CEA Introduces New Terminology for Digital Imaging Sector

Its nos super official that “mirrorless” is the official term for mirrorless system cameras. Here is the detailed press text:

Arlington, VA, July 23, 2015 – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® announced today a new set of camera terminology for digital imaging-related communications and promotion to help provide consistency and clarity for retailers and consumers. The new terms and definitions are as follows:

DSLR (short for Digital Single-Lens Reflex cameras): a subset of ILC cameras that includes a mirror mechanism;

Mirrorless (short for Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens cameras): a subset of ILC cameras that does not include a mirror mechanism;

ILC (short for Interchangeable Lens Cameras): includes both DSLR and Mirrorless cameras which, by definition, have Interchangeable Lenses.

Last year, CEA’s Digital Imaging Board identified the need for a new set of terminology that better represents the industry innovations of today, and immediately launched a working group to explore various imaging terms and recommend updated terminology. The Digital Imaging Board approved the updated terms and definitions, and implementation is now underway.

“The digital imaging sector is constantly innovating and evolving and we need to keep consumer messaging at the forefront for our market,” said Neal Manowitz, Deputy Vice President of Digital Imaging for Sony North America; and chairman of the ILC Working Group. “This was certainly a team effort, and I especially want to thank my working group colleagues from B&H Photo, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Ricoh, Samsung, Tiffen and Walmart. This new terminology represents our industry in its current state today, but also assures consumers of where products and categories will be in the coming years.”

CEA’s 17th Annual CE Ownership and Market Potential study finds two-thirds (64 percent) of U.S. households currently own a digital camera. Also, according to the recently released U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts report (July 2015), the total digital imaging sector will earn $3.2 billion in revenue, selling almost 14 million units.

About CEA:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the technology trade association representing the $286 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative and regulatory advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services.

Panasonic announces the GX8, FZ300 and two new MFT lenses!

Panasonic announced their big MFT stuff and a new FZ300 superzoom camera today! An extensive coverage with reviews, image samples and more can be seen as usual on 43rumors.com (Click here). It would be interesting to know if the GX8 is the first MFT camera using a Sony FT sensor but Panasonic doens’t spill out any info on that :)

Preorders:
Black GX8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic.
Silver GX8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic.
FZ300 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic.

The Sony A7rII manual is now online! Learn all the details about the best mirrorless camera yet!

The probably best mirrorless camera of the market is the brand new Sony A7rII (best in terms of image quality). And today Sony Asia uploaded the full manual which you can download here: http://download.sony-asia.com/consumer/IM/4576983111.pdf

A7rII and RX camera preorder list:
In USA: A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at: A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at: A7rII at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

Fuji explains why they don’t bother go Full Frame.

Fujirumors spotted an explanation from Fuji why they don’t go Full Frame. Fuji Manager Takashi Ueno says:

We gave a lot of thought to this, and reached our conclusion that APS-C is the best format for the optimum balance of body size and image quality.

Higher image quality can be achieved with full frame sensors, but in order to maximize the use of the sensor size, the lens will be very bulky and heavy.

With the power of FUJINON lens, we can achieve the full frame image quality with the APS-C sensor. We learned that the disadvantage can be recovered with the lens performance through various simulations.

Here is an example. It is generally believed that the lens performs at its best with 1 to 2 stop down from the maximum aperture. We tried to break the norm. Because if there is such belief, then the lens is very unlikely to perform at its best from corner to corner with the aperture wide open. But if we can break the norm, then we will achieve bokeh and sharpness that is equivalent to that of a full frame with 1 to 2 stop down. We can achieve the image quality that is equivalent to that of full frame.

Which is better? An f/1.4 lens on a full frame sensor and then used 1 stop down to prevent degradation in the image quality in the corner or an f/1.4 lens on an APS-C that see no degration in the image quality at its maximum aperture value?

You cannot really see the difference in bokeh between the APS-C wide open and the full frame one stop down. However, if the APS-C is wide open, then the shutter speed will be twice as fast as the full frame resulting in be less blur caused by hand shake or subject movement. If the picture becomes blurry, then the high image quality becomes meaningless.”

I have to say I do NOT agree with Fuji. Don’t think their X-Trans sensors can keep up with the Sony sensor technology madness on cameras like the A7s and A7rII. They definitely should go Full Frame or even Medium Format if the don’t want to remain in the very niche. Full Frame is already becoming mainstream with cameras like the A7 selling for less than $1,000!