ilcs

Photos of Fujifilm's rumored mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC) have emerged on popular rumor site Photo Rumors.

From the low-resolution images, it seems the company's new ILC has a chassis design and rear button layout that bear a close resemblance to the X100. Although both cameras appear to share features such as a dedicated shutter and exposure compensation dial, it's unknown if the Fujifilm ILC will sport a hybrid viewfinder. … Read more

Nikon took its time introducing its interchangeable-lens camera system, dubbed the Nikon 1 series, and though I don't agree with a lot of the choices the company made, it clearly put thought into the cameras before rushing out me-too versions of competitors' products. The entry-level model, the J1, firmly targets point-and-shoot upgraders with its feature set, but the implementation is a mixed bag and the price is a bit steep for that crowd.

Take for instance, the sensor, which is smaller and lower-resolution than all but the even-more-expensive Pentax Q. With a 2.7x focal-length magnification factor, that means … Read more

After much waiting, and lots o' leaks, Nikon finally unveiled its mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera line. But while you'd think the veteran Nikon would debut to an audience with pent-up demand for its product, signs point to Nikon fans greeting the Nikon 1 series J1 and V1 with less enthusiasm than expected. For example, Nikon Rumors ran a poll with more than 30,000 respondents--most likely Nikon fans--who indicate as of just before the announcement, almost two-thirds of them aren't planning to buy the camera(s). And that was before they'd even seen or had final specs for it.

That may be due in part to the sensor, dubbed "CX" to match the company's DX and FX mount/sensor systems, which turns out to be a surprisingly small, low-resolution version with a magnification factor of 2.7x, putting it between Olympus/Panasonic's Four Thirds sensor and Pentax's extra-small model.

While Nikon will likely be able to keep the photo quality up thanks to the relatively low resolution and support for 12-bit raw files, the smaller sensor negatively impacts the ability to get a nice shallow depth-of-field at a wide aperture, even with old Nikon lenses mounted via an adapter.

On one hand, it sounds like Nikon's pulling out all the stops with respect to autofocus, introducing a hybrid system that automatically determines whether to use contrast or phase-detection autofocus. Both Olympus and Panasonic have pushed contrast AF pretty far, though, so it remains to be seen how much of an advantage this confers on the cameras' performance.

Nikon has also done some interesting things with motion/movies, including a Motion Snapshot mode, which records a still image and about a 1-second clip, then plays it back at about 0.4x speed (slow motion) with music. There's also Smart Photo Selector, a 20-shot burst mode that saves the camera-determined best five photo.

Here are the camera specs in their competitive landscape:… Read more

Updated 9/19/11: Clarification of Sony's comments on clicking per Engadget.

For those of you with a long history in tech, chances are that every time you hear the word "click" used negatively it's mentally chased by "of death." Whether the mystery noise recorded by the Sony Alpha NEX-5N turns out to be a click of death for the product remains to be seen, but Engadget got confirmation from Sony that it's real, though the company has no clue what's causing it or how widespread the issue might be--it could just … Read more

Japanese business publication Nikkei has reported that Nikon will launch its first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC) later this year. It will go for between $900 and $1,300, a typical price range for this class of product.

Currently, strong players in this category include Panasonic and Olympus with their Micro Four Thirds system and Sony with its NEX range.

We've heard rumors of Nikon entering this market, with even a picture of a concept product emerging last year. Given how well Panasonic and Olympus are doing, observers have been expecting the two dSLR market leaders to join in, too. It looks like the big N may have beaten its keen rival Canon to the punch. We'll bring you more information as details emerge.

(Source: Crave Asia via Reuters)… Read more

Thanks to the rather sedate pace of sensor development by Micro Four Thirds-backers Olympus and Panasonic, for a while it looked like interchangeable-lens cameras (ILCs) would be refreshingly free of excessive megapixelation. But manufacturers using APS-C-size sensors seem determined to undermine every advantage the larger sensor confers by packing them with increasing numbers of photo sites. Sony's latest Alpha NEX model delivered its 24-megapixel sensor, and now Samsung offers up a 20-megapixel sensor in its new NX200. (What I find interesting is that the companies driving the increasing resolution are all camera companies who also make sensors--Canon, Sony, and Samsung.)

Thankfully, there's more to the NX200 than just a lot of pixels. I had a chance to shoot with a preproduction version, along with a bunch of the new lenses, and liked it quite a bit. For one, it's much better than the NX100; it's smaller, yet conversely more comfortable to grip, and more solidly built. Samsung has also redesigned its i-Function lenses, and the new 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens, while slow as all the other kit lenses, operates much more smoothly and feels better constructed than its predecessor's 20-50mm model. It's not nearly as compact, though, which puts it at a slight disadvantage compared with, say, Panasonic's new Lumix X series collapsible lens. (I forgot to take photos of the lenses. D'oh!)

For those unfamiliar with Samsung's i-Function system, it consists of a button on the lens, which invokes shooting settings, such as ISO sensitivity or shutter speed, which you then change using the manual-focus ring. The system works well, and it feels much like shooting with the Canon PowerShot S95 or Olympus XZ-1. It distinguishes the NX cameras from the other ILCs in a way that adds to the shooting experience rather than detracts from it.

If you choose to go the traditional route, Samsung introduces a new (for it) Smart Panel interactive control panel interface that you pull up with the function button. It's easy to use, but I found myself missing the type of customization control that Panasonic's cameras offer over the interface, as well as the capability to save custom settings. You can program a raw override (as well as which options appear on the i-Function ring), but that's just not as much as I'd like.

The camera supports manual exposure controls during movie recording, though I was unable to get that to work. This is usually an interface issue, and without the documentation I find a lot of these cameras to be not obvious in this respect.

As for image quality, I was pleasantly surprised. There were no significant artifacts that I could spot at low ISO sensitivities except for some muddiness in out-of-focus areas that you see a lot in point-and-shoots. And I'm guessing that for midrange sensitivities--ISO 400 through ISO 1600--it would probably gain some latitude by shooting raw (I didn't have any raw processing software) and possibly from some tweaks to the firmware before shipping. Beyond that, I don't think there's much chance for improvement; but that's typical for this class of camera.

In daylight, though, the color accuracy looked quite good, the metering and exposure were generally both consistent and appropriate, and the sensor handled bright, saturated colors without blowing out detail. I didn't get a chance to really analyze the dynamic range in general or play with the settings that affect it.… Read more

First announced at the end of June, today Olympus delivered the final specifications and pricing for its most compact interchangeable-lens camera, the E-PM1. Though at $499.99 it's the least expensive of Olympus' 2011 models, two of the first-generation models, the E-PL1 and E-P1, remain in the product line at the same price. There's no doubt that the PM1 is the smallest and lightest of the group, though.

Here's Olympus' current PEN lineup. (Sorry, no room in table for E-P2 specs.)… Read more

We joke about the worst-kept product secrets on the Web, but Sony's late-summer camera and camcorder announcements have to be some sort of record. Finally made public today, specs and photos of its higher-end updates to the Alpha line have been floating around for a while--the semi-pro SLT-A77V was even prematurely nominated for an award. So while chances are you're already familiar with the new models--the SLT-A77V, SLT-A65V, NEX-7, NEX-5N, and NEX-VG20 camcorder--read on for my take and more details.

To be fair, there really is a boatload of interesting, potentially game-changing, stuff here, with lenses and accessories in addition to the cameras.

Starting at the top, the SLT-A77V is the long-awaited successor to the DSLR-A700, though the former uses Sony's fixed translucent-mirror technology and the latter is a conventional dSLR. The A77V incorporates Sony's newest sensor, a 24-megapixel version of its Exmor HD series, along with a new 19-point autofocus system, OLED electronic viewfinder, and 1080/60p video recording in a weather-sealed magnesium alloy body. Priced at $1,400 for the body only or $2,000 with the new 16-50mm f2.8 SSM Zeiss lens, the A77V comes in a at an odd price relative to potential competitors from Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic. Sony will offer a new vertical grip for it, the VG-C77AM (October, $299.99).

Into the unenviable slot that competes directly against the Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Nikon D5100, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2, Sony launches the SLT-A65V. The A65V sits in the SLT product line between the older A55V and the A77V, and incorporates aspects of both: the newer 24-megapixel sensor, EVF, drive mode, and video codec from the higher-end model with the older 15-point AF system, and similar body design from the A55V. Both of the new models have built-in GPS for geotagging as well.

The two SLT models have very aggressive continuous-shooting specs for their respective classes, and as long as Sony doesn't run into heat problems with video shooting on the new sensor, they sound quite nice (although, as far as I understand, there's no official way to crop into a 1080 window on the sensor while shooting video). But I'm not thrilled about the jump to 24 megapixels, though I'm sure we'll see a Nikon using some variant of that sensor next year.

Editor's note 10/6/2011: Sony has delayed shipment of the A65 until mid-November.

Though not as sleek as the NEX models announced at the same time, Sony's translucent mirror, dSLR-style cameras are more-mainstream workhorses. And with the Alpha SLT-A77V, it's the first time that Sony's trotted a real weather-and-dust-sealed model onto the field; plus, it's packed full of new technology that ostensibly make it faster and better than ever. But despite comparisons with models like the Canon EOS 7D, Sony reps were very emphatic that this is an enthusiast-targeted model, not pro. Whether that's because it's got as-yet unknown limitations or because Sony's planning to release a subsequent even higher-end model, I don't know.

The design (and price) certainly seems pro oriented, with a top informational display and 150,000-cycle shutter rating. And the camera pretty much includes a new everything: autofocus system, OLED viewfinder, AVCHD 2.0 progressive video capture with full-time AF, 24-plus-megapixel sensor, and articulated LCD. Plus it's got a built-in GPS, which is absent from competing models. Sony also claims class-leading performance, in part because of what Sony refers to as a "electronic first curtain" release. (In essence, since the camera has to keep the shutter open in order for you to view the image through the viewfinder, it would normally have to close the shutter before it could initiate exposure. Instead, it simulates a shutter close via the sensor, which of course is faster. It will be interesting to see if this introduces any artifacts during, say, panning.)… Read more