Tuesday 28 March 2017

N&R: Sony, Sigma, Zeiss, Atomos, Fujifilm & Google

Sony

An exciting new FE mount camera is rumoured to be coming from Sony on April 23. SonyAlphaRumors lists the most reliable information as being:

  • There will be a new High End E-mount FF camera.
  • This camera is all about speed: fastest AF of all Sony E-mount cameras, around 20fps, unlimited RAW recording.
  • Dual SD card.
  • Bit larger than current A7II camera series.
  • It has a joystick control on the back.
  • New FE lenses coming (16-35mm f/2.8 GM and 100-400mm FE G).
It remains to be seen if this is the extension of an existing line, or a brand new line. I just hope and pray that it can use AF-assist lights from flashes and triggers (and that RAW from continuous shooting modes are 14-bit instead of 12-bit).

Sigma

Pricing for the Sigma 135mm 1.8 has been announced at $1,400 USD, with expected delivery in May.

Zeiss

If you want a slower, and probably more expensive, 135mm lens... it has been confirmed that the next lens in the Zeiss Batis range (for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras) will be a135mm f2.8.

Of course, it should be lighter and smaller as well.

Atomos

Atomos have announced the Ninja Inferno, a cut down version of the Shogun Inferno. At half the price, you are losing the ability to record RAW, and SDI connections. If you're planning to pair it with a Panasonic Gh5, or a Sony A7S, this makes a good deal of sense.

Fujifilm

Fujifilm have announced major new firmware updates for their X-T2 and X-Pro2 cameras. Bravo Fuji, this is the thing I probably admire most about Fuji, even though I feel their cameras aren't for me.

Meanwhile, DPReview have released a devastating article questioning the actual real life gains you will get from using the new Fujifilm’s GFX 50S (and, by extension, Hasselblad X1D).

This article summed up a lot of my thoughts, as I'd been a doubtful how much gain there is to be gotten from 'crop' medium format ever since seeing the comparison of the Pentax 645Z to the Sony A7R2 by Luminous Landscape.

For me, the quality bump you get from going to medium format isn't worth the extra cost, weight, slower AF, etc.

Google

Google have released an open-source JPEG encoder that claims to produce 35% smaller files without noticeable loss in quality. Just be warned, many claim to see loss in saturation levels.

Tuesday 14 March 2017

N&R: Olympus, Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds

Olympus

In news that would surprise no one, Olympus has officially stopped making four third lenses (their previous DSLR system). It's been 6.5 years since they released a camera for it.

Owners of the lenses can take some comfort that the lenses still work well with their new flagship E-M1 series of cameras via an adapter.

In other news, Olympus believes that 8K Micro 43 cameras are possible:
General Manager of Olympus Product Planning, Mr. Akira Watanabe, said: “we can assure you that there is no problem in developing sensors at 33 million pixels for filming in 8K. We started the 4/3″ saga with a sensor at 5 Mpx In 2003. Now the same sensor is at 20 Mpx with a much higher image quality especially for the management of electronic noise.”
However, one commenter hasn't forgotten:
Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging's SLR planning department, said in 2009: "Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need"
I fall into the latter camp. A 12mp sensor using modern technologies like BSI could kick some serious butt and deliver 4K video. If they had a 43 sensor that could match the old Nikon D700 sensor for noise, DR and resolution*, it would be very hard for anyone to dismiss Micro 43s as a toy camera system.


* If you were to cut out the shape of a Micro43 sensor from the Sony A7R2, you'd end up with a 11mp sensor. If they could squeeze in a tad more pixels to get 12MP, but with Sony A7R2 dynamic range, you could have a serious little camera.

Tuesday 7 March 2017

N&R: Hasselblad, Phottix and Metz

In addition to the news below, there has been some rumours of a new Sigma 70-200 sports lens floating around. However, the original source of the news rates that as a less than 40% accurate rumour.