Weekly Wash: the 5 biggest camera news stories of the week (August 11)

If you've been able to tear yourself away from the second and final run of the Olympics in Paris this week, you might have seen the news that Kodak has been sold… again. The tumultuous history of the historic company has entered yet another new chapter.

In other news, Ricoh has released two "new" cameras, Canon teases us with a digital revival of one of its classic film cameras , and there's a new 61MP full-frame astrophotography camera complete with Sony sensors.

Oh, and Xiaomi goes all James Bond on us…

Kodak enters yet another phase of its existence

Kodak's long and twisting history has taken another turn, as British-based Kodak Alaris has been acquired by an American private equity firm.

The move comes four years after Kodak Alaris – which was previously owned by the UK pension protection authority, following a tortured series of events in the wake of the original Kodak declaring bankruptcy – sold its paper and chemistry business to a Chinese holding company.

The latest development (sorry, couldn't help myself!) sees the acquisition of Kodak Alaris by Los Angeles-based carveout company Kingswood. Yes, I know it's complicated. To be honest, I've always struggled to keep up with exactly which part(s) of Kodak were effectively controlled by the British government…

Read more: Kodak has been sold… again

Canon resurrecting a 35mm classic?

We all know that there is an appetite for film cameras and vintage-looking bodies – and Canon knows, too. And it may soon cater to those appetites.

When I recently asked a senior executive about this trend, he admitted that "there is a possibility" that the company will address those demands – and even named the Canon AE-1 as the classic film camera he would love to see return in digital form, if it were his decision.

While vintage-looking cameras are nothing new, with Olympus / OM System and Fujifilm producing some of the best retro cameras for over a decade, their popularity has only grown in recent years – even Nikon jumped on the bandwagon in 2021, with the Nikon Z fc , and then again last year with the Nikon Zf …

Read more: Will we get a retro-styled Canon camera? "There is a possibility…" says exec

Two new CMOS space cameras hit the market

There are two new cameras on the market created specifically for astrophotography, both cooled CMOS cameras, equipped with full-frame 61MP Sony sensors.

Back in 2021, Japanese optics manufacturer Sightron announced that it would release a range of new Player One Astronomy CMOS sensor astrophotography cameras. The collaboration with China-based Player One was designed to make its astrophotography kit much more accessible.

The latest two CMOS cameras (via Digital Camera Watch ) are the Zeus 455C Pro (color) and the Zeus 455M Pro (monochrome). It seems as though the models were launched in November last year, but have predominantly been kept on back order…

Read more: New 61MP full-frame astrophotography cameras with Sony sensors now available

Acid-proof cameras

Amid a summer of new releases, Ricoh has just announced another two cameras, its most heavy-duty industrial models to date.

Developed for use on harsh job sites in industries such as construction, manufacturing, medicine and disaster relief, the G900 II and G900SE II replace the original Ricoh G900 .

Like the recent Pentax WG-8 and WG-1000 , both cameras are waterproof down to 65ft / 20m for up to 2 hours of continuous operation. They are also dustproof, shockproof against falls of 6.8ft / 2.1m, resistant to temperatures as low as 14°F / -10°C, and crushproof to weights of up to 200lbs / 90.7kg…

Read more: Ricoh's new cameras can survive an acid attack! Meet the G900 II and G900SE II

World-first James Bond-style updates at Xiaomi

In what we think could be a world-first, Xiaomi will reportedly be adding a new feature to its phones to enable them to detect nearby hidden cameras.

Said to be included in an upcoming version of the phone giant's HyperOS 2.0 operating system, this ground-breaking feature would use WLAN (wireless LAN) searches to detect unusual Wi-Fi signals in the area; signals consistent with WLAN profiles emitted by hidden cameras.

Apparently the scanning tech is a development of an existing program available on GitHub, called Ingram. Leaked HyperOS 2.0 screenshots show the feature supposedly in action…

Read more: World first: Xiaomi phones could be able to detect hidden cameras

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