September 27
Photokina Observations. Photokina is a great place to observe, even though I often have to do that from afar. The press conferences, the press releases, the order of announcements, who's involved, small details that some gloss over, they all tell a story beyond just "Company X announced Y." Article on sansmirror.com
September 24
Sigma's L-Mount Plans. Sigma has checked in with an outline of their plans for their part of the L-mount alliance. And yes, another full frame mirrorless camera is coming in 2019. Article on sansmirror.com
Boo Nikon! If you click on NikonUSA's Web site and go to the Nikkor Z System Lenses page, you now get all the currently available F-mount lenses as well as the Z-mount ones. This is exceedingly deceptive. Article on sansmirror.com
Photokina Odds and Ends. This is where you'll find commentary about things other than the usual cameras and lenses I cover that were introduced at Photokina 2018. Latest addition on top. Article on dslrbodies.com
The Full Frame Lens Race. Well, at least I'm not going to write buzz, buzz about mirrorless full frame cameras. ;~) Article on sansmirror.com
Fujifilm Launches Second Medium Format Camera. Today Fujifilm announced the GFX 50R, their second medium format camera with the Sony 50mp 33x44mm sensor (0.79x crop). Article on sansmirror.com. GFX 50R Data Page.
New Baby Elephant Enters Market. Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma have formed a new development group centered around Leica's L-mount (used by the Leica CL/TL crop sensor and SL full frame sensor cameras). This safety-in-numbers move is apparently the way some of the remaining dwarfs intend to take on the triopoly of Canon, Nikon, and Sony, each of whom has their own separate mount. Article on sansmirror.com.
Panasonic Joins Full Frame Squad. After the L-mount alliance announcement, Panasonic unveiled two new full frame mirrorless cameras they're working on, and three lenses. Article on sansmirror.com
New lenses announced at Photokina: Laowa 12mm f/1.8 for m4/3, Laowa 17mm f/1.8 for m4/3. Irix 150mm f/2.8 Macro for Canon/Nikon/Pentax DSLRs, Hasselblad 65mm f/2.8, 80mm f/1.9, 135mm f/2.8 for X1D. Sigma 28mm f/1.4 Art, Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art, Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DN, Sigma 60-600mm f/4-5.6 Contemporary, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 Sports, Zeiss 40mm f/2 Batis.
Meanwhile, ProGrade has an article about the differences between the next two generations of cards (CFExpress and SDExpress, if you haven't been paying attention). Well worth reading. Even today we have issues with SD cards and video specs—particularly confusing considering all the different marking—and it looks like this won't go away with the next generation.
September 19
Even More Reader Thoughts and Questions. The latest in my series of public answers to questions I get asked via email. Article on dslrbodies.com
Kolor Shutting Down. The makers of my preferred panorama software stitching program, Autopano Pro (also known as Autopano Giga) just announced that the program "will no longer be [available] for sale from Kolor.com." Article on dslrbodies.com
What Causes Card Errors? It may come as a surprise, perhaps, but there's a lot we have to talk about here. Article on dslrbodies.com
September 17
Sony RX-100 Mark VI versus the Panasonic ZS200. Two large companies make very small compact cameras with very big specifications: Panasonic and Sony. Both companies make cameras that feature 20mp 1" sensors, both fit in a reasonably small shirt pocket, and both have a wide-angle to telephoto superzoom that extends out from the small body when you power the camera. This review compares the Sony RX100 Mark VI with the Panasonic ZS200. Article on bythom.com
Current Standings in the Full Frame Battle. People keep asking me to compare the various full frame mirrorless systems now that the three major camera companies all have one. It's important to understand where we're at, plus where we will be going in the near future if you're going to make an intelligent decision. So it's Canon R versus Nikon Z versus Sony A, and where we stand. Article on sansmirror.com
September 13
Added a Reader Questions About the Canon R page to sansmirror.com. Continued to add to the Reader Questions About the Nikon Z page.
September 10
Should You Still Buy F-mount and EF-mount Lenses? The headline is the question that's been popping into my In Box more and more frequently since the big Canon and Nikon mirrorless announcements. As people study the current options and consider what the future options for lenses might be, there's a decidedly chilling effect going on. People are suddenly concerned about putting money into a new lens with an old mount. Article on dslrbodies.com
I See Dead Mounts. There's not a perfect place to put this article on my sites, as what I'm going to write about today spans both DSLR and mirrorless. With all of the recent announcements, it's time to talk about lens mounts. Article on dslrbodies.com
Who Wins The Mirrorless Wars? It seems that paranoia reigns everywhere on the Internet. Sony fan boys have angst now that Canikon has appeared alongside them in the full frame market. Canon users are still worried about how good an R is versus the competition ("what, no IBIS?") and what happens with EOS M ("what, no adapter?"). Nikon users are trying to figure out what's happening with lenses, as Z is markedly different than F, and that has implications for the future. Plus they still don't know what's happening with crop sensor Nikons. Article on sansmirror.com
September 6
Canon 400mm f/2.8 III and Canon 600mm f/4 III were introduced.
And here's one for all of you to ponder: grab a Z7 NEF off the Internet somewhere and open it up with a text or byte editor. Notice anything? The Z's are populating the new NEF format with some additional information. Why? In particular, a whole bunch of new setting entries, which seem to align with Adobe raw development items.
Fujifilm Pops Up Again Under the Full Framers. Fujifilm today announced the X-T3 update of their DSLR-like mirrorless camera. The interesting news is, that despite lots of specification advances, the X-T3 is priced at US$1499 (body only). That's a bit on the aggressive side for a crop sensor camera given all the full frame activity only US$500 above it, but Fujifilm is hoping that the additions and changes will make people consider this new camera, as well. Article on sansmirror.com. X-T3 data page
September 5
Tamron introduced a G2 version of their popular 15-30mm f/2.8 lens That previous version was a reasonable alternative to the Nikkor 14-28mm f/2.8, in my opinion.
I continue to add more material about the Nikon Z models—the Reader Q&A page seems to get several new entries a day now—but if you couldn't swallow the output of the firehose last week, prepare to get completely drowned. Entire planets are being moved and there are more asteroids than ever to keep track of. We're seeing some major shifts with major players. We don't get this with every generation of camera product, but typically there's a first move that all the other players eventually feel they have to match. Digital, full frame, mirrorless, now mirrorless full frame. Hold on tight, the ride is about to go down the flume.
Canon Adds a Full Frame Mirrorless Camera. Canon today announced a new full frame mirrorless camera system, the EOS R camera and RF lenses (they also introduced a new 32mm f/1.4 EOS-M lens). Article on sansmirror.com. EOS R Data Page. RF Lenses Pages. 32mm f/1.4 EOS-M lens page.
Another Elephant in the Room. Sony had the full frame mirrorless space pretty much to themselves for five years, with only a few Leica children to shove aside. The Sony family now counts four strong siblings. Then last month Nikon joined the fray and created a tsunami of Internet traffic with their twins. Today, Canon joins with a surprise birth of one, the Canon EOS R, and we're getting another wave of Internet excitement (and paranoia). Article on sansmirror.com
In Retrospect, What Did Sony Get Right and Wrong? Now that we've got cameras to handle, if not yet shoot with, it's starting to become more obvious where Sony's strengths and weaknesses are on the A7 series. Article on sansmirror.com
Nikon Versus Canon Mirrorless. How's the Nikon Z6 stack up against the Canon R? Article on sansmirror.com
Sony Versus Canon Mirrorless. How's the Sony A7m3 stack up against the Canon R? Article on sansmirror.com
Canon's White Paper on the new RF mount shows how to do marketing messages right (Nikon needs to take note). Clearly presented, but basically saying the same thing that Nikon said with the Z mount: the short back flange with a wide throat allows for lens designs that are bending light less and allows for optimization of corner performance.