The NX300…is it enough? Preorders at BHphoto.

The NX300 preorders are now up at Bhphoto (Click here). This is the cameras that sets a new “restart” for Samsung. And the main new feature is the 2D-3D hybrid capability. Is that really going to work out? Samsung should focus on developing some real major unique photographic features. Some examples: 3 layer sensor (Sigma), Hybrid viewfinder tech (Fuji), high quality prime glass (Leica). If they would put all that together in one camera! That is the kind of thing they needs. Something really groundbreaking!

Some NX300 Press release:
Dpreview, Megapixel, Engadget.

Guess what is the most sold mirrorless camera of the year in Japan: The Nikon J1!


Image source: BCNranking.

BCNranking published the full mirrorless camera sales data from January 1st til December 24th. And at least for me it’s a real surprise to see that the Nikon J1 was actually the most sold mirrorless camera in Japan!
When you think that on Internet most of the talk is about the Micro Four Thirds or NEX system than this is an unexpected success for Nikon.

Another surprise is to see the OMD and NEX-7 on position 11 and 12 only. The cheaper entry level models are on top of the ranking. Not the more expensive cameras.

There is no such detailed rankings in other countries. You can if you want check the Amazon rankings. But these are not real indications of a long term camera popularity as they change a lot depending on the running deals: – Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon US (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon Deutschland (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon UK (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon France (Click here)

Mirrorless news roundup…

Peru – Bring Your Kids – Trailer from Scott Booker on Vimeo.

Christams is over and it’s time to catch up with some news :)

The Nikon 18.5 f/1.8 CX Lens Review for the 1 Series by Craig Litten (Steve Huff).
SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 rolling review part 1 (Lenspron).
Pentax Q vs Sony NEX-7 vs Nikon D600 at Artificialimagination.
EOS-M ISO test at Focus Numerique.
Fujifilm XE-1 and Olympus OMD EM-5 at Hampton Court Palace (lindsaydobsonphotography).
Ricoh GXR A12 module test at DC.watch (translation here).
Canon EOS-M review at Photographyblog and iPhotocourse.
Sigma DP1 Merrill Field Test Images at Outbackphoto.

Fuji updates 18-55mm lens. New Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Fuji rumors.

Lot of news and rumors in these days and it’s time to sum them up:

Fuji:
Fuji is going to announce the new X200 and the new X20 in January. And yesterday they released the new firmware update for the 18-55mm lens (Source: FujiFilm).

Sony:
Sony is now shipping the new 35mm f/1.8 E-mount lens in Asia (). I don’t expect a new NEX product announcement for the CES show but there will be new stuff by end of January at the CP+ show. One new release is likely the 85mm f/1.8 lens.

Panasonic:
A new GF and G camera are scheduled for a release between February and April 2013. Compact cameras only is what will be announced soon right before the CES show (January 8th)

Olympus:
There is one new MFT camera and one new MFT lens that may be announced at the CP+ show in Japan (January 31).

Samsung and Polaroid:
Both companies will announce a mirrorless camera based on the Android OS. They may anticipate what sooner or later everyone will do?

 

Still no news form the Canon and Nikon front. But they can’t afford to remain that…”static”. Hurry on!

Another film camera gets out of production. The Zeiss Ikon!

[shoplink4583 ebay][/shoplink]

The world of film cameras is getting smaller every year. A Japanese Zeiss retailer announced that the [shoplink4583 ebay]Zeiss Ikon ZM[/shoplink] now has been officially discontinued. This is (or was) a high quality M-mount camera.It filled the gap within the superbly made (and expensive) Leica M film cameras and the cheap (and not so well made) Voigtlaender cameras. A bad news (again) for the film lovers like me :(

You can still grab some new Zeiss Ikon ZM on [shoplink4583 ebay]eBay (Click to see the auctions)[/shoplink].

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via ZR and TP.

The Christmas Camera dreams from TheCameraStoreTV team.

Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake shared their Christmas Camera dreams. I particularly like the idea of a digital version of the Mamiya 7 medium format camera. There were rumors floating around about Hasselblad doing a camera like that but nothing happened. At that point it would be already a miracle to see a Leica M competitor in 2013 :)