Nikon sues, Fuji asks, and AI takes over – the photo news of the week

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There are weeks when the photo world feels like an old Western. In one corner of town, the sheriff polishes his star and keeps order, while at the other end, the saloon owner gives away free beer to liven things up. Exactly this spectacle presented itself to us in the past few days: on the one hand, legal saber-rattling, on the other, an almost touching gesture of fan love. And in the background, engineers are working on a revolution that could change everything.

Nikon vs. Viltrox: The Patent Showdown Continues

You have to give it to the camera manufacturers: they love their bayonets. So much so that they'd prefer to keep them to themselves. Nikon has now reportedly filed a lawsuit against lens manufacturer Viltrox in China. The accusation: infringement of intellectual property related to the Z-mount. Specifically, it seems to be about licensing fees for a period when a Nikon patent had been filed but not yet finally granted. Viltrox diligently sold Z-mount lenses during this phase, and Nikon now apparently wants to collect retrospectively.

The whole thing is strongly reminiscent of Canon's approach against third-party manufacturers for the RF mount. Nikon's official statement, that it promotes technological progress through "healthy competition" and encourages the use of lenses from "licensed" manufacturers, has a slightly ironic undertone. It's a polite way of saying: "Play in our sandbox, but only if you ask and pay first." For us photographers, this means, for now, what it always means: less choice and the vague hope that the companies will eventually reach an agreement.

Fujifilm Turns the Tables: You Wish, We Build?

While Nikon is raising the fences, Fujifilm is tearing them down. In a New Year's message, the company admitted that 2025 was optically rather meager with only three new lenses, one of which was a rather specialized power zoom. The solution? A charm offensive! On March 5th, Fujifilm plans an online event called "Focus On Glass: Untold Stories," where not only the philosophy of X-mount lenses will be discussed, but also "new lens ideas" will be pondered.

The real kicker, however, is the proposal to let the community vote on which of these ideas will actually be developed. Democracy in lens manufacturing! A fantastic idea that perfectly fits Fujifilm's reputation for listening to its users. Just imagine the potential consequences: Will it be a pancake telephoto zoom with an f/1.4 aperture? Or an ultra-wide-angle fisheye macro? Democracy is great, but anyone who has read the comment sections in photography forums knows: this could be wonderfully chaotic. We're excited!

AI at the Heart of the Camera: A Revolution for Image Processing

More important than any bayonet war or fan vote, however, might be a development that is currently taking place behind the scenes. The Korean company Chips&Media and the Israeli start-up Visionary.ai are working on the world's first fully AI-based image signal processor (ISP). This sounds technical, but it's a game-changer. Until now, the ISP was a hard-wired chip that calculated a finished image from raw sensor data according to fixed mathematical rules.

The new idea: the entire process becomes software running on a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Instead of an unchangeable chip, you would have a learnable brain in the camera. The advantages are immense: cameras could produce better images via software updates, especially in low light. Noise, artifacts, and unnatural sharpness could become a thing of the past, as the AI is individually optimized for each sensor and scene. This is not just a small upgrade, it's the transition from a horse-drawn carriage to a self-driving car.

Sony in a Square: Fast Sensors for Industry (For Now)

And while we're on the subject of future music: Sony has once again pulled new sensors out of the hat. Building on the already known 105-megapixel model IMX927, there are now two smaller siblings: the IMX928 with 68 megapixels and the IMX929 with 51 megapixels. The special thing? They are square and incredibly fast. The smallest in the group manages a breathtaking 136 frames per second at full resolution – and with Global Shutter!

Yes, these sensors are intended for industrial purposes, such as quality control in factories. But we all know how Sony works. What checks components on the assembly line today could be in an Alpha camera tomorrow. A square sensor, almost as tall as a full-frame sensor? That just screams for a camera that shoots natively in the (old) Instagram format! The application will probably be different, but the combination of square format, high resolution, and insane speed shows where the journey is heading. The future of photography will not only be smarter, but perhaps also a little less rectangular.

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