The best-selling compact camera in Japan is from... Kodak? We’ve talked about compact cameras in the past, but it remains a fascinating part of the photo marketplace as people look for something different than mirrorless and DSLR cameras. By the way, do you have $10,000 to spare on a new 35mm lens? Leica’s Noctilux-M 35mm f/1.2 ASPH was just announced at that eye-watering price. Lastly, Jeff covers some new Lightroom features in the latest versions.

(Photo: Leica)

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• I Asked AI to Predict the Weather. It's About as Reliable as a Groundhog - CNET

• Compact Camera Sales More Than Doubled Last Year in Japan | PetaPixel

• Regarding the price of the Ricoh GR cameras, Kirk was thinking of the prices in the UK. In the US, the prices are $1,600 and and $2.200.

• Noctilux-M 35 f/1.2 ASPH. | Leica Camera US

• Leica 35mm Noctilux-M f/1.2 ASPH Review: A Long Time Coming | PetaPixel

• Adobe Lightroom Classic release notes

• Aftershoot

• Thomas Pynchon: Vineland (Kirk said it was published in 1980; that should be 1990)

• How 'One Battle After Another' Shot the Car Chase Scene Like a Gritty '70s Film - YouTube

Jeff’s Snapshot

• The Uncool by Cameron Crowe

Kirk’s Snapshot

• One Battle After Another

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

Now we know what Apple is doing with Pixelmator Pro after its acquisition of Pixelmator: it’s part of the new Apple Creator Studio bundle. Also, we celebrate the latest black and white camera to hit the market, the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, and ponder large-format photographer Sally Mann’s discovery of digital photography.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• The Ink Drinker, Seattle

• Episode 60: Machine Learning with Andrius Gailiunas and Pixelmator Pro

• Ricoh GR IV Monochrome PetaPixel Video

• Sally Mann, Digital Camera World

• Episode 141: You Say You Want a Resolution

Jeff’s Snapshot

• Reflections: On Cinematography, Roger Deakins

Kirk’s Snapshot

• None

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

Is your phone not accurately capturing the world around you? An article in the Guardian questions whether image processing in smartphones is making photos that aren’t genuine. Also, Leica released a firmware update that radically changes the entire interface, leading to a discussion of how important the UI in our cameras is when making photos.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• Now that phones alter our photos without us knowing, how do we know what’s real?

• Episode 114: Bryan Jones on Why Color Doesn't Exist

• Leica Q3 firmware update

• Leica’s engraved fonts

• Leica TikTok

• Actions Ring - On Screen Overlay

• 3M Precise Mouse Pad

Kirk’s Snapshot

• Logitech MX Master 4

Jeff’s Snapshot

• Moment Tripod Mount for MagSafe

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

Two Hundred episodes! To celebrate roughly seven and a half years of the PhotoActive podcast, Kirk and Jeff picked some favorite photos from the digital cameras they’ve owned.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• Episode 35: Martin Parr Shot My Portrait

• Martin Parr on collecting photobooks, shooting tennis, and the challenges of modern street photography, Popular Photography

• Remote Scottish Postboxes, Martin Parr

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

We get views into two very different types of photography in this episode. Jeff travels to Nevada for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix where the cars’ speed is a challenge to photograph... but not as difficult as the rules set by the Formula 1 organization. Then we look at the fascinating dye-transfer process and how this dying art is being used to print William Eggleston’s prints.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• The Insane Logistics of Formula 1

• Clive Mason, Getty Formula 1 Photographer

• William Eggleston's Guide

• William Eggleston: The Last Dyes (book)

• William Eggleston: The Last Dyes (exhibit info)

• Dye destruction print

• The Last Cibachrome

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

We’ve got several things to discuss in this episode, from little-known settings in the iPhone Camera app, to shooting panoramas, to the Leica M EV1 and to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• Leica M EV1

• Leica M EV1 PetaPixel Video

Snapshots:

• Kirk & Jeff: Frankenstein

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

What started with a couple of new settings related to the iPhone Camera app quickly devolves into a discussion of Apple’s Liquid Glass effect in iOS 26, changes and consistency in the Camera app’s interface, and whether all of this is too confusing for most people taking photos with their iPhones.

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

• Acorn 8

• Use iPhone camera tools to set up your shot – Apple Support

• Review: iTunes 11 adds cool features, but can be jarring to longtime users | Macworld

• Take Control of iPhone Photography

• iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: I Pitted Smartphone Royalty Against Each Other - CNET

• RICOH GR IV Monochrome High-end Compact Digital Camera Development News - Ricoh

Snapshots:

• Kirk: Cory Doctorow: Enshittification
• Jeff: Napster View

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.

Has camera technology plateaued? We’re seeing technical advancements in image processing and autofocus, but what about the core parts like sensors? Also, we spend three hours talking about the Apple Watch Ultra 3 (not actually 3 hours).

Hosts:

• Jeff Carlson: website, Jeff's photos, Jeff on Instagram, Jeff on Glass, Jeff on Mastodon, Jeff on Bluesky
• Kirk McElhearn: website, Kirk's photos, Kirk on Instagram, Kirk on Glass, Kirk on Mastodon, Kirk on Bluesky

Show Notes:

(View show notes with images at PhotoActive.co)

• Rate and Review the PhotoActive Podcast!

Snapshots:

• Kirk: Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning
• Jeff: Freewell iPhone Pro Filmmaker Basic Kit

Subscribe to the PhotoActive podcast newsletter at the bottom of any page at the PhotoActive web site to be notified of new episodes and be eligible for occasional giveaways. If you’ve already subscribed, you’re automatically entered.

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast. And don't forget to join the PhotoActive Facebook group to discuss the podcast, share your photos, and more.

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links for products, in which we receive small commissions to help support PhotoActive.