Articles from August 2017:
September 26
Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS Lens Review. The 70-200mm f/4 G OSS was one of the earlier lenses Sony brought to the FE mount, and part of a relatively compact f/4 trio of lenses that formed the early A7 kit. We now have f/2.8 GM versions of the same lenses, so you have a clear choice between saving some money, size, and weight, or going all out for maximum lens performance. Article on sansmirror.com
September 25
Sony A7r Mark II Review. Doh! I thought I had posted this some time ago. Apparently never went live. So I've taken another pass on the review and posted it finally. Article on sansmirror.com
Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS Lens Review. The 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens is Sony's first high quality telephoto lens that gets you past 200mm on the FE mount. This is a lens that covers a broad telephoto range over the full frame, which is useful for wildlife and sports shooters. Article on sansmirror.com
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E AF-P Lens Review. Nikon sometimes gets themselves into incredibly difficult to explain positions. The 70-300mm logjam at the moment is one of them. Incredibly, you'll find five different 70-300mm zooms in Nikon's "current lens lineup." Article on dslrbodies.com
The Nikon Dilemma Versus the Canon Dilemma. Canon and Nikon sell about three quarters of all interchangeable lens cameras made. Canon hoovers around a 50% market share, Nikon currently is about a 25% market share. Both companies are struggling, though in different ways. Article on dslrbodies.com
September 19
Nikon Did Not Say "Mirrorless Full Frame." I guess it was a weekend for Nikon to generate lots of forum discourse across the Internet ;~). The corporate types in Tokyo must be having conniption fits about the deeds and words coming out of SE Asia this week. Article on dslrbodies.com
Oops I Did it Again. It’s tough to defend a company that keeps making unforced errors. I’m not going to try. The latest gaff by Nikon is a whopper. Nikon-Asia posted a page with their D850 photographers. Notice anything? 32 men, but no women in the roster. Article on dslrbodies.com
Dumb Things the Camera Companies are Still Doing. As much as we talk about the lack of true innovation in the camera market, particularly when it comes to integration with the Internet and social media, every day I keep encountering cameras that have the same "hey this is the way it used to be" design philosophies underlying them. Article on dslrbodies.com
New Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 announced
Capture One updated for the D850
A new shipment of D850's arrived in the US on Monday and are being shipped by dealers today. I expect the next shipment of D850's to arrive in the US the week of October 16th.
September 12
The Pros Versus the Amateurs. Today I had the experience of sitting through two live high technology product announcements (thanks to streaming, because they were on opposite coasts so I couldn't possibly attend both). Article on dslrbodies.com
The Sensor Battles Continue. An interesting followup to the sensor wars article: not quite noted yet by most of the Web, the new Canon XF405 Camcorder has a 1" sensor. It's not a Sony sensor ;~). Article on dslrbodies.com
MacPhun Introduces AuroraHDR 2018
September 8
I've been scrambling to keep up with a lot of things this week. The D850 blog has some new information, there are several minor new lenses added in the databases, I've restructured a few things including moving bags to the accessories menu on dslrbodies and building more hierarchy in the lens databases so the menus don't get overwhelmed. Plus I'm shooting with four new cameras and ten new lenses, so that's added a bit of extra work ;~).
Oh yeah. Adobe and Nikon updated their software for the Nikon D850, though the Lightroom version is yet to be released (ACR only for the moment).
September 6
The Sensor Wars, Cost Versus Tech. Canon now has three mirrorless cameras and as many DSLRs all using basically the same 24mp APS-C dual-pixel sensor. There's rumor that the GX compact line will switch to that sensor soon, too. This is similar to when Nikon fixated on repurposing the 6mp DX sensor across quite a few models. Article on dslrbodies.com
Fujifilm's Big Announcement Day. Fujifilm today went on a binge of announcements, mostly centered on the new X-E3 camera, an update of the X-E2/X-E2s. Article on sansmirror.com. X-E3 data page. 80mm f/2.8 Macro data page. 45mm f/2.8 GF data page.
September 4
Trade Ins. Both Olympus and Sony currently have trade-in events going on. With Olympus you get a US$300 bonus on your trade-in towards their current mirrorless cameras (other than the E-M10III just introduced), with Sony you get a US$300 bonus towards the A7 series, or up to US$500 bonus towards the A9. Article on sansmirror.com
Canon EOS M5 Repair. I took my Canon EOS M5 with me for a month in the middle of nowhere in Botswana in July as my wide angle to normal photographic option. About halfway through the trip, the camera got jammed against something in the vehicle and the viewfinder eyepiece drooped off the back of the camera. This is a vulnerable point on the M5 design: the eyepiece sticks out behind the camera a significant ways, and in looking at the design after the fact, there's a clear joint that can fail if you put too much pressure against the back of the eyepiece. Article on sansmirror.com
They'll Be Back (Nikon, That Is). I'm going to go out on a limb here. (I don't usually drop into rumors and speculation about future model announcements.) Nikon is going to show back up in the mirrorless camera realm, and very likely within the next two to three months. They really want to ship before the end of the year. Article on sansmirror.com