"M" is for Mystery!

Leica has released a new chart showing a new camera, called the Leica Mini M, that falls between the full-sized, interchangeable lens Leica M and the petite, fixed lens X2, which in the chart is also labeled the Micro M. And the D-LUX6 is called the Nano M in this chart. Nothing is really said about the new camera, other than its placement in the Leica scheme of things. So here is where I will speculate and I really don't know anything of substance, so this is strictly guessing on my part. The Mini M could be Leica's version of the Micro 4/3s cameras, a small, interchangeable lens system camera with its own new range of lenses, though if it was M 4/3s that would be cool. Another proprietary lens mount would not be cool. Or it could be an all-electronic version of an Leica M camera, along the lines of the Fuji X-E1, with an internal electronic viewfinder, that still takes regular Leica M-mount lenses and maybe still has a full-sized sensor. It could be smaller than the full-sized Leica M, but still take advantage of the Leica glass. This could be fun, too. But of course, what do I know? Only time will tell. Leica's formal announcement of the new camera will happen on June 11th.

David Burnett's Olympic Photographs

 Photograph by David Burnett.

Photojournalist David Burnett has put online a selection of his large format black-and-white photographs taken at last year's London Olympics. He used a vintage 1940s Speed Graphic 4x5 camera for these images, along with a fair amount of swings and tilts to control plane and depth of focus. In many of the shots, Burnett was not trying to maximize the focus, but minimize it. Sometimes the results look like some of the toy settings on camera phones, with only a small portion of the image in focus.

Photograph by David Burnett.

Burnett was part of a team covering the Games for the International Olympic Museum and he exposed around 350 images during the competitions. He also used a Canon 5D Mark III and a Leica M9 for the Olympics. Burnett has been using a Speed Graphic in his photojournalistic work since 2004, primarily to achieve a unique look that sets his images apart from other photographers and in which he surely succeeds. Thanks to PetaPixel for the head's up on this. You can see David Burnett's Olympic portfolio here and you can check out his other work there as well.

David Burnett and his Speed Graphic by Mike King.

"New" Hasselblad and More!

It seems like Hasselblad finally noticed that Leica was lending their name to Panasonic-made cameras and people were actually willing to buy them. So, Hasselblad has teamed up with Sony, put a new "skin" on the Sony NEX-7 and is calling it the Hasselblad Lunar. You can even get it with carved wooden grips! And gold plating! And the cost? Only a bit under $6000! Of course, you can get the Sony version, the NEX-7, for $1100, but it won't say Hasselblad on it, will it? So there! As Dr. Sheldon Cooper would say, "Bazinga!"

On a sort of serious note, I can't decide if the design of the Lunar is really cool or really ugly. It kind of reminds me of some of Konica's cameras from the 1990s, like the Aiborg here. I couldn't decide then what I felt about this camera either! Ugly or cool? I was strangely attracted to this one and still regret not picking one up just for the sake of its oddity. And what does that say about me?

And on the Leica front, 2 new M-cameras have been announced, the M and the M-E. The M-E is the stripped-down economy version of the M9 and will sell for around $4500 for the body. The M is intended to replace the M9 and will have a new 24 MP sensor with live view, focus peaking, an optional EVF viewfinder, and will sell for a bit over $6000 for the body. It's hard to understand the logic behind Leica's new naming scheme. I mean, I get the M-E, since "E" stands for Economy, but going with just the M leaves me somewhat mystified. Why isn't it the M10? Are they intending that this is the last "M" model? What about other models down the road? Will all of them be called the "M"? How will we tell them apart? So many questions!

New Sony Cameras Announced, plus a couple of other cameras!

Just before Photokina, the world's largest photographic trade-show, opens, Sony has announced several new cameras. The most interesting of the bunch is the RX-1, a full-frame (35mm sensor) compact camera with a fixed 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T lens. It views through the LCD screen on the back, but there will be optional optical finders and clip-on LCD monitors that you'll be able to attach to it. It has a 24 MP sensor and the ISO can be set anywhere from 50 to 102,400 and will be able to shoot at 5 frames per second. Like the Fuji X-100, this camera is aimed at the Henri Cartier-Bresson crowd or at least those photographers who tend toward street shooting and spontaneous snapshooting. And I don't mean to denigrate that term. I imagine RX-1 will be small, discrete, and produce very fine images, though the asking price around $2800 will put this camera out of the reach of a lot of photographers. Seems kind of high for basically a point-and-shoot pocket digicam, but I'm looking forward to checking it out. It is beautiful.

The next camera from Sony shares the same 24 MP full-frame sensor and that is the SLT-A99. Like the recent SLR offerings from Sony, this will not have an optical viewfinder, but will use an internal, electronic, high-resolution XGA OLED Tru-Finder with 100% coverage. Most folks are highly satisfied with the new Sony viewing systems. It will also use the Translucent Mirror System, where the mirror stays locked in the down position and you shoot through the semi-transparent mirror when photographing. The SLT-A99 will sell around $2700 for the body by itself.

Up next is the NEX-6, which is placed in the NEX line of cameras between the top of the line NEX-7 and the amateur-oriented NEX-5R. So it has an built-in EVF viewfinder in addition to the rear-screen LCD and uses a 16 MP sensor, and it will be priced somewhere between the two cameras, as well. It should sell for less than a $1000 for the body and the basic 16-50mm zoom lens.

And last, but not least, is the NEX-VG900 interchangeable lens video camera with a 24 MP full-frame 35mm CMOS APS-C sensor. It will use the standard Sony A-mount lenses from its SLR line and the body will sell for around $3,300. I think this is the first dedicated video camera with this large a sensor, though I could be wrong about that. This should be of interest to filmmakers. They are also announcing another video camera, the NEX-VG30, which uses the smaller APS-C 16 MP sensor and their E-mount lenses. The VG30 body will sell for about $1800.

And wrapping up the good news today, Hasselblad has a new camera to announce, the H5D. You'll be able to get it in 40, 50, and 60 MP single-shot versions, or even up to a 200 MP multi-shot version. And the price will be too high. Also Fuji is announcing the X-E1, another interchangeable lens camera which uses the same lenses as the X-Pro1, but only has the internal electronic viewfinder and not the hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder of the X-Pro1. But the X-E1 is sleek and beautiful and should be a picture-taking machine for around $1000 for the body and $1400 with the new 18-55mm f/2.8 lens. Fuji is definitely on a roll these days.

New Leica Camera

Well, actually there are a few new cameras that have been announced from Leica. There is the V-Lux40, a 20x compact digicam. The X2 with a 16 MP sensor and a 36mm equivalent f/2.8 lens that will sell for around $2000. The limited edition, deluxe M9-P Hermes, which is the regular M9-P, but with silver chrome finish and ocre-colored calfskin trim. It will come with matching 50mm lens and a matching calfskin strap for $25,000. There's also a three lens kit with a Hermes camera bag for $50,000, if you want to go all the way.

The "big" news is the M-Monochrom, a variant of the M9-P. As its name implies, the M-Monochrom will be a black-and-white only digital camera. Its 18 MP sensor will not capture any color info and because of that, it will have extended ISO settings up to 10,000 ISO, the regular M9-P only goes up to 2,500, and it will be capable of capturing substantially higher resolution. The M-Monochrom body will sell for a bit less than $8000.

So is this the ultimate black-and-white shooting machine? Maybe. Purists will likely applaud this move as it allows photographers to shoot as if they were using B&W film and use color filters like they used to do. But it's definitely a niche camera with limited appeal among most photographers. But then you could say that about most Leica cameras. And the price will keep it out of the hands of most photographers, as it is for most Leica products. As a long time B&W photographer, I've come to appreciate the flexibility of digital when it comes to creating B&W images, like being able to individually adjust the tonal response of colors within a scene, similar to how colored filters change tonal relationships in B&W film, but being able to manipulate several different colors at once. You could never do that with film and I like that ability. Anyway, kudos to Leica for going their own way and not being afraid to try something different, even if it is a bit old fashioned.