Every two years, photographers and gear heads alike gather eagerly to see what we should spend our money on next: it’s the circus of Photokina. Today’s post is a collection of thoughts on the more notable new announcements.
Nikon
Unquestionably, the release everybody has been waiting for is the D750. I’m still not sure it’s the successor to the D700, though: it remains to be seen whether the body is more D610 or more D810 – the D700 was definitely in the latter camp. I honestly don’t see myself (or most D800/810 users) buying one, though – unless the ergonomics or build-feel are exceptional. Good to finally see a tilting screen, but why did they leave the AA filter in? A very curious decision given the trend at the high end to exclude it in order to get the most out of the (limited) native lens selection. The 20/1.8 G also looks interesting for documentary work; as much as I love my Zeiss 2.8/21 Distagon, it can be difficult to focus manually because of the shallow depth of field transition, and an extra 1.3 stops is an extra 1.3 stops. I find it curious that we’re still missing a D810 sensor in a D4 body, though – surely this would be the undisputed king of the hill? I still believe there are significant ergonomic advantages to the built in grip.
Canon
It appears the maximum pixel count for Canons remains in the low 20-something region, for four years now. Whether this is because the ace up their sleeve is still not ready for prime time or because their management is being conservative (or very possibly because none of their lenses will hold up wide open to 36MP+), we will just speculate. The 7DII lacks 4K video, which is rather surprising given how video-focused Canon is – or perhaps they’re trying to protect the Cinema EOS line. Frankly, the G7X with 1″ sensor and 24-100/1.8-2.8 zoom is more interesting – though one can’t help but feel it’s a ‘me-too’ product to compete against the RX100III, which has far more features. There are also a couple of new lenses, including a small 24mm pancake to match the 40mm (though sadly APS-C only). Still, it would be an interesting travel option to have a small, high-quality DSLR with a pancake lens only kit…
Zeiss
The big news is of course the Otus 1.4/85, which I’ve reviewed already here. Together with the 55, the Otus line really sets a new benchmark for lenses; both in image quality, and unfortunately also size. They also released a long-announced 1.4/35 for Leica M mount; I had the chance to handle one while shooting with Lloyd Chambers earlier this week, but didn’t shoot with it. The data looks promising, though, and the size/weight/price are very reasonable for a lens of this specification. I would ignore the Sony mount manual focus Loxia line – they are re-mounted/re-shelled ZMs, and lose AF compared to the native FE glass. My guess is they are really geared towards cinematographers and video who need the mechanical focusing rings and declickable aperture.
Leica
Leica announced a lot of new products, some interesting, some not. Cutting through the rebadged Panasonics, $4,500 bags, limited edition digital cameras with a silly price, no LCD and serious practical issues (how do you even know if it took the picture – especially with Leica’s history of card corruption?) etc. the most interesting two releases were the very quiet S type 007, and the new X. The X now has a f1.7 lens, sensibly maintains that excellent Sony 16MP APS-C sensor – I believe this is the best of the APS-C sensors currently – and I have to admit, I have a weakness for the way the thing looks – especially in silver with brown leather. Shame there’s no EVF though. The S maintains the 37.5MP pixel count of the outgoing model but is now CMOS (no doubt CMOSIS) with 4K video (!), live view, and an ISO 6400 limit. Too bad the pixel count didn’t increase, because the S lenses remain the best in the business for medium format, and the only lenses of any type that can really bring the fight to the Otuses. Unfortunately, other than 4K video, I think it still has a tough time against the D810/Otus combination on the image quality and features front: nearly identical resolution, lower FPS, poorer AF, and an eye-wateringly high price. But those lenses…
Panasonic
Aside from 4K firmware for the FZ1000 super zoom, Panasonic had two interesting new hardware releases: the LX100, a fixed-lens, M4/3 camera, and the GM5 – both very different approaches to the same challenge of the quality-vs-size tradeoff. One assumes that the lens on the LX100 – 24-75/1.7-2.8 equivalent – is probably better than the equivalents available for the GM5. It’s quite possible that would be all the camera most people would need; however, resolution is somewhat limited to ~13MP effective as Panasonic chose to maintain the variable aspect ratio of the LX series – the diagonal angle of view remains the same, but the horizontal does not. I think the GM5 is the more interesting solution simply because it’s not much larger than the already microscopic GM1, but now adds an EVF – thereby significantly increasing the shooting envelope simply through stability. One only hopes that the EVF is actually usable, not the tiny drinking-straw fitted to the RX100III. Finally, there’s also an Android-based smartphone with a 1″ sensor – if you decide you don’t feel like carrying a telephone AND a GR…
Fuji
Not much of interest here: a mildly warmed-over X100T, another color of XT-1, an X30 and a couple of lenses. The X30 has now grown so large you might as well get a small mirrorless camera instead. If I display a palpable lack of enthusiasm for Fuji, it’s mainly because whilst they build a great camera body – the X-T1’s ergonomics are superb, barring flat buttons – the lenses are merely good, and they still haven’t really addressed the workflow problem. ACR still does a terrible job with the files, and Silkypix is still unusable for a professional workflow and large quantity of images. I think it’s very telling that a lot of the ‘pros’ who use Fuji do not shoot raw. Shooting JPEG leaves far too much image quality on the table.
Samsung
Samsung continues to be stubbornly stalwart about the photography market: they’re pouring endless resources in creating new products, some pretty decent (Schneider-designed) lenses and at least in Asia, a ton of marketing. But I’ve still yet to see anybody carry one locally – surely somebody must be buying them? You have to admire them for their perseverance, at any rate. The NX1 has a new BSI-CMOS for its APSC sensor, and 205 PDAF points across the frame; BSI sensors are normally used in small photosite applications where the read circuitry takes up too much of the light collection area; by relegating this to the back of the chip, photosensitive area is increased and performance improved. I’m not convinced it’s going to make that much of a difference on a larger pixel pitch, but every bit helps, I suppose.
Sony
A couple of new lenses – and that’s about it. Moving on…
Olympus
A disappointing – but not surprising showing. We got the previously announced 40-150/2.8 M.Zuiko PRO to match the 12-40/2.8; a 1.4x TC to go with it, a minor firmware update, a silver E-M1 body and that’s about it. The lens is larger than expected, but then again, it is a 80-300/2.8 equivalent, extending to 110-420/4 – should be great for sport and wildlife if performance is as good as the 12-40. The rumoured 4K firmware/ device did not show, nor is there a fix for the shutter resonance issue between 1/160-1/350s other than single frame and EFC, which we had previously. This still severely cripples the E-M1, in my opinion. However, what IS rather intriguing is the open-source M4/3 camera module – I’m sure this will pave the way for some interesting applications…I can see myself using an array of perhaps 12 of these as an incredibly high resolution single-capture device, for instance. Or perhaps for interesting motion work…let us hope it also includes the 5-axis IS system.
Tamron
15-30/2.8 full frame with stabiliser, anybody? Optics remain to be seen, of course – and the prototype looks enormous, but still, they must be given credit for trying.
Sigma
I honestly though the cleverest product at the entire show came out of this company: it isn’t the DP1 Quattro, nor is it the 18-something super zooms or the warmed over super tele zooms: it’s the clip-on finder for the LCD. This instantly solves two problems for the vast majority of live view cameras: firstly, accurate focus; secondly, stability. You no longer have to hold the camera at arms’ length, and you have a much larger view than if you’d included an EVF. Plus it’s detachable. Unfortunately, it does nothing to improve the camera’s ergonomics. I’ve personally given up on Nikon’s viewfinders for adequate focusing with the Otuses, and am using a Zacuto 2.5x Pro cine-finder on the D810 with live view instead – using that, I can pull focus on moving objects at f1.4 anywhere in the frame with an 80% hit rate, with critical sharpness. By comparison, I manage perhaps 30% in the centre using the optical finder, which has a custom micro prism screen, and has also been shimmed/ aligned. Go figure. Now if only more manufacturers would offer that option!
Wrap up
Now we must take a step back and objectively look at what all of this means for the industry: traditional, small-sensor compacts were notably absent for the most part. They’ve been well and truly killed off by the cameraphone, not just in the hardware department, but also ease of use and processing horsepower. Social media was the final nail in the coffin. I suspect we’re not going to be seeing any more of these. Replacing them has been the class of cameras with larger sensors and matched/fixed lenses: these offer significantly improved image quality over the camera phones, and really demonstrate why the sensor must also be considered an optical device now – the lens pairing matters enormously. I believe that a good matched lens-sensor combination – the GR, for instance, or the Sigma Merrils – can effectively out resolve a poor combination with 1.5-2x the pixel count. And you don’t suffer from diffraction, size or processing overhead, either.
With this class of camera, the niches are also slowly being filled: camera companies are going to have to work even harder to part enthusiasts with their money (the Olympus module camera is an example of good lateral thinking), because the need to upgrade purely on numbers is pretty much gone. It has to be done on emotion and impulse – which is why I suspect the retro-styled cameras are doing so well; those who handled them in their youth are now able to relive that. It will be interesting to see how that design thread proceeds for the next generation, who will have about as much affinity to the traditional SLR design as the current one does to the Box Brownie. On that note, I honestly believe the optical finder’s days are numbered: Not because the view is any better through an EVF; it’s close, but still not there – but more because of practical issues like focusing and the cost of making a finder that can compete in size and brightness. I believe Sigma is showing us a glimpse of a very practical future here.
I suspect a lot of photographers are suffering from product fatigue: too many new releases, but nothing particularly exciting. To compensate, manufacturers are making even more products – but fewer that are really well thought through, which exacerbates the cycle. Nikon and Canon appear to have stopped innovating long ago; the other manufacturers are rushing products not ready for market – look at Sony and Olympus’ shutter vibration issues, for instance. Of all of the announcements, the only two that have me reaching for my wallet are the Zeiss 85 Otus, and the Olympus Module Camera – but even that’s not ready for sale yet. My accountant will be please…MT
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Filed under: Gearhead: Reviews 
