Pentax is coming with a “Big surprise” next year!

Well known and very reliable Pentax source “Asahi Man” just shared this on the Dpreview forum:

It’s time to put this senseless speculation to an end…
Nope,Pentax will not going out of photo business…
There is a very, very internal roadmap…. Cameras and lenses…
A nice fullframe line up is in sight, no sign for going out of business.
Next year is the big anniversary,don’t forget this point.
I know,the most forum users here, will be surprised.

My speculation is that also Pentax will launch a new Full Frame Mirrorless next year. I hope they will noin one of the existing FF mirrorless systems. I really cannot see them competiting all alone against the big giants.

Leica manager says Sony E-mount wasn’t designed for Full Frame sensor

You usally hear it on forums that “Sony E-mount wasn’t designed for Full Frame“. But for the first time a high ranking manager is actually claiming that very statement

L-rumors.com spotted this sentence from Leica manager Stephan Schulz.

That’s a big difference with the L-mount versus the Sony E mount. They started the mount with the NEX, which was APS, but Sony didn’t have full frame in mind at that time. So, they had some challenges in making the lenses work for full frame. The Leica L-mount is much bigger which gives us more flexibility.

I don’t think Sony will be happy with that statement. That said we have also to admit Sony makes some of the best Full Frame lenses in the world. Despite that alleged “handicap”.

You can join the new L Full Frame Facebook group if you plan to buy this camera. There you can discuss all features and tests once it’s released!

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New higher end Canon EOS-R to be announced in February? Likely not. Will IBIS come on future EOS-R cameras? Likely yes!

There are some rumors about Canon announcing a new professional level EOS-PRO camera in January-February. From what I heard this camera will take quite a bit longer before it goes on market and I don’t see it ready by early 2019.

And Digital Camera World talked to Canon about the possibility of adding on sensor stabilization on future cameras:

We [i.e. Canon, editor’s note] feel that in-lens IS is the optimum system for image stabilisation […]

With an in-body IS system you are creating something that needs to work over lots of different types of lenses and different lens groups, so you don’t get a dedicated system for that particular lens.

All lenses move in different ways, and you get different types of shake depending on what kind of lens you’re using, so dedicating the IS system to the particular lens is, for us, the optimum way of doing it – but that’s not to say that we aren’t looking at in-body IS.

via CR via Canonwatch

Nikon says the 58mm f/0,95 lens goal is to beat the Zeiss Otus performance

Nikoneye catched some interesting tidbits about the new 58mm f/0,95. Nikon manager Dirk Jaspar said the ultimate and only goal of the 58mm f/0,95 is to deliver the best optical quality possible. That’s why it doesn’t have autofocus. And Dirk said this lens might beat the Zeiss Otus in terms of optical performance!

Also: Dirk’s guess is that mirrorless will at some time take over the DSLR world in the long terms. Well, I am  100% sure this is going to happen :)

First image of the new Nisi 75mm f/0,95 Full Frame manual focus lens for Sony E, Canon R and Nikon Z


Nisi 75mm f/0,95 prototype. Image courtesy: Phillip Reeve

Bokeh Lovers will be happy to read this news today:

Nisi will launch a new 75mm f/0,95 lens in 2019. The Full Frame lens will be available as native Sony E, Canon R and Nikon Z version!

Phillip Reeve already tested this lens and the early conclusion is:

The lens is quite big and heavy as is to be expected from one with these parameters. It is a short flange/mirrorless design and will be available for several mounts (including Sony FE, Canon R and Nikon Z). The prototype we saw is native E-mount and the lens covers the full frame sensor area.

Of course we weren’t able to fully evaluate the cine lenses by spending a bit of time with them at Photokina, but handling and build quality both left a good impression, the focus and aperture rings had a really nice resistance.
The emphasize of the optical design is meant to be on bokeh rendering and indeed I would describe it as very smooth. Contrast and sharpness were more than sufficient as well.

We cannot and should not rate the 75mm f/0.95 yet as it was an early prototype, but the bokeh looked really smooth and as a fan of the Mitakon 50mm f/0.95 I look forward to this lens.
If the final production model is close to the cine lenses in terms of contrast, resolution and flare resistance this will be an interesting lens for people into shallow depth of field photography.

No info about price yet but this lens should be in store sometimes in 2019.

From Zero to Hero: Sony will announce a new High End APS-C E-mount camera soon!

From a pure marketing point of view Sony got heavily beaten at Photokina by the L-mount alliance announcement, the Canon EOS-R and Nikon Z. Sony missed to bring any kind of possible new “mass distraction weaponry” and left the conference room with a general hint about 12 future E-mount lenses.

But they seem to find their way back to the headlines with this: SAR reports that they will soon announce a new kind of High End APS-C camera with EVF in the middle just like the Fuji X-t3 and Panasonic GH5. This will be the new jewel on Sony’s APS-C crown and bring Sony A9 alike features for the masses. New lenses will be announced too (no specs yet).

And if Full Frame is your thing the next camera should be the A7sIII which will be announced sometimes in early 2019.

Sony spills out some info on the future A7sIII : No 8k, not coming soon, but will go beyond expectations!

Sony Senior Manager Yutaka Iwatsuki just spilled out some bits about the future Sony A7sIII:

1) Mr. Yutaka said that “for time frame, it may require longer than you probably imagine”
2) This long waiting time is necessary because Sony wants to “go beyond the customers expectations”
3) A7sIII will not have 8K recording

Sony also made it clear they want to focus on FF and APS-C and they have no plan to go MF yet.

via Cinema5D