Sony promises to launch “surprising” new products in 2014.

Sony manager MR. Kimio is creating a lot of expectations! In an interview with the Japanese site Dc.watch (google translation here) he promised many “surprises” for the year to come. He could not say what exactly will surprises us but he stressed to say that it’s Sony goal to make thing really new. They will also focus on the High End of the Photographic Market and the A7-A7r are just the start of that.

 

All I can add as a “rumor guy” is that there will be plenty of new Sony E-mount cameras. And some of them are Full Frame and quite different from the current A7-A7r. Zeiss will support this system with the launch of five manual focusing and fully Zeiss branded and designed lenses. And it is also expected to see some nice Olympus tech coming in these cameras too.

But what could be possibly a surprise for you? Foveon sensor? A Full Frame camera for $1,000? What else?

 

 

Fuji says they will not make a Full Frame interchangeable system yet.

Fuji manager Mr.Kawahara has been interviewed the website 2how. Here are the key info:

1) He is reluctant to create full frame X series because XF lens would NOT be compatible with full frame camera. “If we launch the full frame body we have to launch the full frame lens too. So it is not good for X-series user.” So there are no plans just now to provide a full frame body.

2) Because of the high customers demand, Fujifilm considers to use sensors with more than 16MP in future.

3) Keep the size of XC lens with larger aperture value is almost impossible, because the optic technology is limited and cannot be solved easily, unlike technological limit.

4) Fujfilm will continue to support and improve its cameras via firmware update: “We want you to use our camera longer and longer in your life.”

via Fujirumors.

Nikon about latest mirrorless cameras trend: Classic design and big sensor mirrorless are just a hype!

Nikon Manager Mr. Nobuaki Sasakaki has been interviewed at DC.watch (google translation here). I do not speak Japanese so I rely on Google Translation tool. But it looks like the Nikon Manager keeps defending their Nikon 1 system by continually saying that sensor size doesn’t really matter a lot. And he also goes that far and says that Classic Design and Big Sensor trend of mirrorless cameras from other manufacturers are more or less just “hype”.

And you can understand clearly from many statements how Nikons focus will still be on the DSLR market.

I think Nikon is going to loose this game if they keep under estimating the mirrorless market. A real risk for a company that earns most of their money from the digital photography market!

P.S.: By the way, isn’t the Nikon DF also a classic designed camera…and therefore a hype? :)

Now we know it: Sony A7r has a worse corner performance compared with the Leica M.

So, is the Sony A7r a Leica killer? Or does the Leica M still have some advantages over the Sony?

 

Obviously we are comparing apple and oranges. Shooting with a rangefinder camera is quite a different thing! That said on the pure Image Quality front we can report a small surprise. While the A7r beats the Leica M in many aspects (overall resolution, dynamic range, color rendition) the Leica M still shows a clear advantage over the A7r: The corner performance of the Leica is considerably better!

Lensrentals reports:

In the center, the A7R has much higher resolution than the Leica 240; it’s 36 megapixels versus 24, after all. But the corner numbers are more interesting. Here the Leica camera has resolution slightly higher than the A7R.

And if you want to “see” the difference watch this test made by Stilgar:

Center crop and corner crop too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stilgarnaib/sets/72157638447272734/

This means that the Leica M still shows a much better performance particularly with wide angle lenses. Something you have to take into consideration if you shoot mostly with that kind of lenses!

Deal of the week: E-Pm2 with two lenses for $349

Olympus is trying to get rid of their PEN camera stock during the Christmas time. And they may succeed if they keep making offers like that one:

You can get the E-PM2 with two MFT lenses for $349 at BHphoto (Click here). You basically get the camera for free if you sum the single price of the two lenses!

Note: The E-Pm2 uses the same E-M5 sensor. You really get a lot for that price!

The benefits (or otherwise) of legacy and adapted lenses for Mirrorless Cameras. Part 1 – m4/3.

I’m currently in possession of three different format sensor camera systems and a selection of Nikon and Voigtlander lenses plus three Metabones ‘passive’ adapters and two Speed Boosters. As ever I’m looking to ‘rationalise’ what I have, to avoid duplication and to decide exactly what fits with how I work and the best quality / price / ease of use equation I can manage to get from the least amount of kit………………..I’ve decided the have a look at what lenses work best with each format – m4/3, APS-C (Fuji X) and 35mm / ‘Full Frame’ (Sony A7r)…..also looking to see which lenses give the most options and which are the most useful. At the same time I’ll be sharing some thoughts about how the native system lenses compare with the legacy / adapted lenses I have and what advantage each would have over the other. I’ll also be writing about how I see the lenses I have owned but have sold fit into this.

Part 1 – m4/3 – http://soundimageplus.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-benefits-or-otherwise-of-legacy-and.html

Parts 2 & 3 APS-S (Fuji X) and ‘Full-Frame’ Sony A7r to follow.