The Online Photographer

The New Nikon D6

Nikon just announced its new pro flagship, the D6.

Although you probably won't see this mentioned much on the Web and in the forums, this brings to parity the number of top-end film F cameras and pro digital D cameras. There's a slight disparity in the time it took to get there: the original Nikon F was introduced in April 1959 and the F6 began shipping in 2004 and can still be purchased new (or rather, out of what's called "new old stock," NOS, with outflow regulated to a trickle by a high price [UPDATE: This appears to be wrong! See Sal Santamaura’s comment in the Comments section. —Ed.]). Let's call that 45 years (1959 to 2004). The 2.7-megapixel, crop-sensor Nikon D1, a landmark in the development of digital imaging, arrived in time for the Millennium—June 1999. So the analogous span of time is 21 years, let's say—less than half the time it took to get to the sixth flagship film camera. Makes sense, considering the faster pace of development in digital.

We really should compare the D6 to the D1 for perspective, and the F6 to the F, but I just received a lovely Contax RTS II as a donation/gift (big thanks to Fred M.), and what strikes me about the new camera is the tremendous distance between it and the RTS II's near-exact* Nikon contemporary, the F3. I was in D.C. when the F3 was current. Many amateurs owned one, and far more wanted one. The richest kid in my second-year photo class had two. My studio partner (after I graduated), even though he did most of his work with Hasselblads, shot with one—he had the big motor drive for it and gave it the fond nickname "Darth Vader." (Click here to see a camera much like Darth.) I would occasionally see one draped on a besuited lawyer-type on the streets of the city. I wanted a top Nikon enough that I saved for, and purchased, a Nikon F4s when it was the latest thing (Paul called it "Luke Skywalker," of course). When it was new I was besotted with pride of ownership. 

By contrast, I can't see many passionate amateurs wanting a D6. The things it does well are just too specialized: 10.5 FPS in live-view mode; 105 focus points which are all selectable and cross-type; AF at the center point down to –4.5 EV; extensive GPS and transfer options and capability; and so on. To name just one feature that pros might value but amateurs wouldn't, the new Priority Image Transfer gives you the ability to move particular images to the front of the download queue. I can't imagine many amateurs getting lathered up at the mouth over that.

The astonishing abilities of the D6 "imaging computer" make a camera like the F3 look positively quaint. With the F3 you had to focus the lens yourself, which was primitive. If you didn't own Darth's motor drive or a motor winder, you cranked the film from one frame to the next with thumb-power. The biggest difference in my view is that the D6 will "process" your pictures in nanoseconds and transfer them to your computer (and thence on to your client) wirelessly, whereas Paul and I used to have to make 50-mile(!) runs in the car—often daily—from our studio in Maryland to Chrome, the custom lab we used in D.C. (25 miles one way). If a client wanted to pay for rush processing, we could get images in his or her hands sometimes within 24 hours. But that included two Chrome runs.

Perfect for...?
The D6 costs $6,500 and weighs 2.8 pounds (1270g). It might be cruel to say something like "Nikon has made the perfect sports and assignment photographer's camera, while appearing not to notice that newsrooms and magazines are withering around the globe, their staffs and budgets shrinking..." etc. Don't fix what ain't broke, sure, but the niche this camera evolved for might be changing under Nikon's feet. It might still be true to say that pros who need the D6 need the D6, although I can also imagine many pros thinking that they'll just continue to get by with their paid-for D5's or lesser Nikons, given, you know, the climate out there. As another bellwether, DPReview has let the D6 announcement pass with little fanfare but is all over the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III.

After a year with the F4s, I reverted to using two N8008's in the '90s. For all its felicities, the F4 turned out to be unlovable—too big, too clunky, too heavy, and it chewed through batteries like a hungry pygmy shrew. I used to say that you could always tell where I was because Luke left a trail of spent AA's in its wake like Hansel and Gretel left breadcrumbs on the floor of the forest. But then, I'm prone to exaggerating.

That was the last top-end pro Nikon I was personally interested in. They're just not aimed at the likes of me, and, if you ask me, arty enthusiast amateurs coveting top pro Nikon bodies is probably a thing of the past. If I wanted a Nikon I'd want a Z6.

Just one opinion. YMMV.

Mike

P.S. I'm very behind on the comments and I promise I will get to that later today.

*Nikon F3: 1980–88; Contax RTS II: 1982–1990.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

TerryM: "In defence of the F4: at least the MB20 battery grip cut down the weight and size to four AAs. I found this gave me plenty of battery life for slide film. And I can’t think of a single frame where the meter didn’t nail the exposure. I could focus on stars with a hard infinity stop lens and open the shutter in the dark just by feel...can’t tell you how much better than with a mirrorless camera. I’d still be using it if I didn’t ruin it by dust and moisture, and sort of regret going for the lighter weight of a FM2N. Long live the F4!"

beuler: "All the negative D6 reviews boil down to using the same sensor as the D5. It seems to me the D6 is the direct equivalent of the F6: the flagship of an obsolete fleet. It's no bad thing; the F6 is a fabulous camera. It's just that nobody needs it is all. Expect the Nikon Z flagship to smoke the alpha 9 in every way except price, whenever it comes out. The question is: will it be too late?"

Mike replies: A couple of months ago I started doing a post on the term "flagship." It was really interesting and I got pretty deep into it. The term comes from the ship occupied by the commander of the fleet, who flew his pennant to indicate his presence aboard. This led to the secondary meaning of the word, in that the flagship was also often the grandest and largest ship in the fleet.

Flagships in that latter sense have often been costly. The worldwide arms race c. 1900 centered around battleships: Japan won, with the Yamato class, c. 1938 (there were only two, Yamato and Musashi—a planned third was converted on the fly into an aircraft carrier). We all know where that went. The Sovereign of the Seas in 1637 was both a vanity project of Charles I and a political statement intended to symbolize the English crown's claim to the oceans, against the interests of the Dutch, who wanted the seas to be free for all. Sovereign of the Seas, later renamed Royal Sovereign among other names, was encrusted with lavish carvings covered in gold leaf, and cost so much that building it contributed to the financial crisis that helped fuel the English Civil War. During which, of course, Charles lost his head.

Stern of the Sovereign of the Seas, from a painting by Peter Lely

Of course this really had nothing at all to do with so-called "flagship" cameras, not even by analogy, so I abandoned that post. (You should see TOP's graveyard of abandoned post ideas...pretty wacky, all things considered!)

Severian (partial comment): "Re: Flagship, I (and Nikon) certainly hope that the D6 doesn't become the kind of flagship which is used as a metaphor / cautionary tale! Consider the Swedish ship Vasa."

Mike replies: Totally. Everyone should know about that. I think the first full-frame DSLR, the Contax N Digital, might have been a case of Vasa syndrome.

Fuji X-T4 Coming February 26th

...According to FujiRumors. It will be fun (well, for me, anyway) to see how much the X-T3 and X-H1 "DNA" get blended in the new camera. Will IBIS "trickle down" into the X-T[x] series?

The rest of this post is a digression!
Although, to be honest, I'd say I'm interested rather than excited. In 2012, the peak year of the camera market, I had to admit to myself that I was feeling a little crazy. I coveted the latest beautiful cameras a little more intensely than was mentally healthy! For at least the first 15 years or so of the current century, cameras were like American cars were in the postwar years. Progress was rapid; news was fun to follow; updates were regular, and "gamed" by the makers to keep interest at the boil; new products were admired, coveted, and envied; to have the latest and greatest was a feather in one's cap and a source of satisfaction. Curiosity about the "new" and the "next" was always high. New models were kept secret and unveiled to great fanfare. I have to admit I bought several cameras because the urge to possess them was so intense and I just gave in.

As is widely noted, though, that era seems to be on the way to fizzling out. Over the past five years, we seem to have transitioned to a general feeling of "digital cameras are good enough." People are turning away from ultimates and "settling" for more mainstream options that are very good, or good enough. We seem to be keeping our cameras longer and updating less often. More people are choosing to buy models on closeout or simply buying used.

The same thing happened in cars, of course. The halcyon years of a happy shared excitement over annual model updates are long gone. I remember hearing in 2008 that the hypothetical "average American" could no longer afford the hypothetical "average new car," and most people don't buy new cars every two or three years like my father's age cohort strove to do. Car models are updated about every four to six years, sometime with a "refresh" in the middle of the model run, and the average person keeps a car about eight years. (Mine is six now.)

Average cars are much better now, their biggest problem being complexity (sound familiar?). One fun statistic I like to quote is that the 1970 Porsche 911 S, a prestigious, expensive-for-the-era* sports car, which received a bigger engine that year, was able to do 0–60 in 7.8 seconds. Fifty years later, a Toyota Corolla Hatchback with a manual—bog-standard transportation for the masses—does 0–60 in 7.5 seconds.

Of course, the X-T4 is no Corolla. More like a Lexus IS, maybe (0–60 MPH in 5.6 seconds for the IS350 Sport).

1970 Porsche 911. Today, a Corolla is faster.

Will you be looking forward to the X-T4 rollout? A lot of the 2000–2015 culture remains in place. But I wonder how much of it is habit now. These days there's something hollow about assuming that large numbers of people are going to get all excited about whatever's next up. Do you know off the top of your head, for example, the announcement date for the replacement of whatever camera you're using? How eager are you to find out exactly what features it will offer?

It ain't 2012 any more.

Mike

*$8,750 (about $57k today) in an era when wealth inequality wasn't so extreme and hence expensive cars weren't so expensive.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Please help support The Online Photographer through Patreon

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Paulo Bizarro: "I upgraded my XT2 to XT3 a few weeks ago, benefiting from a EUR 200 discount on the latter. This is why I like new cameras introductions."

Allan Graham: "Do I know off the top of my head the announcement date for the replacement of my camera? No, I had to ask Wikipedia. It was on 25 August 2007 that the D300 was announced. I suppose I'm just a grumpy old git who likes the comfort of familiarity and is irritated by unnecessary novelty."

Mike replies: Your camera was replaced in April 2016 and you're skipping at least one update, which is a smart idea and often given as advice. On the good side, when you finally do replace your D300, you're going to be amazed by the improvements, and that's always fun too.

MikeR: "Back in the heyday of American cars, they really were not all that good. It was quite an accomplishment, with normal maintenance, (including 2,000 mile oil changes), to get to 100K miles. You had to trade every few years to avoid being plagued by repairs. In contrast, when I traded my 1999 bright red Solara in for a frankly nondescript RAV4 in 2015, it was still running fine at about 225K miles, but I had aged out of it...worn knees and stuff made getting in and out difficult. Yeah, the 'magic' of those big old barges is gone, but I don't miss them. Fun to see at vintage car shows, but let someone else have the pain of keeping them running."

Mike replies: As I'm sure you realize, I wasn't suggesting those days were better, just that the market was more dynamic. You're right about old cars. When I was a kid (I'm a few days shy of 63), we'd drive from Milwaukee to Indianapolis to see relatives, and, being conservative about such things, my dad would take the Oldsmobile (that was a real car name, kids, I'm not being cute) to the gas station, which was also the mechanic's shop, for a "checkup" before we left. When my brother and I made lists of the biggest changes in our lifetimes, "the reliability of cars" was one of the items on my list.

If you want to see some tempting samples of those old cars, though, check out Vanguard Motor Sales.

Fujifilm Cheerfully Marches On: The X100V

New X100V: The line between the top plate and the body is
now straight all the way across

Oops! When you've updated your camera three times and you've already run through the X100, X100s[econd], X100t[hird], and X100f[ourth], what do you call the fifth? Not F, because that's already taken.

Roman numerals to the rescue!

The latest—fifth—Fuji X100 is called the X100V (which makes it sound a lot like a Sony, but never mind). Unlike the X-Pro3, there's nothing controversial about the updates. And, as with all Fuji products, they don't stint on the trickle-down—the X100V inherits as much of the current goodness from the X-Pro3 and X-T3 as it reasonably can. There's one new touch I find delightful and only one absurd little glitch. (But at least the oddity made me laugh. I'll get to that.)

Everything's updated that you'd expect to be—sensor, processor, EVF, etc. Fuji made unspecified changes to the lens such that Internet is calling it "new lens." I'll reserve my doubts until we get chapter and verse; I'll guess it's substantially the same lens with a few little tweaks, like replacing two elements with one aspherical one or something. But then there's never been anything wrong with the X100 lens. It's excellent, always has been.

The back is now noticeably cleaner, more like a Leica

Notable changes—flip up viewing screen! Nice. I like these, and find them useful. For photography (and I don't do video) I'm personally on Team Flip-Up rather than Team Flip-Out, but even if you're the opposite you still might appreciate the upgrade from a fixed screen. The four-way pad is gone, simplified to the joystick. Aluminum body, instead of magnesium is a big but invisible change. That's probably what accounts for the $100 increase in launch price. Fuji seems to be concentrating on improving the camera's ineffable object-quality in this release.

The delightful touch—retro ISO setting! It's now a lift-and-turn collar on the shutter-speed dial with a little window to see the values, just like on some old film cameras. This is needless but smile-inducing, so we'll put it in the + column. [CORRECTION: Oh, I'm wrong. This was new on v.4, the f, not this V. Sorry for my misteak. —Ed.]

The X100V has been carefully updated four times since the original

The silliness is that out of the box the camera is weatherproof but the lens is not, which on a fixed-lens camera is absurd on its face and made me laugh when I first read it. But it's not as silly as it sounds. It's just that you have to buy a separate adapter and special filter (also known as a "filter") to make the lens waterproof, which then makes the whole camera waterproof. On a $1,400(!) pocket camera this kind of nickel-and-diming is always a bit off-putting, but it was probably the only way the engineers could implement weatherproofing without making other accessories obsolete, so, okay. (Actually the two items you need, if you buy the Fuji-branded and -approved versions, adds nearly $100 to the cost of the camera, so maybe it's not appropriate to talk about nickels and dimes. Tens and twenties maybe?) The upshot is that people who carry this camera with them all the time can now have a weatherproof camera, and that's going to be a big plus for some people looking to upgrade.

Wearing it
Because carrying this camera all the time is what it's best suited for. Wear it. Put it on in the morning and take it off in the evening, like your shirt or blouse. It's light and tiny—like the X-E3, tinier than it looks if you've never seen one in person—and very (very) capable. Don't forget the unique-to-Fuji OVF/EVF, which is maybe a bit of a gimmick but certainly provides an opportunity for meaningful customization to your preference. (Be grateful Leica didn't develop this feature, because we'd never hear the end of it.) 

As an aside, condolences to all you X100f owners who just got shoved into the shade. It's inevitable with any digital device: you get a period of time during which you have the latest and greatest, and then the sun moves and you're abruptly out of the bright light. The lustre, the shine, the glow—all gone. Or not gone; just over there now, not here where you are. Especially when the new shiny glowing thing has a new lens. How did you ever settle for that old thing on your old X100f? How can you believe you're capable of taking decent pictures? Won't your friends scorn you, perfect strangers pity you? And look in the mirror, too...you're growing older. All part of the same problem. Everything about you is getting to be just so contemptibly yesterday.

Joke mode off, you might want to think about moving on from an original X100 or the X100s if you're still shooting with one. Mainly because the new one will be noticeably faster. Otherwise, you're good. Gotta get your money's worth out of what you already have.

Bottom line on the V, though: Fuji is an innovative company with formidable resources, and yet for some reason has a strong sense of direction in its products, and the X100 series is a successful product that's been supported by strong sales and which in return supports a high price. Put all of these together and you get an inherently popular design that has had a lot of time, talented man-hours, effort, and money lavished on refining it and keeping it up-to-the-minute and endowed with the latest tech. For what this camera is intended for and for what it does best—namely, being your constant companion all day every day—you almost couldn't do better.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Please help support The Online Photographer through Patreon

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Curt Gerston: "I have the X100T, so I'm hopelessly out of date now, but still I'm considering having it as my one-and-only camera for a month in Europe this summer. I'm a little scared to commit to that one focal length for such a unique and big trip, but it'd also be an interesting challenge, and it would be nice to leave all the heavy gear at home."

J. Wilson (partial comment): "It's amazing that the entire Fujifilm X range began with this little camera as the cornerstone, and such a relatively short time ago. This camera always puts me in mind that Fujifilm and their designers loved cameras, the kind those of us of 'a certain age' cherished: They must, as well."

Huw Morgan: "I don't get the attraction. Sure, it looks retro and produces nice images, but a fixed-lens camera in the smartphone era? What does it do that my phone can't do besides take up more space and eat up my bank account?"

Michel: "Re 'Not F, because that's already taken'—reminds me of Gary Gulman’s brilliant routine on state abbreviations. If you are looking for a distraction this is well worth the six minutes or so."

Mike replies: Thanks! That was funny. In related time-wasting videos, you might enjoy this one. (And by the way, I always write out State names on TOP for the benefit of readers who aren't from the Ununited [sic] States.)

Best Cameras of 2019

Best Camera Introduced in 2019: The Leica Q2

Comment: 2019 was a year of market contraction and a light year for new camera introductions. Yes, Nikon and Canon announced the latest updates to their pro flagship cameras that are of interest to some pros. However, the beautiful Q2's only real competition for this honor came from Panasonic's high-tech (and high-priced) Johnny-come-last FFM's (full-frame mirrorless), the S1 and S1R; Fuji's completely over-the-top 100-megapixel medium-format GFX 100; Olympus's odd small-sensor mimicry of the EOS 1D X Mark III and the D6 (both coming soon), the OM-D E-M1X; and Sony's two top refreshes, the A9 II and the 61-MP A7R IV. I think the Leica wins this race. It's pretty, petite, and useful, with a superb fixed lens and enough pixels that cropping can legitimately become part of your workflow. It is "to the manor born" as a small(ish) carry-around camera like Oskar intended, spiritual descendant of the great workhorse Leica rangefinders. Leicas are for the so-called carriage trade now, i.e., aimed at the too-well-heeled, but that's okay. The Q was a good camera. As the Q2 it became great.

Best Camera Available in 2019: The Fuji X-T3

Comment: It doesn't have IBIS, and there are legitimate reasons for choosing competitors and alternatives of course, but, all things considered, the X-T3 is "the best of most worlds" right now. It's beautifully styled, it has a superb range of enthusiast-centric lenses, it's been thoughtfully refined over three generations (and the X-T1 was a very good camera to start with—I should know, I've had one since it came out). It's easy to use and learn, and it offers a superlative balance of almost all things: speed, size and weight, image quality, video capability, on and on. And it's satisfying to use, and imparts real pride of ownership. It's tough to make a better choice in an all-around serious enthusiast camera as we turn the corner into 2020.

Best for the Least in 2019: The Canon EOS Rebel T6 with normal zoom and telephoto zoom lenses.

Comment: Tough to claim this for the whole of 2019, because these deals change all the time, but right at this minute it's tough to buy more value in a camera brand new. For only $399 (!) you get not one but two basic zooms...and a card and a case. This 2016 T6 currently on closeout is the direct descendant of the groundbreaking Digital Rebel, the first-ever DSLR to cost less than $1,000, Summer 2003. As you might expect it's not a luxury camera, but its technology is mature at this point and the T6 is highly capable. And, you get to carry around and show off a camera emblazoned with the name of the world's leading camera company. No one will fault your taste.

Best Pocket Camera of 2019: The iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Comment: I dunno. I'm just talkin'. What do I know from Androids or Zombies or whatever they're called? I bought my first Apple computer in 1985, when the old IBM and the old Soviet Union were the evil empires, and if you're in the ecosystem you stay in the ecosystem. The iPhone 11 Pro Max has three cameras of different focal lengths (plus a selfie module), and it has improved the already formidable software tricks of recent iPhones: I have a friend who has one and the "Night mode" is great. And the big Super Retina OLED screen of the Max model is marvelous for looking at pictures on. Not at all bad for reading books on, either. Also works as, you know, a phone. There were great unknown photographers out there in 2019; their work is just locked away on their phones, and their friends' phones.

Editor's Choice: The Nikon Z6 with Nikkor Z 35mmƒ/1.8 S

Comment: An expensive pair, but not out of reach for many. Mavens buy high-spec models, but normal folks choose normal cameras. The Z6 brings tech specs and intangibles to the table that Sony didn't already have (examples: 55mm diameter lens mount, and Nikon's expertise with ergonomics and hand feel, respectively), and it has that special Nikon sauce in its image quality, yet it's still a reasonable, sensible, moderate camera by the standards of the moment. The Z6 feels small, has a beautiful viewfinder with copious eye relief and a large range of diopter correction, and 24 MP is plenty. Add the new 35mm Z lens with its outstanding bokeh characteristics and you have the kind of camera we like at TOP: a medium-weight cruiser as opposed to a battleship, a Boxster rather than a Hellcat.

Honorable Mention: Sigma SD Quattro H

Comment: It's still out there! Way below the waves. This is the camera everyone tends to forget. Hobbyists forget it, buyers dismiss it, photo writers every now and then awaken from their torpor and go "oh, yeah." Three years old now. I can't imagine this as anyone's only camera—but then, I can't imagine an iPhone as any photographer's only camera, either. The SD Quattro H might best be thought of as a digital view camera, meant for use on tripod, as you work at a leisurely, deliberate pace. Its Foveon sensor is unique, however, and an argument can be made that it yields the very best image quality possible in digital—we really do need to have a Foveon-camera print sale just to put examples in the hands of people who have never seen one up close and personal. Lovely. Distinctive. Different. It is really the camera for landscape and still life photographers.

Reader Favorite: ...You tell us! What impressed or tempted you most during the last year?

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Please help support The Online Photographer through Patreon

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Jeff: "Not to forget the Leica SL2, with higher resolution, improved EVF, ergonomics and weather sealing (IP54), and Leica’s first IBIS, which operates with native and adapted lenses (L mount alliance, M, R, S, and more). And, while certainly not cheap, the Hasselblad X1DII came to market for roughly $3k less than the first iteration, despite better performance."

[Thanks. An earlier draft of this post started off talking about the SL2, but I changed approaches midstream, and then neglected to work the SL2 in. I hesitate to admit it but I wasn't even aware of the Hasselblad X1DII. —Ed.]

Alan Ostling: "The Olympus Tough TG-6. On my annual visit to the SF Bay Area for Christmas, I surprised my friends and relatives by tossing it to them from across the room. If, instead of catching this flying ball of fun, they dropped it, so much the better. It does 1:1 actual macro—5X if you count the crop factor. The 25–100mm ƒ/2 lens does all its zooming laterally inside the waterproof camera body, thanks to a prism which bends the light path 90°. It has built-in geo-tagging, and shoots RAW. Steal one now (the price has dropped $50 since I bought mine)."

James Moule: "Over the last 68 years I have used Leica systems, Canon systems, Nikon Systems, and Olympus systems. By system, I mean multiple bodies and a large collection of lenses. Today, I carry a Sony A9 II and the Sony 24–105mm ƒ/4 lens. I set it on auto ISO. I shoot handheld. All I have to do is press the shutter release and it will instantly focus on the right thing and deliver a super sharp image, perfectly exposed, with a high dynamic range. Twenty-four MP is all I need."

[Ed. note: I always like opposing viewpoints about the same post (and both said "never mind"):]

Michael Hill (partial comment): "I'm not sure it would be possible for me to disagree more than I do with your choices...but...never mind."

Al C.: (partial comment): "Agree with every one of your nominations, except the Fuji (never mind.)"

[Here are Michael's and Al's comments in full:]

Michael Hill: "I'm not sure it would be possible for me to disagree more than I do with your choices...but...never mind. To each their own, live and let live. All the best to you and yours in the new year/decade! I'm not any brand's fanboy but I would be hard pressed not pick the Sony A7R IV as the best camera by measure of versatility, quality, features and value. If I could afford it (I can't) I would buy one (along with a new computer with lots of RAM and hard drive space to process and store the images from my new camera).  :-)  "

Al C.: "Agree with every one of your nominations, except the Fuji (never mind.) Problem with the Q2 is that you really need a grip. On the other hand, a grip completely ruins the purpose, aesthetic, and experience of the thing. A Q is not a tool. Hit by a bit of GAS attack over the holidays, I almost clicked on a Z6 plus 35mm S combo. The Quattro is not technically a (Bill Merrill) Foveon, and lacks the inimitable pixel quality of a true X3 Foveon. Worse, irrecoverable highlights closes the case, in my opinion. Overall, not a bad decade—for photography, that is. Let's hope the '20s will be better."

Robert Roaldi: "The Olympus E-M1X just cannot get any love, the main complaint being that it's too large. It is the same size as my E-M1 with battery grip, which is a very good size to accompany the longer lenses normally used in sports photography. The other important sports-oriented bodies from Nikon and Canon came first so the E-M1X will not be an alternative to anyone already invested in those brands but it's not clear why a new sports shooter wouldn't choose a much smaller and lighter option."

Mike replies: They really should prefer a smaller-sensor option. It makes more sense. But their opinion matters, not mine.

Sharon: "What about the Fuji GFX 100? I have the 50 and it cured any GAS I might have had but still the 100 is a pretty cool camera."

Mike replies: I did mention it, saying it was "completely over the top," which might not be fair. I think I might have said the same about the 2007 Sony A900 when it was new and had the mostest megapickles. I guess it's just hard for me to get too excited about a $10,000 camera that will lose most of its value over the next 13 years (my ~$2,700 A900 is now worth about $700). That's mainly because it's beyond my own means and I don't need it for any reason, probably. Again, might not be fair.

Howard: "I had the Sigma 'bug' with the DP Merrill fixed lens cameras. I had all three at one time. I am technically advanced in working with raw converters, and read a lot and experimented a lot with the Sigma software and another third party converter available at the time. After a year or two of using them sometimes alongside an Oly OM-D E-M1, I sold all three of the DP Merrills...the issue was that the color was more often than not funky and it wasn't very predictable and not at all easy (or not possible) to fix. For black-and-white they were great. But this may be the one regret I've had with photography equipment purchases I've made over the last 20 years or so. Not that I spent or lost a lot of money on the cameras. I didn't. But my regret is that if I'd had whatever the Sony A7R model was at the time, I would have had much better photos overall and more consistency and less frustration with the very funky color. They were very portable and there was a 'fun' factor involved; they reminded me in some ways of using a view camera. But I would not go near another Merrill made by Sigma again."

Stephen Scharf (partial comment): "Many, many pro and commercial photographers have needs for a full professional-level medium-format camera system for their commercial work, but have not been able to make the entry cost of a $35,000-$50,000 Phase One (body alone) system profitable from a business perspective. And pros, well successful ones, at least, only buy a piece of equipment if it will return a profit on their business.

"The GFX100 completely changes all that, and this is why I think its one of the top three most significant camera releases of the last decade.

"Now, pros can buy into a literally state-of-the art MF digital camera body that has unmatched set of functions and features: Fast AF, IBIS, 4K full-sensor video, 100% coverage of the sensor with AF and..and this is big deal: full Capture One Pro support including film and lens profiles built in (good luck with that for your MF Hassys).... I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, the GFX100 came in and in one fell swoop, now owns the pro MF camera market-segment.

"There is a reason this camera has been on a consistent approximately two-month backorder since it was launched...because Fujifilm cannot make the camera fast enough to fill the pent-up demand from professional and commercial photographers."

Rodolfo Canet Castelló: "My wife insisted and I bought a Fujifilm GFX50R on 28th December. I don’t care what 2020 can bring now. What a camera! All the best in 2020 for you all!"

Mike replies: Whoa! It's going to be a good year for you.

Sharon: "Mike, have you had a chance to shoot with the Fuji GF 32–64mm? Oh my, what a lens! I think it is this lens I love more than the cameras. I'm sorry I missed your comment on the GFX 100. It is too expensive. The 50s is enough for me."

Mike replies: Here's the link to Sharon's camera and lens (25–51mm-e). And here's the link to Rodolfo's camera with Sharon's lens. Lovely....

Sunday Support Group: What the Fuji X-H1 Is Not Good For

SA*

I remember hearing years ago that veteran daily photographers never switched cameras lightly, because "you lose a year"—that is, it takes a year before the new camera is completely familiar and its use second nature.

So I constructed this handy chart:

Average length of time photographers used film cameras: 10 years

Average amount of time it took to become fully familiar with a new film camera: one year

It struck me at the time that this was not something to be casually dismissed. It seemed like a lot to risk a whole 10% of your working life to a camera that was not yet fully familiar to you. But then, it was a necessary evil, every so often.

Then it occurred to me that these numbers would be different for digital cameras, so I added the following to my chart:

Average length of time photographers use digital cameras: three years

Average amount of time it takes to become fully familiar with a new digital camera so its use becomes second nature: more than three years

The equation has changed somewhat!

Still learning the ins and outs of the X-H1
and getting used to it,
Mike

ADDENDUM: Look what Ned Bunnell had to say on his Instagram this very day! A nice coincidence. Charles Harbutt's Travelog is one of the great forgotten books of the hippie generation, in case you don't recognize the name.

P.S. Do you use aftermarket books like the one linked to learn your cameras?

P.P.S. The $999 closeout price of the X-H1 is still a spectacular bargain, but note that they are almost gone (the link is to Amazon; B&H doesn't have any left) and the camera's mysterious unpopularity probably means there won't be an X-H2.

Consider: 1.) it's not even two years old yet. 2.) it was originally priced at $1,900. 3.) its development cost was very likely a great big honking whack. 4.) $999 is less than: a.) a Sony RX100 Mark VII point-and-shoot; b.) a Nikon D750 on sale, c.) a Sony A6600 on sale; d.) a Fuji X-T30 with kit lens; e.) a Canon 90D; f.) a Panasonic G9 Micro 4/3 camera on sale; g.) either of its Fuji stablemates the X-T3 and the X100f; h.) an Olympus E-M5 Mark III; i.) a Ricoh GRIII; j.) a used 1984 Leica M6; k.) 20 sushi dinners at $50 each including tip; l.) one Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte Venti every morning on the way to work for less than a year; m.) a mere six pairs of Ugg boots. Now, admittedly, the X-H1 is not good for keeping your toes toasty while padding around the house on Winter days, while also standing up to occasional trips outdoors while the dogs pee (I covet a pair of Ugg boots, but cannot bring my cheap self to drop the toll). But then, you cannot ask a camera to do everything.

*Satire Alert.

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Neil Swanson: "I jumped on the $999 bundle. I had an X-Pro2, with the three 'crons, and had never handled an X-H1 at all. The specs were very good and the price, well how could I not. Turns out I like camera very very much. I truly don't understand complaints of its size. Without the grip its small. If you'd been shooting Nikon D3 or D4 cameras you've gotta laugh at size complaints. What do these guys shoot, Minox? The X-Pro2 was my first mirrorless so I had nothing to compare it to. When I got the X-H1 I discovered a much better EVF. It is my first camera with a folding back display. The shutter release and the sound of the shutter is crazy good. Very much like the best Leica M2 I ever had after service by DAG. The X-H1 is my first IBIS camera. Love that.

"So what did I do? I sold the year old X-Pro2 and got an X-Pro3. The EVF is large and improved, folding rear display, fine, not an issue for me. The AF is screaming good now. So much of what I like in the X-H1 is now in the X-Pro3.

"Knowing there may not be an X-H2 is sad. The X-H1 s excellent. It needs little improvement. Add the latest sensor and AF guts and boom, done. An X-H1 with a grip and a 'cron is a fantastic package. I used it alongside my D4S shooting a show at the Beacon Theater in NYC. It was a breeze working one to the other.

"I really want an X-H2. Please build it."

Dogman (partial comment): "Aftermarket books? Oh, yeah. These days I seldom even open the manufacturer's owner's manual. It seems they delight in arranging the manuals in such a way that confusion ensues. All of the aftermarket books I've used have been better prepared and more useful. And I always buy them in e-book format. Kindle app in the iPhone means the book is always with me."

Stan B.: "I think the 'problem' with the X-H1 is that it's an 'in between' product like the Leica M5 or M8. That is, it incorporates proven technology into a package that some find unattractive, and others have already found just fine elsewhere...."

Hugh: "I have bought the following: Canon 5D, 2005; Canon 5D2, 2008; Canon 5D3, 2012; Canon 5D4, 2016; Canon 100D (SL-1), 2017; Canon RP mirrorless, 2018. Only looked at the instruction books for the 5D4 and RP to set up the WiFi transfer. The rest is essentially the same camera. Who cares if there are better cameras from other makers...my muscle memory hasn't needed retraining, and I never need to look at the camera to change settings. If I'd bought Nikon, I'd have followed the same pattern. Life is too short to change camera systems. Plus, I don't need to spend money on new lenses."

Dillan: "I just bought a new EOS R on Boxing Day (December 26—it's kind of like Black Friday for Canadians). I can attest that the EOS R is way more complicated than my last camera, an original 5D. There are so many features and adjustments available, it makes my 5D look like something from another age. Three years to become proficient? That might be true!"

DavidB: "Thom Hogan's (bythom.com) Nikon camera guides are always excellent. I've used the D700 and D750 guides."

Mike Ferron: "It takes the average Olympus user approximately one year just to activate the very useful 'Super Control Panel'!"

Greg: "Have been using Nikon D700's since they first came out in 2008. When I shoot sports I use a D4, when I need to a D850, but for 95% of my images I rely on the D700's since their operation is second nature to me after all these years. Guess I just don't fit into the three year cycle...."

Mike replies: That speaks very well for the durability of the D700.

Dan Khong: "When one changes cameras, it's not like changing a car in which one gives up one car to trade to a new car. Most times, there is an overlap between owning a new camera till one sells the older camera and even that might not always happen."

Mike replies: Good point.

Best Casual Cameras

The Canon EOS M5 with the IS lens made to go with it

You might consider this the "Selfish Edition" of the regular "Sunday Support Group" that I skipped yesterday—I noticed that Canon is having an aggressive blowout sale on its M5 and M6 mirrorless cameras—big savings—so, in honor of the season, I'm posting some links in support of our little corner of the Web, good old TOP. Click through to B&H and Amazon to see these cameras. And if you do a little extra shopping while you're there, well, hey, 'tis the season.

:-)

So to kick it off, Canon's nicely designed little M5 with its excellent 15–45mm (24–72mm-equivalent focal length) zoom for half price—just $450 for both camera and lens—would be a great walkaround camera for a Canon 5D Mark IV shooter or a great everyday camera for anybody, and it would make a heck of a great Christmas or Hanukkah gift. ($349 body only, but you'll need a lens.) It's too complicated to learn, but that's true of almost every dedicated camera these days. Alongside that failing, the Canon M5 gives you just about single every feature and capability that current fashion requires, in a well chosen mix, for a price that's very nice. Very nice.

Fuji X100f
This is the current version of the very camera I asked for years ago, years before it came out. Back then, I speculatively called it "The Decisive Moment Digital," or DMD (see "The Digital Camera I'd Like to Own" from 2005). The X100f is the DMD. It's also probably the single most significant camera of the decade of the twenty-tens if you ask me. Wildly successful, to the initial surprise of its maker (which thought it was going to be a niche camera for a certain subset of discriminating, fashion-conscious Japanese females—so wrong, as it turned out—it's been popular with photographers of every description worldwide), it launched Fuji's emergence as a major cameramaker, and it remains a landmark. The current version is highly refined, having gone through four iterations. It's still pretty. And I still like it. And it's still popular. It's Fuji's gift that keeps on giving.

Casual?
What exactly is a "casual camera," anyway? I don't mean to be derogatory at all. It's just this: a lot of serious photographers only work when they're working. Even art photographers—they want to concentrate on what they're doing, and when they're photographing they don't do anything else. They have their "main rig," whatever it is—their best camera—and that's what they use when they're shooting for real.

But it's a rare photographer who doesn't like to have fun and play with a camera as well. So what do you grab when you're doing something else but don't want to be without a camera? What do you shoot with when you're not shooting seriously? The casual camera.

In fact, the whole concept of a "casual camera" might be high status, you might say, rather than the opposite. Because to be casual means not all your work is casual. It's the one you just have fun with, and bring along for the ride when the big rig stays at home or back at the studio.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with one of these handy little overachievers as your only camera, either.

Quintessential casual cameras: the iPhone 11 Pro (front) and 11 Pro Max

iPhone 11
Ken's right, the number one casual camera has got to be the latest iPhone, or a counterpart from the Android universe. To the youngest generation, a "camera" is a feature on a phone. ILCs—especially DSLRs—are to them like our fathers' cameras were to us. And a phone camera is the one that best fulfills the old saying, "the best camera is the one you have with you." I have a hard time remembering to take my phone with me. My son (age 26) doesn't—it's second nature to him.

Ricoh GR III
But a lot of people just don't like shooting with phones. The Ricoh GR III seems to me to fill about the same niche now that the Leica M6 did when I was young. Back then, a lot of working pros had their Nikon or Canon, a backup body, and an arsenal of lenses from which they could choose for specific assignments...and then they had an M6 and a lens or three. Back then, Leica had a small share of the market, but were responsible for far more than their share of two things: 1.) respect and enthusiasm from photographers, and 2.) good work.

The same things seem to be true of the Ricoh GRIII today. I know a lot of very experienced shooters who love their GR's.

Wreath-laying ceremony, a few days ago. Ricoh GRIII photo by Ned Bunnell (used with permission).

Minolta X570
What about a camera for the younger-generation "film virgin" who wants to try film and see for him- or herself what the fuss is about? It actually takes some knowledge and work to buy really old cameras successfully (witness my recent problem buying that Pentax SL). And you do have to hit the sweet spot, to find a camera that embodies the "gestalt" of old mechanical film cameras while having just enough modern features to not be a pain in the katuschka. And it doesn't do much good to want the one everybody else wants, because popularity will have driven the price up.

May I recommend the Minolta X-570 (called the X-500 in Europe and Asia) from 1983? (Inset, from eBay.) It's actually a slightly better camera than its more famous, two-years-older sibling the X-700—for one thing, it shows shutter speeds in the finder when used in manual mode. All it lacks is program mode, and you don't want that anyway if you want the full experience. It's a fun camera to use and shouldn't be either too expensive to buy or too finicky to familiarize yourself with. Any camera repair shop will be able to work on it.

Fuji X-E3 with 27mm
Back to the modern day. Martin D recommends the Fuji X-E3 with the Fujinon 27mm "near-pancake." (You might want to wait till it's on sale to buy the latter.) This makes a lot of sense—it's not quite as pretty as the X100f and lacks the amazing OVF/EVF feature unique to Fuji, but it's virtually just as small (both are smaller than you think if you've never seen them) and with the X-E3 you can change lenses. This might not be a plus in the "casual" column but it's a good idea if this is going to be your only camera. Don't forget the nifty aftermarket thumb grip!

Sorry, but I can't get behind any of the 1-inch sensor point-and-shoots like the Canon G5X Mark II or Sony RX100 Mark VII...yeah, I know they're great cameras and very handy, and tiny, but $900 and $1,200 respectively for 1-inch sensor fixed-lens cameras just seems too dear in this down market. Of course, if you can afford one, you can afford one. Go for it.

Used digital
Want a casual used camera? Don't forget you can buy digital cameras used and save a bundle. I'd venture to recommend the old Nikon D40 or D40X. As a camera it's no great shakes—typical amateur DSLR—but it seemed to have the special sauce when it came to yielding lovely results. You can find one for well under $100 if you lurk and look. Just don't try to make prints that are too big. And then you can pair it with the spectacular but very inexpensive AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm ƒ/1.8G for only $167, a lens you will want to keep if you ever move up to a newer Nikon DX (DX means APS-C in Nikonspeak) body. All you'll have to remember is not to tell your friends how little money you spent. 

Final choices for today, two we've talked about before:

Olympus Pen F
Another very attractive classic retro camera beloved of many of our readers, the Olympus Pen F (which appears to be no longer available [NLA] in silver!?) can be casual or not: pair it with the splendid M.Zuiko Digital ED 12–100mm ƒ/4 IS PRO lens and you will have the best all-in-one camera known to man (well, Sony RX10 Mark IV owners will quarrel with that), or mate it to the small but great M.Zuiko 17mm ƒ/1.8 in matching silver and you'll have a stylish walkaround shooter than anyone would envy.

The Pen F is a pretty serious camera to tag with the label "casual." Maybe more truly casual would be the Pen E-PL9 for $449. Or, look for a lower-numbered E-PL[x] used if you're short on bucks (or pounds, or euros).

Panasonic GX9
I'm still a bit miffed that Panasonic won't sell me one of these without a lens bundled in, but you know what they say: Oh well. There's nothing wrong with the slower of Panasonic's two 12–60mm lenses (the GX9 comes with the ƒ/3.4–5.6 zoom; the pricier one is the Leica-branded ƒ2.8–4 one), but I don't need a zoom, and these (probably because they're bundled with the GX9!) are all over eBay at only $160–200. And it means you have to go through the rigamarole to resell the kit lens if you don't want it. But the GX9 is a great little camera, featuring Panasonic's tilting viewfinder and the very nice 20-MP sensor I like so much. Panasonic will give you $200 off for the holidays, and you can get another $200 off by selling the lens, and you're at right about $600 for the body. A deal, if not a steal.

UPDATE: The GX9 is available body-only in the UK. (Thanks to Richard Parkin for this.)

Am I just being sentimental with this last choice? I like Panasonics...oh, yeah, I should have mentioned that! A casual camera should be one you like. And enjoy using!  :-)

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Daniel Evan Rodriguez: "Might I suggest a 'more perfect' partner lens for the M5? The little Canon 22mm ƒ/2 is revelation—affordable, small, fast enough, with great sharpness where you need it and fantastic character. Add the 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM on the EF Adapter for a really fun 35mm/80mm combo. At about US$800 for that set with the current sales and rebates (with a printer too!), I can't think of a better 'go out and make that dang photograph' setup."

David Evans: "There is another dimension to 'casual.' My Lumix TZ70, which I carry everywhere, could be replaced for £209. An iPhone 11 Pro, which I don't own, would cost over £1,000. Guess which I would feel most casual about? I also have a Moto G6 which is good enough for really casual snaps."

Mike replies: I know what you mean. I once had a one-of-a-kind lens, but the thought of losing or damaging it made me crazy. So I got rid of it. That sounds weird to say it that way—afraid of losing it so you let go of it deliberately?—what sense does that make?—but it was really the way I felt as I was carrying it around that bothered me. I like knowing that my stuff can be replaced if need be.

Gavin Mclelland: "I had a Nikon D40 back in the day and still regret selling it. Not a big sensor but it did its job very well."

David Comdico: "My vote is for the Fuji X-T30 which I use as my main camera although I purchased it as a 'casual camera.' It has the same sensor as Fuji's top of the line cameras and is very compact when used with one of Fuji's pancakes—or even the Fujicrons. For film I'd go with an Olympus OM-1N which are still inexpensive and OM lenses can compete with the best. The viewfinder is truly excellent, better than any digital camera."

Robert Harshman: "Wake up, it's 2020 now, it's a phone, period. Casual cameras whatever that is, is simply a phone. There is nothing casual about using a DSLR or mirrorless camera given the quality possible of a device that most of us have anyway. Today dragging a camera device along with you is simply not a casual choice. Small cameras not being a phone are pretty much over."

s.wolters: "At a certain moment in the old film days I used a Polaroid SX70, a Yashica T4, an Olympus Centurion APS all-in-one, a Nikon F100 and F65, a Contax G1, a Rolleiflex GX and a Mamiya 7. And I borrowed a Horseman 4x5 field camera from a friend now and then. (With her as the main accessory).

"Now my 'casual' Olympus Pen-F has replaced them all. It’s my point and shoot, walk around, documentary, travel, portrait and precision camera for close up and high-res shots. Micro Four Thirds gives me more than I need, though I could be just as happy with the Fuji system I suppose. Hate smartphones for photography, but love my iPad for making contact with people while I am traveling. In a way that replaces the SX70."

New Look for Nikons

How is it that a deliberately retro digital looks more 2020 and
up-to-date than a black-blob polycarbonate DSLR?

Respectfully proposed: isn't it high time for a new look for Nikons?

A few days I wrote about that great closeout deal on the Nikon D610, and it really is just a heck of a great deal. And I did like that camera. It feels sharp and capable.

But let's be honest. It's not a looker.

It got me to thinking.

Nikons just look old these days.

And dated. They just exude "yesterday."

Not even yesterday...last year. Last decade. Last century. Yeah, that black-blob polycarbonate lump (BBPL) look that came into the mainstream in the 1990s is just plain last millennium.

As with all BBPL cameras, originally it was inherited from the work of the renegade industrial designer Luigi Colani, via Canon. But Colani himself grew old and departed this coil, and anyway his original idea has morphed through so many less talented hands at Nikon that it's merely vestigial...and greatly debased, much as Frank Lloyd Wright's "open plan" concept—originally a subtle idea, in the master's hands—has come to merely mean barnlike interiors with no finishing.

Even the logo looks yesterday. Just because Ford and Coke keep their original typefaces (because they're glorious) doesn't mean everybody should. Yes, Nikon's italic forward-slanting sans-serif typeface was clean and modern...in 1953, when it made its first appearance. Now, it insistently screams "'nineties" to me, like scrunchies, slip dresses and Seinfeld.

Aaaugh!!
And speaking of screaming, I think if I see that poor shriveled misbegotten red "Nikon slash" stuck brainlessly on yet another camera, I think I might! Scream, that is.

A long way back, Nikon asked Giorgio Giugiaro, the famous car designer, to design a few of its cameras. Such was the fashion at the time: Contaxes (a cooperative nameplate from West German Zeiss and Japanese Yashica, later part of Kyocera) were originally designed by Porsche Design Studio (now Studio F. A. Porsche), the industrial design firm founded by Ferdinand Alexander "Butzi" Porsche, designer of the fabled and famous 911 and grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche. Canon (in second place, and a striver) hired zany Colani. Nikon followed suite by engaging Giugiaro, who boldly put a red line down one side of the angular F3. Brilliant! It looked new, it looked fresh, like the bright new dawning decade!

...Trouble is, that decade was the 1980s.

Now, like a 90-year old who still pomades his ducktail like he did when Elvis was King, Nikon just keeps insisting on that same little old tired design fillip, doing like they were told by the cool guy way back when.

Same sad red accent a third of a century after it first appeared. Giorgio,
what hast thou wrought? Here on the D610 it's so tired it's literally drooping.

The very essence of anti-fashion is to stick with ancient styles and never change. I've seen hot-rodded Mennonite buggies shined to gleaming that look cooler than most Nikons do.

Black blob is the new old
One proof of this concept is that even the most "retro" of new cameras somehow look much more up-to-the-minute than the average Nikon does. How is that? Yet it's true. Possibly the most retro camera out there is the Fuji X-T30, and somehow even it looks more up to date than a BBPL camera. Have a look. My Fuji X-H1 just looks the business; it's really a handsome camera, whatever else you might think of it. Ditto a variety of Leicas, Panasonics, and other Fujis. Nikon DSLRs are ugly stepsisters. 

Automobiles have "house looks." And even those change from time to time...at least after a few decades they do. (Sometimes not for the better, I'll admit. I miss BMWs.) Even F.A. Porsche's 911, which is famous for staying the same, has changed an awful lot. 

Yeah, I know, cameras are tools and meant to be ergonomic, not pretty. Sony A7 family cameras look better but are said to handle worse. I get that. Then why is it that Canon BBPL cameras look about five times better than Nikon BBPL cameras do? Like Volkswagen sedans, Canons look clean and sleek and grown-up. Nikon DSLRs look blobby and frowsy and dumpy, and a little haphazard, like stuff just got stuck on wherever. You know what they say about camels—horses designed by a committee.

Cool. (I'm ignoring the red accent, because it looks like the
designer hated the idea and some suit insisted.)

Maybe the Z line will be the new Nikon look. Do they really look that good, though? I hear some people don't like 'em. I do like the Z7 myself. I think it's cool, like it would fill the hand like Wild Bill Hickok's Colt—but I'm not sure the Z7 [$700 off!] is pretty enough to hang a whole new house style on (or that Nikon has any intention of doing that).

Glass house
And yeah, yeah, I know, TOP itself is dowdy and frumpy and never changes, and Yr. Hmbl. Ed. is the furthest thing from a fashion plate, and I shouldn't talk. Got that, and yes. But doesn't that mean that if even I think there's a problem, there might actually be a problem?

All I'm asking is, is it time for a new house look for Nikon? A top-to-bottom rethink. Sometimes old is classic, but sometimes old is just old. Enough is enough. Even the Rolls-Royce grill has evolved! Enough with the black-blob plastic-lump look, the tired red bit tacked on like a dowager's pin, and the 1990s-looking Helvetica logo. However sharp and modern Nikons perform, most of 'em do it looking dated. And that's not cool.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

Gordon Lewis: "Life is too short to wait for Nikon (or any other camera company, for that matter) to produce something I want. Instead I choose from what's currently available, like it or leave it. So, rather than wait for Nikon to introduce a camera that's more like a Fujifilm X-T3, I bought a Fujifilm X-T3, and guess what? I even mount my old AI-Nikkors on it from time-to-time. It's all I can do not to feel smug."

Thomas Rink: "I've used a Nikon D800 as my main camera for more than five years. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a Fuji X-T20 secondhand as a camera for family snapshots. In regards to aesthetics, I share your point of view. The Nikon is big, heavy and ugly, whereas the Fuji looks small and nimble, much like a '70s film SLR.

"In terms of function, both cameras are similarly competent picture-making tools. They provide everything I need, and the technical quality of the pictures from both cameras is very good.

"But: the Nikon is much easier to use, and handles much more 'fluidly' than the Fuji! There is a button to control each essential function right under my finger. In my opinion, the button-and-command-wheel interface is more ergonomic than the retro-style dial interface of the Fuji. Also, I find the general handling of the X-T20 a bit 'fiddly'; it is quite easy to inadvertently change a setting. This never happened to me with the D800!

"To sum it up: Yes, Nikon DSLRs are big, heavy and ugly, but their UI and handling has been refined during each subsequent camera generation since the '80s."

Larry Johnson: "Your design points are well made but I'll offer a counter view. I rather like the anonymity and blahness my camera (D610) exudes when I'm out in a crowd or alone on a remote trail. It doesn't shout 'hey! Look at ME!'

"As the most modest of the 'serious' Nikon DSLRs it's a notch above a nothing burger, but I keep getting good pictures out of it. I admire the 'look' of the new Leicas but don't want one. I think the little Fujis are nifty looking but I prefer a larger sensor. Furthermore, I can't easily handle their smallness.

"I love the look of the Fiat Spyder but I'm more of a Highlander guy. For me, pretty is as pretty does."

Cyber Monday Sports-Car Nikon

Cyber Monday deal, effective today: full-frame Nikon D610 with 50mm lens, mobile wireless adapter, and vertical grip / battery pack for only $896.95. That's a discount of $1,100 off the regular price.

In other words, they're giving this away today and tomorrow. And the lens isn't the old "nifty fifty." It's the new (June 2011) ƒ/1.8G lens that normally goes for $217 and is currently on sale for $177. It weighs only 6.5 oz. (185g) and thus effectively lightens the camera. It's a classic 7-element Planar type with the convex and concave surfaces between elements 4 and 5 (you count from the objective, AKA the outermost, element inwards) that I much prefer in lenses of this type—it predicts excellent bokeh, which this lens exhibits. It's not a premium lens by today's seriously over-the-top standards, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts it's better than almost any 50mm lens you could buy 40 years ago. An excellent classic lens design, and you're getting it for less than nothing. I'd prefer it, for the excellent bokeh, but then I'd use it in the traditional way: stopped down almost always, except in cases where I absolutely needed the speed. I don't like today's big, heavy, expensive primes, with their aseptic, analytical, look-at-me rendering.

I owned the bigger Nikon DSLR...an earlier version, the D800. Is it wrong that I actually preferred the D600 at the time? Lighter, handier, easier on the computer storage, and somehow it seemed more responsive to me. But then, I'm a sports car guy, not a muscle car guy.

Funny how camera prices have gone up and down. True, cameramakers are charging more for cameras these days, and it seems (pretty transparently) to be a business strategy. But then you can get really great deals—I mean real bargains—like this. Remember that equally fantastic bargain on the Fuji X-H1? Well, the X-H1 lists as "discontinued" across the board on B&H now. Gone. This D610 will likely be gone soon too. They're asking you if you'd like one of the last ones for very little money while they still have a few. It's a camera you could use for ten years for <$90 per year(!!), and for the right buyer, man, what a deal.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

Michael J. Perini: "My daughter owns and loves this lens (she shoots weddings). A great bargain, a near giveaway here.

"By the way the space is between elements 3 and 4 (not 4 and 5) and both of those lens surfaces are concave, just oriented in opposite directions."

Mike replies: No, I said what I mean—I'm talking about the cemented surfaces in the 4/5 group. In many Planar-types both those surfaces are flat, to save money. That doesn't impact the plane of focus performance much, but it influences the look of the bokeh.

Malcolm Myers: "Interesting that they get rid of old digital stock at rock-bottom prices, yet you can still buy an F6 brand new some fifteen years after it was launched."

Mike replies: That's a completely different sales strategy. What they're doing there is regulating the outflow of the "new old stock" (NOS). NOS means new items that were manufactured a long time ago but still being warehoused. The idea is to keep the item in stock for a long as possible so it can be catalogued as being available new, and no official decision has to be made to either discontinue the product or make another production run. They're not going to do another production run of the F6. If they wanted to close it out, they could, but they'd rather keep it in the catalog. The price is raised to put a damper on the rate of sales so it doesn't sell too fast.

Pentax did this for years with the LX. The LX remained officially "in production" for many years after the last batch was made; but by the end, the price had risen to a king's ransom.

As electronic products, there are two reasons digital cameras aren't kept in stock like that.

One is that the company knows the tech and features are going to be outdated quickly. The crucial difference is that with the F6, demand will fall to a trickle, but there will still be demand. Whereas with a digital camera, demand will fall to zero. With low demand, the price per unit can go up; with no demand, it can't. Nikon will still occasionally sell an F6 (introduced 2004) for $2,550. But if it had NOS 2004 D70's in the boxes brand new, it most likely couldn't sell any for any price. (On eBay those are going for $20–40, mainly for conversion to infrared. If Pentax still had NOS LX's hanging around, it could sell a few every year, for high prices. That's because the demand has fallen very low but it has never gone to zero.

The other reason is so the company doesn't have to maintain a stock of spare parts to guarantee repairability. Nikon probably has a protocol for how long it will guarantee a stock of parts for cameras of every category—longest for professional products, shortest for low-end consumer models. But the sooner the D610 can be officially discontinued, the sooner the clock can start ticking on the period during which parts will be provided and repairability will be guaranteed, whatever that is.

I hope Ned or Eamon will correct me if I'm wrong about any of this. I'm just guessing; I don't have any firsthand knowledge of Pentax or Nikon policy.

Speaking of NOS, before they changed the tax laws, publishers could keep old books in stock as NOS and gradually raise the price as the stock sold, in order to keep the book in the catalog. Rumor had it that in the 1980s, Oxford University Press was cataloguing and selling brand new copies of books that had actually been printed in the late 1800s!

Eamon Hickey: "I think your description of Nikon's thinking re: the F6 vs. the digital models is very likely correct, but I can't say for sure from personal knowledge of that particular issue. I never heard any decision-makers talk about it. On the question of repairability, you're correct that Nikon (and everybody else) has official protocols, but I don't think they are 'guarantees' in the legal sense—i.e. an enforceable contractural obligation. I do know what Nikon's used to be: Nikon had an official plan to keep spare parts available for all cameras for five years after they were discontinued. For pro-level cameras, it was clearly longer than five years, although that was never stated explicitly in my hearing. For lenses, the plan was to stock spare parts for 10 years after the model was discontinued. In practice, when I had to day-to-day experience with these things, most cameras and lenses could be repaired by Nikon or other repair shops, with stockpiled spare parts, for significantly longer than the five- and 10-year targets.

"Important caveat: I don't know if these protocols are still in effect at Nikon. They could easily have changed in the last 10 or 15 years without me knowing about it."

Steve Rosenblum: "There are quite a few people in the review section for this camera on the B&H site complaining of sensor oil and dust problems that Nikon has failed to resolve. Perhaps that is another reason for the low price?"

Mike replies: I thought those problems were on the D600 and were solved on the D610. I thought that was the rationale for the +10 update. No?

Dogman replies to Steve and Mike: "The D610 is a very competent camera. It is the replacement for the D600 that had the shutter that splashed oil on the sensor. Nikon did (reluctantly and belatedly) replace the shutters in D600 cameras under warranty but the camera had gained a reputation by then. The D610 has a new shutter and a few new features over the D600. The vast majority of reports I've read indicate the oily sensor issue has been resolved but you still see an occasional owner's review saying their particular camera has a dirty sensor. Personally, my Fuji mirrorless cameras get more crap on their sensors than any of the DSLRs I've ever owned, including a D610. I very much like my D610, bought 'well used' and still plugging along without any issues whatsoever.

"The 50mm ƒ/1.8 Nikkor is a sweet lens that I also like a lot. I've read user reports that indicate the ƒ/1.8 lens outperforms the current ƒ/1.4 model. I only know I like what mine gives me."

Sunday Support Group: Out of GAS?

When I think back on it, there were a number of cameras I bought because I basically couldn't help myself.

In 1989, I was nine years into the acute phase of my photography obsession, and four years out from my graduation from photography school (and I had just suffered a setback in my personal life, which usually worsens, temporarily, my gear obsession and my focus on material things, as if my mind is grasping for a distraction). Canon introduced the EOS RT.

The RT was an EOS 630 with a pellicle mirror. A pellicle mirror is a fixed beam splitter in the place of the moving reflex mirror—Sony called its pellicle-mirror cameras "SLT," for "single lens translucent." It's a feature that has never been popular with photographers, but in 1989 I thought it was cool and cutting-edge. Couple that with the fact that Canon introduced an especially small and light 35mm ƒ/2 lens—then and now my favorite focal length and lens speed—at around the same time, and I couldn't resist. That RT seemed like the happenin' thing, stylish and capable. It was a significant investment for me at the time, but I bought one.

...Which was kinda nuts, in that I was semi-unemployed at the time and already had a perfectly good autofocus Nikon and Nikon's version of the exact same lens. What can I say? That EOS RT was too beautiful and too cool not to possess. I wanted it. Like really, really wanted it.

Well, that was a harbinger of my future, turns out. I did like the RT, and did some good work with it, and I even kept it for a couple of years. I believe it's the only Canon I've ever owned, apart from a few historical specimens. I never disliked it. I honestly can't recall how or why I moved on from it.

Since then I've bought at least half a dozen cameras because...well, apparently because I had to. The significance of the EOS RT in my life seems to have been the start of a new pattern. 

A camera to me seems to contain infinite promise. Photographs grab hold of the unknowable phantasm of life; they fish magic talismans of permanence out of the always-vanishing river of experience. They are tokens of memory, and they defy time. They honor the things we've loved as those things pass by into emptiness. Sights vanish forever with the passing instants—but not quite entirely, if you have the right camera and you snatched a particle to keep for yourself. The Buddhists say the world is an illusion, that you cannot lean on the world, you cannot hang on to now. The camera whispers seductively in your ear that you kind of can.

And while it's true that every camera disappoints, it's also true that every camera and every lens yields its gifts, its rewards. I've almost never owned a single camera that didn't give me back something precious.

Cash in hand but empty-handed
Anyway, what I'm getting around to is that one of our commenters said the other day that he really wants to buy something but there's just nothing he needs and nothing that entices him. He titled the comment "Out of GAS?"

That seemed remarkable. But only two parts of it. First of all, I can understand all those of you who don't have the urge to buy and spend—it's not something I'm personally familiar with, but I'm assuming a fair percentage of TOP's readership consists of grown men and women who possess that mysterious quality called maturity, and that you people can do all those weird things like "defer gratification" and "regulate desires" that mature people reportedly do, at least according to what I've read. (Okay, I'm being tongue in cheek here—a little—I'm 62, and not entirely lacking in maturity).

And I can certainly understand not needing anything. Hell, I haven't needed a camera for decades.

It's the combination of feeling the urge—the want—the desire—to buy something and not finding anything that's appealing enough to buy that's remarkable about Moose's comment. You know, you just want a toy and the money is burning a hole in your pocket and you're locked and loaded for self-indulgence and...nothing calls your name. Nada.

In one way I can understand it, because I find myself truly, honestly, deep-down sick of overcomplexity. It really is a turn-off for me. It's not that I can't handle it, it's that I don't want it. A new camera these days feels partly like a four-hour math exam I haven't studied for.

I don't even want my cameras to shoot video! How counterculture is that?

I dunno. I've indulged camera GAS in my life more than most people—I even made part of a career out of it for a while there—but I can always find something else to want. And yet that idea of there's nothing out there that entices me seems strangely plausible.

This post has no conclusion. Topic for discussion? I have no idea what to think. It may be that this is the camera-geek's equivalent of the proverbial irresistible force and immovable object, and my brain is getting set to explode! Your turn.

Mike
(Thanks to Moose)

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

Yiorgos: "I'm out of GAS too, although I wish I weren't. A new camera re-energizes my photography, which does need a boost. I recently attended PhotoPlus in New York City, looking for the one camera that would excite me and spark a new idea. I thought that it might be the Fuji X-Pro 3, or some camera from the larger manufacturers that I had overlooked. But I walked away—for the second year in a row—disappointed. Everything seemed either too big, or too expensive, or uninspired. It's subjective, of course, how one perceives these things. What GAS I do have has me thinking that I ought to buy the Pentax KP with one of those small Pentax Limited lenses, before such a gem of a camera disappears from the marketplace. For years, too, I have been thinking about getting the Mamiya RB67. Then I think that I should just repair the Leica M4 that's sitting in my closet and be happy.

"I do consider that the problem may not be about GAS at all, but about time, money, and cultivating creativity. I'm short of these things too."

Mani Sitaraman: "I went through a similar mania or obsession that lasted about six or seven years, starting in 1994. The fever broke when the camera world went digital, with the Nikon D100. I simply haven't wanted, wanted, a digital camera the way I wanted some of those old film cameras, back in those days.

"It made no logical sense. What do a Rollei medium format SLR, a Minox C and a Plaubel Makina 67 have in common that I would find a reason to rationalize buying all three? The only camera that I desperately wanted and then bought, and that I then used constantly for years, because it fit my hand like a glove, was a Leica M6 0.85. The only reason I stopped, was that lab processing became too expensive, scarce, and of uneven quality."

MikeK: "I recall reading somewhere that the brain likes the novelty of a new purchase—and gives you a little dopamine hit when you buy something. I find that there's always new camera stuff I could buy, but I'll mostly keep using the same body and decent zoom lens. I started looking at L-brackets recently—even though I don't use the tripod that much....

"I do find when I go into a record shop these days (if I can find one) that there's not much I want to buy—maybe I'm just getting old or maybe all the bands I like are gone (or have given up and got proper jobs)."

Guy Perkins: "I'm older than you Mike, and about to buy a camera because...I just need to buy a camera. Oh dear."

Jim McDermott (partial comment): "Mike, I, too, bought the EOS RT (it didn't stay with me long, but I used it on a Greek [Lesbos] holiday in 1991, where it did good service. I'm sure I felt the same way about it as all my many GAS purchases—initial fascination, followed by deflation (or at least, a puzzled, what-was-that-all-about moment) and then an abiding inability to learn from the experience."

Mark L. Power: "Re 'A camera to me seems to contain infinite promise. Photographs grab hold of the unknowable phantasm of life....' Beautifully said, Mike, and it echoes my feelings exactly about cameras. Those two paragraphs go into my quote file.

"There's a curious kind of trust between photographer and a camera. My own superstition is if I don't get at least one 'keeper' from my first time out with the camera (usually before I even know how to work it) than I'll never trust that camera again and soon it sits on a shelf gathering dust until I can find someone to buy it."

Kodachromeguy: "Nothing that entices you? How about going back to basics? Buy a film camera. After all, you have the know-how and practical experience. That would give us plenty of articles as you describe your journey."

PaulW: "I too have run out of GAS. I've built up a fully fleshed-out camera system that I'm completely content with. I have no need, or desire, to purchase anymore camera gear. But, I've now developed a nasty case of SAS (software acquisition syndrome). I find myself constantly trying, and frequently buying, different photo related software packages. Several of these packages have required more horsepower than my current system has, so I've also developed a case of computer HAS (hardware acquisition syndrome). I think camera GAS pales in comparison to computer HAS. The choices are endless and overwhelming. Does this merry-go-round ever stop?"

Steve C: "I've had good success at getting off the GAS treadmill in both cycling and photography by finding my way into buying really expensive, dead-end stuff that really only suits me and that I love to use, regardless of 'performance.'

"Part of this is convincing myself / realising that the build of 'performance' in either domain is subjective and the result of practice, training, and development of one's potential, and that there are always people more obsessed with that pursuit that I will be.

"A made-just-for-me bicycle is an expensive thing, and almost valueless to anyone but me. And because it suits just me so well, I just haven't ever wanted anything else since. In the long run I think it's worked out for the best both monetarily and experientially.

"When people who are getting into cycling ask me for advice on bikes, there's nothing I can tell them. I ride a lot, but I'm just not following the equipment race.

"Camera-wise, I did the OCOLOY exercise with a borrowed M6 and after a few months of really hard wrestling, fell permanently in love with the M system. I longed for the flexibility and quick feedback of digital though, and managed to scrape my way into a digital version and haven't cared for the digital specification race since.

"Now that I can eyeball exposure pretty well, the final happy dead-end for me is an M-A. It's everything I enjoy with almost nothing to go wrong, nothing to run out of charge and nothing to go out of date (it's all since obsolete anyway). But I'm in no rush to get there. So long as Leica keep making them (and there seems to be a standing six-month backorder) they won't be any better or any more obsolete in a year or five from now.

"When friends ask me about cameras I have nothing to tell them other than that Fuji seem to care about cameras that make sense. Outside of that I can talk about pictures, but have no idea about cameras.

"It's a pretty happy place to be.

"That said, going back to Mary Ellen Mark's statement that it's not when you release the shutter but why that matters, if you do it for the revelry of marveling at the amazingness of technology (and for many people, chemical technology's ability to fix an image on paper was a similar a-ha moment), I think that's fine too.

"The only thing that leaves a sour taste in my mouth is when people with profound GAS feel the need to be right about their own preference of the moment and point out the idiocy and inferiority of all dissenters' views. I've learned that part of what makes any field interesting is the personal histories and reasons behind the differing opinions. Why should we want everyone to agree with us?"

Mike replies: I'll just mention, gently and compassionately, that over the years I've had many, many friends and readers explain to me in great detail that the Leica they just bought is their last camera purchase and that they'll never need to buy another. I never rub it in when they buy another new camera a few years later. It does seem, however, from my vantage point, that calling a Leica purchase "the final happy dead-end for me" (or any of a hundred similar phrases meaning the same thing) is perhaps just part of the justification process for the purchase. But we'll see how you do.

Don't beat yourself up if it turns out you were over-optimistic about that, though, because you won't be alone.

New: Leica SL2

Leitz Leicaflex SL2, 1974: built like a Tiger I. This one's for sale.

First of all, the new Leica SL2 full-frame mirrorless (FFM) camera has an excellent name. I've often enough been a critic (or at least a lampooner) of absurd, obtuse, opaque camera names, so this should be acknowledged. The original Leicaflex SL2 was a beautiful, big, heavy, over-engineered, over-spec'ed SLR that Leitz made, late and grudgingly, as a response to the overwhelming popularity of the SLR. It was built like a Tiger tank. The name of today's SL2 FFM pays homage to that proud heritage product while at the same time remaining distinct from it by virtue of the fact that the earlier product has the tag "Leicaflex" attached to it whereas the new one is called merely by the current company name, Leica. So you can still search for the older SL2 on the Internet and not be swamped by results for the new camera.

Second, the second iteration of a camera is usually a promising and exciting event. It means that the original product was popular—otherwise there would be little reason to publish a new edition, as it were—and, also usually, the second generation corrects most of the niggles and glitches of the first, after the first has been thoroughly tried, sorted, used and discussed by its purchasers and, um, others. (It also sort of turns early adopters into de facto beta-testers, but that's neither here nor there.)

As befits the faster pace of evolution in digital, the SL2 offers some serious upgrades from the earlier SL (Type 601) from 2015. Most notably, it has in-body image stabilization (IBIS) almost certainly compliments of Panasonic, also most likely the source of the SL2's new OLED EVF—already one of the great features of the original. Although Panasonic has not been a leader with IBIS, and played catch-up for a long time, its most recent cameras seem finally to have caught up with longtime leaders and developers such as Olympus and Sony (née Konica-Minolta). The SL2 uses a new sensor of 47-megapixel resolution (same as the one in the Q2) and a new processor, called Maestro III. It is said to offer 14 stops of DR. It features a revised body design in response to complaints about the original, and revisions in the controls and menus. The rear viewing screen is bigger and has better resolution, although it's still not articulated in any way. It's a choice. The camera has a nice status panel on the top plate and the big, beautiful diopter control looks awesome (inset). The camera will cost $5,995.

Leica SL2. This one's for sale too.

Real-world tests to follow, out on the wilds of the Internet.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Jeff: "Plus even better weather sealing (IP-54), better video capabilities, and now with even more lens options through Leica (including SL, TL and adapted M, S and R lenses) and through the L mount alliance (Panasonic Lumix and Sigma). The sensor is also better optimized for M lens use (especially wide angle) than the Lumix S1/S1R, somewhat offsetting the significant price disparity."

Kenneth Tanaka: "I rented an SL about a year ago to test it out. My experience was similar to Aaron’s; it was a miserable experience. The SL was heavy, awkward to hold, awkward to control. The experience was made all the worse because the project I was shooting required me to hold the camera away from my face and pointed downward most of the time. After 40 minutes my arms burned, my eyes were aching (trying to see the non-articulating screen), and the 10-lbs. battery (exaggeration) was nearly dry. There is absolutely nothing about the SL2 that seems as it would help facilitate me making better images. I don’t care about their IBIS or their newly rounded edges. The sensor may be lovely (same as in my Q2), but so what? I’ll stick to my infinitely more capable and versatile Sony A7R, Fuji GFX, and Canon systems, thank you."

Mike replies: That sounds like my reaction to the R8 and Leicaflex SL2 film cameras. I had an immediate strong aversion to the R8, which a friend loaned to me at Photo East one year. (He loved it. Rumor had it that it sold very poorly.) An idea of the tanklike build of the Leicaflex SL2 can be seen here. Nothing wrong with that if it's what one prefers, but it's not to my taste.

For that matter both those film cameras reminded me of the Zeiss Contarex, a candidate for the best-built, least user-friendly camera ever made:

CC by 2.0

Gordon Lewis: "My grandfather was the proud owner of a Zeiss Contarex, which he let me use for a few days so that I could experience what it was like to shoot with the pinnacle of German design and engineering. Excitement transformed into disappointment as soon as I discovered that not only was the Contarex as heavy as a brick, the selenium cell exposure meter (the "eye" above the lens) was prone to underexposure caused by light reflecting into the meter from the brushed chrome lens barrel. I've had an antipathy towards heavy, over-engineered cameras and lenses ever since."

Chuck Albertson: "Mark Meyer (cf. Mike Plews's comment) survived an ejection from an F4 Phantom while shooting an assignment in the 1980s over the Mojave Desert (engine flameout). The strap on his Leicaflex SL2 snapped when his 'chute opened, and the camera dropped several miles. It was found by some hikers about a year later. The film was recovered, and the camera was repairable (the lens was a write-off). His camera used to be in the museum at Leica in Wetzlar, but had disappeared the last time I visited. The digital SL is robust enough to have been OK'ed by NASA to ride on its sounding rockets; the first one didn't go so well, as the 'chute malfunctioned. The SL has been my day-to-day camera for a couple of years. The image quality is superb, especially with a SL prime attached to it, and it's incredibly durable. You could win a bar fight with it, and then use it to photograph the losers—wasn't that Marty Forscher's working definition of a professional-grade camera?"

Coming Revolutions in Storage and Memory

We were talking about SD cards yesterday, and whether 95 MB/s (megabytes per second) is enough download speed or whether you need to pay the premium for 300 MB/s cards. Yes, of course, some people do need the latter—pros, videographers, heavy shooters, anyone on a deadline, etc.

As far as storage and memory are concerned, though, you need to know about two things, both of which were mentioned in the Comments. The first is called CFexpress, a possible new standard in portable removable media that's a big leap from what we've had up till now. The other is some even more exciting news in archive storage, an issue which has been a real headache in digital (and for certain analog media, such as the originals of movies) for decades now. It's called Project Silica, and it's just in the proof-of-concept stage now. But the concept is fascinating indeed. As are the concepts behind the concept.

CFexpress
Think your measly 300 MB/s SD card is the sh*ts? Well, yes, it is, but maybe not for long. CFexpress cards use Sony's XQD form factor and will be back-compatible with XQD devices, and can potentially deliver four lanes of 1GB throughput per lane. Upcoming examples of the Type B version of the 38.5×29.8×3.8mm cards can hold half a terabyte of data with read speeds up to 1,750 MB/s and write speeds of 1,000 MB/s, and the potential is for even more than that.

This is better tech. But as Kishore Sawh writes on SLRGear, "we’ve seen 'better' tech come and go in various fields before simply because they weren’t broadly adopted, and this was a concern for photographers and manufacturers. Make no mistake, adoption rates and market share can make or break a 'superior product.'" Truer words were never spoken. But that, in case you were wondering, is why the Nikon Z6 and Z7 and other Nikons use XQD cards—Nikon has already announced upcoming firmware updates to enable the Z6, Z7, D5, D850 and D500 cameras to use CFexpress Type B. Nikon is only waiting for the cards to become available before releasing the firmware that will enable them. (I don't know how many other current, or imminent, pro cameras use or will use XQD, but I'm guessing there are and will be more.)

Photo courtesy Lexar

A Lexar CFexpress card fits in the XQD slot of the Nikon Z7

More generally, it remains to be seen if CFexpress will be the storage media of the future, because it depends on adoption and acceptance. For now, though, I can't see how companies making cameras for professionals could fail to keep up with each other and transition to CFexpress—it's just so much mo' bettah. In the more distant future, it's certainly possible that cameras will involve a paradigm shift away from traditional handheld interchangable-lens standalone cameras—already, many amateur cameras are index-card-sized, quarter-inch-thick wafers (that is, smartphones) that can send their pictures wirelessly to the cloud for storage. Who knows if professional digital imaging will go that way too, or some other way? But assuming there remains a need for portable removable storage and a need for improvement in that area, CFexpress may be on the cusp of creating a decisive leap in the existing state of the art.

Microsoft Azure's Project Silica

Photo courtesy Microsoft

And speaking of the cloud, check this out. What you're looking at here are, on the left, the four reels of the 1978 movie Superman on celluloid, and, on the right, the same movie encoded on a palm-sized piece of hard silica glass. It's a technology developed by a sprawling Microsoft division known as Project Red Dog (2008) > Windows Azure (2010) > Microsoft Azure (2014). It's called "Project Silica." The successful transfer in the picture above is the proof of concept.

It's astonishing. Microsoft says "the hard silica glass can withstand being boiled in hot water, baked in an oven, microwaved, flooded, scoured, demagnetized and other environmental threats." Awesome/brilliant as all that is, it's not even the new technology's neatest trick. An absolutely huge problem in data storage, and one that looms even larger for the future, is that vast amounts of labor—and hence, expense—are needed to keep ahead of entropy, a.k.a. decay. In this case, for instance, "Warner Bros. proactively migrates content every three years to stay ahead of degradation issues." Just imagine having to do all that work just to keep Superman in shape! Then multiply it over all the movies Warner Bros. has ever made, then to all the movies anyone else has ever made, then to all the other kinds of information humanity thinks is as deathless and eternal and essential to culture as Superman....

Anyway, what's sorely needed is storage media that is "write once, read always" (WORA), so when you put something away you don't have to tend to it. Ant Rowstron, partner deputy lab director of Microsoft Research Cambridge in the United Kingdom, says, "one big thing we wanted to eliminate is this expensive cycle of moving and rewriting data to the next generation. We really want something you can put on the shelf for 50 or 100 or 1,000 years and forget about until you need it."

'Zackly. Here's a picture of my former WORA technology:

I haven't touched it in better than 20 years and all the image information is right there  awaiting potential excavation. This method isn't practical any more—once it reaches this stage it's stable, but it takes too much work and cost to get to this stage.

The piece of glass in the picture above contains 75.6 gigabytes of data plus error redundancy codes. How much work will it take to get that information to that stage? For the piece of glass pictured, probably a whole lot. I presume the eventual answer to that question is that the answer will evolve. Project Silica isn't currently intended for home storage or computing (or for your Lightroom catalog)—it's for the cloud. But if it turns out to be practical—and see those comments above about adoption and acceptance—it could eliminate the eternal headache of "write once, then back up over and over and over again at regular intervals until you run out of money or until some idiot drops the ball, at which point everything goes to hell pretty damned quickly," i.e., the current state of digital archiving.

If you want to know how it's done, you'll have to read Microsoft's article, released just a few days ago, because it's over my head. (I'm guessing you already know whether you want to read it!)

Mike
(Big thanks to Speed)

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New Olympus E-M5 Mark III Will Ship in Late November

At first glance, it looks like the latest iteration of the very capable mid-line Olympus Micro 4/3 camera, the E-M5 Mark III, will be significantly different from its predecessor. From browsing various "pre-reviews" and announcements on other websites, it appears that Olympus is doing two things with the new camera: 1.) positioning it to be a backup to the E-M1 II with many of the more expensive camera's features and capabilities, even rearranging the controls to bring them more in line with the E-M1 II's controls; and 2.) emphasizing small size and light weight, probably to better differentiate it from full-frame mirrorless (FFM) cameras. (This doesn't take a genius to figure out: the new tagline is "Empowering You to Break Free of Heavy Gear.")

As far as the "smallening and lightening" is concerned, Olympus is known for class-leading IBIS (in-body image stabilization), and the press release reserves a whole section for the new (smaller and lighter) mechanism in the E-M5 III.

It's commendable that Olympus looks like it is making no move to intentionally cripple the new camera to protect higher-end models. It appears to be giving the E-M5 III all the capability it can.

The new camera is expensive, though, considering the competition.

It will be available in silver and black.

Mike

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Eolake Stobblehouse: "I have watched several preview videos about it today, and I’m quite impressed. This camera is right up my alley. It can do everything I want and more, it is lightweight, and the image stabilisation is astounding. And of course I already love the Micro 4/3 system."

Nigel: "After handling a Nikon Z7, I am starting to have some doubts about the viability of the Micro 4/3 system. One by one the reasons for using this system are falling away. Only the size advantage when you use long lenses remains as a clear reason to use Micro 4/3.

"The 20-MP sensor is starting to be a little long in the tooth in a camera which must compete with cameras with much the same characteristics but with larger sensors which also cost less. At my local dealers an E-M1 Mark II is bundled with a 'free' 60mm Macro. Removing the cost of the Macro with what I could sell it for on eBay, the E-M5 III costs more than the flagship. Something is very wrong with Olympus’s pricing.

"This camera I feel suffers from the D300/D500 syndrome. When the long-awaited upgrade to the best selling D300 arrived, it was too late. I, like many others, had gone elsewhere. I jumped over to Micro 4/3 and the then-evolutionary E-M5 Mark I. Technically it produced better pictures than my old D300. Now the Micro 4/3 sensor is lagging behind the latest APS sensors.

"Once the Z system has some more lenses and the equipment becomes available more readily secondhand, I am convinced I will be returning to Nikon. The Z system gear is quite lightweight enough for me to hike in the mountains with; the very reason I fell in love with the Micro 4/3 system, but with all the advantages of the 24x36 sensor."

Nikon Z50

Mighty Nikon has announced its very first DX (APS-C) mirrorless camera. The new Nikon Z50 is a simpler, smaller, lighter, handier variant of the company's full-frame Z6 and Z7 mirrorless models.

As you can see from the picture above, the throat diameter—generously sized for full-frame—is proportionately large for the smaller sensor. That's not necessarily a problem from a lens design perspective, though, and at least Nikon's APS-C and FF mirrorless cameras will share the same lensmount, in contrast to Canon's R (FF) and M (APS-C) camera lines.

The smaller Nikon mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) system, called Z DX in keeping with Nikon's longtime nomenclature for crop-sensor products, might turn out to be strongly biased toward consumer zooms in terms of dedicated lenses for the format. Two new such lenses were announced with the Z50—a compact 16–50mm (24–75mm-e) ƒ/3.5–6.3 VR standard zoom, and a 50–250mm (75–375mm-e) ƒ/4.5–6.3 VR telephoto zoom.

Hunka hunka
This is merely speculative and might turn out to be wrong, but, historically, Nikon's interest in producing dedicated format-specific lenses for APS-C has been about zero, at least since it abandoned its early fealty to the crop sensor and went with FF. Sort of the opposite of Fuji in that respect. So you might need to be happy with the "lenses as an afterthought" school of thought to be happy and at home here...

...Unless you want to buy something like, oh, I don't know, the just-announced four-and-a-half pound, eight-thousand-dollar Z 58mm ƒ0.95 NOCT and use it as a 87mm-angle-of-view equivalent on your new Z50. Then again, a whole lot of "camera consumers" just buy a body with a two-zoom kit and never think about lenses again, so, hey, could work.

Don't worry about how you'll carry your new NOCT
—it comes with its own case

Note that a life-sized block diagram of the lens elements is impressed in the foam of the case! This one's mainly for the collectors, "in case" (no pun intended) you're in any doubt about the target market.

The Z50's 20-MP sensor appears to be the same as the one in the D500, which gets high marks from users. Seems a perfect fit.

Each of us would have to handle one to be sure, but it looks like Nikon hasn't made this camera too small. I'm all for the Goldilocks principle when it comes to hand-fit; I'd rather have a nice built-in grip already there than have to add one like I did with my Fuji X-T1.

The prices will be ~$860 for the body, ~$1k for the body and the normal zoom, and ~$1,350 for the body and both lenses. Looks reasonable from here. Available for preorder; ships November 27th.

When you're ahead, don't give your competitors time to catch up
If you can tolerate a little meta-rumination, the biggest problem with Z DX might be "the Model T trap." Henry Ford honestly believed the Model T was the perfect car for Americans for perpetuity, so when it reached the end of its remarkable product run and sales slowed to a trickle, Ford not only had nothing ready to replace it, but Henry still believed no replacement was necessary. His beleaguered son, the much (and unfairly) maligned Edsel, beat his brains against the wall trying to get his cantankerous Dad to budge and allow him to bring the Model A to market; in the meantime, Ford Motor Company basically had no mainstream car to sell...for six years. That lapse was critical to Chevrolet, which used the opportunity to step into the breach. Had Ford worked vigorously to maintain its huge advantage, Chevy might be about as well known today as Handley Motorcars or LaSalle. Anyway, I don't know offhand how many years Sony and Fuji have been selling crop-sensor MILCs, but it's been a while now (I'd be interested to see a head-to-head with this and the similar but less-than-half-as-expensive Sony A6000, which now goes for $389[!]). Nikon might be too late to this game.

Still might be a swell camera, though. Nikons are almost always nice, even the ones that don't sell too well. I'll look forward to real-world reviews.

Mike
(for my friend Jerry L.)

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Modern Color

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Canon EOS RP Review

Words and photos by James Leynse

The right-priced Canon
The introduction of a new Canon camera is often received with a burst of excitement, rapidly followed by a Bronx cheer of deflation as the camera is picked apart by Internet reviewers. If you follow camera news on the Web, and I admit to this guilty pleasure, it’s easy to be left with the impression that, once again, Canon has abandoned the needs of photographers to the demands of market segmentation and the goal of generating maximum profit.

Despite the disappointment expressed so loudly by the cognoscenti, the product in mention usually goes on to enjoy strong sales and Canon retains its top position among camera brands.

It's no accident that most of the photographers I know still shoot with Canon. Some have switched to Sony. Some still use their Canon lenses on a Sony body. Most just carry on with Canon. It takes a lot to get a photographer to change systems, and Canon is well aware of this. In my case, I shoot primarily commercial architecture and corporate portraits. I already have all of the lenses I need. There would have to be a compelling reason (and by that I mean both visually and financially) for me to switch brands. I have been tempted by the smaller, EVF-sporting cameras offered by Sony and Fuji. I even spent a few years playing with the A6000 and then the A6300 cropped-sensor cameras. In the end, I decided to wait and see what Canon would introduce when it entered the mirrorless market. I was intrigued by the EOS R but it seemed like a lateral move for me. The R has essentially the same sensor as the 5D Mark IV; I couldn’t justify the expense of switching just to get the EVF. However, the RP is a different story. At its current price of $1,299 with the EF-to-R adapter, the EOS RP is a tempting, somewhat easy-on-the-wallet addition to my arsenal. I decided to give it a try and have been actively using it for the last month.

In an effort to dispel some misconceptions, I am going to ennumerate and try to answer the three most common criticisms of the RP and the EOS R system in general, then talk about some of the RP's other features.

Where are the RP's Lenses? This complaint is partly true. If you are new to Canon or interchangeable lens cameras in general, then the EOS R system seems to lack some basic lenses, especially the more basic ones that would be a better fit for the RP. There is a very exotic (and expensive) RF 28–70 ƒ/2 zoom and some equally pricey ƒ/1.2 primes including the RF 50mm ƒ/1.2. The RF "kit" zooms include a slow, amateur variable-aperture RF 24–240mm 10X zoom and the all-purpose, stabilized RF 24–105mm ƒ/4 L IS USM, which is probably the first lens most buyers would get with the RP. Most of the better RF lenses retail for over $2,000. They look like amazing lenses but are probably not what most people buying the RP are looking to acquire. The closest thing to a reasonably priced standard lens that would "match" the RP is the stabilized $499 RF 35mm ƒ/1.8 Macro IS STM lens. While it’s an excellent performer, it’s not a zoom and probably wouldn’t satisfy if it were your only lens. A sharp, small pancake lens for the RP would be a great addition to the RF lineup.

Things are different if you have already bought into the EOS system and have some older lenses. The RP, which usually comes bundled with an adapter, can use just about any Canon EF or EF-S lens (full framed or crop-sensor) even if they are decades old. The only exception I know of are EOS M lenses.

I have used the RP with an array of autofocusing zooms and manually focusing tilt and shift lenses and have found both the AF and MF to be superior to what I am used to working with on my 5D Mark IV. The eye-AF/face tracking on the RP is pretty amazing. Whether using it to track my high school cross country runner or to keep focus locked on the eye of a portrait subject, the system works very well. It also works well while shooting video but, unfortunately, not in 4K mode. Proof of market segmentation? With my manual focusing lenses, having an EVF means being able to punch in 10X magnification while holding the camera to my eye. This has vastly increased my rate of well-focused pictures.

No IBIS! I know this is a contentious issue at TOP. At the risk of making myself a target, I think its absence from Canons has been overblown. Most of the Canon lenses that could benefit from image stabilization have IS built into the lens and clean, high ISOs mean that it’s easier than ever to use a reasonably fast shutter speed without undue grain. Would I like IBIS? Yes, but I don’t really need it. It’s rumored to be coming to future Canons but, for me, it's not a deciding factor.

Cropped/Crippled 4K video. After having launched the DSLR video revolution with the 5D Mark II, Canon has continually disappointed its fans by limiting the video performance of their still cameras. What do we have to do to get good 4K, full-frame video?  Canon’s answer: buy a Cinema camera. The RP does not deviate in this regard. It is primarily a still camera.

It’s definitely annoying that the RP doesn’t have better 4K and especially annoying that they eliminated the 24p (23.98 frames per/second) frame rate when shooting in full HD mode. The RP can operate in full HD mode at either 60p (59.94 frames per second) or 30p (29.97 FPS). For some reason 24p (23.98 FPS) is not available in HD (this is the frame rate that is most commonly used in North America for movies and gives that "cinematic" effect of blurred motion).

4K on the RP is cropped and suffers from bad rolling shutter which makes it almost unusable unless the camera is kept stationary. 4K mode also loses dual pixel AF relying on the older and slower contrast only AF. In the NTSC region of North America, The RP only shoots 4k at 24p (23.98 frames per/second).

Other features:

Dynamic Range: This has become another version of the megapixel race. For the most part, I find this to be more of an issue on paper than pixels. It is true that the RP (and Canon sensors in general) capture less dynamic range than their Nikon or Sony competitors. More is usually better but sometimes enough is enough. Most photographers (Canon shooters included) throw away most of their sensor’s dynamic range by either saving their files as JPEGs or just boosting contrast. There are situations which require a wide range of captured exposure: the classic example being an interior where one needs to see both the inside space and the bright view out the window. The solution is either to light the interior to balance with the light from the window or use a tripod and combine a series of bracketed exposures that capture the full range of interior and exterior light. Both are better solutions than to rely on a single frame, even if that frame comes from a sensor with 14+ stops of dynamic range.

For me, what’s more important than dynamic range is the sensor’s overall rendering of the image. The RP produces a similar looking file to most current Canons. To my eye, that’s a good thing and makes it easy to pair with my other cameras.

Battery Life: The battery on the RP is only rated for 250 shots. I always carry a spare which, conveniently, was included with the kit.

Silent mode/electronic shutter: One of the great benefits of mirrorless cameras is their ability to operate completely silently by bypassing the mechanical shutter. While there can be issues with banding and rolling shutter, there are also many times where having a completely silent camera lets you take pictures that wouldn’t otherwise be allowed. The RP does have this feature but, unfortunately, its is crippled by being accessible only as a fully auto "scene" mode. No manual exposure with silent shutter. For that (market segmentation again?) one needs to splurge for the more expensive EOS R.

Ergonomics: This is where RP really shines. The camera is quite small and light yet it manages to have a comfortable grip and a mostly logical and customizable layout of buttons. From the way it wakes up to the placement of the AF and shutter buttons, it’s a pleasure to use. It is also one of the rare cameras whose buttons tend not to get accidentally knocked when being transported. It even has a customizable switch allowing the photographer to lock all controls except the shutter. The record button can also be set to work only in video mode. No more interminable movies of the interior of my camera bag.

Flippy touch screen: not sure why every camera doesn’t have one of these. It makes shooting either horizontals or verticals from overhead or from the ground much easier. It makes shooting video much easier. Touch the screen and it focuses where you placed your finger. Look through the finder and you can control the focus point by moving your finger on the screen. Don’t want to be distracted by the screen? Just flip it around and fold it against the camera. Some people hate them (not sure why) but I think flippy screens add a lot of functionality.

Right Price: this brings us to the final reason (maybe should have been the first reason) to get an RP. While by no means cheap, a full frame camera that retails for just under $1,300 and comes with a spare battery and EF adapter is a pretty good deal—and a very good deal if you are already invested in the Canon system.

Overall, I have been more than satisfied with the RP. I am enjoying the advantages of a small, lightweight mirrorless camera and getting it in a package that smoothly integrates into my existing Canon DSLR system. If you can live with its limited video capabilities, the full frame EOS RP is worth strong consideration.

James

James Leynse is a photographer specializing in commercial architectural and corporate photography. His work can be found at www.leynse.com and on Instagram @leynsephoto.

Original contents copyright 2019 by James Leynse. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to TOP's affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Hugh: "I love my RP. It's hard to explain quite what a perfect combination it makes with the 35mm ƒ/1.8 RF lens—rather like the M2 and 35mm Summicron was—more than the sum of its parts. Add the EF 85mm ƒ/1.8 with the adapter, and you've got a nice light two-lens travel kit. The 50mm ƒ/1.8 STM works like it was designed for the camera as well. Works beautifully with the heavy stuff like the Canon 35mm ƒ/1.4L, 85mm ƒ/1.2L and the 24mm TS-E lenses as well. Best of all, it's just another Canon—no need to read the instruction book, and you can swap seamlessly to and from a 5D body without thinking."

Mark Kinsman: "As an ex Canon shooter, I still follow the news regarding Canon and keep up on all the new gear from all brands. But for me, Canon’s offerings are just too late. I had the full compliment of L glass lenses, including the Tilt Shift lenses, 5D Mark XX bodies, etc. I moved back to APS-C and Micro 4/3 when the Fujifilm X-T1 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 were released. Most photographers I know that were using Canon switched to Sony or Fujifilm. While I’m glad to see Canon join the mirrorless world, their offerings leave me cold. Nikon and Sony offer FF solutions that I think outpace Canon in full frame. However, the need for FF no longer offers any appeal to me, regardless of the brand. I don't need more megapixels past 24–30, it's more than enough for 24x36" prints I have hanging on walls...and for social media, please, we have way more than necessary. Canon still seems to be practicing feature crippling as incentive to buy more expensive models, while their competitors do not. I do hope they change that practice."

Trecento: "I have a problem with Canon's strategic feature-crippling. The most egregious example isn't directly with this camera: it's that they have two incompatible mirrorless mounts! This is very confusing! The 'consumer mount,' their 'M' mount, is more of a problem for the unwary, because you can't buy into one system and port your lenses to the other. Unless, of course, you just want to stick with adapted EF mount lenses. Lots of choices, but only ones that are good for Canon.

"Additional confusion follows from their 'R' mount nomenclature. I attempted to make a list of what's going on:

'R System with an RF mount' (Full frame only.)
EOS R
EOS RP

'M System with an M mount' (APS-C only.)
M5
M50
M6 MkII
M200

"So, things to keep track of: R (camera), R (system), RF (mount), RP (camera), M (system), M (mount), M (cameras, numbered), EF (mount), EF-S (mount), EF-to-R adapter, and an EF-to-M adapter. [R, R, RF, RP, M, M, M5, M50, M6MkII, M200, EF, EF-S, EF-R, EF-M.]

"There's a lot to be said about this, but the one that jumps out at me is that marketing and product selection is no longer being done via knowledgeable camera sales guys at retail counters. There's no coherent, compact story to tell a customer. This strategy is perfect for the Internet-based research-before-buying crowd, and the do-no-research-but-buy-what's-on-sale-at-Best-Buy-in-December crowd."

Kenneth Tanaka: "Thank you for your practical comments on the RP, James. Until several years ago I, too, was principally a Canon shooter and literally have drawers of fine Canon lenses to prove it. So I appreciate your comment regarding the force required to force someone to switch. It took some very persuasive evidence for me to switch away from Canon.

"Although I’ve largely switched to Sony for most of my 'serious'” work I’ve not given up the Canon ghost quite yet. Sony has soundly and indisputably kicked Canon’s butt technically. And honestly I have little desire to return to using my 5D Mark IV's dark, uninformative optical viewfinder. But I do still prefer the warmish look of Canon’s images. And I also still trust the durability of Canon’s bodies and lenses more than those of anyone else. Canon’s proven durability and its historically excellent professional support system are the factors that keep the 1D and 5D bodies in such wide pro news use today.

"However a tool has to feel comfortable if it’s to be used to greatest advantage each day. That the economical RP feels good to your hands and eyes is the only endorsement needed. I really do hope Canon is able to extend this line to remain competitive. I look forward to again using at least some of those Canon lenses more regularly."

Nic M: "Canon will be adding 24p/23.98 FPS to the EOS 90D and EOS RP at the end of October, and for the following models later: 'The PowerShot G7X Mark III and G5X Mark II will follow at the end of 2019 and the EOS M6 Mark II during the first half of 2020,' reads Canon's email to DPReview. Once the firmware is released for the cameras, each supported model will be able to shoot 24p (23.98 fps) in 4K and Full HD."

James Leynse replies to everyone who commented: Thanks to all who read and have commented so far. I will try to answer some of your points. Mark and Thomas, you are right that cameras have reached a point of sufficiency. APS-C or Micro 4/3 cameras are both excellent choices and offer many benefits. From my perspective (no pun intended), the main advantage of full frame is that it allows the full field of view when using lenses like Canon's TS-E optics. Trecento, couldn't agree more about Canon's naming system. What's worse is that the R stands for 'revolution'! What ever happened to descriptive and iterative names like Leica M2, M3, M4.... Benjamin, I wouldn't worry too much that cameras will disappear. Even as smart phones have proliferated, we seem to be in a golden age of cameras. As photographers, we have never had it so good. Now if only that were true for the business of photography ;-) Nic, thank you for the information. I am glad to hear that 24p HD will be coming back to the RP. Couldn't understand why it wasn't there.

toto: "The thing I hate most about the Canon RP is its name. In all seriousness, every time I see it, I see 'Canon RIP' instead."

c.d.embrey: "Canon has a 24 FPS (29.93) 4K update on the way. By the way, what percentage of interchangeable-lens camera users actually shoot video at 24 FPS? A Canon RP weighs less than a full-frame rangefinder Leica. An RF Leica doesn't have IBIS, either. Unfortunately Canon only has one small/light prime.

"Something not mentioned is that the RP can focus-stack. In many ways focus stacking is better than tilt and shift for increased depth-of-field.

"If you shoot a lot at ground level, like I do, a flippy-screen is a plus."

iPhone Takeaway

I’m reminded of a story my father told me years ago. He was visiting an engineering firm and the owner was showing him around. They came to a large room with men sitting at drafting tables (this was in the 1940s) but not seeming to be doing much. The owner commented “I hope to God they’re thinking because they’re costing me money!”

—Rip Smith

Okay, had a little fun yesterday (some people love that, some people don't like it), and threw a little water on the merry iPhone 11 marketing bonfires, like it matters to anyone but people who read me. But the bottom line from my point of view: if you're waiting to upgrade your iPhone for the sake of the camera, wait another year or two...

...They're still thinking.

Mike

P.S. I'll be keeping my iPhone 7+ until then. I'll post my latest iPhone shot I like in the next day or two.

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Amazon.com • Amazon UK • Amazon Canada
Amazon Germany • B&H Photo • Adorama

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Moar Lens

I wanted to post a brief announcement about the three-lens camera in the new iPhone 11 Pro, but as I wrote I found myself being a wise-ass...which as we know, usually means I'm being an ass and not wise. According to an interview with CBS in 2015, Apple executives claimed there are 800 engineers working exclusively on the camera in the iPhone. My wise-ass question is, has someone been keeping track of what they've all been doing? Did they have to wait until Apple Park was completed in order to get started? Was there a giant company-wide intramural round-robin of Words with Friends going on? Or have they been working on the Penske file all week?

Because at a superficial glance it seems like the biggest change is that they added an ultra-wide lens...which would fall under the category of market poaching, since clip-on wide-angle attachments are one of the semi-popular aftermarket accessories for iPhones. But poaching an idea from the aftermarket to capitalize on what customers are already buying is kind of an ordinary move, not to mention rather anti-Jobsian in spirit, isn't it? Do you really need 800 people for that?

Okay, there are other things. There's a night mode (already common on Android competitors). Portrait Mode fake bokeh is now available on the middle focal length as well as the longest (a video reviewer said that formerly having Portrait Mode only on the "telephoto" lens was a quote-unquote "limitation." There are so many problems with that statement that it sends my wise-ass mode into overload, starting with the fact that a 52mm-equivalent lens is not a telephoto in fact or in deed). And the 800 engineers are reportedly working on exposure stacking, for which a sententious name has already been chosen and which will get done as soon as they finish the Penske file. (See? I can't stop.) And the selfie camera module on the front has been improved to the standard of the camera modules on the back, because as everybody knows "pros" need to make higher-quality selfies.

Anyway, I guess the primary thing to mention is that I've always said you should never really comment on a camera until you actually hold it in your hand and use it, because there are things you can't know from descriptions and feature lists. And I have not done that. But I have to say I'm a little mystified, and more than a little disappointed. Maybe the stories I've been hearing for years about computational phone-ography, something that seemed to be so imminent when the iPhone 7 with its two lenses came out, are not going to come to pass.

Still, I'd still like to know what all those engineers do all day. I don't want to rat on anybody or get them in trouble with their boss, but I'm getting a little suspicious.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Amazon.com • Amazon UK • Amazon Canada
Amazon Germany • B&H Photo • Adorama

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Featured Comments from:

hugh crawford: "I was hoping that the Time-of-Flight camera would make it into the iPhone 11 but fortunately for me it did not so I don’t have to buy a new phone right away."

Mike replies: I had to look that up.

hugh crawford adds: "Oh, I thought everyone (don’t ask me anything about sports or celebrities) was following 3D and computational photography. Here is a link that explains what I’m talking about as it relates to the iPhone."

Mike: It always makes me smile when the following happens. These two comments came in within minutes of each other:

beuler: "The best 'hands off' camera preview. Ever. The biggest camera improvement on the iPhone 11, as far as I can tell, is in the viewfinder. By that I mean the large palm sized screen that is used for framing. It's very bright and accurate, according to other previews. Now, back to that Penske file."

Jeff: "Step one. Immature rant about Apple or Leica. Step two. Watch the page views and comments flood in. Very disappointing post."

I think the relevant quote is, "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the times, but you cannot please all the people all the time."

I looked it up on Quote Investigator, and this deserves to be called a folk saying. The original version uses fool, not please, and the earliest verified citation is by a politician named William J. Groo, who said something like it in September of 1885, 20 years after Lincoln's death. Groo's maxim might have been based on a French saying by one Jacques Abbadie that made its way into Diderot's famous Encyclopédie. After Groo said it, it was ascribed to Abraham Lincoln, and sometimes to P.T. Barnum, but there is no record that Lincoln ever said it.

In my defense, I can only say, somewhat ruefully, that if I actually knew what made the page views and comments flood in, you can be sure I would be doing more of it, and would not be shamed into doing less. It's not actually easy.

Viktor: "Mike, you just made my day! And with references to Costanza as well, hilarious."

Mike replies: Has anyone looked for the 800 engineers under their desks?

I should stop.

spot: "Do. Not. Stop.  ;-)  "

Mark Jennings: "Maybe good stuff gets slow walked until the 5G phone."

Jim Arthur: "Um...I'm pretty sure the image you posted is the new KitchenAid Triple Burner Induction Cooktop with downdraft venting and the new celebrity chef catchlight."

JG: "I laughed at this...."

Michael Perini: "I thought Apple’s announcement was significant. Of all the possible features that Apple could have spent resources on to insure sales, they chose to improve photography. If that is not a message heard by camera companies I cannot imagine what could be clearer. It says 'There's a big market there, and we're going after it.'"

Sunday Support Group: Use It Up!

[This post is a ramble. Which is okay with me—I like rambles, sometimes. Ken T. doesn't like rambles, though, and other readers might not. So, up front: All it's going to say is something I've said before, that you shouldn't baby your camera gear, you should "use it up." That's the tl;dnr (too long, did not read) summary. There, now you don't have to read this and you can go cut your grass or watch football.  :-)  —Staff Writer Mike]

Saw a video about a car the other day. A guy—not just any guy but a talented and knowledgeable guy—spent eight years, and Lord only knows how many dollars and pounds and hours, hand-building an exquisite modified replica of a very rare Jaguar. The detailing is superlative and the car is gorgeous. If you like that kind of thing.

There was one thing that bugged me a little, though. In making the video they put three miles on the car, which quadrupled the mileage on the odometer. The car had one mile on the odometer when they started. One.

After the video, the car was off to the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach, the top auto show in the USA. Trailered, obviously.

If I owned that Jaguar Low Drag Coupe, much less built it, I probably wouldn't drive it either. How could you? What a horrible fate. You'd spoil your work of art.

Some people have a thing about perfection. Other people have OCD (mild or worse) and really have a thing about perfection. (One of my many favorite book titles: Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect.) Many people are just "particular"—I like the hillbilly word persnickety. They like things a certain way. I have no problem with that at all. I have a buddy who was buying a new shaft for his pool cue and he wanted one that has a decorative ring that matches the decorative ring on the other part of his cue. Totally understandable. I have another buddy who buys a lot of guitars, and some of them he never touches because he doesn't like the idea of getting fingerprints on them. So? He owns more than enough of them. He has guitars he plays. If he has one he doesn't want to touch, that's up to him. It's his guitar. Again, zero problem with that.

But for me, just speaking personally, guitars would be for playing, and cars would be for driving, as cameras are for taking pictures with.

(I know, I take too long to get to the point sometimes. I get interested in the intros, know what I mean?)

Many months back I watched a series of videos by Tom of Tom's Turbo Garage, a guy who is both an expert professional mechanic and also a passionate amateur geek mechanic. Tom tore down a Mazda Miata and built it back up again according to plans and ideas he'd been developing in his head for years. There are some updates at the end that show him happily tooling around the back roads in his V8 Miata build. He tells us he's put many miles on the car since he finished it.

I keep my cars a long time, but the thing is, I like the status quo, where cars are considered slow-motion disposable. Buy one new or lightly used, drive it for a bunch of years until it's getting shabby and the repair bills start to hurt, then rinse and repeat. Well, let me modify that. I dislike it when cars are either too shabbily built to last a decent amount of time, or when they're so stupid-overcomplicated that they break easily and then are hellishly expensive to fix. Those are examples of the wrong kind of "disposable."

What I mean is, cars are meant to be used up. 

"Using stuff up" is a concept that's a little difficult for people with OCD. I'll speak for myself, at least. That guy Tom is probably a little OCD, but he channels it positively. I'm probably a little OCD too—you have to be, to edit a blog for 47 years.

It's easy to get a little persnickety about camera gear. Many people love to shop, and "build the perfect outfit," and choose the perfect lens set, and find the perfect bag, and get all that just right. And I have no problem with that.

But then you can get into this uncomfortable zone...the Keep It Perfect Zone. Probably everybody understands that thing about the "first ding"—when you get a new car, you keep it washed and waxed and you do things like get down on the ground to clean off every spot of tar from the rocker panels. Then comes that day. You know the day I mean. You get that first parking-lot ding or chip in the windshield or scratch in the paint, which you can't fix yourself yet just isn't worth taking it to a body shop for, and from then on it's downhill.

The same thing happens to me with cameras. When they're new, I don't want them to get...well, fingerprints. Okay, not fingerprints—I'm not that bad. But I have this urge to baby them and keep them new-looking. I actually make it a point to get to that first ding, or its equivalent. I consider it kind of, I don't know, healthy.

I only have a little wear on my 5-year-old
X-T1. It's not for lack of trying.

Oddly, digital cameras come across as much more fragile than old-timey metal-manual-mechanical film cameras, and I guess things do fall off some of them or stop working, but, if the ones I've owned are any indication, they're actually not that easy to put much wear on. My old X-T1 has been battered and banged and wetted and dried and dirtied and cleaned and tossed and toted, but it hardly looks it. It's not even close to being used up.

Of course, I do have a couple of cameras that are for show, for decor, like my friend's untouched guitar or that Low-Drag Jaguar car. "Use it up" is a helpful attitude, I guess. An approach, a mindset. Get to grips with the stuff—wring it out—especially, don't baby it. For cameras that are "users," it just seems like a more useful attitude to have.

Mike

P.S. Usually, when I ramble, I'm talking half at myself. Stop babying that X-H1! might be another way of summarizing this post.

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Bob Gary: "Funny! Good one. As usual, right on the money. Use it up, wear it out, make it last. Buy good, well-made stuff to begin with, and take care of it, my parents said. And when you’re done, move them along, with thanks for their help. When I get the tools out to work on a home project, I’ve told people sometimes that I had some of my relatives helping me on it, because of their tools I used that were handed down to me. I have my grandfather’s Kodak to shoot with sometimes, and I can almost hear him giving me advice...."

Alex Buisse: "I am with you on this. I take great pride on having well-worn camera gear. Babying my equipment is often not an option at all while shooting in the mountains or in a refugee camp. I have gotten lenses and bodies (including a Nikon D4) to stop working quite right, though never to totally fail, except for the one I literally dropped off the side of the mountain."

David Evans: "Re 'Of course, I do have a couple of cameras that are for show.' Of course? You must be rather rich by my standards. I have a longish list of cameras (probably starting with a Lumix S1R) that I would buy, and use, rather than have a camera just for show."

Mike replies: You can see my main "show camera" in this post. The camera was a gift from a friend.

Richard Parkin: "That’s one of the advantages of buying used, it’s already got its first ding and you don’t need to worry about it."

Peter Williams: "My favourite photography quote is, 'A camera is a tool, not a jewel.' I read it somewhere in the 1970s and cannot remember who said/wrote it, but it's perfect."

John: "With cars, I’ve learned to relax. Stuff will happen, so I take it for granted that it will and deal with it when necessary. With film cameras, I didn’t care much, but since I tend to sell my digital cameras after a while, I don’t really pamper them, but I put gaffer tape in places where they may otherwise easily get damaged. Same for expensive lenses.

"My pain point is fountain pens. I’m not a collector, so I use them, but I have way too many to actually use each a reasonable amount of time. So, I’m caught between admitting I’m like that guy with his Jaguar or get rid of the stuff that sees no use. And I don’t want to be like that guy...."

Huw Morgan: "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to get in my 1987 Jaguar with over 200 thousand kilometers on the clock and drive it from its summer home near Haliburton Ontario back to the city where it will be garaged over the winter. She's a beautiful car with a V12 engine that still purrs. Driving it is pure pleasure. Years ago, I parked it in a classic car show and a guy wandered up to admire my car. He had the same year and model, but with nearly zero kilometers on the odometer. He admitted to envy because I got to drive my car whenever and wherever I wanted to. He could only look at his car. My Jag is nearly worthless in the market, but it is priceless to me."

John: "There was a line from I think the head camera technician who worked at Life Magazine. 'The Nikon F is a hammer that takes pictures.' I remember taking one of my malfunctioning F's into the local Nikon repair shop and Rolf, the senior technician, came back to the waiting room to see me within minutes, the camera apart in his hands, 'There’s mud everywhere inside this camera.' Well there would be. It had been hot and dusty for a few weeks and then it rained, hard."

Darin Boville: "One important difference in 'use it up!' between old-timey mechanical cameras and today's is that the old-timey cameras are used up slowly, and eventually stop working and can't be economically repaired. Modern cameras can look beautiful but then suddenly be worthless if the electronics go. Used up all at once with no warning. (But, to be honest my Nikon D800E never failed me nor has my current camera, the Fuji X-T3.)"

Gary Nylander: "When I worked as a newspaper photographer you would not believe how fast I could wear a camera out, especially working on a daily. My first Nikon was a beautiful black painted F model. Aer a couple of years of daily newspaper work it was pretty well dinged up and brassed around the edges. A few years later I thought nothing of trading it in on a Nikon F2."

Ludwig Heinrich: "My Citroën C5 has over 350,000 kilometers on the clock (220,000 miles?) and the lettering has won off most of the buttons on my Sony A6000—I'm with you on this one.  :-)  "

Big Fuji X-H1 Deal Reaches the UK

...Within the limits of currency exchange: Here it is from Amazon UK (£999).

Don't forget the X-T2 is still an excellent choice in this range for stills; most of the updates for the X-T3 were for video. The X-T2 is currently £599. (It's curious that although the absolute latest and greatest often costs more now, good cameras are getting cheaper—if you have some personal discipline and can make a judicious choice.)

Mike
(Thanks to Salvador Moreno)

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Fujifilm X-H1 Current Impressions

["How's your new camera?" —Michael Perini, yesterday]

-

Someone said here the other day that each generation of new cameras is less interesting than the last. There's something to that.

But as Exhibit One for the rebuttal, let me propose the Fujifilm X-H1. Yes, it's true, the wild-and-woolly "frontier market" of pell-mell growth is over. The camera industry is in steep decline (adjustment?) lately. Smartphones have cut the guts out of the popular mass market for digital point-and-shoots, which barely exist now. And we're paying more for cameras than ever before, or at least we are while they're glistening with newness. (But not for the X-H1, which, at $999 for the body, the battery grip, and three batteries is currently the best bargain out there. They're not giving them away literally, but figuratively they sure are. I'll link to the kit, which I usually don't do, because it looks like B&H is going to fulfill those orders first. Order, then cross your fingers and hope you actually get one.) (Oh, and FujiRumors is now saying there will be no X-H2 in 2019...or maybe even 2020.)

I love cameras, but not all cameras
This thing is a joy to use. I've been neglecting my work because I keep going out and shooting so much. I find myself shooting even when I don't have anything to take pictures of. Any excuse to go out. I love this thing. I love the shutter feel; I love the shutter sound (I use mine set on "SOUND 1"); I love the viewfinder; the control configuration is close to ideal; the IBIS is amazing; the handgrip feels great. I'm very comfortable shooting with it*.

I even like the strap that comes with it, fer Pete's sake. (And you think I'm hard to please with cameras...I'm really hard to please about straps.)

As much as I loved my Konica-Minolta 7D in 2006, as much as I was delighted by the Sony F-707 during its brief window, as much as I was over the moon about the Big Dragoon (Nikon D800) when I first got my hands on it—I still think the X-H1 might be my favorite of all the digital cameras I've ever owned or tried**. It makes the top five of all cameras, all-time. Maybe top three.

Or maybe I should wait to say that. Could be I'm just over the moon like I was with the Dragoon. Anyway right now, I love this.

That's me. Am I just projecting when I speculate that more and more of us have the cameras we're happy with now? Seems like I hear a lot of people saying that. Not all the same cameras, of course. But I think there are lots of people out there who like their current cameras as much as I like mine—am I wrong about that?

Could be the X-H1 is going to end up a footnote, effectively a test-bed for IBIS in future Fujis. If there was IBIS in an X-T4, would I choose that? At this point I don't think so. I believe the superlative precision and lack of vibration of the X-H1 is integral to my impression of it and my feelings about it when I'm using it.

Yeah but
So anyway, back to the point: maybe cameras are less exciting now; maybe we're not all jumping all over the latest and greatest any more; maybe the market as a whole has a lot of model refreshes and "Mark [x]" iterations. Maybe that reader is right. Maybe each new generation of cameras is less exciting than the last.

But when I get to have a camera I like as much as I like the X-H1, all of that is forgiven.

Mike

*It's possible there is some brand familiarity going on, given that my main camera has been the X-T1 since 2014.

**Although I still suspect my absolute favorite would be the GX8 Mark II. But shhh, I'm not going to gripe more about that now.

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Leon Droby: "You are correct, the X-H1 is a great camera. After using an X-Pro1 for years, I started flirting with 'greatness.' I left Fuji and spent some time with a D810, OM-1D Mark II, another D810 and an A7RIII. After all that, I missed using my Fuji but knew I wanted IBIS. Local shop got a clean X-H1 in and the rest is history. It fits me perfectly and does everything I need a camera to do. It's the first camera in years that I have no desire to upgrade."

Mike replies: I feel even more strongly than that. I'm very antsy to get a second one while I can, not to use concurrently but so I'll have another when the first one wears out. I know I should not do that, but I'm feeling that itch....  :-)

kirktuck@kirktuck.com: "Easily the best camera I have ever used. And it was additionally very easy to justify getting three of them because—what if no one ever makes such a well produced camera ever again??? Mike, you better buy a couple more—just to be sure."

John Krumm (partial comment): That made me smile, because I've been feeling the same way. I take it everywhere with me the way I took my first DSLR, the Olympus 420. I ordered a fancy strap, then realized the original was better. Anyway, I was starting to think that mirrorless cameras couldn't really produce that feeling of satisfaction that good DSLRs do, but this one does."

SteveW: "As a Nikon guy, you capture how I feel about the D7500, which is on sale for $896.95. (An amazing price in my opinion). Thom Hogan describes this kind of thinking as 'last camera syndrome.' The comparison between the X-H1 and the D7500 is not apples to apples though. Besides the obvious mirror, the D7500 is the result of a pretty mature DSLR line that began with the D7000. Nikon has pretty much nailed it, and for me anyway the features hit a sweet spot. The size and weight of the two cameras is similar though. I've never been much of a zoom lens guy, but I bought the D7500 with the 16–80mm...and it's been a fun set up. That's the key really these days. We can all tell you're having fun with the X-H1, it checks all your boxes! I also have considered buying a second D7500, but am having a hard time pulling the trigger on that. I probably won't, since Nikon DSLRs are much more ubiquitous. The X-H1 seems more like a unicorn, ha ha. In Nikon World that would be the Dƒ."

Fuji Fire Sale

Here I was, contemplating the notion of writing a post about the Fuji X-H1 possibly being my favorite camera of any kind, ever, and now this. From a fire sale price of $1,299 that I kept harping on and on about as a great whopping bargain—which it was—the Fuji X-H1 and the battery back / vertical grip is suddenly an unbelievable $999.95. (Here it is on Amazon, and at Adorama.)

For a camera/grip combination that debuted at $2,199 a year and a half ago!

Granted, this could well mean that an X-H2 is sitting on the runway waiting to launch. Always a risk.

Regardless of what it means, purely on a "lotta camera for little dollars" basis this is tough to top.

Mike
(Thanks to Dennis Mook)

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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