Ted Forbes explains what “Sharpness” is

Ted Forbes:

This video is about sharpness in lens design and photography. Sharpness is something we actually measure. It is represented in MTF charts and its actually a very important element to understanding the characteristics of a lens. Sharpness is essentially contrast between areas of detail. More defined contrast indicates a sharper photo. If we understand the sharpness of a lens we can also see possibilities in bokeh, field curvature, astigmatism and some types of chromatic aberration.

Upcoming announcements: Fuji X-T4 in February/March, Olympus E-M1III in mid February, Canon High-Rez EOS-R and maybe the new Sony A7IV at the Cp+ show!

We are starting to get a clearer picture of what companies will announce in February ahead of the big Japanese CP+ Photo Show:

Fuji will announce the X-T4 and X100V in February/March
Olympus will announce the new E-M1III and 150-400mm PRO lens in mid February
Canon will announce the new High Resolution EOS-R camera
Sony might announce the new A7IV just to piss off all those of you waiting for the A7sIII :)
Leica will announce their new Monochrome camera

We haven’t heard anything yet about possible Nikon and Panasonic announcements…

Fuji is in for the battle: X-T3 successor to be announced in February/March

While some companies like Sony and Olympus are a bit “asleep” others like Nikon Canon and Fuji are speeding up their mirrorless release pace. Fujirumors reports that the X-T3 successor will be announced in February/March. This is only 1,5 years after the X-T3 announcement. No rumored specs have been spilled out by Fujrumors but I am sure we will not have to wait a long time for this.

Note: On the same day the new X100V will be announced too!

UPDATE of January 11: Sorry, misunderstood the rumor: The X-T4 will not be announce on February 4 but in sometimes in February/March. Misundertsanding happening because the camera codes are registered in Asia til February 4.

Well that was a damn fast transition: Canon says focus now is on “RF lenses” and there will be “no new EF lenses unless market demands it”

3…2…1…. and here comes the bomb!

Canon Europe senior manager Richard Shepherd just told in a Digitalcameraworld interview that

“To date we’ve launched ten critically acclaimed RF lenses, and as it’s a new system we plan to continue this, launching more RF lenses while still fully supporting the EF lens system. And of course, should the market demand it, we are ready to create new EF lenses. But for now, our focus is on RF.”

I heard that formula “should the market demand it” many times in the past and this means the system for them is brain dead. I seriously expected Canon to take a while longer before to stop EF lens development but probably they were wise enough to realize that in a shrinking market they don’t have the resources to bet on two horses at the same time.

It won’t be long that Nikon will follow too and than Mirrorless will rule the world!!!! Of course…rule in a very small niche of  a dying ancestral photographic world that will definitely disappear because of 300+ megapixel smartphones with 20 cameras on it :)

Canon EOS-R High Resolution camera will be announced at the CP+ show

The evidence is mounting up that Canon will announce a new High Resolution EOS-R camera at the CP+ show. So far I got no reliable specs but these are the rumored specs from CanonWatch:

  • 75mp full-frame CMOS
  • Sensor “focused on the dynamic range”
  • Frames per second “… Sounded similar to the EOS R”
  • DIGIC 9
  • Dual Card Slots
  • Joystick the same as the EOS-1D X Mark III
  • Larger and higher resolution EVF than the EOS R
  • Fully articulating LCD screen
  • Fully weather-sealed
  • Similar ergonomics as the EOS R (No touch bar)

Canon is becoming very aggressive with multiple camera announcements made and scheduled. Sony really has to watch out…where is your goddamn A7sIII??? :)