Digital Bolex D16 Footage Has Been Seen

I have to admit that the news about this camera has seemed to pass me by, even though it's been talked about for almost 2 years. It's still not quite available, but Bolex has made some footage from the new camera available to view on their website. The low light capabilities are impressive.

This camera is supposed to sell for less than a new Canon 5D Mark III and it seems to fit a similar niche that the Blackmagic cinema cameras do. And it can mount a wider range of lenses and shoots RAW footage, so that is all good. But what is that crank on the side of the camera for? And I even like 1950s Space Age aesthetic to the design. Retro and Modern at the same time. Go to Bolex here to watch the sample videos and learn more about it.

Olympus Introduces Its New Flagship Camera

Olympus has introduced a new camera, the OM-D E-M1. Like the already existing E-M5, the E-M1 is a Micro Four-Thirds camera styled after DSLRs, but this one is intended to be their new top of the line model. It will have a 16 MP sensor and a host of features, like dust-, splash-, and freeze-proof construction, tilting touchscreen LCD, 2.36 MP EVF viewing, 5-axis image stabilization, PC sync terminal, full HD video, built-in WiFi, focus peaking, 10 fps shooting, and something new called Color Creator, which allows the user to adjust color from the top of the camera. Interesting. It seems like the added grip is a good idea for this camera. The original OM-D E-M5 has always felt a little small to me, so a bigger grip would help that.

 

The body alone will run around $1400 and for around $1950, you can get the E-M1 with the new M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens, which is weather sealed, features a constant aperture of f/2.8, and which is equivalent to a 24-80mm lens in full-frame terms. Olympus also has another PRO lens in the works, an M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO, which is equivalent to an 80-300mm lens. With these new offerings, Olympus is creating a pro-level system that will be a real competitor to full frame camera systems from Nikon and Canon, and competition is good for everyone, of course.

"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.

New Olympus Pen Cameras

Olympus, even with their financial woes, has been stepping up their game in the last few years. And now they're introducing a couple of new cameras. The first is a mid-range model, the E-PL6, but the real news is a new top of the line PEN camera, the E-P5. It will be available in three colors, Chrome, White, and Black, and it has the same 16 MP sensor that the popular OM-D EM-5 uses. In fact, the E-P5 seems to compete with the EM-5 in a lot of ways. Both have all metal construction and five-axis image stabilization, but the EM-5 is weather sealed and has a built-in electronic viewfinder. On the other hand, the E-P5 is the current champ in focusing speed and includes built-in Wi-Fi. The E-P5 is a bit smaller, but that difference diminishes when you put the accessory electronic viewfinder VF-4 on the camera. The styling of the new E-P5 is an obvious nod to the original PEN half-frame cameras, which is nice. Looks like Olympus is still on a roll and being a long-time Olympus user, I'm glad they're still going strong. The E-P5 is a classy looking camera.

Sigma Lens gets Price and Availability

Sigma announced this lens a while back, the 60mm f/2.8 DN Art Lens, but now we have more info on it. It will carry a very reasonable price tag of $239 and will be available to buy starting in mid-May, which is just around the corner. The new Art series of lenses from Sigma stress sharpness and overall image quality, so that is why they are introducing so many fixed focal length lenses. The recent announcement of the 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens was an exception. The 60mm f/2.8 DN is made for mirrorless camera formats like Micro 4/3s and Sony E-mount. like the already available 19mm f/2.8 DN and 30mm f/2.8 DN lenses. For M4/3s, it will be equivalent to a 120mm lens and for the E-mount system, it will function as a 90mm lens. It's compact, sure to have exceptional image quality, and is inexpensive as well. What's not to like?

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 Stuff!

Fotodiox has announced the availability of an interesting alternative for photographers looking to create high resolution, 645 medium format, digital images without spending $30,000 and up. The RhinoCam is made for Sony NEX cameras and uses those cameras as a digital back that is moved into predetermined positions letting the photographer take several images that can be combined or stitched together into one 140+ MP photograph in a program like Photoshop . It uses medium format lenses from Hasselblad V, Pentax, and Mamiya, and has a sliding focusing screen for focusing and composing the image. The RhinoCam sells for $500. This could be a good option for some people. Landscape and architectural photography would work nicely with a system like this.

Also, Sigma has released the prices of a few of their new lenses. Both the new 19mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8 for M4/3 and Sony E-mount will sell for $199 each, and the APS-C digital lens, the 30mm f/1.4 in Sigma, Canon, and Nikon mounts will sell for $499.

Lenses, Lenses, Lenses!

Sigma announced a few lenses, which include two updated lenses and one brand new lens for Micro Four/Thirds and Sony E-mount, and one updated lens for APS-C digitals.

The two updated MFT/E lenses are the 19mm f/2.8 and the 30mm f/2.8. The first renditions of these two lenses were somewhat under the radar for most photogs, but the people who bought seemed to love them. They had some seriously good image quality. The new lens in this group is the 60mm f/2.8,which is the equivalent to an 120mm lens for MFT and 90mm for the E-mount. With its minimum focusing distance of just under 20 inches, this will make a very nice portrait lens, and like the other two, will be small and portable.

The other lens for Sigma is a new version of their 30mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C digitals, which makes it more or less a normal lens for that format. The previous model was known for its high quality images, especially in its smooth out of focus foregrounds and backgrounds, or bokeh. I'm sure this version will continue this same quality.

Also of interest from Sigma is something called a USB Dock, which attaches to your computer and when you attach the right Sigma lens to it, you can update its firmware and adjust its focusing, in both accuracy and speed. Not all Sigma lenses will work with the USB Dock, but the new 30mm f/1.4 will, once it is available.

And finally from Tokina is a new lens for APS-C cameras, the AT-X 12-28mm f/4 PRO DX lens. It replaces the 12-24mm f/4, which is a lens I owned and used and loved. It was a very fine lens and I'm sure the new version is just as good.

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!