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Game Changers
1. krayker19 March 2010, 4:53 GMT +01:00
The Digital Rebel from Canon was a game changer several years back with the entry level sub-1000 dollar DSLR. That category has seen explosive growth for the past several years. After a few years there's been little innovation there except for small improvements. The camera manufacturers still have a comfortable positions - companies like Nikon and canon have pretty much responded only with small iterations.
Enter micro 4/3rds, and we have news that this new category of cameras are gaining ground, and would be one front that will attack the dominance of Canon & Nikon in the DSLR/ Large sensor market.
Enter Samsung NX10 with the APS-C sensor and no mirror/ prism. Samsung has also thrown in an adapter that will accomodate just about any lens you can throw at it - well, almost. Will other manufacturer's respond with their versions of the same ? Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, all stand to gain market share and will break the dominance of the big brands which pretty much control the big buck spending - the lenses.
What are your thoughts about the same ? Will it be able to shake things up or Canon/ Nikon move swiftly to counter it ? Will we ever move towards open standards for lenses ?
2. crisderaud19 March 2010, 5:38 GMT +01:00
Here's a good one:
Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Rangefinder with Leica Lenses
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/panasonic-micro-four-thirds-rangefinder-with-leica-lenses/
3. krayker19 March 2010, 17:15 GMT +01:00
What i like about innovators like Panasonic, leica, and others is that they are not saddled by the legacy. Canon & Nikon have a turf to defend and they are lethargic. more competition is good for us. imagine - if not for the EVIL, and new guys like samsung making some radical changes - we'd never see beyond dslrs and some consumer cameras crammed with MEGApixels!
4. krayker9 April 2010, 4:46 GMT +02:00
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/samsungnx10/
preview of the camera by one of my favorite sites for all things digital cameras!
What I like about Samsung is that they are relatively new to this field, and yet they have taken up the courage to address an empty space. SLRs have been around for ages and the incumbents like nikon and canon changed very little and replaced the film with a sensor. But samsung with very little experience in building SLRs took a bold step, and are now pushing the incumbents to out innovate them. its good for us the customers, as competition would mean better prices and no stagnation in technology.
5. crisderaud9 April 2010, 6:53 GMT +02:00
Agreed! Looks like this niche market may go virile and attract the people who want quality, versatility and convenience. World economies have a lot to gain from advances in the technologies.
The Samsung name is a brand that I trust like Sony and 3M.
6. xymonau10 April 2010, 10:51 GMT +02:00
But their point and shoot cameras are awful. At least they were. I haven't seen a recent model.
7. lennie10 April 2010, 12:07 GMT +02:00
Also it's not the kind of review where you can actually see the results, the part that matters. That would have made it really useful. But if it's mostly electronics, I suspect it to be really good for price. All they need is more competition in the same space to drive the price down.
8. krayker10 April 2010, 16:42 GMT +02:00
@ 6. yeah, they've been very spotty in their products earlier, I've had a not so good experience with their optical drives. but these days they have really concentrated hard. LG and Samsung in particular have smashed the dominance of the incumbents in several markets in white goods and consumer electronics.
9. xymonau12 April 2010, 15:12 GMT +02:00
Something that frustrates me is that you can't try a camera and see the quality of the image until you pay for it. It should be possible to do this with digital cameras, but it's the same old same old. You get the thing home and you can be stuck with something awful.
10. krayker13 April 2010, 19:26 GMT +02:00
There's a remedy for it. a repository of images that will help you decide:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
11. krayker13 April 2010, 19:28 GMT +02:00
http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/09/house-season-finale-filmed-entirely-with-canon-5d-mark-ii/
An entire TV episode shot in a Canon 5d Mark II, now that's a game changer camera!
12. krayker13 April 2010, 19:29 GMT +02:00
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1004/10041203panasonicagaf100.asp
another one! This time its from Panasonic, a Micro Four-Thirds camcorder.
from the article:
"Capable of recording full 1080p HD videos at various frame rates, the AG-AF100 is compatible with the company's line up of Lumix G lenses, filters, and adapters. Building on the success of the DMC-GH1 camera with videographers, the company says this higher-end model is 'targeted at the video and film production communities.'"
13. crisderaud15 April 2010, 6:43 GMT +02:00
Adapters available to put the lenses that you have on four thirds cameras are made by Nouveau Novoflex Adapters.
Novoflex adapters are also available to adapt Nikon, Canon FD, Olympus OM, Pentax K,Universal M-42, and other lens mounts to standard FourThirds-format camera bodies. Novoflex also offers adapters designed to matePentax K optics to Leica 'M's, Canon FD optics to Leica 'M's, Nikon optics to Canon EOS bodies, Universal M42 optics to Canon EOs bodies, and Hasselblad CF optics to Contax 645 AF bodies to name a few
Check it out:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Nouveau-Novoflex-Adapters.jsp
14. crisderaud13 May 2010, 7:21 GMT +02:00
Here's another four thirds entry that looks promising.
Olympus E-PL1 Preview, February 2010
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusepl1/
15. crisderaud1 June 2010, 17:07 GMT +02:00
24 Hours with Sony's NEX-3 & NEX-5
These cameras are noticeably smaller than any of the 4/3-format mirror-less cams available and half the size and weight of most compact DSLRs. Compared to the average point-and-shoot, the oversize image sensor in the NEX models offers about 13 times the resolving power in a camera body that’s not much bulkier.
http://photography.bhinsights.com/content/24-hours-sonys-nex-3-nex-5.html
16. slonecker9 June 2010, 6:28 GMT +02:00
Give me any day a digital camera that largely mirrors Leica rangefinder film cameras, manual focus, manual aperture, manual shutter speed, manual ISO setting (equivalent, of course, since ISO specific sensors are not a realistic possibility), a full frame (a la 35mm) sensor, parallax correcting optical viewfinder, etc. They would be light, sleek, built like a brick, and consume battery power at a rate roughly equivalent to a full size auto that gets 100 MPG combined city and highway driving.
I know how to operate cameras, and, quite frankly, am a bit tired of all the doo-dads requiring operating manuals in the order of 100-200 pages. I know how to prefocus, use depth of field indicators and hyperfocal distance, relate aperture, shutter speed and ISO, etc.
In my view there really are times when less is more, and this reflects my preference with cameras of any type.
17. krayker20 June 2010, 10:17 GMT +02:00
Yeah Cris, some interesting new development with sony entering the fray.
one more news, samsung tl500, just launched - has a 24-72mm wide angle f1.8 lens, and a 1/1.7 sensor. this probably means samsung wants to climb up the value chain and produce better cameras. this will be good news. hopefully the end of megapixel races, hd video, image stabilization - we've seen them all - the races. we've reached a point of inflection, where we hopefully see companies vying to give us good quality images in consumer cams :)
18. crisderaud21 June 2010, 22:36 GMT +02:00
My Canon 30D works just great I wish it did have more megapixels and live view in the LCD. The live view would make framing shots from the tripod a lot easier.
I don't need or want the video functions.
I get slightly larger than 3000 by 2000 pixel shots and most of my stuff is close up where I can fully frame the subjects. Landscapes and cityscapes can use the high megapixel cameras to help capture the distant details.
I would like to have a 5D. The image quality is noticeably improved over the 30-40-50D.
19. krayker31 July 2010, 8:27 GMT +02:00
there's a new 3D tech thrown into the game, and Panasonic's going to introduce the 3d photography into the micro 4/3rds mix. they have a new lens that will fit their line of cameras. will be interesting to note how people will take that up. for now I feel, the market might not yet be ready. its only recently that people have been busy upgrading to better TVs. HD content is more common and people are upgrading their cameras and storage to support HD content. with the current economic environment - people are gingery to invest more in consumer devices that will mean more investment all over again, new lenses and cameras, new 3D TVs ( and worse plenty of 3D glasses for the family & friends to view)
20. crisderaud2 August 2010, 5:11 GMT +02:00
Camera like the ST100 and ST600 are why people love Samsung: The front-facing LCD screen, designed for self portraits, has ballooned to 1.8 inches for more precise framing of perfectly mopey Facebook profile photos.
http://gizmodo.com/5592580/samsungs-kinda-crazy-dual-screen-shooters-for-serious-profile-pictures-get-slightly-crazier
21. krayker3 August 2010, 8:12 GMT +02:00
on a humorous note, given the amount of narcissistic photos on social networking sites, I'd be surprised if companies hadn't come out with such a product!
