence, as Fujifilm cleverly hides details at the pixel level in its new teaser.
However, there are a few details to be gleaned. Based on the strap lugs’ size, the camera is fairly small. Looking at the Fujifilm X100VI for comparison, the new camera’s lugs, which look to be the same style, occupy a relatively larger amount of the camera’s height, meaning that the new camera is presumably smaller than the already compact X100VI, which is 74.8 millimeters (2.9 inches) tall.
Further, like the X100VI, the new camera has a viewfinder near its top left corner, rather than near the center like Fujifilm’s X-T5 camera. Also like the X100VI, Fujifilm’s upcoming camera has at least one control near the top right corner, although it is unclear if there are smaller second (or third) dials tucked away in the shadows. The camera also appeared to have a hot shoe cover.
The final visible piece of the teaser is a big one: that screen. The display, which appears to be vertically oriented, shows “Provia,” suggesting that the camera is currently in the Provia Film Simulation mode. It’s not surprising that a new Fujifilm camera would have Film Simulations. Still, if this is a dedicated Film Simulation display screen on the camera’s rear, that would give Fujifilm’s popular feature a new level of prominence.
Last year’s popular X-M5, which is still challenging to purchase, added a dedicated Film Simulation dial. The new Fujifilm camera may take that even further.
This leaves the text: “Half the Size, Twice the Story.” Given that Fujifilm has seemingly put a vertical display on its new camera, is it a half-frame camera that captures vertical orientation images by default? A digital competitor to the Pentax 17 half frame film camera released last year? Maybe.
It is possible that “half the size” refers to something other than the camera itself, like its sensor. That said, the camera is clearly compact, maybe it truly is half the size of the Fujifilm GFX100RF.
As for the “twice the story” claim, if the new camera is digital, as expected, then a half-frame camera’s ability to capture twice as many shots on a single roll of film is essentially moot. Storage is not really a concern these days. “Twice the story” could just be clever marketing and have little to do with the camera’s design or features as well.
Photographers will likely not need to wait long to learn what Fujifilm has up its sleeve. When the company first teased the GFX100RF in March, the camera was announced just a couple of weeks later. A second teaser arrived a week before the announcement, too, which was more in line with the style of Fujifilm’s newest video teaser. In any event, Fujifilm’s second camera of 2025 is just around the corner.
When Nikon acquired RED last year, it had an immediate effect on how video professionals saw the company. But optics aren’t where it ended, as Nikon showed that in a shockingly short time, it was able to leverage RED to immediately respond to the changing demands of creative professionals.
“We launched Z Cinema Series in February which features two RED products and I believe it is a significant achievement that we were able to bring these products to market within 10 months of RED joining Nikon,” Hiroyuki Ikegami, Senior Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Imaging Business Unit at Nikon, tells PetaPixel during an exclusive interview at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show earlier this month.
Last year, not long after the acquisition was completed, Nikon asked photographers and filmmakers to give it some time, with the expectation that it might be years before the two businesses were able to come together and work on collaboration products. It ended up not being that long of a wait, and even Nikon agrees it was faster than it expected.
“As a result of this acquisition, Nikon has gained a foothold in the creator and cinema market at a pace far faster than initially anticipated. The launch of Z Cinema, where RED cameras can be equipped with Z Mount, is a prime example of this progress. And we would like to maintain this momentum and strengthen the collaboration between [Nikon and RED],” Ikegami explains.
“This provides more opportunity for professionals in the cinema industry and video creators to explore new and vintage Nikon lenses, which is undoubtedly beneficial for the industry as a whole. And for users who shoot videos with hybrid cameras like Z9, they now have access to LUTs provided by RED, further expanding their creative options.”
Nikon already had plans to serve videographers before the RED acquisition, but the timing could not have been better. Nikon explains that developing new lenses takes several years, which means that the Nikkor Z 28-135mm f/4 Power Zoom lens was in development before it scooped up RED. Nikon confirms this.
“It depends on the kind of lens, but it can take somewhere between two, sometimes three to four years [to develop a new lens],” Ikegami says.
It was as though all of the pieces for success just fell into place perfectly for Nikon, which suddenly finds itself equipped to react remarkably well to the ever-changing demands of video professionals.
Looking ahead, Nikon expects to leverage all parts of its business to better differentiate and stand out from its competition.
“We propose an integrated [business] system [with RED] that includes developing lenses,” Ikegami says. “The popularity of vintage Nikkor lenses is well known in the cinema industry and we had been exploring cinema lenses, concepts, and design, on our own before the acquisition of RED. However, by collaborating with RED team members, we have been able to quickly identify clear direction specifications and our activity has become much more dynamic now.”
There is certainly more to come in this space, so Nikon encourages filmmakers to look forward to more.
“Please stay tuned for our coming products,” Ikegami concludes.
Photographer Henrik Nilsson captured amazing action photos as a marsh hawk, also known as a northern harrier, roused a short-eared owl and stole its meal in mid-air.
A nature and wildlife photographer, Nilsson shared his awesome images on Reddit’s Wildlife Photography subreddit. He then explained to PetaPixel how he captured the in-flight theft.
“I took these a few years ago on the very last day of the year, December 31st. It was near the end of the day as I was walking along a dyke back to my vehicle,” Nilsson explains. “Fortunately I still had my camera and tripod over my shoulder rather than back in my camera bag, all of a sudden the short-eared owl was flushed out of the long grass near the dyke by the harrier. So as fast as I could, I set up my gear once more.”
The action photos show the value of being in the right place at the right time and prepared for anything. You never know what you will see when out in the field.
“What ensued could only be described as an aerial battle. As best it could, the owl would climb, dive and make sharp turns. But it just couldn’t get away from the female northern harrier. In the end, the owl decided to drop its prize: a vole.”
Nilsson captured the images in British Columbia, Canada, using a Canon EOS R5 mirrorless camera and Canon 600mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. He captured both photos at 1/2,000s, f/6.3, and ISO 1,000 in manual mode.
A seasoned photographer with over 20 years of wildlife photography experience and an incredible portfolio of work, Nilsson says that while this particular moment happened especially quickly, it was years in the making.
“Over the years, wildlife has taught me to expect the unexpected. And I’ve come across northern harries stealing from owls in the past,” the photographer says. “But those encounters were always too far away or they happened after the light was too low for photography. I shoot in manual mode when the light is fairly constant and adjust the settings as the light changes. Because of that, I was ready to press the shutter in mere seconds.”
“Without a doubt, my heart rate jumped as soon as I realized what was going on.”
The scene was a great example of what Nilsson considers to be one of the most challenging aspects of photographing birds in flight: Reading the situation.
“That often varies from encounter to encounter,” he says. “Sometimes you need to walk away if you’re affecting behavioral change in the birds you’re photographing. Other times, the challenge is to figure out where the action is going to be as opposed to where it is.”
As he says, that sometimes means you must walk away from a good shot to put yourself in a better position to capture a great one.
“It doesn’t always pay off, Nilsson admits. “But when it does, it’s magical.”
Henrik Nilsson also does a lot of wildlife filmmaking, which he says comprises about 95% of his work these days. He shares his photos and videos on Instagram and YouTube. He also has a website every wildlife photography fan should check out.
The expert camera technicians at Kolari are back at it again, disassembling cameras into a puzzle-work of bits and pieces. But don’t worry, it’s all for a good reason. As part of the teardown, Kolari is converting a Sony a1 II for infrared shooting.
PetaPixel has previously covered several of Kolari’s camera teardowns, including that of the Canon R5 II, Nikon Z8, and Fujifilm X100VI. Kolari’s regular camera teardowns provide a unique look inside the most popular cameras, offering interesting insight into camera engineering and design.
With the latest teardown of the Sony a1 II, Kolari’s technician completely dismantles the camera with photos and video documenting every step. The necessary disassembly for infrared conversion provides a fascinating look at the internals of this flagship camera. Kolari also compares this teardown of the Sony a1 II to its previous teardown from 2022 of the original Sony a1.
Converting a camera like the Sony a1 II to infrared allows it to capture infrared light instead of light visible to the human eye, enabling photographers to create images with a completely different photographic aesthetic. Infrared photos are known for displaying foliage with white leaves, darker skies, and high contrast. This conversion involves removing the infrared (IR) blocking filter from the camera’s sensor and replacing it with an IR pass filter. Kolari has a blog post explaining the benefits of infrared conversions.
Phillip Andrew Iglesias from Kolari detailed the company journey with teardowns of Sony’s flagship cameras, “Back in 2022, we tore down and disassembled the Sony a1 mirrorless camera—the company’s original flagship camera. In 2025, they released the a1 II mirrorless camera as an update to their flagship, and we were fortunate enough to finally receive our preordered camera for this teardown. The Sony a1 II improves on several things from its predecessor, including a redesign of the camera body, upgraded display and EVF, and clean layout for their menu system. Despite such changes, the image quality remains largely the same between models.
“The Sony a1 II is incredibly capable for infrared shooting once it is converted to full-spectrum through our infrared conversion service, and it is compatible with our magnetic clip-in filters for Sony E-mount. However, the camera will need a magnetic mounting plate for our filters to install properly.”
The look inside provides especially interesting views of the circuit board of the Sony a1 II, truly showing how modern cameras are computer-like when compared to analog.
In disassembling the cameras, Kolari’s technicians not only discover comparisons to predecessor models but also compare how different camera manufacturers approach engineering these devices so crucial to our lives as photographers. Kolari’s video of the teardown is annotated with captions explaining what they’re doing as well as interesting aspects that they note. The highlights are also shared in blog form on its website.
Traveling through airport security while carrying film can be a stressful affair. Analog photographers often request staff hand-check film to avoid it getting fried in an X-ray machine and it is luck of the draw whether they cooperate or not.
But photographer Sissi Lu and Roberts Distributors have teamed up to help with the issue by offering a “DO NOT X-RAY” film pouch to “facilitate airport hand check for undeveloped films.”
The pouch features a prominent “Do Not X-ray” warning in seven languages: English, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Filipino as well as descriptive image icons. A further 20 translations are provided on a safety card inside the pouch. Each pouch also comes with cute celluloid-themed stickers.
It is worth noting that the pouch itself is not X-Ray proof, rather it is designed to be a polite request to airport security staff not to X-ray the contents of the bag.
“For the past eight months, I’ve been working with Roberts Distributors to scale production of my little pouch — so it can finally be more accessible to everyone,” Lu writes on Instagram.
“What started as a DIY project slowly turned into a real business. From prototyping, sourcing materials, and finding the right manufacturer to bring my vision to life, to packing every order on the floor of my studio apartment … it completely took over my life. At one point, I honestly couldn’t keep up with demand on my own.”
The bags are 9.25 by 6.75 inches and are designed to fit 10-20 rolls of film. Each unit retails at $15.99 and can be purchased on Sissi Lu’s website or general camera stores across the US and Canada.
There has been much debate over the precise danger of taking film through airport scanners. In general, it’s accepted that the higher the ISO, the more risk there is to the film. And undeveloped film that has been exposed but not processed is more at risk than unexposed film.
CT scanners have become more and more common in airports in recent years which pose a greater threat to film and prompted Kodak to put out a warning about them.
The TSA should hand-inspect film when requested but some airports have different policies.’
Once it got its foothold in the mirrorless camera market, Nikon didn’t waste too much time tapping into its visual heritage and releasing vintage-inspired cameras. The Zfc hit store shelves in 2021, its full-frame brother the Zf came out two years later, and if photographers want more, Nikon says it is happy to oblige.
“As long as the customer wants them, we really want to continue to develop those kinds of cameras because it is kind of a big hit right now. So if the customers want it, we want to continue making them,” Hiroyuki Ikegami, Senior Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Imaging Business Unit at Nikon, tells PetaPixel during an exclusive interview at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show earlier this month.
That response is a stark contrast to how Nikon’s competitors have looked at vintage-inspired products. Canon, Nikon’s storied competitor, has not released a vintage-inspired camera despite photographers regularly clamoring for such a design. In an interview earlier this year, the company expressed that making something that competes with the Zfc or Zf wasn’t a priority.
“We’re aware of the fact that other companies have provided vintage cameras that have become very popular and we know that there is an expectation for us to provide the same,” Manabu Kato, Unit Executive in Canon’s Imaging Business Operations, said to PetaPixel in February.
Canon’s hesitance is twofold. On one hand, it wouldn’t feel comfortable just making a vintage-inspired camera: it would have to work on optics and accessories too. That significantly increases the cost of development.
“But for us, we wouldn’t be happy with just developing a vintage-looking design. We would need to design everything from scratch for the lens, the accessories. We need to make sure that the entire system is well-balanced. So I think from that perspective, our perception is that this is a consideration, a study that would be very labor intensive for us to look into.”
On the other hand, Canon’s executive team doesn’t seem to think that vintage-inspired cameras have particularly good handling.
“We’re very particular about the operability, like the grip and the handling. And we’re not sure that all of that can be delivered in a vintage design.”
As for Canon’s first worry, Nikon shows it felt similarly when it launched its vintage-inspired Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8 SE and Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 SE primes, both of which share the same optics with contemporary Nikkor Z lens variants but are styled like Nikon’s legendary film SLR lenses, albeit with a $10 premium. It was an investment Nikon clearly decided was worth it.
Pentax Ricoh feels basically the same way Canon does. In a separate interview in February, Kazunobu Saiki, General Manager, Camera Business Division, at Ricoh, says that making a camera based solely on its design isn’t part of the company’s product development strategy.
“We don’t give special interest to making something based on a historical design, because that is just a model of acting by how something looks. That is not our philosophy,” Saiki said.
Conversely, OM System released the OM-3 earlier this year and while it has a few new tricks compared to previously released OM System cameras, it relies pretty heavily on its design aesthetic as the main selling point.
Nikon’s strategy thus far has been a mix. While it seems to have no issue with making a vintage-inspired camera, it doesn’t see that as reason alone to buy a Zf, for example. When that camera was released, PetaPixel’s Chris Niccolls was very surprised at how much new it brought to the table from a function perspective — something it didn’t necessarily have to do to move units.
“I wouldn’t look at [the Zf] as merely a successor to the Z6 II, but rather a feature-rich camera with some quirks that provide the most enjoyable shooting experience overall. It may look like a blast from the past, but inside it is a real glimpse into the future for Nikon,” Niccolls wrote at the time.
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