In today's episode, the Fujifilm X Half camera is number 1 for a second month in Japan, Sigma releases a new F/1.4 prime lens, inside Hurricane Erin and much more.
You can find the show notes here.
You can find the show notes here.
Show Notes
Welcome to the show Liam here with the Liam Photography Podcast and this is Episode 468 for the week of August 21st, 2025. In today’s episode Fujifilm X Half, Inside Hurricane Erin and a new Simga 12mm F/1.4 as well as other stories.
The Fujifilm X half compact camera remains the best-selling camera in Japan for a second consecutive month.
Anyone who thought the Fujifilm X half’s initial popularity in Japan was destined to be a short-lived flash in the pan, a bunch of launch week hype, will be surprised to find that the X half not only remains the best-selling camera at Map Camera in Japan, but is “overwhelmingly ahead” of the second best-selling camera, the Sony a7C II, as spotted by Digicame Info.
Map Camera notes that of the three models of the X half, the charcoal gray version is by far the most popular. The Japanese retailer received more preorders for the charcoal model than the black and silver versions combined. The company still cannot fulfill its orders for the charcoal X half, so some photographers have switched to the black and silver versions, which are more readily available.
Map Camera’s list of the top 10 best-selling new cameras for July 2025 is impressively diverse. Fujifilm has the most cameras on the list again, with the X-M5, X-S20, and X-T5 cracking the list in fifth, sixth, and in a tie for 10th position. However, six different companies made the list: Fujifilm, of course, Sony, Nikon, Ricoh, OM System, and Canon.
The Ricoh GR IIIx in fourth place is quite interesting. Ricoh announced in May that the GR IV will arrive this fall, which could explain a dip in demand for the standard GR III but consistent interest in the GR IIIx with its longer built-in lens. Ricoh has not yet commented on the possibility of a GR IVx, although it has said that a GR IV HDF is in the works.
OM System making the list in seventh place with the OM-5 Mark II is notable. OM System has struggled in terms of mainstream appeal, but the company hopes the OM-5 II’s stylish, compact design will appeal to modern photographers. So far, so good.
The complete list of best-selling cameras is available on Map Camera’s website. Where will the Fujifilm X half land in the August rankings? It’s tough to bet against the camera right now.
Sony and Nikon are the heavy hitters in the latest used camera sales rankings. In July, the Nikon Zf was Map Camera’s best-selling used camera, followed by the Ricoh GR IIIx, the Sony a7 III, the Fujifilm X-T5, the Ricoh GR III, the Nikon Z50 II, the Sony a7C II, the Nikon Zfc, the Sony a7 IV, and, for all the DSLR holdouts, the Nikon D750. This is the second month in a row that the Nikon Zf has been Map Camera’s most popular used camera model. However, Map Camera notes that Nikon has a cash back campaign in August for the Zf, which should make the new version of the camera relatively more popular and steer photographers away from used ones, at least for now.
Hurricane Erin, the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, strengthened at a historic rate over the weekend, and new photos from inside the hurricane show its immense size and power.
A few days ago, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” flew into Hurricane Erin’s eye, capturing mind-bending images of the “stadium effect.” The effect is named this because the encircling towering walls of clouds look like a sports stadium’s seating.
The Hurricane Hunters fly into hurricanes to gather “critical data for the National Hurricane Center,” helping scientists more accurately measure the storm and forecast how it will change. Accurate forecasts can help save lives and provide people in the hurricane’s path the information they need to make safe, timely decisions.
“These brave crews are in the storm so you don’t have to be,” the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron explains.
Scientists also monitor hurricanes like Erin from above using satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA’s GOES-19 weather satellite, launched into space in June 2024, captured the incredible video below of frequent lightning flashes inside Hurricane Erin as it rotates and grows over the Atlantic.
As of now, Hurricane Erin is a Category 4 storm. While the storm is not expected to make landfall, its colossal size and powerful winds are causing problems in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Significant and very dangerous swells from the storm are expected to hit much of the east coast of the United States and Bermuda beginning on Tuesday, August 19, with conditions expected to worsen throughout the week.
Although Hurricane Erin itself will not hit the East Coast, its impact on swells, surf, and currents could be life-threatening. Coastal flooding and overwash are expected to affect vulnerable areas on Tuesday, as CNN reports. 44 people have already died this year from rip currents and related water hazards in the United States, per the National Weather Service.
Sigma’s fifth DC | Contemporary prime lens has arrived, and it is a compact and lightweight 12mm f/1.4 ultra-wide-angle prime for APS-C mirrorless cameras.
The Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC | Contemporary weighs just 225 grams (7.9 ounces) and is a mere 69.4 millimeters (2.7 inches) long despite its ultra-wide focal length and fast aperture. The lens accepts 62mm front filters.
The Sigma 12mm f/1.4 is available for Sony E, Fujifilm X, and Canon RF mounts, delivering an equivalent focal length of 18mm on Sony and Fujifilm cameras and 19.2mm on Canon’s APS-C mirrorless bodies. It is the widest autofocus lens with an f/1.4 max aperture for APS-C mirrorless cameras.
The E and X-mount versions include a manual aperture control ring alongside their wide focus rings, while the RF version instead has a control ring. All three versions sport a dust and splash-resistant design and a water and oil-repellent coating on the front element.
The lens promises to work well for landscapes, astrophotography, travel, street photography, architecture, and vlogging. Sigma says its new lens is great for both still photography and video applications thanks to its lightweight design, fast autofocus system, and minimized focus breathing. The Sigma 12mm f/1.4 can focus as close as 17.2 centimeters (6.8 inches), resulting in a maximum magnification ratio of 1:8.4.
Despite its compact form factor and lightweight design, the Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC | Contemporary includes 14 elements in a dozen groups. The lens includes three double-sided aspherical lenses and a pair of SLD glass elements. Sigma promises that the lens delivers minimized sagittal coma flare, ensuring strong performance when photographing the night sky. The lens also promises high resolution across the frame when shooting wide open.
With the addition of the 12mm f/1.4 DC | Contemporary, Sigma’s series of APS-C f/1.4 primes now includes 12mm, 16mm, 23mm, 30mm, and 56mm focal lengths, covering equivalent focal lengths of 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 45mm, and 84mm on Sony and Fujifilm cameras and about 19mm, 26mm, 37mm, 48mm, and 90mm on Canon bodies.
The Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC launches in Sony E-mount, Fujifilm X-mount, and Canon RF-mount versions in early September for $629.
Atomic Keyboard’s Severance-inspired MDR Dasher Keyboard, first unveiled in April, is finally available on Kickstarter.
The MDR Dasher Keyboard has been meticulously designed and crafted “for work that’s mysterious and important,” and is built from precision-engineered, high-quality components. With its CNC-milled body, integrated trackball, modular design, and aesthetics inspired by the iconic computer stations in Apple TV+’s hit award-winning television series, Severance, the MDR Dasher Keyboard has won over many. The Kickstarter campaign just launched and, at the time of writing, already has nearly 600 backers pledging over $350,000 in support, shattering the initial $50,000 goal.
It’s not too surprising that so many people want the MDR Dasher Keyboard. Not only is Severance a smash hit with viewers and critics alike — it is the most-watched Apple TV+ series ever — the custom-built keyboard is also genuinely compelling for those who work primarily at a desk. The heavy-duty keyboard works in three configurations, including one with an integrated mouse trackball, another with a full number keypad, and one with a compact set of keys (and no ‘Escape’ key, because there is no escape from Lumon). There is a significant market for big keyboards with robust keycaps. Not everyone wants super-slim keyboards.
The MDR Dasher also features a PCB and universal plate, meaning that users can swap to ANSI, ISO, and international configurations without sacrificing the look and feel of the MDR Dasher, which is, of course, based on the keyboard used by macrodata refiners in Severance. The show’s customized keyboard is itself based on the real-life Data General Dasher D2 terminal from the 1970s.
Since the first season of Severance premiered in 2022 and quickly won over scores of new fans, people have been asking for the show’s iconic computer terminal and keyboard to become real. While Apple joked about the computer terminal earlier this year, Atomic Keyboards is deadly serious about its endeavor.
“Atomic Keyboard is a team of tech and mechanical keyboard enthusiasts creating both custom keyboards and software,” the team says. “We’re huge Severance fans ourselves — complete obsessed with this keyboard.”
“To make it a reality, we’ve collaborated with industrial designers and factories with 10-15 years of experience in the keyboard industry. This is the first keyboard we’re releasing under the Atomic Keyboard name, and we want it to be a community-driven build from the start.”
The Atomic Keyboard MDR Dasher Keyboard starts at $449 in a barebones kit with no keycaps or switches. A version with all layouts, selected switches, and keycaps is $649 for super early bird backers. Although the team initially targeted a November release, it has pushed that back to January 2026 to ensure the best possible product.
Peak Design and Fujifilm have opened Field Lab, an in-store experience that offers the chance for photographers to test out Fujifilm photography equipment first-hand, explore Peak Design’s carrying solutions, and even get Fujifilm equipment checked and cleaned by certified professionals.
Field Lab commenced today, World Photography Day, and will remain open at Peak Design’s New York City store through the end of this year.
“Field Lab transforms Peak Design’s New York City retail space into a creative test kitchen for visual storytellers, offering customers the ability to demo Fujifilm’s latest cameras and seamlessly pair them with Peak Design’s signature straps and bags,” Peak Design and Fujifilm explain.
At Field Lab, photographers and videographers can get their hands on Fujifilm’s “latest launches,” including the brand-new Fujifilm X-E5, which PetaPixel describes as offering much of the charm of the X100VI with the versatility and performance of Fujifilm’s high-end X Series cameras.
Every Thursday, from 11 AM to 7 PM, a dedicated Fujifilm representative and trained Peak Design staff will be available to answer questions about Fujifilm cameras and lenses. Further, Fujifilm technicians will be available each Thursday at Field Lab to professionally inspect and clean up to four Fujifilm items per visitor.
Naturally, given that the Field Lab is a Peak Design initiative, the company will also be showing off its carry solutions and demonstrating how its straps, bags, tripods, and tripods work alongside Fujifilm camera equipment.
The Peak Design x Fujifilm Field Lab is also designed to be a meeting space for all of New York City’s creative community. Throughout the rest of this year and beyond, there will be special events, including artist meetups, networking mixers, print swaps, and workshops.
“We’ve always believed the best gear is the gear you can touch, try, and trust,” says Peak Design’s CEO and founder, Peter Dering. “Partnering with Fujifilm on Field Lab makes this vision even more meaningful and turns the retail experience into a playground where creativity and connection come first.”
“After nearly a decade of working with Peak Design in the U.S., we saw an opportunity to deepen our partnership,” adds Victor Ha, Vice President, Electronic Imaging and Optical Devices Divisions, Fujifilm North America Corporation. “Our audiences share a love for gathering in spaces that blend adventure and creative freedom. The Field Lab is our way of bringing this simple concept to life and we are very excited to see how we can continue to expand and shape it as we move forward.”
There is a Field Lab launch party today, August 19, with live demos, hands-on stations, and more. Field Lab is entirely free to check out during normal Peak Design New York store hours. Demo opportunities are first-come, first-served, and the Clean & Check services are available only for Fujifilm products.
To celebrate World Photography Day, VSCO today unveiled VSCO Workspace, an automated studio management platform built specifically for photographers.
VSCO Workspace builds upon one of VSCO’s recent acquisitions, Táveʼs Studio Manager. Following this acquisition earlier this year, VSCO has integrated Studio Manager’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and added new features to ensure it offers photographers more functionality and scalability.
“At VSCO, we are focused on supporting photographers at every stage of their journey, from casual to professional,” says VSCO’s CEO, Eric Wittman. “With Workspace, we are deepening our commitment to working creators and making it easier for them to manage and grow their business, so they can focus more time and energy and doing what they love.”
VSCO promises that Workspace will help photographers and event professionals book more clients, save precious time, and manage their business and studio more efficiently. VSCO Workspace enables clients to schedule consultations, meetings, and sessions, while photographers can automate key aspects of their business. Photographers can set up useful things like intake questionnaires, automatic follow-up emails, reminders, and more.
VSCO Workspace also includes tools to upsell photography services, automatically invoice clients, and send pre-filled, customizable contracts to clients. VSCO Workspace offers a range of features, including detailed reports, lead tracking, payment tracking, and a client portal, to help photography businesses focus on taking photos and less on handling essential business tasks.
“With all the ups and downs of running a photography business, there’s one thing we’ve never had to worry about and that is our CRM, VSCO Workspace. It just works with everything we need,” says Ben Chrisman from Chrisman Studios. Chrisman is a long-time user of Táve Studio Manager, which now redirects to VSCO Workspace’s website.
“We’re excited about where VSCO Workspace is headed, and we hope to have another 15 years of it being the brain for everything we’ve yet to photograph, which is a pretty exciting thought,” Chrisman adds.
For its part, Wittman says VSCO is committed to providing photographers and creators the opportunities and tools they require to succeed as professional photographers. VSCO Workspace is just the latest development aligned with that vision, joining the news last month that VSCO had acquired The Freelance Photographer, an online platform that provides photographers with educational resources to become successful pros. In May 2024, VSCO launched Hub, which it described at the time as “LinkedIn for photographers.”
“Our vision is to give photographers and creators more economic opportunities with VSCO and we are just getting started,” Wittman promises.
To celebrate VSCO Workspace’s launch and World Photography Day, photographers can try 30 days of Workspace for free and receive access to the “Attract Paying Clients” workshop from The Freelance Photographer using the code “VSCO.”
It is a chance for photographers to help out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) by capturing photos of the elusive rainbow snake.
The population of the nonvenomous species has declined in recent years, with the last confirmed sighting coming in February 2020. The snake has been impacted by habitat loss and declining food source.
“We need help from Floridians and visitors to better understand where rainbow snakes still occur in the state,” says Kevin Enge, Research Scientist with FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, in a press release. “Every sighting report gives us valuable data about their current distribution and helps us assess the health of the species in Florida.”
Rainbow snakes shouldn’t be too hard to spot since, as the name suggests, they are a colorful species often marked by iridescent black or violet blue with three red stripes on their back. Their lip and chin scales are yellow, marked with violet spots, and adults typically reach three to four feet in length.
The FWC says that photographs are particularly useful. Anyone hoping to get a snap of the rare snake should know that the species is usually found in or near water, including rivers, springs, and brackish marshes.
“One south Florida subspecies was historically found in Fisheating Creek in Glades County. That location is more than 150 miles south of the nearest known population in Lake County but hasn’t been documented since 1952,” the FWC adds.
To submit a sighting, including any photographs, navigate to this FWC form where all of the details, including coordinates, can be inputted.
Snakes are not everyone’s favorite animal but they can be amazing subjects. Photographer Marisa Ishimatsu traveled to Namibia to capture magnificent photos of a Peringuey’s adder which are perfectly adapted to hide themselves in the soft sands of the Namibian desert.
In an article for PetaPixel a few years back, Australian snake photographers Chris Hay and Christina N. Zdenek wrote that picturing snakes is no easy task.
“Apart from wild weather, long hours, biting insects, and lack of sleep, there’s one final hurdle to overcome: actually finding the elusive reptiles. Australia’s snakes, for instance, usually flee when they hear humans, and they’re very good at hiding.”
There’s a relatively new Micro Four Thirds camera on the market that costs $799, but you probably haven’t heard of it. It’s the YoloLiv YoloCam S7, and it’s weird.
I want to think I am pretty tuned into the camera industry, but every so often, some new product, like the YoloCam, from a relatively unknown or new company slips under my radar. I only found out that the YoloCam S7 even exists because Y.M. Cinema reported that “TikTok’s large sensor streaming camera just got cheaper.”
“TikTok’s large sensor streaming camera” piqued my interest, so I started poking around and found a bunch of content that seems odd and offers little by way of helpful information.
The YoloCam S7 launched earlier this year and has a striking design and a vertically oriented Micro Four Thirds sensor, which is interesting and well-suited for specific social media applications. Granted, the camera doesn’t have to be mounted in vertical orientation. It has an attachable bracket that adds a second mounting point for landscape orientation. It’s not nearly as elegant a solution as the one on the Canon EOS R50 V, which has a vertically-oriented tripod mount straight out of the box. But I digress.
Speaking of the YoloCam’s Micro Four Thirds image sensor, that’s a relatively large sensor for a camera designed for streaming and being a webcam. Yololiv makes a big deal about this, which makes sense. While a Micro Four Thirds sensor is much smaller than a full-frame or even APS-C sensor, it is likewise much larger than the various Type 1 sensors found in compact cameras, smartphones, and most dedicated webcams.
But it’s also a puzzling sensor. While YoloLiv notes that the image sensor is a “Sony IMX” chip, the company stops short of saying exactly which sensor it is. Over on Yololiv’s official Amazon store, we learn that the camera has a “4/3 IMAX Sensor and 1071W Pixels.” I wish I were joking.
Let’s make one thing very clear: the $800 YoloCam S7 Micro Four Thirds streaming camera does not meet IMAX standards. YoloLiv meant to write “IMX.” But 1071W Pixels? That’s useless information. Who measures an image sensor in terms of watts?
Thankfully, elsewhere, we learn that the Micro Four Thirds sensor has 10.7 megapixels and 2.9μ pixel size. Yololiv claims the camera has dual base ISO and HDR capabilities as well. Maybe. The camera can definitely record 4Kp60 video; that much is verifiable.
As for autofocus, the Amazon product listing says the camera has phase-detection autofocus, which is pretty typical for modern mirrorless cameras, but Yololiv’s own store claims the camera uses “lightning-fast Time of Flight (ToF) AutoFocus,” which is a fundamentally different autofocus technology. The camera has the necessary hardware for ToF autofocus on its front, so I think it’s a safe bet the camera does use ToF for AF, which means it will have a relatively limited useful focusing range.
Another quirky aspect of the camera is that it has no buttons or controls. For some reason, YoloLiv thinks it’s a good idea to control a camera exclusively through software on a connected computer. Although the YoloCam S7 initially launched with Windows software, the company now offers macOS apps for Intel and Apple Silicon. However, for some reason, only Apple M1/M2 is listed, and the software is not even version 1.0.
The companion software, YoloLiv Compose, uses artificial intelligence to “automatically adjust” all the camera settings, including exposure and color settings. While this may be helpful for absolute beginners, there are, fortunately, manual controls in the software.
Some of the YoloCam S7’s features are fine, but I’m confused by the overall package and whether the camera is any good.
All the “reviews” out there are paid product placements. The official listing on Amazon has just three user reviews and the YoloCam S7 has just one user review on Yololiv’s own website.
While these heavily caveated “reviews” are mostly positive, even general news coverage of the YoloCam S7 gives me pause.
The articles that have been published, including by numerous notable websites that focus on video technology, are all regurgitated versions of Yololiv’s product breakdown with very minor tweaks. Then, of course, there is the fact that I heard about this camera because of an article about its price drop. This article poses questions about whether the camera will “reshape” TikTok, make social media content more cinematic, and other similarly lofty notions.
These are questions YoloLiv is undoubtedly happy for people to ask without offering any concrete answers. The answer is usually “no,” by the way. This camera will not reshape TikTok or usher in an era of cinematic brilliance on social media.
Admittedly, much about this camera is interesting, just not necessarily for good reasons. Confusing things often attract a lot of interest.
Buying a camera based on entirely subjective performance factors claimed by the manufacturer itself and not detailed technical specifications is a recipe for disappointment. The dearth of actual, untainted reviews only increases my skepticism.
Even if the camera is good, which is possible, the exceptionally high reliance on a companion app is weird, especially for a camera that tries to market itself as a “TikTok camera.” A lot of TikTok content is recorded out in the real world, and having to lug additional hardware to operate the camera sounds miserable.
There is no doubt that there are suitable use cases for the YoloCam S7. There are a lot of streamers out there who may benefit from the relatively large Micro Four Thirds image sensor and the ability to swap out lenses — although YoloLiv only recommends two lenses: the Panasonic 15mm f/1.7 and Panasonic 25mm f/1.7. Vertical video content is definitely popular, and we have seen more traditional camera makers focus heavily on that with their video-focused models in recent years.
But again, there is a lot surrounding the YoloCam S7 that strikes me as odd and frankly, stupid. I haven’t even bothered discussing the camera’s name, which is awful. Admittedly, most camera model names are, at best, boring. Maybe terrible is better than boring. Nonetheless, if it were my money, I’d hesitate to spend $800 (plus whatever I needed for lenses) for something like this. I sort of wish I could go back in time and not learn about it at all. But why listen to me? There are plenty of paid people to listen to about this camera.
The YoloCam S7 is far from the first bizarre camera to come out of China making lofty, occasionally unbelievable, claims. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last.
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