Move over Sony, Canon is trying to take the lead in bleeding-edge tech for mirrorless cameras. The company's new 4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II offers advanced features like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that can't be found on any recent Sony model. The new camera is also pushing Sony's A1 and other models in the key areas of speed, video and autofocus. And it's arguably more desirable than Canon's own upcoming flagship R1 as it has nearly double the resolution. I've had the R5 II for a few weeks, evaluating not only its practicality and speed for both professionals and serious amateurs, but also how it stacks up against Sony's A1, the gold standard for high-resolution mirrorless cameras.

Black Friday means savings on cameras for content creation, travel photography and more. This year is no exception as all the major manufacturers, including Sony, Canon, DJI, Nikon, GoPro, Fujifilm and Nikon have some stellar deals. Sony is offering its latest compact vlogging camera, the ZV-1F, at just $398 ($100 off), while Canon's new EOS R100 mirrorless APS-C camera is available with a kit lens for just $449. Panasonic has its full frame Lumix S5 on sale for $1,298 (38 percent off), DJI's Avata Pro-View combo is $999 (30 percent off) and GoPro's Hero 11 is down to $300, for a savings of 14 percent. Sony's ZV-1F for budding content creators is 20 percent off for Black Friday.

Black Friday seems to start earlier and earlier each year in its relentless march across the American calendar. Retailers and manufacturers have traditionally buttoned themselves down and steeled themselves for Black Friday by skimping on deals in the weeks before the big event, but some have snuck in early Black Friday deals on a few of our most recommended products. From Sonos to Apollo to Samsung, there's enough here to whet your whistle if you can't wait--or if you just want to stealthily beat the crowds. We rounded up several other sales earlier this week that are still running, including deals on Chromebooks as well as discounted Arlo security cameras and video doorbells. Special offer for Gear readers: Get WIRED for just $5 ($25 off).

And while it's a season meant for rest, relaxation, and soaking up the rays, it can also become extremely hectic. Most of us are attempting to squeeze in as many backyard barbecues, trips, and other activities before fall rolls around. Below, we've gathered a variety of deals on gadgets to prepare you for what might be a busy few months ahead--including air fryers for whipping up quick and delicious meals, sound machines for a restful night's sleep after a supercharged day, AC units to get you through the heat waves, and more. Check out our roundup of Best Memorial Day Outdoor Deals. Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off).

This year is more challenging than most to get presents for your loved ones on time. Fortunately, even if you've waited till the last minute to start shopping, you still have some options. We've gathered up some of the best deals we can find that also have a solid chance of making it to your home before Christmas. Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

There are now two ways of creating digital images with a camera. You can either follow a software-centric computational photography approach. The other way is to stick to traditional hardware-centric optical photography. The former is used with AI to help enhance the final image, the latter relies on the quality of the camera's components (e.g. The two techniques may differ, but they are not at all on a collision course.

Despite denying persistent rumors that it would exit the camera business, Olympus is doing exactly that. The company has announced that will sell its camera business to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), the same company that purchased Sony's VAIO PC division (via The Verge). Olympus will now focus on its much larger business supplying industrial and medical imaging equipment. Olympus said it improved cost structure, focused on high-profit cameras and lenses and took other steps to "cope with the extremely severe digital camera market." Despite those efforts, however, the company said it "recorded operating losses for three consecutive fiscal years up to the term ended in March 2020."

Fujifilm India is eyeing double-digit growth every year from now, against the 9-10 per cent growth it has been clocking over the past few years, largely driven by an expansion of its medical products business. This would entail a shift in focus to offering medical solutions through Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled products. While the company has not invested in any manufacturing facility at the moment, it may consider setting up one here in the future for IoT- and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical products, considering the huge potential in India, Haruto Iwata, Managing Director, Fujifilm India, told BusinessLine. Some of the company's IoT application software is already being developed in India, he added. Going forward, Fujifilm India's primary focus will be on offering healthcare solutions through AI and IoT, he said.

A6600 has a lot to live up to. First of all, it had to follow the A6500, launched in 2016 with innovative features like 4K 30 fps video, fast 11 fps shooting speeds, in-body stabilization and face- and eye-tracking. For a couple of years, nothing else on the market could touch it. What's more, the A6600 arrived just after Sony's 61-megapixel A7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera -- possibly the best camera I've ever seen. From a competition standpoint, Sony is also under pressure to top Fujifilm's X-T3, which has a higher-resolution sensor, more 4K video features and much better handling than the A6500.

Sony has boosted its mid-range APS-C lineup with the launch of the 24-megapixel A6400 mirrorless camera. It looks much the same as its predecessor, the A5100, but has much-improved specs and should be especially ideal for vloggers, thanks to 4K 30fps video and a flip-up touch screen. The A6400 is also getting a bunch of features from its full-frame A7 III and A9 siblings, like 425-point contrast- and phase-detect autofocus with the "world's fastest" .02 It can handle high-speed continuous shooting at up to 11 fps with the mechanical shutter or 8 fps in silent shooting mode, both with continuous autofocus and auto-exposure tracking (you can capture up to 116 JPG frames or 46 RAW before the buffer fills up). As for low-light performance, you can shoot at up to 32,000 ISO or 102,400 expanded with less noise, Sony notes.