Welcome back to iPhoto News, your fortnightly catch-up on everything that’s been happening in the world of photography — written for the way most of us actually shoot.
We’ve six stories for you this time: a wave of brilliantly affordable lenses, a Leica-powered phone that won’t cost the earth, one of the most jaw-dropping photos you’ll see all year, an AI row that’s got the whole industry talking, a gloriously purple new Polaroid film, and a bit of genuinely good news about where photography is heading.
Grab a cuppa — this’ll take about five minutes. Let’s get into it.
Why right now is a brilliant time to buy a lens
A trade show in mid-May brought a flood of new lenses from the likes of Viltrox, Laowa, TTArtisan and Yongnuo — everything from a Viltrox 35mm f/1.4 Pro to a featherweight little 40mm f/2.5 at around £130. On top of that, Tamron has confirmed it’s nearly doubling its lens launches this year across Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E and Fujifilm X.
Here’s the iPhotography take. For years, choosing a third-party lens meant accepting a compromise somewhere — softer corners, slower focus, a bit of a gamble. That’s simply not true anymore. Many of these lenses now go toe-to-toe with the big brands on sharpness and autofocus, and they often cost a third of the price.
So should you care? If you’ve been shooting on your kit lens and feeling a little stuck, a good £150–£250 prime is the single biggest upgrade you can make to your photographs — far more transformative than a shiny new camera body. Just double-check the lens is made for your camera’s mount, and read a review or two before you buy.
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Xiaomi puts a Leica 5x zoom in a cheaper phone
On 28 May, Xiaomi launched the 17T and 17T Pro, both co-engineered with Leica. The headline is that the 50MP Leica 5x telephoto camera now appears on the more affordable model too, alongside a new “Leica Live Moment” mode that captures the movement and expression leading up to the shot. Prices start at around £640.
Why does this matter to us? Because the phone is the camera most of us actually carry every day. A true 5x telephoto — not just a cropped, fuzzy digital zoom — means you can fill the frame with a subject across the street or the room without the image falling apart. The lesson isn’t “go and buy this phone”; it’s that the gap between phone and proper camera keeps narrowing for everyday photos.
A plane across the Sun — and 1.7 million frames of patience
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captured a United Airlines Boeing 737 silhouetted dead-centre against the Sun — a shot he’s called “The Traveler.” It took six days of trying and roughly 1.7 million photographs, and he even caught two rare solar prominences in the same frame. He later showed the finished image to the very flight crew who’d been on board.
It’s a wonderful reminder that the best photographs are made with patience, not just expensive kit. You don’t need a solar telescope to use the same approach: plan the shot, wait for the moment, take plenty of frames, and keep the very best one. That principle lifts everything — wildlife, street, sport, even a sunset over your own back garden.
Polaroid's new film turns everything deep purple
On 28 May, Polaroid released a limited-edition Purple 600 film as part of its Reclaimed series — made using leftover chemicals from its factory in the Netherlands. It blends Blue 600 chemistry with an Acid Red dye to produce a single-colour, gloriously psychedelic purple image. It’s rated ISO 640, fits 600 and i-Type cameras, and costs around £15 a pack.
We love this, because it’s a reminder that photography is allowed to be fun. A constraint like a single colour forces you to stop chasing the “perfect” exposure and think instead about light, shape and composition — which is exactly where real photographs come from. It’s a cheap, playful way to shake yourself out of a creative rut.
An AI “colour” version of an Ansel Adams classic sparks a row
A New York gallery offered an AI-colourised version of Ansel Adams’ famous black-and-white “Moonrise, Hernandez” at a major photography fair — in editions priced up to $10,000 — without the blessing of the Ansel Adams Trust, which objected publicly this fortnight. The gallery argues the 1941 photograph is in the public domain and that the new piece is “transformative.”
For us, this isn’t really a debate about whether AI is good or bad. It’s about consent, and respect for an artist’s intent. Adams chose black-and-white deliberately — it was the whole point of the picture. It’s worth all of us pausing on the bigger question: just because a tool can do something, does that mean it should? I’d genuinely love to hear your view in the comments.
Some good news: photography isn't dying
This fortnight the editing app VSCO pushed back firmly against the gloomy “phones killed photography, and AI will finish it off” narrative — pointing to its own data showing that more people are making, editing and sharing photographs than at any point in history.
We couldn’t agree more. More cameras in more pockets means more people falling in love with light, moments and storytelling. The craft isn’t shrinking — it’s becoming more welcoming, and more people get to enjoy it than ever before. Which is rather the whole point of what we do here at iPhotography.
Final Thoughts
That’s your fortnight. A brilliant moment to pick up an affordable lens, a phone that punches well above its price, a photograph that’ll make your jaw drop, and a couple of debates well worth chewing over.
As always, I’d love to hear what caught your eye — and what you’d like to see more of. Tell me in the comments below.
I’ll see you in two weeks for the next round-up.
Stephen