Oct 30
The Right Answer to the Wrong Question. One of the most frequent questions I get is "when will sensors get better?" This is the wrong question, but let me answer it first before answering the right question. Article on dslrbodies.com
The Yongnuo Trio (Lens Review). It's difficult not to notice them. At US$70 to US$90 MSRP: three small primes currently available from Yongnuo for the Canon EF and Nikon F mount, plus a pair of slightly more expensive telephoto primes (85mm and 100mm) for the Canon EF mount that come in still well below US$200. There's also a US$500 14mm wide angle in the Canon EF mount. Article on dslrbodies.com
Oct 29
Nikon Z Discounts Extended. NikonUSA had fall discounts that were supposedly available only for a few days last week, but now they've decided to extend them through November 27th. In the interest of helping you keep track, here are the current Z offers. Article on sansmirror.com
Oct 28
Where Are We? (End of 2019). Amazingly, we still have a straggler or two in terms of mirrorless camera announcements before year's end (I'm looking at you SL2). Still, for the most part things are well established for the coming holiday season from most makers, so it's an appropriate time for some year-end commentary on where the mirrorless camera market actually stands. Article on sansmirror.com
Oct 27
Canon's 1DX Mark III Development Announcement. Just in time for the opening of PhotoPlus Expo in NYC late last week, Canon decided to put out a development announcement regarding their future DSLR flagship, the 1DX Mark III. Article on dslrbodies.com
Oct 23
Fujifilm X-Pro3 Announcement. Updated. Fujifilm today officially announced the X-Pro3 after teasing it last month in Japan. For the most part it's what you'd expect: an update of the X-Pro2 to current technologies. That includes using the 26mp X-Trans sensor, incorporating the latest X-Processor 4, as well as updating the displays. Article on sansmirror.com. Camera data page.
Oct 22
Fujifilm GFX 100 Camera Review. Originally teased at Photokina 2018, officially announced in May 2019, and finally shipped in late summer of 2019, the Fujifilm GFX 100 had a lot known about it before it actually hit users' hands. But the question has always been "does it perform?" With camera in hand we can finally get around to assessing that. Article on sansmirror.com
Tamron introduced four new lenses for the Sony FE mount: three wide-angle primes that do 1:2 macro that are modest in price and available soon, and a development announcement for the final lens in their f/2.8 trio, the 70-180mm f/2.8, which should be available in spring 2020. I've added everything we know today to the lens database.
Oct 20
Should You Buy the Previous Model? We've got the holiday season coming up, and this question tends to always come up, as camera makers use this selling opportunity to push older model inventory as well as new. Article on dslrbodies.com
The Canon/Nikon "Solution". Canon and Nikon have both taken an interesting approach to creating mirrorless models while still putting out DSLRs. Simply put, mirrorless models don't exactly line up with DSLRs. Article on dslrbodies.com
Oct 17
Olympus E-M5 Mark III Announcement. Today Olympus announced the long-leaked and long-wished-for E-M5 update, the Mark III. Not a particularly exciting announcement, but it does bring quite a few significant updates to the model. I'm also going to comment about where I think Olympus stands at the moment in the camera industry. Article on sansmirror.com. Data page for the E-M5m3. Data page for the E-PL10.
What's the Market Bottom? I actually wrote the following article several months ago. I've been dithering on whether to post it or not, as it has the potential for kicking off a wave of negativism about cameras, as well as the usual hate mail I tend to get when I'm being provocative. But I keep getting the same basic questions coming into my In Box, and this article answers those, so I've decided to go ahead and publish. Please note that this is my long-term prediction, not reality. Article on dslrbodies.com
Tokina updated their 11-16mm f/2.8 lens for the Canon EF and Nikon F mount, basically adding some lens coatings for flare control and putting the lens in a more modern package.
Oct 12
The Reader Questions About the Z50 article has been added to and updated.
The Full Frame Lens Situation. One thing that gets overlooked in many discussions about mirrorless lenses is where everyone is in their actual cycle. Sony introduced the A7 and A7R and FE lenses in 2013, Canon and Nikon introduced the RF and Z lens mount cameras and lenses in 2018. Sony thus had five years head start on Canon and Nikon, so they'd damn sure better have more lenses at this point ;~). The current count is 30 for Sony, 8 for Canon, 8 for Nikon. Article on sansmirror.com
Oct 11
Reader Questions About the Z50. This article will be updated regularly as we learn new information about the Z50 prior to its actual release, much like I did with the Z6/Z7 and Canon R. Article on sansmirror.com
My View on the Nikon Announcements. As often happens, Nikon was a bit all over the board with their latest announcement, putting a lot of grist in the mill to contemplate all at once. Realistically, this was mainly just a camera-plus-kit-lens announcement, but the bundle of all the other stuff into their press releases makes it seem like more. Let's deal with that other stuff first. Article on sansmirror.com
Oct 10
Nikon Z50 Announcement. Nikon today announced the Z50, their first APS-C mirrorless camera, as well as two Z-mount DX lenses for it. Article on sansmirror.com. Z50 data page. 16-50mm data page. 50-250mm data page.
The 58mm f/0.95 NOCT. Nikon today officially announced the 58mm f/0.95 NOCT lens for the Z mount cameras. This lens seems to trigger a lot of bimodal discussion, and that started with the original development announcement. It’s time to put a few things in context. Article on sansmirror.com. 58mm f/0.95 data page.
Oct 7
My View on the Sony A9 Mark II. It really seems like the Sony fan view of the world has just experienced a large disturbance in the Force. Article on sansmirror.com
The Latest Ask Thom Q&A. From time to time I try to answer questions I'm getting multiples of in my In Box with a quick post here on dslrbodies.com. While I continue to try to answer individual questions I get, sometimes broadcasting an answer is the better way to go. Article on dslrbodies.com
Oct 3
Sony A9 Mark II Announced. Sony today surprised everyone with a press release type announcement of the A9 Mark II model. Frankly, I'm surprised, particularly given what changed with the camera, which really needs demonstration to show off. Article on sansmirror.com