April 28
Mirrorless Had a Good First Quarter. The CIPA shipment numbers are out for the full first quarter of 2017. That allows us to look at the data in a little better light. I don't put much faith on individual month data, but when we look closely at how larger periods have fared year-to-year, we get more reliable patterns to discuss. Article on sansmirror.com
Sony's A9 Marketing Push. The Web site sonyalpharumors posted a marketing-use only document for the new Sony A9. If this briefing document is accurate—and I believe it is—it produces a bit of head scratching for me. Article on sansmirror.com
April 26
Canon Claims Cameras Turning Corner. As usual, Canon is the first to present their January to March fiscal results (partly because it isn't the end of their fiscal year). Article on dslrbodies.com
Fujifilm Pro Services. Fujifilm announced a pro services plan for the GFX in the US, which will begin on May 1st. Article on sansmirror.com
April 24
The Rhetoric Upgrade. It seems that in limited-player markets, we all devolve into devotees of one player, and the player we back can do no wrong. Indeed, the SOP (standard operating procedure) is that we must amplify and redistribute the message from the company we follow. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 19
Sony Goes Further Upscale with the A9. Sony set a new record today in their announcement of the new A9 mirrorless camera. Oh, not the shutter speed, frame rate, or other stuff you might be thinking of; the record they set is in the number of footnotes needed in the first 88 words: 9 (actually 10, since they later footnote something that appeared in those first 88 words). Article on sansmirror.com. A9 Camera Data Page.
Lot’s of mirrorless lenses today: Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 OSS. Panasonic 8-18mm f/2.8-4. Fujifilm 23mm f/4. Fujifilm 110mm f/2.8. Fujifilm GFX lens roadmap updated.
April 17
Sony Throws Some Smack. Sony sent out a press release on Friday that went immediately viral within the photography community: "Sony Overtakes #2 Position in U.S. Full-Frame Interchangeable Lens Camera Market." Article on dslrbodies.com
More Thoughts on the D7500. As tough a critic as I’ve been on Nikon, somehow the D7500 announcement has me spending a lot of time defending them. If I am to read my In Box, Nikon Rumors comments, various Internet fora, and the shouts I hear from upwind of me, removing one of the two card slots from the D7500 will cause Nikon to experience a huge implosion, kill hundreds of workers, and make Nikon shares be worth negative 1000 yen. It’s a card slot, folks. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 12
Nikon Introduces the D7500. Nikon today announced the D7500, the model that replaces the D7200 in a venerable line of DSLRs, perhaps one of Nikon's most important camera lineages. Article on dslrbodies.com. D7500 data page.
April 10
Bets I'd Take. I've moved to Vegas, baby, and I'm taking bets from all the fanboys at my absolutely awesome new book joint on the strip. Here are the current posted lines. Article on dslrbodies.com
Not Loving It. Last year's Show Your Love Some Love and this year's Love Letters From the N Line campaigns from Nikon have now had enough time and images behind them to warrant comment. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 6
Mirrorless Nibbles Away at DSLRs. We're getting near an interesting crossroad. In the ILC market, mirrorless as a percentage of all ILC cameras has slowly been climbing. For 2013 through 2016 the numbers go 19.3%, 23.8%, 25.6%, 27.2%. I'll bet that mirrorless will cross the 30% threshold this year (2017; for the first two months of 2017 we're at 37%, but that probably won't hold). Article on sansmirror.com
New Lens Announcements:
Canon 28mm f/2.8 Macro EF-S lens (data page).
Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 FE lens (data page).
April 4
Here's How You Get Optics Right. I've been writing lately about how Nikon isn't getting "optics" right. Not optics as in lens design, but rather the second definition in the dictionary: the aspects of an action, policy, or decision (as in politics or business) that relate to public perceptions. Article on dslrbodies.com
The Camera Design Space That's Left. If you simply design the same thing over and over again where there's lots of overlap, you can essentially create too many models for the limited customer base. General Motors was notorious for this in the 80's and 90's with their huge swath of "brands" that often had basically the same auto lineup clad in slightly different metal. Sad to say, sophisticated cameras are getting that way. Article on dslrbodies.com
QAD Shutter Speeds. The tricky part is that proper motion-stopping shutter speeds are dependent upon a bunch of things. For instance, the focal length used, the subject's speed, the distance to the subject, and the direction of the movement. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 1
Nikon Un-announces More Cameras. Nikon today un-announced a number of camera products, ranging from the lowest Coolpix to apparently not-yet-announced products (e.g. things like a possible D5x). Article on dslrbodies.com Please note the date on this article.