Camera fans fooled yet again by April Fools’ Day pranks

April Fools’ Day is extra-hilarious for anybody who follows camera and photography news. Our little category has a healthy rumor mill, fueled by thousands of dedicated fanboys, many of whom are good with Photoshop, and all of whom have opinions. There you have it—the ingredients for successful pranking.

In the spirit of the “holiday,” we rounded up the bestest, fakest stories we could find today. Some are believable enough to be shocking, some are just clever, and in every case, at least one person in the comments got fooled.

Joke: Canon EOS smartphone to feature 1-inch sensor, dual-lens setup

This prank came out yesterday morning, early enough for most of us to forget that April Fools was just a day away—but it was so ridiculous that it had to be a joke. Canon barely acknowledges that smartphones have cameras in the first place, so that they’d jump three steps ahead and release a phone with all the latest tech is a real thigh-slapper. Update: It seems that this joke originated at Greek photo magazine Photographos. Good one!

Joke: Nikon dropping Raw capture from non-professional cameras

Jared “Fro Knows Photo” Polin loves Nikon, and he loves shooting raw. What if he couldn’t shoot raw with most Nikon cameras? Oh the humanity! Ken Rockwell fans, you may want to don your battle gear before clicking through to this one!

Joke: Canon 1D-W wildlife edition

Here’s a photo of a 1D X with a camouflage finish, for "wildlife photographers." We chuckled.

Joke: Lomography film spray

Spray this super-powerful solution on any roll of 35mm film, expose it to light for 24 hours, and voila, a perfect picture. That’s how film works, right?

Joke: Nokia updates 14-year-old phone with PureView camera

It’s no secret that Nokia smartphones have some of the most versatile, forward thinking cameras out there. So they’ve gone back and added a 41-megapixel PureView camera to one of their legendary brick phones.

Joke: Panasonic quitting cameras, Micro Four Thirds dead within two years

This one touched a nerve. The admin at 4/3 Rumors posted a “rumor” based on “two trusted sources” and an audio file of a conversation between two Panasonic managers that Panasonic would basically eliminate its entire imaging division except for the mobile segment, and the GH4 would be the last Micro Four Thirds camera the company made. Those managers also said that Olympus would be acquired by Sony, and Micro Four Thirds would cease to exist within two years.

The reactions in the 4/3 Rumors comment section are pure gold. One commenter says that he noticed a price increase on certain Panasonic cameras because of it. Others accused the admin of trying to influence a price drop on lenses.

The funny-sad part is that this prank worked so well because it plays on the real-life insecurities that fans have about Panasonic cameras (the division has been having a hard time financially of late) and the Micro Four Thirds format in general. Ha ha?