CIPA published the December 2019 shipment data and indeed 2019 will go down as the worst year of the past decade. Here are some 2019 key data:

• Japanese companies shipped 24% less camera units compared to 2018 (The drop in camera value was 12,4%).
• DSLR unit sales dropped by 33,6% (value drop 27,5%)
• Mirrorless unit sales dropped by 10,2% but the shipment value of those camera raised by 5,6%
• Fixed lens camera unit sales dropped by 22,9% and shipment value dropped by 13%

In summary the only positive sign is that mid-high end mirrorless camera sold well and therefore companies made 5% more revenue in this segment compared to 2018.

There is little hope 2020 will stop this trend. I expect camera shipments to go down 20% this year too :(

I agree, the Canon Hammer will cripple the EOS-R5 features in one way or another :)

On a more serious tone: Canon always crippled 4K…why should they give you serious 8K now? :)

Stunning images from the Sun surface!

Hi Lows Note spotted a newly published Fuji patent describing the design of the 90mm f/1.4 This would become the fastest GF lens yet. In would compare to a 70m f/1.1 in the Full Frame world (according to MMcalc):

Sigma is really pushing the development of new Full Frame lenses for the Sony E and Leica L mount system. A new patent which was published today discloses the exact specs of these lenses:

• 16mm F2
• 18mm F1.8
• 18mm F2.8
• 20mm F1.8
• 24mm F1.8
• 28mm F1.8
• 35mm F1.8

via Asobinet

TopazLabs announced the new DeNoise AI software. And you pay $50 only if you use the checkout code “BATCH15“. If you click on the image on top and scroll down on their website you can see how their Denoise AI software works on Lightroom, Capture One and DxO.

The new version has two new features:

• New batch processing capabilities
• New Chroma Noise Reduction slider

Chroma noise is easily recognized as those pesky color specks appearing across your photo. The Chroma slider allows you to target and remove this specific type of noise.

In general DeNoise AI examines the whole image and holistically determines the difference between detail and noise in that photo. (Other NR tools only look at pixel-level detail.) After understanding what noise vs. detail looks like for that specific image, DeNoise AI recovers a surprising amount of detail from noise.

Here is the official intro video:

You can also download the trial only:

Don’t forget to use the checkout code “BATCH15” when buying Denoise AI (click here).

Here are the December system camera market share in Japan (Source: BCNranking)

• Canon leads with 33,6% but shares dropped
• Nikon took the second spot with 19,2%
• Sony share dropped down to 17,5% and they are now behind Nikon
• Olympus share raised up to 16,1%
• Fuji share dropped a bit to 6,9%
• Panasonic share raised up to 5,9%