Quick
Links & Comments
News and commentary of interest to Nikon and Nikon F-mount users
Where's Thom?
Mar 16 (commentary)--It appears to be popular to speculate on my whereabouts whenever I don't post new things on this site every day. People seem to think that I only update my site when I'm at home, but that's not actually true: I often update my site while traveling. Thus, my whereabouts rarely matters to how frequently I'm adding things to the site.
The truth is that I go in spurts with my articles and reviews, as do companies with product announcements. Sometimes the lulls in those cycles coincide and it seems somewhat quiet around here. Other times the opposite happens and we have lots of things being added and items falling off the front page quite rapidly. I'm not interested in churning content for content's sake. If I have something to say and I'm ready to say it, you'll get an article. If not, I can promise you that I'm probably working on something and it will appear soon.
Still, just to make sure you don't fall asleep I've posted a new article (see left column).
Announcements
Mar 11 (news)--Raw Photo Processor 4.1.2 was introduced. I hadn't noticed the Lightroom module for it before, but don't know that it's been added in this most recent version. Apple issued Aperture version 3.01, which fixed a number of small problems with the 3.0 release. Bibble 5.0.3 adds support for some new cameras, including the Olympus E-PL1.
Tamron Lens Announced
Mar 11 (news)--Tamron announced a new version of their 70-300mm lens, this time with a ultrasonic focus motor (lens-based motor). The SP AF70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD (can we get any more acronyms in their guys?) features a faster and quieter in-lens motor than previous Tamron models, and is the first lens to feature this new system. Essentially this is an update to a lens announced last year, but with a faster in-lens motor, more optical coatings, and loss of macro abilities.
What's Happening?
Mar 11 (commentary)--Post PMA tends to be a slightly less busy time of year, as most companies tend to try to get their new product announcements into the period just prior to PMA so that they can talk openly about them to dealers at the show.
This year has been a little unusual, though because the big Photokina show is scheduled for later this year (it alternates years), some companies are clearly waiting for that show to launch some products. There wasn't all that much new and certainly nothing unexpected that popped up at PMA. What's more interesting is what didn't make it to PMA:
- The High-End Coolpix. The P6000 is history but the replacement hasn't appared. Nikon appears to think that the new model will be better than a G11 (not that high a hurdle, but a hurdle nonetheless), but the rumor mill says it didn't make Nikon's original schedule for announcing it. In other words, it's late. How late remains to be seen.
- The Pentax 645D. Not surprisingly, Pentax chose a Japanese show, CP+, to announce their long-awaiting MF digital camera. That's because Pentax is only going to release the camera in Japan initially. Given the price point (under US$9000) and specifications (40mp), I don't get the hesitancy to do a worldwide launch, but perhaps it just takes them forever to hand assemble the things.
- The Panasonic G2 and G10. Again, the home Japanese market seems to be the motivator here. The m4/3 cameras have indeed been quite popular in Japan, grabbing 12% of the interchangeable lens market share last year. Panasonic claims that they want 20% of the DSLR market share, but if they keep prioritizing Japan over global, I can tell them that they're not going to get that. Moreover, the G2 shows that Panasonic is mostly just tweaking UI, not pushing these cameras into new realms.
- Canon. Canon seems to have cut back on much of their traditional marketing presence for the time being, though they still do interesting things (like creating a fleet of red Mini-Coopers loaded with Canon gear and logos for pros visiting the Vancouver Winter Olympics; you couldn't miss those vehicles rolling around town, while Nikon's large presence was pretty much invisible by comparison). But they didn't even have a booth at PMA, which is unusual. I guess they don't want to talk to dealers.
- The Sony A700 followup. Long overdue and still not here. One wonders if it's a sensor thing. Both Nikon and Sony seem stalled in the high-end DX format bodies and this seems to be due to no new sensor that significantly ups the performance. I don't expect that to last that much longer. A new sensor will take flight before the end of summer.
Sigma Lenses Announced
Feb 22 (news)--Sigma announced several new lenses, some tweaked from previous versions, one new:
- 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM: Basically an optically stabilized version of the older lens, now with FLD (low dispersion) glass.
- 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM: If you're tired of waiting for the Nikon refresh, here's an alternative. Unfortunately, no OS.
- 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM: Another update with OS and FLD. Sigma also claims it is slightly wider than the previous model.
- 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM: for DX bodies, basically their equivalent to a 12-24mm.
- 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM: another OS addition, though no FLD glass. Filter ring is now 95mm.
A Compact Compact Review
Feb 22 (news)--I've posted a short review of the Canon S90 compact camera.
Updates/PMA News
Feb 22 (news and commentary)--It's one of those busy times of year for camera, software and accessory announcements due to the Photo Marketing Association show going on this week in Anaheim.
- Bibble 5.02 is available, which adds support for 26 additional cameras. But the big addition is that the program now features Soft Proofing.
- onOne Plug-in Suite 5.01 was published, providing a number of performance and stability enhancements.
- Capture One 5.1 now supports the Nikon D3s and adds a few new editing tools, including a better color editor and a clarity function.
Canon isn't at PMA (and announced it's new cameras prior to the show). Nikon is at PMA and showing the previously announced Coolpix cameras and lenses. Sony has gone into preannouncement mode, talking about their future mirrorless camera (a lot like a GF1 or E-P2, only with a bigger sensor) and future DSLRs (the inevitable A700 replacement, which will get video).
This last bit may explain some Nikon inaction, as well. It seems clear from Sony's non-announcements of future cameras that they will be using a new APS Exmor sensor of unspecified properties. I suspect that Nikon will be, too, for cameras such as the D90 update expected later this year, and perhaps for others, as well. What's holding up Sony's newest sensor? Probably video. The game has been seriously upped: new sensors need less rolling shutter impact, higher frame rates, and you want to back that with better video formats (AVCHD, for example). It's clear that's what Sony is doing for the A700 replacement, so the question then becomes: is Nikon still going to use Sony sensors below FX? And if the answer to that is yes, then there really aren't any appropriate Sony sensors for better Nikon models currently available--they're due shortly.
Personally, I suspect that Nikon is still going to use Sony sensors for DX bodies (and of course Coolpix). The economics of shared sensor production are just too necessary to keep costs down. The higher-priced FX bodies can support non-shared sensor costs.
Nikkor 200-400mm Review
Feb 15 (commentary)--Seven years in the making. So much for snap judgment. But if you want to see what I finally have to say, the link is over there on the left. [Update: I've now received 200+ emails that say I'm right about the distance and TC issue, 5 that say I'm wrong.]
Just a Reminder
The short articles on the front page of this site change as often as every couple of days, as little as once every two weeks. Right now, however, we're coming into a period where there's been rapid change. So if you're not checking the site often, be sure to check out the Archived 2009 link, below, as there may be a handful of items you missed. (Yes, I know about RSS. But I won't offer that until the site redesign is done.)
Archived Front Page News and Articles
Archived 2010 byThom comments and news
Archived 2009 byThom comments and news
Archived 2008 byThom comments and news
Archived
2007 byThom comments and news
Archived pre-2007 byThom comments and news
Nikon announcements summary 2001-2009
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