Homework Results Reviewed and Graded

No one does her homework like Thom Hogan. Thom asked readers to answer the simple question: send me the biggest problem you need solving. 

Thom summarised and commented on the responses to his question. It is a great read.

I think he nailed it in the below comment:

“I’m not going to belabor the point. Workflow is only going to be solved with software, both in the camera and out. I think most of you know what I think about most Japanese photographic software efforts to date. Moreover, it’s Silicon Valley that’s beating the drum that everyone has to march to. So here’s the solution to the problem: a Western-style design organization headquartered in Silicon Valley that’s driving the software side of cameras. The Japanese companies are already late to the game. In fact, the game is almost over and the other team is winning. It may be that the Japanese didn’t realize that there even was a game that they needed to play. ”

Japanese companies are not able to design and implement human-friendly software or interfaces. They are great at designing and implementing reliable electronics. That work needs to be offloaded to companies/regions that are proficient in design. 

I say this whilst charging yet another dead battery without which I am unable to turn on my fan, air conditioner, thermostat, etc.

CIPA: Always look on the bright side of life...

Thom Hogan on the projected sales CIPA interchangeable lens cameras:

“It really doesn’t matter how you interpret things, though. This just isn’t a strong picture we’re looking at here. Best case is that we see further decline in interchangeable lens cameras. That’s best case. And that’s from the most optimistic players in the room.

Still, CIPA’s press release just has me scratching my head: “It is highly expected that there will be a so-called step-up demand among users who first discover the joy of photography with low-end digital cameras and smartphones. That is, these users will gradually seek higher resolution and higher functionality that allows them to take photographic scenes that will never be possible with low-end products and so they purchase higher-end digital cameras to improve their photographic experience. In summary, shipments of digital cameras with an interchangeable lens are projected to show steady growth compared to that of digital cameras with a built-in lens.””

Source: The World According to CIPA

Compact & Thin

Today, Fujifilm announced a new 35mm XF R lens, whose f/2 aperture allows it to slim down from the fatty dimensions of its forebear. It looks great. It even more closely matches the rangefinder trappings of the X-Pro 1 and X-E series. This will be a first among the XF lens series. It will also be the first XF prime lens to bear marketing copy re: water resistance.

Funnily, however, Fujifilm X World have billed it as 'Compact & Thin', or alienated a majority of lenses in the XF line, all of which Fujifilm's inexpert advertising copy team bill like so:

“Compact Size, Lightweight, and Overall Feel, All Aimed at Producing Premium Image Quality and Unique Creations”

So which is it? Is it the new lens or the old lens that is compact? Fujifilm's original copy suggests that the two XF R lenses are being pitted, one against the other.

The takeaway: Fujifilm either mis-marketed, or lied re: the original 35mm, which isn't any more compact than its FF analogue. 

The good news is that that doesn't matter. With the release of the new XF 35/2 R lens, finally, faux-rangefinder X series cameras will have a fast, fully-featured, and compact, normal lens that does their styling, not to mention, size right. That said, the lighter of the two (they come in silver and black) has that hideous green tinge that all modern 'silver' lenses have. 

The new 35mm lens shows up on Fujifilm's lens X Mount Road Map.

Source: Fujifilm X World 
via: Fujirumors

Leica M & Canon 35/1,5 LTM: a sonsy couple

Next to the lithe X100s, the camera you see above is chunky, heavy, and in many ways, a woeful backward piece of technology. But then again, Leica's 35mm cameras do not pretend to the tech throne.

Nor do they make retro for retro's sake. They make beautiful, iterative designs, that focus first on utility, then on technology. The M is a well thought-out device that takes pictures, keeps menus simple, and does away with the ridiculous electronic noise and clackety clacks which are part and parcel to every other digital camera. 

Only Leica would dare make the M. And the M is a very welcoming entry into the world of digital Leicas.

The 35mm on its nose is Canon's classic 'Japanese Summilux', a speedy devil that weighs about 180g, and takes odd 48mm filters. It's got the awkward infinity lock, a 180º focus throw, and flare galore. It shoots very much like my favourite compact 35, the Canon 35/2 LTM, aka 'Japanese Summicron'.

Unfortunately, while Leica still make high quality mechanical objects, Canon no longer do. But the Japanese Summilux, and the M, are beautiful together. In the next few weeks, I'll show how they also are a beautiful shooting couple. Later, I shall pit the Canon 35 against the Fujifilm XF 35 in a match to the X-T1. That should hit Fujirumors in the same manner my review of the Novoflex BALPRO T/S has.

Note: click the images below to advance to the next frame

Mirrorless VS. dSLR: a false dichotomy

Fujirumors's recent article quoted numbers, that on the face of it, look interesting to fans, and manufacturers of certain cameras. Of course, As Thom Hogan pointed out, interpreting data reveals bias. 

As always, I scrolled through the entire comment section. And found this excellent summary by anonymous user, FCameron:

“Going by the charts, it appears Mirrorless peaked in the fall of 2012, and has never again attained that shipment market share.

At best it’s been bumping along at 25% for the last 5 quarters, and despite everything has been unable to penetrate any further. The recent trend then over those last several quarters is that both mirrorless and DSLR are holding their own. This is a far cry from the interweb prophets who for the last almost 8 years have been proclaiming the death of the DSLR.

Personally, I think the whole idea of mirrorless vs reflex is a false dichotomy. There is no one manufacturer for either. Some manufacturers make both. The cameras are far more alike than they are unalike. The mirrorless vendors themselves (Sony, Olympus, Fuji) are vendors who tried and failed to make it as DSLR vendors.

It’s not mirrorless vs reflex. It’s Sony vs Nikon vs Panasonic vs Fuji vs Olympus vs Canon vs Pentax vs Samsung. Each vendor wants to succeed on its own.

Sony is not content leaving money on the table for Fuji because Fuji is ‘mirrorless,’ and therefore some sort of ally. Samsung is happy to take sales from Olympus, they are not ‘partners’ because they don’t feature reflex viewing. They are competitors, all of them, with each other. Panasonic shareholders don’t make more money when Sony sells more mirrorless cameras. Each mirrorless vendor would be happy to see other mirrorless vendors go away.”

It certainly is more fair to think of it Company A VS. Company B, rather than one genre of camera VS. another. The camera industry is in decline. No one is doing well. Everyone is floundering. And as FCameron says, "everyone wants to succeed on its own".

3,200 megapixel LSST camera gets construction approval

This lad has for years gone weekly to download new panoramas taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, will be launched in 2018. In the meantime, the almost equally ambitious earth-bound LSST telescope has been approved for a trip up the Chilean Andes. 

These are exciting times to be a sky watcher.

I'll house 189 16 megapixel sensors to create gigantic panoramic images of 3200 megapixels. The DPReview thread about it has 237 comments and counting. Check it out. 

Here's more information about the LSST

Interpreting Data Reveals Biases

Before you go gung-ho about a certain brand gaining market share, or losing it, think about this:

“Individual data slices aren’t as revealing as multiple slices. For example, using BCN’s yearly numbers (Disclaimer: BCN changed the way they counted in 2014, going to a straight brand share instead of top 20 products determining share), we can see that Panasonic slid from nearly a 40% market share in Japan in 2010 to about 13% in 2014. That’s significant. Especially when you realize that such sales themselves peaked in the middle of that timeframe. Sony started strong in mirrorless in Japan, lost steam, then regained it. Nikon started modestly and has lost momentum. Canon started even more modestly and gained a bit of momentum. ”

Source: Interpreting Data Reveals Biases