This is a guest article from Leonard Goh:

Remembering Samsung

The tides in the camera industry are shifting, with big boys such as Canon and Nikon taking a (slight) beating from previously smaller players such as Sony and Fujifilm. In the US, Sony cameras has already surpassed Nikon in the full frame category, and it won’t be unexpected that such a trend spreads.

Amidst all these chatter, let us remember that a Korean conglomerate once made some of the best and innovative cameras of the era then.

Yes, that’s Samsung.

I remember when I was writing for the now-defunct CNET Asia and Samsung announced its first mirrorless camera, the NX10. Bear in mind that in 2010, mirrorless cameras had just taken off, with Olympus and Panasonic spearheading this category with their own Micro FourThirds cameras. It was only a matter of time before the big boys caught on to the trend of “small cameras, large sensor”. But what was unexpected was that it wasn’t a big player who came out with it first. It was actually Samsung.

With an APS-C-sized sensor, the NX10 was effectively the world’s first mirrorless camera with a sensor used in dSLRs.

Just a year earlier, in 2009, Samsung showcased the ST550, a compact camera with a dual LCD; one on the rear and a smaller one on the front so you can see and frame yourself before taking a selfie. Remember, in 2009, selfie wasn’t even that big a deal yet.

Samsung has never officially announced that it was out of the imaging circuit, but multiple news outlets have reported that the company has ceased sales and service in various countries. Draw your own conclusion on this.

So what happened to Samsung’s cameras? Some might argue that the Korean company predominantly makes home appliances such as fridges, washing machines and TVs, so people never took them seriously. But if you look at Sony and Panasonic, they fall into the same category as well.

No one knows, really. Samsung invested heavily in the marketing of its cameras, no less than the big boys, so there’s really no reason why the public wouldn’t be aware of their cameras.

One reason I can think of, is perhaps that, during the same period when Samsung was trying to build up its imaging reputation and portfolio, the company was also targeting the mobile industry aggressively, more so than the imaging side. Hence, the public were exposed to more of Samsung’s mobile phones and its cameras were somewhat sidelined in their minds.

Samsung, however, didn’t leave quietly. Its last mirrorless camera, the NX1, received rave reviews and accolades from professionals. I know of one photographer who owns 2 NX1s and several of the lenses, and he claims that the video quality is superb.

We’ll never know if Samsung will make a comeback in the imaging sphere. But here’s hoping that if, and when they do, they can shake up the industry again.

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Link to the original post: leonardgoh.com/post/163123213420/remembering-samsung

Dpreview had a chat with Photokina manager Christoph Menke. The event is going to broaden their coverage to new kind of topics like augmented reality software and so on. Digital Photography will still be the “main thing” but it certainly will no more be the “only thing” at the show.

What we also learned is that the next two event dates are:
26-29 September 2018
8-11 May 2019

Reuters reports:

Canon Inc’s stock fell to its lowest levels in more than two months on Friday after EU regulators said they may fine it up to 10 percent of annual revenue for jumping the gun in its acquisition of Toshiba Corp’s medical unit.

Ten percent of Canon’s annual revenue would be roughly equivalent to $2.9 billion.

Seems like its big business today to re-make old German lenses :)

The Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Lens will be available MFT, Sony E, Fuji X and Leica mounts. You can buy the lens for $749 on Kickstarter. Here is the press text:

Reinventing the Legendary Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 Lens

More than 100 years after the Emil Busch Glaukar 3.1 was introduced as one of the most important lenses of its time, two top German photographers have reinvented this classic as a modern portrait lens that promises to be as innovative as the original. The pair has partnered with well-known optical engineer Wolfdieter Prenzel on this project in which production will mostly take place in Wetzlar, Germany, to ensure the highest quality.

Fashion photographer Benedikt Ernst and portrait photographer Firat Bagdu launched a Kickstarter campaign today to bring the Glaukar 97mm f/3.1 into the modern age.

The new Glaukar 3.1 will have the same brass appearance and silhouette as the original but will be constructed from high-end aluminum with a brass-like oxidation, which ensures the durability and mechanical precision of a modern lens. But while the new lens will look very much like the classic, the inside has been redesigned by Prenzel, completely from scratch to meet today’s high-tech demands.

But due to its specially coated lenses the new Glaukar produces a fascinating mixture of sharpness, strong colors and, along with 12 aperture blades, wonderful bokeh effects.

Ernst and Bagdu, whose clients have included Rolls Royce, Redken, Chopard, to name a few, knew what qualities they wanted in a lens. They defined the principles and joined with lens designers and manufacturers in Germany to design the first prototype.

In fact, it was the success of one of their clients, German lens maker Meyer Optik, that inspired them to start their own project. Meyer Optik has even put the pair together with key German camera contacts in Wetzlar to help support the founders.

So, while the pair are a startup, they are backed by years of industry experience.

“We have seen some campaigns in the past where old lenses were brought back for the users of today’s cameras and appreciated them, but we wanted to go further and recreate a lens that would otherwise be lost,” Bagdu said.

“But at the same time, the quality of the lens must be to the highest standards as well,” Ernst added. “Therefore, we are glad that we could ensure cooperation with some leading German firms.”

Manufacturing will be done to a large extent by Uwe Weller Feinwerktechnik in Wetzlar, which was formed from the merger of several firms, including the mechanical divisions of Leica Camera and Zeiss-Hensoldt. The partnership with Uwe Weller GmbH will ensure that the high-precision elements of the lens will be produced precisely to Prenzel’s design, which will include the use of top-of-the-line Schott and O’Hara glass.

The exclusive use of Schott and O’Hara glass ensures that the goal of creating the perfect portrait lens is put into practice exactly as intended.

Part of their inspiration came from the legendary Glaukar 3.1 that pioneer German lens maker Emil Busch introduced in 1910. The original Glaukar was a groundbreaking lens because it corrected for spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism – something that no other lens in daily use could do at the time. Not even Zeiss and its famed lens maker Paul Rudolph had been able to match the Glaukar since their designs required coatings not available at the time.

To see the media kit, including sample images, go to http://bit.ly/2u1Rh5b

The modern Glaukar will come in the following mounts:
Nikon
Canon
Sony E
Fuji
Micro Four Thirds
Leica M
Leica T

Lens Specs
Focal length: 97mm
Maximum aperture: 1:3.1
Aperture range: 1:22
Image circle: 43mm
Field of view: 25°
Electronic contacts none
Closest focusing distance: 1.5 m
Filter thread: 37mm
Max diameter: length 73mm/80mm (DSLR), approx. 85mm mirrorless
Weight: 410 g