April 29
Thom wades into the equivalence controversy:
Equivalence in a Nutshell. "Equivalence" still seems to be a topic that is misunderstood. Article on sansmirror.com
The Problem with Near Equivalence. Lately I've been hearing a "partial equivalence" claim being repeated over and over by people who should know better. What I'm talking about usually comes up when someone tries to write about equivalence. What happens in these partial equivalence claims is that the poster ignores one or more factors that would create a truly equivalent image. Article on sansmirror.com
April 28
The Giant Nikkor DSLR Lens Sale. Today NikonUSA announced savings on more than two dozen lenses. As always, I'm going to give you advice about how the new pricing should impact your decision making. This time, though, I'm going to go about that a little differently, and split my comments into three logical groupings of lenses: bargains, good value, and not so interesting. Article on dslrbodies.com
How Nikon's New Pricing Changes the DSLRs. Today NikonUSA announced new pricing on their DSLR lineup, as well as some additional instant rebates through the end of June. Some of these changes are big enough that we need to talk through how the price moves may change your outlook on the Nikon DSLR cameras. Article on dslrbodies.com
New Nikon Z Pricing (Thru June). Updated NikonUSA today announced instant savings on the Z series cameras: US$200 off the Z6 in any form (body only, filmmaker's kit, body+kit lens), US$600 off the Z7 in any form (body only, body+kit lens). The FTZ adapter is no longer included free, but there's a US$100 saving on it when purchased with a body. Article on sansmirror.com
New Canon Mirrorless Pricing. Canon is also in the dealmaking mood. Here's what's happening in the Canon mirrorless world. Article on sansmirror.com
April 26
I've updated my Nikon product announcements section, including the page with the model generation chart and predictions, and the pointers to each year's product introductions (2019 has been added, 2018 was updated).
Market Share or Profit? The ILC market peaked in terms of unit volume back around 2012. We appear to be about to cross the "contract by half" threshold in terms of volume this year or next. The amount the camera makers received for their units has not quite fallen as much, but is also in deep contraction. Most of the camera makers have at one point or another stated that they're going upscale. To use Sony's language: "improvement in the product mix reflecting a shift to high value-added models." Article on dslrbodies.com
April 25
Tamron 35-150mm f/2.8-4 lens introduced.
April 24
Zeiss 100mm f/1.4 Otus lens introduced.
More Canon Negativity on the Market. Canon today posted the results from the first quarter of this year, along with their revised expectations for 2019. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 23
How Many Photos Did it Take? Congratulations, you just showed me a great photo. Now I have a question: how many photos did it take you to get that one? ;~) Article on dslrbodies.com
More Random Questions Answered. My periodic answers to questions I'm getting frequently in my In Box. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 22
Introducing Consolidators. Over the past decade I've described a number of common photographer gear types I've discovered through my research and surveys. Today I describe a new group, consolidators. Article on dslrbodies.com
I'm Constantly Being Chased. Someone asked me recently why I was always so focused on camera gear. It's not a terrible question to ask. Indeed, it's one that a lot of us pros have been dealing with for quite some time. Article on dslrbodies.com
That Was Bad Advice, Bad Advice... Bad advice costs nothing and it's worth the price. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 19
Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro Firin for Sony FE mount was announced.
April 17
The Mirrorless Lens Conundrum. My 24-70mm f/2.8 S-line lens for the Nikon Z cameras showed up recently, as did everyone else's. Nikon's shipments immediately started triggering the "should I get the f/2.8 or the f/4 lens" type of questions in my In Box. Article on sansmirror.com
April 15
Who is Your Curator? Information these days can come to you in one of two forms: firehose or curated (we also have curated firehoses ;~). Firehose means that huge amounts of data gets dumped your way, while curated means that someone or something is filtering (and sometimes modifying) that information so that you only see a (hopefully useful) subset. Article on dslrbodies.com
Learning from Others (Landscape Photographers). What can you learn from a landscape photographer? A lot. Article on dslrbodies.com
Adobe CC Pricing. Updated It started in other regions and countries, but now appears to be fully in place in the US, as well: the old US$10/month Lightroom/Photoshop Creative Cloud plan with 20GB of cloud data is no longer available to new users hidden from users who come in through the Creative Cloud page. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 11
Sony made the 3.0 firmware available for the Sony A7m3 and A7Rm3 today. This update adds real-time Eye AF, including for animals, and adds Interval shooting. A few other minor changes are also included.
Nikon shipped the 24-70mm f/2.8 S-line Nikkor for Z cameras today. If you're looking for one and can't find it in stock, let me know by email; I know of one extra that's currently available.
April 10
Canon introduced the Rebel SL3 DSLR today, a mild update to the SL2.
NAB 2019. The following products were announced at or just before the NAB Show in Las Vegas this week. Article on dslrbodies.com. Also note that B&H has a lot of NAB specials [advertiser link] running this week. Note that these specials go well beyond cameras and lenses, and extend into lighting, audio, computers, support, bags, and media/storage. Many of these items are available only in limited supply, so if you're interested, don't hesitate. All require that you enter the promo code BHNAB19 at checkout to get the full extra savings.
April 8
The Coming 64-bit Wall. In June 2019 Apple will introduce the next version of the macOS at their developer conference. While the clock has been ticking for a couple of years now, the countdown to 64-bit actually starts with the beta release to developers (and early adopters) of the next macOS. Article on dslrbodies.com
Does Anyone Really Want a New DSLR? One thing about technology: it eventually makes the average product capability rise above the actual needs of the average customer. Article on dslrbodies.com
Camera Classics. One cable program here in the US is live coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions. The talk on that show is pretty incessant about cars that are drivable and collectable. Obviously, this is about nostalgic demand. Brand new cars have technologies and capabilities not in those older models. Are there such things as classic cameras? Article on dslrbodies.com
Minimum Viable Product. A lot of what we struggle with as camera users these days has to do with what's happening in camera engineering. Specifically, the notion of Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The recent Canon RP, for example, is mostly MVP overall, as are products like Fujifilm's X-A5 and X-T100. Still, virtually every new camera product we're seeing now has MVP decisions in it, and those are one of the things that put us all in "wait and see" mode instead of upgrading our kits. Article on dslrbodies.com
The Raw Fallacy. I've just seen it again. The statement that you shouldn't shoot raw because it takes too long to process. This idea pops up on photography discussions all the time, typically after someone who's normally a casual shooter—a few images a week—suddenly goes on an extended, exotic vacation and ends up with thousands of images they need to process when they get home. Then you get the "it takes forever to process all these images, and presets don't solve the problem" statements that plague these discussions. Article on dslrbodies.com
April 5
Panasonic introduced the G95 (different number in some markets). I've also updated a great deal of information in the mirrorless camera data pages, including the various model and shipment charts.
April 2
I Have a Prediction About the Nikon 1. As I noted in another article, Nikon effectively ghosted their Nikon 1 customers for over two years between the quiet introduction of the last Nikon 1 (J5) and the complete discontinuation of Nikon 1 gear. Article on sansmirror.com
Things I Find Strange in the Full Frame War. We're slowly getting more and more details from the camera makers in terms of their overall product positioning as they all get settled in with their full frame cameras and we get hints on what's coming. Yet as I see, read, and hear these details, they still leave me scratching my head at times. Here's a list of some of the items that are confusing me. Article on sansmirror.com
Things I Find Strange in the Crop Sensor Mirrorless Market. Now that everyone is playing at the mirrorless camera table, we basically have a duality in product that customers face: (1) full frame and larger sensor models; and (2) crop sensor models (APS-C and m4/3). I deal with what I find strange about the full frame competition in another article. This article tackles the crop sensors. Here's a list of some of the items that are confusing me. Article on sansmirror.com
April 1 -- April Fool's Day
Sony's New Sensor Technology. By coincidence I was browsing through my note files the other day, where I found one reference that attempted to figure out how much better an image sensor could get and this sidetracked my attention for a few minutes. Article on dslrbodies.com
CIPA Press Conference on Camera Sales. Embarrassed executives from all the camera companies lined up in an extraordinary press conference at the Shinjuku Sheraton today. "Sumimasen" was the word of the day, as Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony executives came to the podium. Article on dslrbodies.com