A Closer Look at the Fuji X-M1

I mentioned this new camera, the Fuji X-M1, the other day, but I didn't really look at it all that carefully. Seemed at first glance to be just another boring camera, but maybe I was still reacting to Leica's X Vario/ Mini-M debut. So now after reading up on it a bit more, it turns out to be more interesting than it first appeared. The X-M1 continues the updated retro look of the other X-series cameras, like the X-Pro1, X-E1, and the X100S. While it is true that it doesn't feature an optical or LCD viewfinder or manual-oriented dials and switches, it manages to fit in with the rest of the X family quite nicely.

I like the new selection of colors it will be offered in and I really like the smaller size. That's a direct benefit of leaving off the viewfinder; you can cut down on the size of the body. People are now used to using the rear LCD screen for composing anyway. And I like that it uses the same 16 MP sensor as the two models above it in the line-up. So people can approach the X-M1 in at least two ways. You can see as the entry-level camera that it can be used like; its controls are intended for easy full-auto and point-and-shoot use. Or you can see it as a back-up body or stroll-around camera that will deliver images nearly identical to those produced by its higher-priced and bigger siblings. Plus, it has built-in WiFi for connecting and downloading images to your phone. And the prices is pretty good. The X-M1 body goes for $699 and the kit with the new 16-50mm zoom lens goes for $799. This is a smart, well-considered camera offered at an attractive price point. Fuji continues to follows its own lead in matters of camera design and execution, and I think they deserve a lot of praise for that. I wonder what they have planned for next?

News From Around the Web

Sigma announced the price of the upcoming APS-C zoom, the 18-35mm f/1.8 HSM Art lens, and it's a bit of a surprise. It will sell for $799, which is something of a steal. I know that $800 is still $800, but considering that Canon's new 35mm f/2 IS USM lens goes for $850, the price of the Sigma zoom looks pretty good. Not much has been seen of this lens, but lens tests are starting to show up and reports are very positive. Sigma is becoming a lens company to watch, that is for sure.

Fuji will announce a new camera in its X-series, called the X-M1. It's a smaller, less expensive model, more of an entry level one, to fit in with their X-E1 and X-Pro1 cameras. This picture shows it with their new lens, a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS. It won't have a built-in viewfinder, instead, viewing is done through the LCD screen on the back, like other P&S's.

Finally, Samsung is really upsetting the old apple cart these days! Get it? Apple cart? Phones? Oh, well. Anyway, Samsung is announcing a couple of new products that illustrate the merging of medias and technologies. First, the have the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which combines a real 10x zoom lens 16 MP OIS camera with a smartphone. So instead of a smartphone with a built-in camera, you have a camera with a built-in smartphone. We can only hope it works well as a phone when you want to make a call. Still, it would be nice to always have a decent camera with you. I'll be checking this one out.

And then Samsung takes it further, in announcing the Galaxy NX, an interchangeable lens 20.3 MP sensor mirrorless camera with a 4.8-inch touch screen that uses the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and has 3G and 4G WiFi connectivity. While it isn't a smartphone, you will use it like one. Post your pictures to Instagram. And you'll be able to stream and watch movies on your camera. And surf the Web. Wow.

That Old Blackmagic Does It Again!

Blackmagic Designs from Australia  have announced a new Micro 4/3s based point-and-shoot camera designed for movie making, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. The specs are impressive: Super 16 sensor size, dynamic range of 13 stops, SD card recording, choice of ProRez 422 or lossless CinemaDNG recording formats, uses the Micro 4/3s lens mount, and records in 1080HD resolution at either 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30 fps. This pocket-sized movie camera is designed to go where a full-sized camera cannot fit and promises to deliver nearly the same image quality. And the price will be around $995 for the body! Not bad at all.

They've also announced an updated version of their regular cinema camera, to be called the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K, that will have full 4K resolution, has a Canon EF compatible lens mount, and will sell for $3,995 (body alone). Considering the cost of a RED camera, that's pretty good.

New Cameras from Lomography

 Lomography has announced an interesting camera, the Belair X 6-12. As you can see, it's a folding camera with some cool features. It uses medium format 120 film and can shoot in 3 different formats: 6x6 cm, 6x9 cm, and 6x12 cm. It has interchangeable lenses with 2 initial offerings, a 90mm normal lens and a 58mm wide-angle lens. They are say they are developing more lenses for this camera. It also uses aperture priority automatic exposure with ISO settings from 50 to 1600.

It will have zone focusing and combined with the f-stops of the lenses, your images should be sharp. For instance, the both lenses have maximum apertures of f/8 and then will stop down to f/16. When you choose the distance of your subject from these 4 choices: 1 meter, 1.5 meters, 3 meters, and infinity; you should have adequate depth of field.

There are 3 models to choose from, the Globetrotter, the Jetsetter, and the Cityslicker. Pictured above is the Globetrotter, which will run around $400 with both lenses. That's a pretty good deal, but they are only making 300 of this particular camera model with the "brown snake-style" leather trim. And if you order from Lomography now, you can get a 30% discount on this special model. I'd like to take a closer look at these cameras. You can read more about them here.

A New Paradigm for Photography?

So Nikon has announced a new point-and-shoot digicam, the Coolpix S800c. What sets it apart and why it possibly signals a significant change in photography is the fact that is the first, at least as far as I know, Android-powered camera. Android, as in the mobile phone operating system. So the S800c will have Wi-Fi, GPS, full HD-video, a 16 MP sensor, and a 10X optical zoom (25-250mm equivalent) and you will be able to upload instantly all your stills and videos to the social media platform of your choice. I  would assume, though I could be wrong, that you can also run Instagram and other similar apps on this camera, too. It will be priced around $350.00.

Through most of the history of still photography, the end product has always been physical prints on paper. With the rise of social media, more people are interested in posting their images online and never seeing prints of their photos. This camera addresses this change and I expect more cameras will follow suit. For myself, most of my casual, everyday photos are done with my Droid phone through Instagram and posted on Instagram (Hermonator), Facebook, and Twitter (Hermonator56). Sharing photos through social media is where the medium is going and Nikon is smart to give us a camera that will handle it. Good job, Nikon.

UPDATE: Samsung is rumored to be working on a Galaxy-based camera, which uses the Android OS. Since Photokina is this year, there's a chance it might debut at the show. I'm sure we'll see more of these cameras.

Canon News

Item 1: The big news is that Canon has finally jumped into the mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera market with the EOS M. The EOS M features an 18 MP APS-C sensor with full HD video capabilities and will ship in a kit in October with the EOS M 22mm f/2 STM lens for around $799.95. If you remember from an earlier post, Canon's new STM lenses offer full-time, noiseless autofocus even during video recording. The EOS M will be offered in four colors: black, white, silver, and red. It's not clear exactly how big or small the camera is, but if the lens mount is any clue, it should be around the size of comparable cameras like the Panasonic GX-1, or maybe just a touch smaller. The new lens mount is significantly smaller than the standard Canon EF and EF-S lens mounts and Canon will start out with 2 lenses for the EOS M: the 22mm f/2 (which is equivelent to a 35mm lens) and an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM. Canon will also have a lens mount adapter so you can use their regular line of EF and EF-S lenses.

I think the price is right and if the size is right, this could be an excellent camera for a lot of photographers. It could definitely function as a back-up to a bigger system, or as a pocket-sized alternative to a bigger system. Canon is kind of late to the party with this camera, so it's hard to predict how people will respond to it. I know that I am looking forward to seeing it in person and seeing how it shoots. Color me interested.

Update: After looking at a few promo videos of the new EOS M, it looks like it is being aimed at the casual or amateur photographer. It has a touch screen that is used for most operations on the camera. There are very few physical buttons and controls on the camera. While this will appeal to a lot of potential buyers, and there is nothing wrong with this, it will be a definite turn-off for most serious photographers. Having to go through touch-screen menus to choose an aperture will limit the use and appeal of this one for pros. Plus, at least for now, there is no option for an in-camera viewfinder. I wish Canon had debuted a model with more pro-features than this one. Kind of a bone-headed move, if you ask me. Color me not so interested, now.

     

Shot with the EOS M with the 22mm f/2 STM lens.

Item 2: Ilford and Canon are teaming up to offer folks a chance to have one of their images printed on Ilford Galerie Prestige papers (Smooth Gloss 310 gsm and Smooth Pearl 310 gsm) using 3 different Canon printers: the Pixma PRO-1, the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II, and the Pixma Pro9000 Mark II. If you are interested in seeing how Canon printers perform, this is a great opportunity. For myself, I am currently using the Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II and am quite happy with it. I know Epson has the majority of the inkjet market locked up, but you won't lose anything by printing with a Canon printer, that's for sure. To read the details and take advantage of the offer (it's good till September 30th), go to www.TryMyPhoto.com.

Item 3: This is more in the realm of rumor, but Canon is supposed to announce in the near future a new full-frame, entry-level camera. From what I've heard, it will be more like a full-frame Rebel than a 5D Mark III. It will be smaller, lighter, and use more plastic in the construction. The interesting part of the camera is that it is supposed to sell for around $2000. And suddenly the higher than expected price of the 5D Mark III starts to make sense. When the Mark III came out at $3500, people were surprised and dismayed. It seemed like too much of a jump in price from the Mark II for too little gain. But with the new camera coming out, having a full-frame camera that is nearly $1500 less than the Mark III almost guarantees that people will snatch these up in a heart beat. Having a smaller and lighter camera with the new 40mm pancake lens might be the perfect combo for street shooting and photojournalism. At this point, I'm not really sure how I feel about this. Of course, as I said, this is more of a rumor for now. We'll see what happens later.

Schneider Jumps into the Micro 4/3 Market

Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH, based in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, has announced they will now be building lenses for the Micro 4/3 platform. The first one to come to market will be a Super Angulon 14mm f/2 wide angle lens. It will feature autofocus and auto aperture control, and will sell in the US for around $2000.00. Schneider Kreuznach is one of photography's oldest and most respected optical manufacturers and the fact that are building lenses to fit Panasonic and Olympus cameras is really interesting and encouraging for the format. That price puts it out of reach for most photographers, but I think it's a positive development overall. Interesting times, indeed.

What Do We Call Micro 4/3 Cameras?

Yesterday, a friend of mine, Kim, pointed out an infuriating and bone-headed mistake he caught in a recent B&H catalog. I think this mistake is a good illustration of why the problem of creating a new class and format of camera, and then not having a good name for it, is a real challenge. Lots of mistakes and misinformation can result. In a short essay explaining the differences between DSLRs, like the Nikon D800, and the newer Micro 4/3s cameras like the Olympus E-P3 or the Panasonic GX1, they labelled the new cameras as "Mirrorless DSLRs." It's almost like they don't know what "SLR" stands for, which is a profound bit of nonsense that can only confuse people. It is about the same as calling digital cameras, "filmless film cameras." It just really doesn't make sense.

In the 20th Century, several camera formats came into being. View cameras meant that you view straight through the camera, seeing the direct image projected by the camera lens. TLR, or Twin Lens Reflex, meant that there were 2 lenses on the camera, one for taking pictures and one for viewing. The "Reflex" part of the name referred to the mirror that reflected the image from the viewing lens upwards into a ground glass screen so that the photographer looked straight down into the camera as they used it. Rangefinder cameras referred to the rangefinder mechanism linked to the lens focusing which superimposed two images, so that when an object's two images lined up, that meant the focus for that object and distance was achieved. And finally, there were SLRs, which stood for Single Lens Reflex. These cameras were the mainstay of most photographers and combined the aspects of the other focusing methods into one usable and flexible style. In an SLR, the photographer looked through the taking lens, the image from that lens was reflected by a mirror into a ground glass screen and then channeled through a glass pentaprism and other glass elements to the photographer's eye. The term "Reflex" referred to the mirror used to reflect the image into a ground glass screen. In cameras, "Reflex" always refers to a mirror, and that is why calling a camera a Mirrorless DSLR is so ridiculous.

Since the advent of digital cameras, the "D" was added in front of SLR to mean a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera and that is fine. But we don't have an easy and simple designation for the new format of cameras, even though many companies are making them. Sometimes they are called "mirrorless cameras," which is okay but kind of vague. None of the digital point-and-shoots have mirrors, either, but they aren't really the same kind or level of camera, so that could be confusing. Some people have even suggested calling this new format, EVIL, which stands for Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. While clever, it seems like a marketing nightmare guaranteed to alienate certain folks. Who wants an EVIL camera? I guess I'd suggest a variation of SLR, which would be SLM, or Single Lens Mirrorless. It's simple and fits the nature of the cameras in question. From now on, that's what I'll be calling them. And B&H? Come on, you can do better than that!

P&S Camera Recommendations - Updated!

Sorry about the lateness on this, but here are the recommended cameras from Digital Photography Review (www.dpreview.com). This is the short and sweet version, but for the complete run-down on all the cameras, please go to their excellent site. The cameras are listed in order of preference, from most recommended to merely highly recommended, in this case. You won’t lose in picking any of these cameras.

Best Budget Cameras (under$150.00):
Sony Cyber-Shot W120
Panasonic Lumix LZ8
(My runner-up: the Canon PowerShot A590 IS)

Best Ultra Compact Cameras:
Tie for 1st: Canon PowerShot SD 790 IS and the Panasonic DMC-FX37
Runners-up: Sony T700 and the Nikon S210

Premium Compact Cameras:
Fujifilm F100fd
Canon PowerShot SD 880 IS

Enthusiast Compact Cameras:
Panasonic LX3
Highly Recommended: Canon Powershot SX110 IS and the Panasonic TZ5
(My recommendation: the Canon Powershot G10)

For the Enthusiast category, I see the Panasonic LX3 and the Canon PowerShot G10 as the best choices, with each having different strengths. The LX3 has the equivalent of a 24mm wide-angle lens (which is great), but it only zooms up to 60mm, which for most people isn’t enough telephoto. But its lens also has a wide f-stop at f/2. These days, that’s unusual. The G10 is more of an all-around choice. Its lens is the equivalent of a 28 – 140mm zoom. That’s darn near perfect for an all-purpose carry-around camera. The G10 also has a 15 mp sensor, while the LX3 has a 10 mp sensor. And the LX3 is much better in low light situations and high ISO settings than the G10. They’re both good cameras, but they are also very different from each other. Noticeably missing from DP’s list is Nikon. Nikon is devoting more energy towards SLRs than P&Ss, but with the rapidly dropping prices of SLRs, that kind of makes sense. Anyway, if you are looking for a new P&S camera, any of these deserve a closer look. Cheers.

And now:

This is a bit late for the Holidays, but their Super Zoom category, which is the fifth and last of the group P&S camera tests, was just published these yesterday (1-15-2009). These are cameras with wide-range 10X to 20X zooms and image stabilization features of one sort or another, like the Canon SX10 IS with a lens that is, equivalent in 35mm terms, a 28 – 560mm zoom. This sort of camera is a carry-all type of camera that will handle most if not all of your photographic needs.

Super Zoom Cameras:
Tie for 1st: Canon SX10 IS and the Panasonic FZ28
Recommended: Olympus SP-565UZ

It’s also interesting to note how many Panasonic cameras made their lists. Panasonic is one of the newest camera brands and not very long ago no one could have predicted how well they would be doing now. The switch from film to digital has certainly shaken things up in the camera business, to say the least.