Camera
Field review: Fujifilm XF 70-300 F4-5.6 R LM OIS WR
Introduction
The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm F4-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a very versatile, compact telephoto zoom lens for the company’s APS-C X-mount, arguably filling a much needed gap in the company’s lineup.
The XF 70-300mm offers a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of 105-450mm after accounting for the APS-C sensor size.
Given its far-reaching telephoto, it’s well-suited to sports and nature photographers. Thanks to impressive close-focusing capabilities, it makes for a decent macro lens, too. And that ability to focus up close also means it’s better-suited to portraits with blurred backgrounds than you might otherwise expect, given its not-so-fast aperture. Its high performance, with good sharpness across the frame, lack of chromatic aberrations, fast autofocus, and very effective image stabilization make it a very versatile addition to Fujifilm’s XF lineup.
Available from March 2021, the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mmF4-5.6 R LM OIS WR carries a list price of $799.
Key specifications:
- Focal length: 70-300mm (105-450mm with APS-C crop)
- Aperture range: F4.0 wide / F5.6 tele – F22
- Stabilization: Yes, 5.5 stops
- Weather-sealed: Yes, seals throughout
- Filter thread: 67mm
- Close focus: 0.83m (32.7″) across zoom range
- Maximum magnification: 0.33x tele (0.5x equivalent for APS-C)
- Diaphragm blades: 9
- Hood: Included
- Weight: 580g (1.29 lb)
- Optical construction: 17 elements in 12 groups (1 aspherical, 2 ED elements)
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| ISO 160 | 1/200 sec | F8 | 287mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Although 70-300mm zooms are common on many mounts, there are no direct rivals to the XF 70-300mm F4-5.6 lens on Fujifilm’s X-mount. No third-party has yet released an X-mount zoom to compete with Fujifilm’s own glass. The nearest first-party alternatives, meanwhile, are the XF 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS and XF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR.
The nearest of these alternatives is the XF 55-200mm, and compared to that lens, the 70-300mm is a far more attractive option. Sure, it’s just a little less bright, can’t shoot quite as widely, and is around $100 more expensive. And it’s also a fair bit bigger, starting from 15mm (0.6″) longer at wide-angle, and increasing to 29mm (1.1″) longer as you zoom in.
But for that, you get full weather-sealing, much better macro capabilities, more effective stabilization, a nine-bladed aperture and, of course, far more telephoto reach. And impressively, all of those extra capabilities have been achieved without adding a single gram above the weight of the 55-200mm.
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| ISO 160 | 1/125 sec | F5 | 248mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
The 100-400mm, meanwhile, is pro-grade, and it shows. At $1899.95 and 1375g (3lb), cost and weight are both 2.4 times as much, and it’s also far larger in every dimension. Its barrel is 19.8mm (0.8″) wider, and even at wide-angle it’s a smidgen (5mm; 0.2″) longer than is the 70-300mm when fully extended. Zoom in and the 100-400mm grows to 65mm (2.5″) longer than the 70-300mm.
Of course, that size, weight and cost also brings pro-grade image quality thanks to a significantly more complex optical design. And the 100-400mm offers quite a bit more reach at the telephoto end of the range, although the 70-300mm counters that with an extra 30mm at the wide-angle end.
Compared to…
| Fujifilm XF 70-300mm F4-5.6 | Fujifilm XF 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 | Fujifilm XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $799 | $699 | $1899 |
| Equiv. focal length | 105-450mm | 82.5-300mm | 150-600mm |
| Optical construction | 17 elements, 12 groups | 14 elements, 10 groups | 21 elements, 14 groups |
| Aperture blades | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| Weather sealed | Yes | No | Yes |
| Stabilized | Yes, 5.5 stops | Yes, 4.5 stops | Yes, 5 stops |
| Minimum focus distance | 0.83 m (2.72′) | 1.10m (3.61′) | 1.75m (5.74′) |
| Max magnification | 0.33x (0.5x equiv.) | 0.18x (0.27x equiv.) | 0.19x (0.29x equiv.) |
| Diameter x Length (no hood) |
75mm x 133mm (2.95″ x 5.22″) | 75mm x 118mm (2.95″ x 4.65″) | 94.8mm x 211mm (3.73″ x 8.29″) |
| Weight | 580g (20.5oz) | 580g (20.5oz) | 1375g (48.5oz) |
All images edited in Adobe Camera Raw 13 with adjustments limited to white balance, exposure, highlights, shadows, white and black levels. Sharpening and noise reduction at ACR defaults.
Handling
For a lens of this type, the XF 70-300mm is impressively compact, with a 75mm (2.95″) barrel diameter and a retracted length of just 133mm (5.2″). As you zoom in, its length increases by more than half again to a maximum of 206mm (8.1″).
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| ISO 160 | 1/160 sec | F5.6 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
It’s also nice and light, tipping the scales at 580g (1.3lb). That’s doubtless been achieved in large part thanks to liberal use of plastic in the 70-300mm’s design. There’s no getting around the fact that it’s quite plasticky, with the bulk of its barrel constructed from polycarbonate.
But with that said, the lens mount is still made from metal and everything feels tightly-assembled, much as in Fujifilm’s other XF zoom lenses. And we found balance to be very nice both with the lighter X-S10 and heavier X-T3 bodies with which we did our testing.
As is typical for a Fujinon XF lens, there are quite a few controls to be found on the lens barrel. As well as manual focus and zoom rings, there’s also an aperture ring which can be overridden with an aperture mode switch, if you’d prefer that your camera take control of this variable. Dampening of the rings is fine, if a little loosey-goosey for our liking.
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Additionally, Fujifilm provides both a focus limiter switch and a zoom lock to prevent zoom creep when carrying the camera vertically. This latter control can only be locked at the 70mm wide-angle position.
A nice touch is that you don’t need to fuss with unlocking the zoom when an unexpected photo opportunity arises. Simply turn the zoom ring, and the zoom lock will be disabled automatically, which could make the difference between getting that spur-of-the-moment shot or winding up frustrated.
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Optical image stabilization is provided, which is always nice to see at longer focal lengths like those offered by the 70-300mm F4-5.6. Fujifilm tells us that the system has a corrective strength of 5.5 stops. That’s a full stop better than the system in the 55-200mm, all the more impressive given that with this lens’ more powerful telephoto, it has a tougher job to do in the first place.
If your camera body supports in-body image stabilization, it can work in concert with the lens’ own stabilization to pool the benefits of both systems. (In-lens stabilization typically corrects for pitch and yaw shifts, working better at longer focal lengths, while in-body stabilization can stabilize on five axes, compensating additionally for translation and roll.)
Another worthwhile improvement over the 70-300mm F4-5.6 is its weather-sealing, which keeps out dust and moisture not just at the lens mount, but at controls and other potential ingress points throughout the barrel. Fujifilm also rates this lens as freezeproof down to -10°C (14°F).
Up front, you’ll find 67mm filter threads. That’s a little larger than the 62mm threads on the 55-200mm, but a good bit smaller than the 77mm threads on the 100-400mm, which will put filter costs in between the two.
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| ISO 160 | 1/320 sec | F5.6 | 198mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Autofocus and focus breathing
The Fujifilm XF 70-300mm’s autofocus drive is based around a linear autofocus motor, the same type used in the earlier 55-200mm. (The higher-end 100-400mm, meanwhile, uses dual linear autofocus motors.)
Performance is nice and snappy, and that’s true even if you don’t use the focus limiter to abbreviate the focusing range. It takes less than a second for focus to rack from the minimum focus distance to infinity, but for shooting more distant subjects, it’s worth using the focus limiter to limit the minimum focus distance to 5.0m (16.4′) for even better performance.
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| ISO 160 | 1/60 sec | F8 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Unlike both the 55-200mm and 100-400mm lenses, the Fujifilm XF 70-300mm has pretty astounding close-focusing capabilities. At telephoto, it can provide a 35mm-equivalent 1:2 (0.5x) macro reproduction, which is significantly better than the 1:3.4-3.7 equivalents (0.27-0.29x) offered by the other two lenses.
That’s great news, because there aren’t a ton of macro lens options available in Fujifilm’s X-mount lineup, and it adds greatly to the versatility of this lens, letting you switch back and forth between wildlife and flowers with a single optic.
The 70-300mm F4-5.6 is also very well-suited to video capture. Not only does it include very effective 5.5-stop image stabilization, its autofocus drive is also silent, ensuring that AF operation won’t disrupt your audio. And you don’t need to worry about focus breathing, either. There’s just a little bit at the 70mm wide-angle, and it’s very minimal indeed by the 300mm telephoto.
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| ISO 160 | 1/160 sec | F5.6 | 298mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Image quality
In most respects, the Fujinon 70-300mm offers pretty good image quality. There are only a couple of weak spots, both of which will be of most concern for portrait shooters. Its bokeh suffers from quite strong onion ring and cat’s eye effect, both of which can lead to distracting backgrounds if specular highlights are present. Neither should be a big concern for sports and wildlife photographers, though.
Sharpness
At wide-angle and shooting with its F4 maximum aperture, the XF 70-300mm offers very nice sharpness in the center of the frame, and only minor softness in the corners which remains even if that’s where focus was set. There’s only a little bit of improvement to be gained in the center by stopping down to F8, but a little bit more improvement in the corners.
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| ISO 160 | 1/160 sec | F8 | 105mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Switching to telephoto, this lens remains nice and sharp in the center at its F5.6 maximum aperture, again with only minor softness in the corners. Much as at wide-angle, stopping down a bit helps in the corners a bit more than in the center.
Sharpness remains nice and consistent throughout the zoom range. It’s very good news that it remains strong all the way out to 300mm, as that’s likely where you’ll most want it on a telephoto zoom lens. The minor corner softness we saw across its range is typical of telephoto zooms of this nature, and won’t be an issue for most subjects.
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| The combination of a powerful telephoto and close focusing make it easy to get nicely-blurred backgrounds if your subject is relatively close to the camera. ISO 160 | 1/210 sec | F5.6 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Bokeh
Given that it doesn’t have a particularly fast maximum aperture, you might expect achieving a thin depth of field with this lens would be tricky. Thanks both to its extreme telephoto nature and its ability to focus very closely across its entire zoom range, however, you can actually get some nicely soft, blurry backgrounds if your subject is relatively close to the camera.
It also offers a very nice transition in bokeh from out-of-focus to in-focus areas and back again. Unfortunately, bokeh is a bit of a weak spot for the Fujifilm 70-300mm in a couple of respects. Portrait shooters in particular will want to choose their backgrounds carefully, or perhaps reach for a different lens instead.
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| The Fujifilm 70-300mm is prone to pretty strong onion ring effect, which can make its bokeh quite distracting when out-of-focus specular highlights are present. ISO 160 | 1/350 sec | F4 | 105mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
The reasons for this are twofold: A pretty heavy cat’s-eye effect that yields football-shaped (or for non-Americans, rugby ball-shaped) bokeh towards the corners, and pretty strong onion ring effect as well.
The cat’s eye can be greatly minimized by stopping down a little bit, but unfortunately the onion ring can’t be dealt with so easily. Less defocused objects, particularly specular highlights, can appear quite busy due to the onion rings and patterns. Indeed, sometimes the 70-300mm’s bokeh has a very wild look to it that can be very distracting.
Near the corners, bokeh suffers from heavy cat’s eye effect when shooting wide-open. Stopping down just a little improves the situation significantly, however. Onion ring effect is visible even in diffuse specular highlights.
Photos by Chris Niccolls
The good news is that it’s most noticeable in strong specular highlights, which aren’t something sports and wildlife shooters will have to worry about as much. With grandstands in the background, the bokeh should look great. For portraits with blurred-out lights in the distance, or backlit trees, though, it may look pretty rough.
Flare, ghosting and sunstars
Thankfully, flare and ghosting really aren’t an issue for this lens. We didn’t see much of either, and a really big, quite effective lens hood is included with the product bundle to help keep the sun off the front of the lens.
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| ISO 6400 | 1/15 sec | F16 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
And while we didn’t really expect much when it came to sunstars, in actual fact they turned out to be pretty good!
Lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberration (fringing)
We saw almost no longitudinal chromatic aberration with the XF70-300mm. This aberration typically shows up as magenta and green fringing in front of, and behind, the focus plane, respectively. It’s mostly problematic with fast aperture primes, so we weren’t too surprised to find that it was a non-issue here, even in situations where one might expect to see this aberration.
Lateral chromatic aberration, which shows as green/cyan and purple fringing around high contrast edges at image peripheries, is well-controlled. The tiny bit that is there is easily corrected for in post-processing and automatically by the camera in JPEGs.
Teleconverters
Fujifilm offers two optional, weather-sealed teleconverters that can be used with the 70-300mm F4-5.6, and we tested the lens with both of them.
The Fujinon XF1.4X TC WR teleconverter takes the telephoto reach to 420mm (630mm-equivalent) with an F8 maximum aperture. The XF 2X TC WR teleconverter, meanwhile, extends this to 600mm (900mm-equivalent) at a decidedly dim max. aperture of F11.
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| ISO 160 | 1/1000 sec | F5.6 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 without teleconverter Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Balance is still good with the 1.4x TC mounted, but with the 2x version, the combination does start to feel a bit front-heavy with lighter bodies.
Even with the 1.4x TC attached, we still found autofocus performance to be quite snappy, and tracking continued to work well. Using the 2x TC, though, AF does slow down quite a bit even in bright sunlight. And while AF tracking still works with the 2x TC, it’s pretty slow.
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| ISO 160 | 1/320 sec | F8 | 630mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 with 1.4x teleconverter Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Of course, either TC can also be used to increase the lens’ already impressive macro capabilities. With the 1.4x TC, the 35mm-equivalent macro is 1:1.44 (0.69x), and using the 2x TC it’s 1:1 (1.0x)-equivalent.
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| ISO 160 | 1/100 sec | F11 | 900mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 with 2x teleconverter Photo by Chris Niccolls |
As you’d expect, there is some loss in image quality with either teleconverter, although it’s relatively minor with the less powerful 1.4x TC. With the 2x TC, there’s a very noticeable drop in sharpness, while chromatic aberrations are significantly magnified. Color fringing can remain even after corrections with this combination, as you can see in the example below. If you want better sharpness and a wider aperture, and you can justify its added cost, we’d recommend considering the XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens instead.
If portability is your highest priority, however, the 1.4x TC and 70-300mm lens together will save you a worthwhile 665g (1.5lb) over the 100-400mm while just slightly besting its telephoto reach. The combination will also be 63mm shorter with the lens retracted, and will retain the 70-300mm’s 19.8mm (0.8″) advantage over the 100-400mm in barrel diameter.
Even the larger, heavier and more powerful 2x TC will still save you 625g (1.4lb) in weight and 48mm (1.9″) in length without increasing the barrel diameter of the 70-300mm lens. And with list prices of $450 apiece for either TC, you could buy both along with the 70-300mm lens and still save $200 over the cost of the 100-400mm lens alone.
Conclusion
| What we like | What we don’t |
|---|---|
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In most respects, the Fujifilm XF 70-300mm F4-5.6 turns in a great performance given its compact, lightweight design and quite affordable pricetag. And it will prove doubly attractive to Fujifilm X-mount shooters given the paucity of compelling alternatives, either from third parties or Fujifilm itself.
Although it does feel a bit plasticky in-hand, it’s nevertheless quite well-constructed, and it’s easy to overlook the use of plastic given the significant weight saving it allows. Fujifilm has also done quite well on the control front, save for the overly-loose focus and zoom rings. We really appreciate the inclusion of a dedicated aperture ring, and the self-disabling zoom lock is a really nice touch.
In most respects, image quality also satisfies, especially for subjects like sports and wildlife. And thanks to its swift autofocus drive, it should handle both with aplomb. It’s also a surprisingly capable macro lens, which adds to its versatility and helps address a weakness of Fujifilm’s X-mount lineup. What’s more, very effective image stabilization help X-mount shooters, particularly those shooting with stabilized sensors, achieve better image quality across the wide range of use-cases this lens is expected to encounter. And it’s also quite well-suited to video capture.
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| ISO 400 | 1/200 sec | F4 | 105mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
Our biggest concerns with the 70-300mm are its bokeh issues, both with onion ring and cat’s eye. These will be most troubling for portraits shot against a backdrop of strong specular highlights, but could lead to unnecessarily distracting bokeh in a variety of situations. They shouldn’t pose much problem for sports and nature shooters, however.
Given its strengths in most respects, and the relatively small step upwards in price, the 70-300mm has effectively replaced Fujifilm’s earlier 55-200mm for most purposes. We can see little reason to purchase that lens now, unless it’s offered at a significant discount.
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| ISO 160 | 1/200 sec | F6.4 | 450mm equiv. | Fujifilm X-S10 Photo by Chris Niccolls |
And that leaves only one real alternative: Fujifilm’s pro-grade 100-400mm. Given its much greater size, weight and cost, that lens will simply be overkill for most X-mount shooters.
If you’re expecting to shoot a lot of portraits and need the best possible bokeh, the 100-400mm is certainly a worthwhile upgrade. And that’s also true if you need its stronger telephoto, but can’t make do with the downsides of using a teleconverter.
But for most purposes, Fujifilm’s 70-300mm is now your best bet for an X-mount tele zoom. You might say that this reason alone is enough to garner the XF 70-300mm F4-5.6 LM WR OIS WR our Silver Award, but that would be selling it short. Aside from critical bokeh assessment, its optical and autofocus performance are excellent, so if you’re an X-mount shooter looking for a lot of reach, you have little reason to look elsewhere.
DPReview TV review
See what our team at DPReview TV has to say about the Fujifilm XF 70-300mm F4-5.6.
Leica Women Foto Project winners
Photos: Priya Suresh Kambli, Jennifer Osborne, Koral Carballo and Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Leica paid homage to International Women’s Day on Saturday by announcing the winners of the Leica Women Foto Project. Now in its sixth year, the project aims to “spotlight the way we diversify our communities through visual stories and emphasize female empowerment by its creators.” This year’s call for work centered on “Unity Through Diversity,” seeking photo essays emphasizing the importance of connection as expressed through a feminine perspective.
The award is open to images created using any camera make or model and not limited to Leica-captured imagery. A panel of 12 judges, which included award-winning photojournalists, curators and editors, selected this year’s four awardees. The winners each received a Leica SL3 camera, a Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH lens and a $10,000 USD cash prize.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Priya Suresh Kambli’s work is deeply personal and rooted in the context of the migrant experience. Inspired by an exhibition of vernacular hand-painted Indian studio portraits from The Alkazi Foundation, she began intervening with her family archive to explore themes of identity, memory, and belonging. Over the course of her twenty-year practice, Priya has revisited, reimagined, and recontextualized family portraits and heirlooms, building an archive that connects her to both her ancestral roots and her adopted land. Through her work, she reflects on absence and loss, navigating family dynamics to document their lives with a thoughtful and composed narrative.
About Priya Suresh Kambli: Priya Suresh Kambli received her BFA at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and an MFA from the University of Houston. She is a Professor of Art at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Kambli has always strived to explore and understand the resulting fragmentation of family, identity, and culture. Her artwork has been exhibited, published, collected and reviewed in the national and international photographic community.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: At age 18, I moved from India to the United States. Before I emigrated, my sister and I split our photographic inheritance along with other family heirlooms arbitrarily and irreparably in half – one part to remain in India with her and the other to be displaced with me, here in America. For the past two decades this accidental archive of family photographs and artifacts has been my main source material in creating bodies of work which explore the issues of gender, identity, representation, migrant narratives, and the renegotiation of power via the medium of photography.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: In my work I re-photograph and re-contextualize my inherited family photographs, documents and objects carried by me to America, to my home in the Midwest. In my images, my archive constrains what can be said of the past. It is full of gaps, fragmented long before it was split in two by my sister and me. One of the people sealed within is my father, the original archivist and documentarian. He was the author of the majority of the images in the archive. And the other significant presence is of my mother. My father the photographer is physically absent, while I and other members of my family are fixed within the archive. His photographs are documents – ostensibly of some happy occasion, or milestone in our lives.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: These mundane family photographs are complicated by my mother’s mark making. She cut holes in certain photographs to completely obliterate her own face while not harming the image of my sister and myself beside her and then slid them back into the family album. I am interested in both narratives – my father’s carefully composed efforts to document our lives and my mother’s violent but precise excisions. This set of fives images selected from my submission to the 2025 Leica Women Foto Project Award showcase these family dynamics. These family narratives form the foundation on which my artistic work rests, guiding its form as well as its vocabulary.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: This work stems from my own migration, and it grapples with the challenges of cross-cultural understanding, and from my growing sense that my practice – born from private and personal motivations – constitutes an increasingly urgent political and public action. In this work I seek and offer solidarity. The proposed work continues to examine the link between public and private and will provide a lens through which my artmaking becomes a kind of performance or ritual activity; revisiting the past in ways that bear witness to, re-enact, and communicate with past and future selves.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: My contribution to the field extends beyond the personal narrative, bringing attention to the experiences of migrants and women of color: lives that are rich, nuanced, and worthy of notice. The impact of this work lies in its simple existence; bodies of work resulting from processes of play – grounded in the concrete reality of the things I had carried with me and the place where I strive to make a home.
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion
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Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Koral Carballo’s photographic essays blend photography and oral history to explore the search for identity among Afro-descendant and mestizo communities in Veracruz, Mexico. Through powerful imagery, she uncovers the roots of complex family trauma, inviting viewers to reflect on their own connections to the past. Her project Blood Summons (or La Sangre Llama), a popular Mexican saying referring to the call to search for one’s ancestors, represents both her personal journey and a broader exploration of historical injustices. With this work, Carballo calls for reparation, aiming to foster connection rather than division, and inviting viewers to engage with these stories and their own histories.
About Koral Carballo: Koral Carballo is a photojournalist, documentary photographer, and visual artist based in Mexico. She studied journalism at the Universidad Popular Aútonoma del Estado de Puebla, and the Contemporary Photography Seminar by the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSA) and the Centro de la Imagen. Carballo has exhibited her work in Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, The United States, and Uruguay. She collaborates with Ruda Colectiva, a Latino-American women photographers collective, and is an Artist from the National System in Mexico.
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “Telling this story is a door to the past that opens to understand the emotional wounds of the present. My mother has been a crucial figure for the beginning of this project and an ally in the process of starting to create.”
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “Mom slapped me several times. She kept questioning me as to why I wanted to marry a black man.” Mom
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “I don’t know what we are carrying. But I saw it in therapy. I saw someone they were beating . He was asking me to release him.” Bro.
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “Black rain. In December when the sugar cane harvest season begins, the black rain begins in Veracruz since colonial times. The burning of the cane fields is an important step for the production season. There are still 18 sugar mills in Veracruz where Afro-descendants and mestizos (people of mixed race) still work.”
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “My sister’s melancholy.”
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Koral Carballo: Blood Summons
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Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Anna Neubauer’s ongoing documentary project, Ashes from Stone, is a powerful photo essay that portrays individuals who defy societal norms of beauty, strength, and identity. Through striking portraits, Neubauer showcases people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in empowered settings, amplifying marginalized voices and encouraging audiences to rethink traditional views of femininity and strength. The project challenges stereotypes, redefines beauty, and embraces narratives around family, relationships, and motherhood. Each photograph is accompanied by a personal narrative, deepening the connection with and humanizing the subjects, fostering empathy, and promoting a greater understanding of diversity.
About Anna Neubauer: Anna Neubauer is an Austrian photographer based in London, United Kingdom. She began her journey capturing what truly matters to her: stories of self-love, acceptance, and resilience. In 2021, Anna was named Adobe Rising Star of Photography. She has worked with clients like Barbie, Condé Nast, Leica, Canon, Yoto, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adobe, Harper’s Bazaar and 500px/Getty Images, and her work has been featured in international publications.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: Hannah was born with Hay-Wells syndrome, a kind of ectodermal dysplasia, a very rare genetic disorder that can cause abnormalities affecting a person’s skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Along with other health problems, people with this condition may also be more prone to specific skin or eye conditions. Growing up, Hannah was often burdened with feelings of isolation and despair because society’s beauty standards and misconceptions about physical differences often lead to bullying. Since the media frequently ignores or misrepresents people with unusual conditions, Hannah now aims to educate others; she fights for her rights and strives to end societal ableism. I have been photographing Hannah the past years, documenting her journey of self-acceptance and advocacy in order to challenge beauty standards, preconceived notions about disability, and foster empathy and understanding about rare genetic disorders. This image in my series not only shows her uniquely beautiful appearance but also her courage and resilience.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: When I met Hannah, I met a confident woman and a proud disability advocate who speaks openly about living with Hay-Wells syndrome. I have always loved listening to stories, but for me, there is something particularly beautiful about Hannah’s. Through her advocacy and quiet moments like this, she continues to challenge norms, encouraging others to see beyond appearances and understand the resilience and humanity of those with rare conditions. I want to show the part of her journey where self-acceptance meets the pressures of a society that often doesn’t understand visible differences. Outside, Hannah wears her wig and sunglasses as a way to blend in and feel comfortable, but here, within the walls of her family home, she allows herself to be seen as she truly is. This image in my series, Hannah standing in the quiet light of her bedroom corridor, reveals a mix of strength and vulnerability. Her wig gives her comfort in a world still learning to embrace diversity.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: Crystal is a passionate actress and advocate for facial diversity and representation in the acting industry. I photographed her in her living room just as the UK started to ease Covid-19 restrictions. For Crystal, the pandemic brought an unexpected reprieve. The masks that shielded others from a virus also shielded her from relentless stares. For a while, she found relief in the anonymity, moving through public spaces without the weight of constant scrutiny or unsolicited judgment. In a world that often doesn’t know how to look beyond the surface, the anonymity felt like breathing room—both liberating and fragile.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: Az and Izzy were dating for a year when I photographed them. The beach isn’t just a place they visit—it’s their sanctuary, where the world fades away, and they can simply exist in each other’s presence. Here, with the salty breeze in their hair and the rhythmic hum of the waves, they find a rare kind of freedom—one where love feels effortless and unguarded. Documenting this intimate moment felt like stepping into something sacred. The way they look at each other, the unspoken understanding between them, the laughter that comes so easily—it all radiates warmth and authenticity. Their connection isn’t just seen; it’s felt. A quiet, beautiful force that reminds us of the kind of love that makes us feel truly at home.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: Maya is a passionate actress, dancer and model whose energy is as captivating as her talent. When we first met at a photoshoot in 2021, she was a performing arts student at Chickenshed Youth Theatre in London, radiating the kind of determination that makes dreams feel within reach. Since then, she has worked with major brands like Nike, EE and CBBC. Maya’s success not only speaks to her incredible talent but to her relentless spirit and dedication. This image in my series shows Maya in one of her favourite dresses, a piece that feels like an extension of her—a symbol of self-expression, confidence and her deep love for performing. For me, there’s something magical about photographing her, the way she moves so effortlessly, how she transforms in front of the lens yet always remains true to herself. Over the years, our friendship has grown into something truly beautiful, and every time I photograph her, it feels like a celebration of that bond.
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone
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Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne’s captivating photo series takes viewers deep into the heart of the Fairy Creek protests, where activists came together to protect the old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. Osborne began documenting life within the protest blockades a week before enforcement began, capturing the raw, unfiltered moments of those first days. She continued to document the protests for the first three months of enforcement, witnessing firsthand the courage and commitment of the activists. From diverse backgrounds, these individuals camped in tents and vehicles, fighting tirelessly to preserve the land. Through powerful imagery, Osborne highlights their unwavering solidarity and determination, showing how every moment spent defending the forests was a battle not only for the land but for future generations. This series, which documents the now-dismantled blockades and the trees they fought so hard to protect, underscores the profound significance of their environmental struggle.
About Jennifer Osborne: Jen Osborne is a Canadian photographer who has published and exhibited photographs and videos internationally. Osborne was shortlisted for a Sony World Photography Award in 2024 for her wildland fire coverage in Alberta, Canada. And she received a grant from Carleton University in 2021 to complete a video documentary about Canada’s horse meat industry. It has since toured to more than ten film festivals around the world.
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 17, 2021. Outside Port Renfrew, in a forest cut block. A woman leans on a tree that was cut fairly recently before this photo was taken. She found it along with a group of conservationists who explored the area after a round of logging happened in the region.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. An activist is chained to a bus in the middle of a road over a bridge, to prevent loggers from accessing old-growth forests. Other members of the blockade set off flares, so that their internal film crew could post a social media update for the public on their activities there. A team of blockade members had united to place this vehicle in the middle of the road.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 23, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. A group of blockaders unify their bodies to protect a patch of old-growth forest called “EDEN GROVE”. They linked arms to prevent a hostile individual from entering their blockade. The situation escalated and the visitor yelled and tried to push a few activists to get through their linked arms.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 24, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. Two forest defenders stand in a cut block patch during police arrests of activists protecting “Waterfall Camp” and a neighboring cut block area.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 24, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. A woman appeared at a cut block to show her unity with land defenders who blocked roads to prevent loggers from entering old-growth forest areas, during their arrests.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
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Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
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While visiting Dry Tortugas National Park, located 109km west of Key West, Florida, I looked down from the top of Fort Jefferson and saw this group of snorkelers just off Garden Key. Moments after this photo was taken, one of the snorkelers had the bad luck of being stung by a Portuguese man o’ war.
Photo: Dale Baskin |
The theme for our March Editors’ challenge is ‘Water’.
Show us the essence of water in its many forms, from the roaring power of the ocean to a gentle rain, reflections on a lake, smooth waterfalls, frozen ice, or even fine art. The possibilities are endless, so let your creativity flow and show us your best photos that revolve around water. Our favorites will be featured on the DPReview homepage later this month.
This challenge is open to photos taken at any time.
Photos can be submitted between Sunday, March 16, and Saturday, March 22 (GMT).
Important: Images MUST include a title and a caption of at least 25 words to be eligible. Viewers want to know the story behind your photo. We will consider both photos and captions when selecting our winners, so make sure to tell us that story!
Visit the challenge page to read the full rules and to submit your photos for consideration as soon as the challenge opens.
Visit the challenge page to see all the rules
| Images: Vanguard, Apple, Elinchrom |
CP+ may have ended last week, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the flood of accessory news. Today, we’ll look at a few lights, bags, computers and more, but first, let’s see what’s on sale.
Second-gen Goodness
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
Canon’s Stacked sensor flagship, the EOS R5 II, is currently on sale for $300 off MSRP. We reviewed it late last year, and came away very impressed – it’s a camera that excels at nearly everything.
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
Panasonic’s S5II isn’t quite as performant, but it’s still quite a good camera. It’s also substantially cheaper than the EOS R5 II, especially given the current sale that gets you $500 off.
Let there be lights
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| Image: Godox |
Godox’s latest light for videographers and photographers is the Litemons C30. It’s a tiny LED panel weighing 248g that packs an internal battery capable of putting out 30W of light for up to 45 minutes. A USB-C port lets you recharge the battery or run the light for an extended period of time.
There are two versions of the light – a bicolor model, which costs $59, and an RGB model that will run you $89.
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| Image: Elinchrom |
If you need something a little more powerful, there’s the recently released Elinchrom LED 100 C, a continuous RGB light with an integrated 72Wh battery that provides up to 40 minutes of power in the field. It comes with a diffusion dome and an adapter for Profoto light modifiers and can be charged via USB-C.
On the level
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| Image: Vanguard |
Ball-head tripods are great if you want to easily level your tripod without messing around with leg length, but what if you already have a tripod that you like? Vanguard’s LVL accessory might be for you. It’s designed to sit between your sticks and your tripod’s head, adding a bit of height and letting you level your tripod head in a matter of seconds.
Vanguard makes several sizes, so it should be compatible with a wide range of tripods. The smallest, the LVL 42, has a 42mm base and can support up to 20kg (44lb), while the LVL 75 can support up to 40kg (88lb) – just make sure the rest of your tripod can handle that much weight too.
In the bag
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| Image: Wandrd |
If you want to carry around some camera gear without using a massive backpack, Wandrd’s Stratus Photo 18L may be the bag for you. It’s relatively small and has built-in organization for your camera gear, as well as access hatches on both the right and left-hand side. It’s made of weather-resistant materials and has load-adjustment straps and a chest strap, which should let you carry it comfortably even if you’ve got it filled with gear.
New affordable iPads
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| Image: Apple |
People don’t always think of the iPad as a photographic tool, but nowadays Apple’s tablets have a lot of processing power and can run many of the apps photographers use on their desktops. The company’s entry-level models – the iPad Air and the plainly-named iPad – have just gotten updates that make them better than ever. The Air gets the laptop-class M3 chip, as well as a new, optional keyboard with a bigger trackpad, function row and aluminum design. The M3 iPad Air starts at $599, and the new keyboard costs $269.
The cheaper iPad, meanwhile, gets the A16 chip from the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro. While it’s not as powerful as the M-class chips and doesn’t support Apple’s suite of AI features, it should still be plenty for light photo editing and organization. Its base storage has also been doubled from 64GB to 128GB. It starts at $349, which is what its predecessor sold for ever since Apple cut the price by $100 in 2024.
That wasn’t all Apple announced this week, though…
Get caught up
Some accessory news is so big that it gets its own article during the week, but we’d feel remiss not also mentioning those products here.
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| Image: Apple |
As an example, Apple’s new computers. The company announced updates to its entry-level MacBook Air and top-of-the-line Mac Studio this week, adding its latest processors. The MacBook Air has enough processing power to handle the typical Photoshop and Lightroom tasks that most photographers need, all while being hyper-portable, while the Mac Studio can handle the highest-end photo and video editing tasks.
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| Image: Peak Design |
Also announced this week: Peak Design’s Roller Pro, the company’s first piece of roller luggage. It’s a bit of a hybrid between a hardshell case and a softshell one, with plenty of padding and a front sleeve that can hold a laptop and other everyday carry items. You can read our full coverage of it here.
It’s currently being sold via Kickstarter for a discount over its $599 MSRP, but the usual disclaimer applies: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
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