Thursday 1 September 2016

News and Rumours: Canon, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Tamron, Tokina and Venus Optics

In this week's summary:

  • DPReview looks more in depth at the Canon 5D Mark IV's new features;
  • Rumours of the next camera in the Fuji X100 line emerge;
  • As well as two  new cameras and lenses, maybe we can also expect a new flash from Olympus;
  • First specs of the Pansonic GH5 become available;
  • Sony releases another new lens without a prior peep on the rumours sites;
  • Tamron is rumoured to soon announce an update to their 150-600mm lens;
  • Tokina is reported to soon announce a new manual focus lens in Sony FE mount; and
  • Venus Optics releases a teaser indicating they too, will soon announce a new Sony E mount lens.


At last, Sony FE gets a 50mm lens!



Canon

DPReview has put up some various articles on the new 5D Mark IV, including a nice summary of main new features. They've also reported that the dynamic range of the new sensor is a dramatic improvement, but the mircoadjustment of the dual RAW feature doesn't offer much practical benefit.

The Canon 5D Mark IV, like the 1D X II, represents a significant step forward for Canon with respect to dynamic range. We can confidently say these cameras bring the massive improvement many Canon shooters had wished for in this department.

On the more negative side for video shooters, they've also reported the camera suffers from significant rolling shutter.

Much of the initial concern about the EOS 5D Mark IV's video has been about its substantial 1.64x crop (relative to the full width of the sensor, 1.74x compared to the 3:2 region) and its use of the inefficient Motion JPEG compression system (which limits the ability to use SD cards with any dependability).
However, upon shooting with the camera we found it to have significant rolling shutter.
Given how good the dual-pixel AF is reported to be for video, it's a real shame the camera has so many other short-comings when it comes to video. I think they've missed a golden opportunity to win back users who have gone to Panasonic and Sony cameras for their video needs.

Fuji

A replacement for the Fujifilm X100T is expected in 2017, and will be called the Fujifilm X100F (X100, X100Second, X100Third, X100Fouth, X100Fifth... oh damn.)

The only known spec seems to be it will use the same X-TransIII sensor as the X-T2.

Olympus

In addition to what was reported last week, Photo Rumors is also reporting that Olympus will announce the E-PL8, and more surprisingly two new flashes at Photokina: the FL-900R flash (to replace the current FL-600R) and a STF-8 twin macro flash set. They also only reported two lenses will be released (one being the 35mm macro), whereas 43 Rumors reported three will be announced (a 25mm f1.2 and a 12-120mm f4).

Panasonic

43 Rumors has reported the first GH5 leaked specs from a trusted source:
20mp, 4k 4:2:2 10bit… Dual SD slots… no crop 4k…. 4k photo stills 60fps, 6k photo mode at 30fps (what the heck that means is unclear to me)ISO 1 stop better…
I was actually hoping for a 12mp sensor, which would of course also mean no crop 4K video.

However, again PhotoRumors is in disagreement with 43 Rumors, as they report the camera will offer 6K or 8K video.

An LX100 successor called the LX15 is also expected to be announced.

Sony


Sony has announced a new 50mm f2.8 macro, weighing in at a svelte 236g, and expected to retail for $500USD. Offering 1:1 magnification and a minimum aperture of f16 (which may not be as closed down as some may like for a macro lens).

What is more surprising about this lens is, like the recent Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4 before it, there was no leak or rumour at all. As I wrote about last month, there is a conflict of opinion whether or not Sony will release another a-mount camera, with Photo Rumors and Sony Alpha Rumors at odds. The lack of leaks on Sony part makes it seems to add weight to the possibility Sony are sitting tightly on that product, except how does SAR then know about it?

It will be interesting to see which way it goes.

Tamron



Tamrom are expected to announce a new iteration of their 150-600mm f5-f6.3 lens at Photokina. What is new about the lens is unknown. It will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts.

The Sony mount will forgo vibration reduction, due to the bodies having IBIS. However, given IBIS is regarded as being less helpful at longer distances, this might be a bit of a blow for Sony users.

Tokina


Tokina will reportedly announce a new manual focus lens, called the FiRIN 20mm F2 FE MF, for Sony FE mount prior to Photokina.

Venus Optics



Venus Optics are also expected to announce a native E mount lens at Photokina (based on the teaser above, where the E in Native Surprise has been emphasised).

Given Venus Optics have released lenses with an FE Mount before, it will be interesting to see if it's an auto-focus lens, or one that can communicate aperture etc to the camera body. More likely, it will just be a manual focus lens with a flange distance too short to be available for anything than Sony mount.




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