{"id":11649,"date":"2026-08-26T05:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T03:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/08\/26\/remembering-rishi-sanyal-dpreviews-former-science-editor-a-rare-mix-of-scientist-photographer-filmmaker\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T05:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T03:03:00","slug":"remembering-rishi-sanyal-dpreviews-former-science-editor-a-rare-mix-of-scientist-photographer-filmmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/08\/26\/remembering-rishi-sanyal-dpreviews-former-science-editor-a-rare-mix-of-scientist-photographer-filmmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Rishi Sanyal, DPReview\u2019s former Science Editor \u2014 a rare mix of scientist, photographer, filmmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tFrom ISO invariance to computational photography, Rishi\u2019s insistence on understanding a camera from the inside out influenced how DPReview \u2013 and much of the industry \u2013 thought about image quality.<\/p>\n

\"PersonCarey Rose<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n
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It is with great sadness that we have to announce that DPReview\u2019s former Science Editor, Rishi Sanyal, has passed away. Rishi, whose full name was Saurarshi Sanyal, died on June 26, 2026, at his home in California. He was 46.<\/p>\n

During his years with DPReview, Rishi was a driving force behind the site\u2019s scientific approach to camera testing, setting the standard for how we investigated cameras and lenses and, just as importantly, how we interpreted the results.<\/p>\n

\"Person<\/a>
Rishi Sanyal processes images at his desk in the DPReview office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rishi\u2019s enthusiasm and intellect were evident from his very first interview with DPReview, and came to define his time with the site. Rishi wasn\u2019t interested in data for data\u2019s sake. He wanted to know what was happening inside a camera, why it was happening, and how a photographer could use that information to improve their work. A test result became interesting when it explained something a photographer might see in an image or, ideally, use to their creative advantage. Rishi might have been a journalist for a consumer website, but he was also a highly accomplished photographer and filmmaker, and as a scientist he was more than capable of meeting engineers on equal terms.<\/p>\n

With his rare combination of deep technical understanding and an artist\u2019s eye for color, light and composition, Rishi made a genuine and lasting impact on our industry. He changed the way many of us think about image-making, and exemplified DPReview at its best, as a site that could not only inform but also inspire. Among his many contributions, he was instrumental in our collective understanding of what is now known as \u201cISO invariance\u201d (a term he helped coin), and his early fascination with the potential of computational photography led him to take on a camera performance engineering role at Apple.<\/p>\n

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Rishi sorts camera gear as former DPReview Studio Manager Sam Spencer observes from the neighboring cubicle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rishi\u2019s scientific range had always been unusually broad. At Princeton, where he studied molecular biology, his thesis work included the design of a DNA nanomachine; he later earned a Ph.D. in biophysics. The subjects changed, but the instinct was recognizably the same: understand the system deeply enough to see what others might miss.<\/p>\n

As far back as ten years ago, long before the distinction between \u201ccamera\u201d and \u201csoftware\u201d became as blurred as it is today, Rishi was digging into how advanced processing algorithms could overcome traditional hardware limitations and change what photographers could expect from small sensors. Work that attracted the attention of some of the foremost imaging scientists working today, including Marc Levoy.<\/p>\n

Levoy, then at Google and now Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford and Vice President and Fellow at Adobe, recalls interacting with Rishi many times during his tenure at Google. One example came around the Pixel 4, when Rishi independently estimated the improvement in signal-to-noise ratio achieved by capturing, aligning and merging bursts of Raw frames.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat is not a calculation one expects a journalist to do,\u201d Levoy wrote, \u201cand speaks to Rishi\u2019s deep understanding of photographic technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, like many perfectionists, Rishi could be exasperating. Not only to his coworkers and managers (his genuine bafflement in the face of deadlines was legendary) but also to the camera and lens manufacturers with whom he corresponded, both publicly in articles on DPReview and privately in lengthy, densely argued emails. To his editors, often the biggest challenge was persuading him that merely excellent was good enough, that it was time to hit publish, and perfect might have to wait.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Rishi and former editor Barney Britton review camera footage during a video shoot in the DPReview studio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His editors were not the first people who had tried to convince Rishi that a problem had been solved well enough to move on. His father, Gautam, remembers giving him essentially the same advice from childhood: there comes a point when the work is already excellent and you have to let it go. Rishi was rarely inclined to believe that point had arrived if he thought there was still something left to understand.<\/p>\n

That drive was visible early. In seventh grade, Rishi built a working magnetic-levitation demonstration for a regional science fair, earning a gold medal and an invitation to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair as an observer.<\/p>\n

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At age 15, Rishi earned a US Department of Energy prize at an international science fair for analyzing the best materials for designing magnetic-levitation trains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The same instinct could also be remarkably generous. Scott Everett, who worked closely with Rishi and later managed him at DPReview, remembers showing him a photograph he had taken at White Sands National Park. Rishi liked the image, and almost immediately became invested in making sure the finished print lived up to what he knew was there in the file. What followed was characteristically thorough: Rishi took over the processing and sent long text threads about monitors, color, printing technology and how to prepare the file properly. It was far more information than Scott needed, but that was partly the point. Rishi knew what was possible, and because the photograph mattered to his friend, he wanted the finished print to live up to the memory behind it.<\/p>\n

More than anything else, the same instinct ran through all of it. Rishi wanted to understand things deeply and make them better, whether that meant a science project, a photograph, studio analysis or hardware design.<\/p>\n

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Above: Rishi excelled at science projects and science fairs.<\/p>\n

Those of us who worked closely with Rishi remember the good times we shared with our friend. Long days in the studio, figuring out some esoteric aspect of a camera\u2019s behavior. Press events. Tradeshows. Video shoots in locations all over the US (he may have been the world\u2019s worst camper, but he played a mean campfire guitar). And jet-lagged interviews with executives in Japan, whose obvious respect for his abilities spoke for itself. More than anything, we remember Rishi\u2019s beaming warmth, and the ease with which he could strike up a conversation with almost anyone. The same curiosity he brought to imaging science extended to everyone he met. We\u2019ll miss him.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, former editor Barney Britton was looking through a book of photographs of the Grand Canyon, taken by a renowned National Geographic photographer. The daytime images were strong, but the nighttime landscapes and starscapes were technically disappointing. Before Barney was even conscious of making the comparison, one thought occurred to him:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should have given Rishi the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/a>
Rishi celebrates with other members of the DPReview team at PIX2015, a photography expo organized by DPReview in Seattle in 2015.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Long before DPReview, Rishi was already bringing the same instincts to science and photography. As a teenager, he became fascinated by sonoluminescence, a phenomenon in which sound waves moving through liquid can produce tiny flashes of light. He spent night after night in his family\u2019s basement building an apparatus to reproduce it. Eventually, he succeeded and, naturally, photographed the result.<\/p>\n

His parents still have the glass vessel Rishi used for that experiment, the same one in which he finally managed to turn sound into visible light.<\/p>\n

Tributes from colleagues and readers<\/h2>\n

To honor Rishi\u2019s legacy, we invited current and former DPReview colleagues to share memories of Rishi that have stayed with them. Their recollections are below, in their own words.<\/p>\n

We know that many members of the DPReview community will have their own memories of Rishi. We hope you\u2019ll add them in the comments below and in the forums.<\/p>\n

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