Canon EOS 20D and 17-40mm F4 L lens | ISO 100 | 3.2 sec | F4 Photo: Dale Baskin

The December edition of the Editors’ Photo Challenge is open for submissions! Our theme this month is ‘Happy Holidays’.

Whatever holiday tradition inspires you – Christmas, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or something else – show us what the holiday season looks like through your lens. Whether it’s colorful lights, dazzling decorations, festive gatherings, or just a cozy moment, we want to see your best holiday season photos.

This challenge is open to photos taken at any time. Photos must be submitted by Saturday, December 7 (GMT).

Visit the challenge page to read the full rules and to submit your photos for consideration.

Enter your photos here

Also, don’t forget to check out some of the other open and upcoming photo challenges hosted by members of the DPReview community. Or, see some of the great photos from recently completed photo challenges.

Open challenges:

• The Triumph (closes Dec. 4)
• Close-up/Macro – Bugs (2024 Shots Only) (closes Dec. 5))

Upcoming challenges:

• A Big Year 2024 (opens Dec. 2)

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The Olympus E-1 was the first DSLR designed solely for digital. The sensor format choice was independent of any film legacy and the lens design was specifically focused on the way digital sensors accept light. Leica’s S series of 45x30mm medium format DSLRs is the only comparable system we can recall.

It’s 21 years since we reviewed the Olympus E-1, arguably the only successful attempt to develop a digital SLR from first principles, rather than trying to adapt what had come before. As part of our 25th Anniversary celebrations, we look back at the E-1 as one of the most significant cameras of the past 25 years.

In the early days of digital photography the large number of photographers already heavily invested in film lenses put pressure on companies to continue their existing systems, even though ‘full-frame’ sensors that matched the film format they were designed around were prohibitively expensive for most photographers.

The Four Thirds system was an attempt at a clean slate design, with the intention of developing a new set of lenses designed to suit digital sensors, and built around a sensor chosen because it had a good performance-to-price ratio, not to match the arbitrary dimensions of cinema film stock adapted for photography in the early 1900s. It was a decision that would also allow smaller lenses, particularly at longer focal lengths.

The first open system: the Four Thirds timeline

• Feb 2001: Kodak and Olympus enter patent sharing agreement
• May 2001: Olympus confirms DSLR concept with Type 4/3 sensor
• Sep 2001: Kodak and Olympus announce “Four Thirds” system with Fujifilm participation
• Jun 2003: Olympus reveals E-1 5MP Four Thirds DSLR
• Nov 2003: DPReview reviews the first Four Thirds camera
• Feb 2004: Panasonic, Sanyo and Sigma join Four Thirds

The Four Thirds initiative was started by Kodak and Olympus, with the two companies settling on a 5MP Type 4/3 (17.3 x 13mm) CCD sensor. This sensor size and the use of the 4:3 aspect ratio common in most early digital sensors give the system its name.

They also announced it would be an open standard, with other companies welcome to join, a decision that prompted Fujifilm to announce its interest, followed by Sanyo, Sigma and Panasonic, some seventeen months later. For a while it looked like a critical mass might coalesce, finally bringing about the long dreamt-of common mount, allowing complete interoperability between multiple brands.

In the meantime, although later than the initially suggested Feb 2002 launch date, Olympus developed the E-1, a high-end magnesium alloy DSLR with a 100% viewfinder and that 5MP Four Thirds CCD at its heart. Announced alongside five lenses in mid 2003, the original press release highlights the ‘Supersonic Wave Filter’ sensor shake system that shook dust off the sensor as solving “a problem that has long been an Achilles heel of … digital SLRs.”

Unfortunately, in his review, Phil highlighted that the Olympus couldn’t offer either the speed or the resolution that were typically expected of a camera with the E-1’s stated professional ambitions. This was made more stark by its $2199 original price tag (albeit with a ‘street price’ well below that), at a time when Canon’s 6MP EOS 10D would set you back nearer $1500.

It took the more affordable E-300 model for the Four Thirds to really find its audience. By the time the E-330 arrived, two years later, Kodak was out of the picture.

It took 2004’s 8MP E-300, with its much more attainable price point (around $1000 with kit lens) for Four Thirds to really find its audience.

By 2006 Panasonic and Leica were alongside Olympus spearheading the system, with each brand releasing variations of technologies co-developed by the two Japanese companies, including “Live MOS” sensors from Panasonic, rather than Kodak. The Olympus E-330 and Panasonic L-1/Leica Digilux 3 were some of the first DSLRs to offer live view, with the E-330 including a more sophisticated/complex implementation. You don’t have to squint very hard to see the beginnings of the first mirrorless camera, which Panasonic would introduce just two years later.

Despite a broadly sound initial concept, one challenge of the use of a smaller-than-film sensor in a DSLR was that the viewfinders were often quite small and dark (because the sensor size defines the size of the camera’s mirror, which in turn puts a limit on how large or bright you can make an optical viewfinder).

This was resolved with the move to a mirrorless design and the creation of the Micro Four Thirds system, built around the same Type 4/3 sensor format and a lot of technology developed during the Four Thirds era. Perhaps fittingly, the final Four Thirds camera was a direct continuation of the original E-1 line, with the system being officially discontinued 18 months later.

With this in mind, it might seem odd to call a system with a span of just over seven years between the launch of its first camera and its last a success, but I’d focus more on the groundwork it laid. Twenty-one years after the launch of the E-1, the Four Thirds sensor format is still very much with us, and you can trace a direct line from the first all-digital DSLR project to the mirrorless cameras that dominate the ILC market today, even if both Kodak and Olympus have now exited the photography market.

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award

A few weeks ago, The Natural History Museum, London, announced the winners of its 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards for 2024. Now, it needs your help to select the winner of its 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award.

The 25 finalists for the People’s Choice Award were selected from 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories. Members of the public can cast their vote for the award until January 29, and the winning image, along with four runners-up, will be announced in February. Here, we present the 25 finalists for this year’s award.

If you’re a wildlife photographer and want to enter your own images in the 2025 competition, you can find information on the competition’s website. However, act quickly: you have until December 5th to submit your images.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

Wolf Pack

Wolf Pack by Arvind Ramamurthy, India

Members of an Indian wolf pack pause briefly as they play in fields in Bhigwan, India.

Indian wolves were once found all across India. Now, their number has dwindled to as few as 3,000. Living so close to humans poses many risks. Farming has fragmented their rolling grassland habitat, and feeding on cattle carcasses puts them at risk of disease. But Indian wolves are hardy animals. With better grassland management and protection, they could make a strong comeback. Arvind was photographing this pack playing in the grassy fields. One of them came and sat down at the edge of the agricultural crop, and one by one, four others joined it. They paused for a few seconds before they ran off again, playing and chasing one another.

Copyright Arvind Ramamurthy / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Icy Repose

Icy Repose by Sue Flood, UK

A dramatic blue-grey sky highlights the soft greys of a Weddell seal as it rests on an ice floe.

Sue watched this Weddell seal from aboard a rigid inflatable boat in Neko Harbour of the Antarctic Peninsula. So as not to disturb its peaceful slumber, Sue used a long lens to record this serene portrait. Weddell seals’ large bodies are covered in a thick layer of blubber. This keeps them warm above and below the icy waters of the Southern Ocean.

Copyright Sue Flood / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A Good Scratch

A Good Scratch by Mark Williams, UK/Canada

A beluga whale rubs its underside on a shallow river bottom to exfoliate its skin.

Mark took this image in a remote inlet along the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. Hundreds of beluga whales come here to socialize and exfoliate in the shallow water. The passage is also a safe haven, away from the predatory orcas. Belugas are extremely sociable mammals. They live, hunt and migrate together in pods that can range from quite small into the hundreds. Nicknamed ‘the canaries of the sea’, they produce a series of chirps, clicks, whistles and squeals that Mark found otherworldly.

Copyright Mark Williams / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Scanning the Realm

Scanning the Realm by Aaron Baggenstos, USA

A puma stands on a windswept outcrop in the rugged mountain terrain of Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

It is a symbol of hope. A successful conservation movement led to the creation of the national park and a rise in ecotourism in the region. This has also helped to reduce conflict between pumas and local gauchos (sheep farmers). The gauchos view pumas more positively because they’re attracting tourists, which is good for income. The introduction of sheepdogs has also helped. The dogs confront any approaching pumas and stop them attacking the sheep. In turn, the pumas hunt their natural prey, and the gauchos are less likely to shoot them. The change has been gradual but has gained momentum over the past 20 to 30 years. There is hope that humans and pumas can live alongside one another.

Copyright Aaron Baggenstos / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Aspen Shadows

Aspen Shadows by Devon Pradhuman, USA

Four grey wolves cross a minimalist landscape of naked aspens and snow in Yellowstone National Park, USA.

It was early spring in the Lamar Valley, and this pack was in search of its next meal. Watching from a distance, Devon saw them heading towards this patch of aspens and thought it would make a compelling image. The wolves walked right past these trees and then continued to follow the tree line, eventually disappearing over the hillside.

Copyright Devon Pradhuman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Evening Song

Evening Song by Christian Brinkmann, Germany

A singing Eurasian songbird is silhouetted against a backdrop of colorful fairground lights in Münster, Germany.

During a popular fair in Münster called the Send, an interesting atmosphere arose behind the castle. The evening mood was gentle, and Christian had singing birds on one side and party music on the other. In front of the fairground lights, this Eurasian blackbird posed for its song. Although blackbirds are a common sight, Christian likes to photograph them in distinctive ways. Here, the silhouette of the bird set against a colorful backdrop gives the image an artistic flair.

Copyright Christian Brinkmann / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Sneak Attack

Sneak Attack by Erlend Haarberg, Norway

A polar bear cub attempts an underwater surprise attack on a northern fulmar.

In the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, a walrus carcass had attracted a female polar bear and her two cubs. But one of the cubs was more interested in playing in the water than eating. The cub was having fun diving under the water and resurfacing, playing with the seaweed and kelp. The northern fulmar resting on the surface of the water awakened the cub’s desire to hunt. Erlend watched as it attempted several underwater surprise attacks on the bird, only to fail each time. Play hunting like this is essential learning for a young bear. Eventually, it will have to survive in the Arctic without its mother.

Copyright Erlend Haarberg / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Slap Shot

Slap Shot by Savannah Rose, USA

A beaver cocks its tail before slapping it down on the water to alert its family to a newcomer.

Savannah enjoys photographing North American beavers in this pond in Jackson, Wyoming, USA. As she approached the shoreline, a beaver cruised cautiously by after emerging from its lodge. It cocked its tail up and brought it down with a resounding crack. Savannah had been trying to document this dramatic beaver behavior for years. Beavers use tail smacks to alert their family group to a newcomer. Despite the theatrics, beavers usually relax quickly after discovering the newcomer doesn’t pose a threat.

Copyright Savannah Rose / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Togetherness

Togetherness by Ivan Ivanek, Czech Republic

A striking pair of red-shanked douc langurs are seen mating in the forests of the Sơn Trà peninsula in Vietnam.

Known for their bright red ‘stockings’, these primates are found only in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The species is critically endangered because of habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade. After days observing the area, looking for evidence of the monkeys, Ivan managed to find a small group. Late one evening, he saw these two mating. Compared to other species of monkey he’d seen mating, it was an unexpectedly gradual and graceful affair!

Copyright Ivan Ivanek / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Concert in the Forest

Concert in the Forest by Vincent Premel, France

A Surinam golden-eyed tree frog puffs out its cheeks as it prepares to call for a mate.

The first rains come in French Guiana after a long dry spell. They’re a release for all wildlife, but especially for amphibians. When it rains, the ponds fill with water. Dozens of species descend from the canopy or come out of the ground. They’re here to lay their eggs in the water, in an event called ‘explosive breeding’. The density of individuals is hard to imagine. It made for a special night for Vincent, who is both a herpetologist and a photographer. The call of the Surinam golden-eyed tree frog is so powerful it can be heard hundreds of meters away.

Copyright Vincent Premel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Snuffling Sengi

Snuffling Sengi by Piotr Naskrecki, Poland

A rarely seen four-toed sengi forages for food among the leaf litter in Mozambique.

Sengis mainly eat insects and look for their prey at dusk and dawn. They rely on a combination of good vision and excellent sense of smell to find food. Piotr watched this sengi over several weeks in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. It followed the same network of trails every day, looking for beetles and other tasty morsels among the leaf litter. Sengis are extremely shy and skittish, so Piotr set up a remote camera to photograph the little creature sniffing for food.

Copyright Piotr Naskrecki / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Whiteout

Whiteout by Michel d’Oultremont, Belgium

A stoat sits up and observes its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium.

Michel had been looking for stoats in the snow for many years. The magic of snowfall fascinates Michel every winter. He wanted to take a photograph that showed how the stoats blend in with the whiteness of the landscape. He’d seen a few in Switzerland but never in his native Belgium. Then, finally, his dream came true. He lay in the snow with a white camouflage net covering all but his lens. This curious stoat came out of its snowy hole and sat up from time to time, observing its territory just before setting off to hunt.

Copyright Michel d’Oultremont / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Earth and Sky

Earth and Sky by Francisco Negroni, Chile

A double lenticular cloud is illuminated at nightfall by the lava emitted from the Villarrica volcano, Chile.

Villarica is in the town of Pucón in the south of Chile. It’s one of the country’s most active volcanoes, and last erupted in 2015. Francisco takes regular trips to Villarrica to monitor its activity. On this visit, he stayed nearby for 10 nights. He says every trip is “quite an adventure – never knowing what the volcano might surprise you with”. Some nights are calm, others furious, as in this photograph, where the brightness of the crater illuminates the night sky.

Copyright Francisco Negroni / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Fallen from the Sky

Fallen from the Sky by Carlo D’Aurizio, Italy

A collage of dead butterflies and moths trapped by the surface tension of the water floats in a stream in Italy.

It was a summer morning in the San Bartolomeo Valley in the Majella National Park, Italy. Carlo had visited this small stream many times. He expected to see the graceful flight of butterflies and dragonflies along it. He never thought he would find such a still life, a sad collage of dead insects calmly floating in the water. It hadn’t been particularly hot, and there hadn’t been any storms in the previous days. To this day, Carlo has no explanation of why the insects died.

Copyright Carlo D’Aurizio/ Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Spiked

Spiked by David Northall, UK

A bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself.

Found throughout Botswana, honey badgers are famously ferocious. They often chase animals many times their own size. This honey badger got an unpleasant surprise when it attacked the normally nocturnal Cape porcupine. The badger grabbed the porcupine’s right leg. In defense, the porcupine repeatedly backed into its attacker, piercing it with many quills. During a lull in the attack, the porcupine managed to shuffle away, its leg badly damaged. After a short retreat, the bloodied badger returned. It finished off the porcupine under a bush close to the original attack, then dragged it into its underground den.

Copyright David Northall / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Unsold

Unsold by Jose Fragozo, Portugal

A young cheetah cub hisses while waiting to be sold in Ethiopia.

Captured from her home plains in the Somali Region, she was transported for several days on the back of a camel to the northern coast of Somaliland. Illegal wildlife trafficking is a problem in the Somali Region. Farmers catch and sell cheetah cubs to traffickers, claiming that the cheetahs attack their livestock. Sometimes, the farmers and traffickers cannot sell the cubs immediately. The bigger the cheetahs get, the harder it is to find buyers. Some end up being killed and their parts sold, their bones shipped to Yemen and then to other Asian markets. They are then sold as tiger bones and used to make Chinese bone wine. After hissing at the camera, the cub started chirping, calling out for its mother.

Copyright Jose Fragozo / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Annoying Neighbor

Annoying Neighbour by Bence Máté, Hungary

A European roller defends its territory from a bemused-looking little owl in Kiskunság National Park, Hungary.

The little owl and the European roller are very different birds, but their nests and feeding requirements are similar. This means they sometimes breed near each other. The male roller makes a sport of annoying other birds that stray into its breeding area during the short mating season. It makes a surprise ambush, flying at full speed behind them. To catch such a fleeting scene, Bence spent 27 days watching from a hide. The little owl seemed nonplussed by the spectacle.

Copyright Bence Máté/ Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Curious Connection

Curious Connection by Nora Milligan, USA

A chimpanzee pauses and looks down as its family moves across the forest floor of Loango National Park, Gabon.

On a trek through the forest, Nora’s guide signaled for the group to stop near the bank of a swamp. They heard the call of a chimp first, then the leaves around them started to rustle and a group of chimpanzees appeared. This family is called the Rekambo group. A group of researchers from the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project is studying them. Nora couldn’t believe her luck when they started to climb the nearby trees. As she peered through her viewfinder, a large male paused and looked down at them. The chimp craned its neck forward and its eyes seemed to widen, as if to get a better look.

Copyright Nora Milligan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Meeting in the Marsh

Meeting in the Marsh by Michael Forsberg, USA

A disguised biologist approaches an endangered whooping crane in Louisiana, USA.

Michael has been chronicling the lives of endangered whooping cranes since early 2019. The biologist acted with cat-like quickness to check the bird’s health and change a transmitter that was no longer working. The transmitter helps biologists track these non-migratory birds and learn more about them. This experimental population was reintroduced in Bayou Country in 2011. In the 1940s there were roughly 20 whooping cranes in the region. Since then, numbers have climbed to over 800.

Copyright Michael Forsberg / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Brave Gecko

The Brave Gecko by Willie Burger van Schalkwyk, South Africa

A giant ground gecko stands fast against a pale chanting goshawk in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa.

One hunting strategy of the southern pale chanting goshawk is to walk or run on the ground in pursuit of prey. Willie watched as the little lizard put up a brave fight against its large attacker. Unfortunately, there was no hope of survival, but Willie was impressed by the gecko’s bravery.

Copyright Willie Burger van Schalkwyk / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Forest Dreams

Forest of Dreams by Samuel Bloch, France

A northern giant petrel sits on its nest at the edge of a rātā tree forest on Enderby Island, New Zealand.

Northern giant petrels are large seabirds. They’re used to flying above the waves for weeks without encountering land. Samuel was surprised to find this one in such a woody environment. Like many other seabirds, it breeds on islands where there are fewer predators. Samuel took this image from a distance and left quickly to avoid disturbing the bird.

Copyright Samuel Bloch / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Edge of Night

Edge of Night by Jess Findlay, Canada

A ghostly barn owl exits the hayloft window of a derelict barn to hunt fields outside Vancouver, Canada.

Combining high-speed and long-exposure photography in a single exposure required a technical setup. First, Jess quietly watched the owl for several nights to understand its habits and plan the shot. He then set up an invisible beam that would trigger a flash when the owl flew out of the barn. Simultaneously, a slow shutter speed gathered ambient light cast on the clouds and barn to complete the scene. On the tenth night, all the moving parts came together as the owl left to begin his hunt.

Copyright Jess Findlay / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

No Access

No Access by Ian Wood, UK

An ambling Eurasian badger appears to glance up at badger graffiti on a quiet road in St Leonards-on-Sea, England, UK.

Residents had been leaving food scraps on the pavement for foxes. But Ian noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage. After seeing a badger walking along the pavement by this wall late one night, he decided to photograph it. He set up a small hide on the edge of the road to take his picture. Only the light from a lamppost illuminated the creature as it ambled along, seemingly glancing up at the badger graffiti just in front of it.

Copyright Ian Wood / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Drifting Dinner

Drifting Dinner by Noam Kortler, Israel

A decorator crab perches on top of a sea squirt to comb the water for drifting plankton.

Noam took this photograph during a night dive off Komodo Island, Indonesia. The sea squirt provided the crab with the perfect stage to feed on drifting plankton. The crab had camouflaged and armed itself with tiny hydroids known as Tubularia. These can sting other animals and so helped protect the crab from predators. Noam watched the crab gracefully search for food, illuminated by the camera flash as if in a spotlight center stage.

Copyright Noam Kortler / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Arrival

The Arrival by Brad Leue, Australia

Floodwaters that have traveled for months surge towards an enormous salt lake in South Australia.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is Australia’s largest inland lake and one of the world’s largest salt lakes. Photographing from a helicopter in strong winds was quite a challenge for Brad. As well as the floodwaters, a dust storm was blowing and rain was falling on the horizon. Floodwaters had traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (1,600 miles). They’d surged steadily from Queensland towards South Australia. Timing was imperative to photograph this once-in-a-decade natural event. Brad’s image shows the water channeling steadily down Warburton Groove. This is the final stretch before entering the mighty lake. On their journey, the waters bring new life to this remarkable desert system and its rare and threatened wildlife.

Copyright Brad Leue / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

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