The Online Photographer

The Fuji X-H1: An Aside

[Just to be clear—this is not a review. This is the bit that I couldn't justify putting in the review. I'm still working on the review. Sorry it's not here yet. I'll get back to work now.  

P.S. I didn't mean to offend anyone who loves Nikon, by the way. Just using them as an example. Don't worry, I like Nikon—and I love people who shoot Nikon.  :-)  —Mike]

I've been wrestling with what to do with these thoughts. What follows just doesn't seem to belong in a camera review. And yet it's a significant part of my reaction to the Fuji X-H1. These ideas don't really "attach" to the object—the camera—in any meaningful way, and they're not really relevant to someone who's considering buying and using the camera. (Why should that person care?)

Fuji X-H1 with battery grip, rear view

Here's the thing, though: the Fuji X-H1 doesn't seem to quite belong in the Fuji lineup. You've heard the expression "odd man out"? It's an odd camera out.

Consider, for comparison, just as a "fer instance," Nikon. Nikon has legacy products stretching back all the way to the horizon behind us, but that's not its fault—that's just the result of having been in business for many decades. I'm not going to blame them for that. But other than that, Nikon's product offerings are largely...a mess. Not a hopeless mess, just a mess. Nikon goes one way and then another, buffeted by competitive reactivity, by constantly shifting marketing strategy, and by inconsistent vision. Their flagship products (professional FF DSLRs) are essentially replicants of 35mm film SLRs, so that the large system of 35mm SLR lenses could be transitioned without modification and the installed user base wasn't left hanging. They devise whole product lineups (Nikon 1) strategized mainly to protect their more profitable products. They fail to support whole segments of their lineup (absence of APS-C primes), abandon certain customers for agonizingly long periods of time (the gap between the D300 and D500), shift strategies (dedication to APS-C jettisoned when Canon had success with FF). They make me-too products and charge to much for them just to pirate other companies' success (Coolpix A). They don't even follow up with refreshed iterations of their own most successful products (no real update for the landmark D700). They announce a lineup of cameras and then later decide, ah, no, we're not even going to make those at all. (I can't even remember what those three cameras were called.) Most recently, they rolled out a whole new lensmount just to compete in a segment that another company was having success with (full-frame mirrorless, Sony A7/9). They just wander this way and that, scarfing up little blobs of market demand where they can, reacting to competitors where they think they need to. It's not evil or even bad, necessarily. It's just that there's no detectable overriding vision anywhere. Maybe there is but it's just buried under this and that and the other thing. Maybe under heaps of old discarded rebranded point-and-shoots.

I'm not saying the Nikon product lineup is completely inchoate, or that the offerings overall are a total hodgepodge. But I will say that when a company gets in the habit of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, pretty soon you've got a big mess on your hands. (Always the visual in my memory—I'm reminded of my childhood friend Karen's twin sons Galen and Isaac when they were two years old. She had to spread a big plastic painter's tarp on the floor when she fed them spaghetti, and then carry them off to the shower afterwards because they'd be coated from their hair to their toes in tomato sauce. Despite the tarp, there could still be the odd strand of spaghetti on the floor or the wall. Those little boys sure had a blast with Italian food.) The result for Nikon is a company that's had no real consistent vision for so long that its product offerings resemble a junk drawer. Even if it's not a total hodgepodge, it's still sort of a hodgepodge. Hard to argue otherwise.

Dazzlingly clean
Fuji has pretty much been the inverse, the exact opposite, of that. Starting with a clean sheet after the surprise success of the X100 in 2012 or '13, they've followed a coherent strategy and come out with a product portfolio that looks purposeful, balanced, and sensible. They have several distinct tiers of cameras for different levels of the market; options of camera styles at each tier; they update the products with thoroughly researched and really thoughtful iterations at regular intervals; and their lens lineup—although there are, of course, earlier and later products that differ somewhat—is for the most part carefully judged, balanced, complete, and sensible. Heck, even the big GFX is perfectly situated to complement rather than conflict with the established X mount line—you can easily envision the same customer owning and using both.

And that's a big part of why I like Fuji. It's the vision company. It has a clean, clear, consistent idea of what it wants to offer you. There's not a lot of  me-too-ism, no chasing of little puffs of tasty market share here and there willy-nilly, no spinning of wheels or yawning gaps in the lineups or redundancy or stunted little vestiges of marketing blunders or missteps left hanging and spinning slowly in the breeze like the corpses of fired Nikon product lineup managers*.

Into that admirable orderliness, that unusual coherence, the X-H1 seems oddly out of place. Sort of an interloper. It doesn't really quite belong anywhere. It's not part of the X-T[x] series; but it's still pretty close. It feels like a one-off. More significantly, it feels like the first product where Fuji said, "Hmm, we don't have what we need to compete here, in this little market segment, so let's react to the competitors' product offerings and counter what they do." Like they were getting criticism for what their cameras didn't have and they said oh yeah? We can do that. Take this.

...Which might not be dumb; I mean, if they see that they don't have a videocentric offering with IBIS, why not start a new line? But then they turn right around and put almost all the video goodness of the still-new X-H1 into the X-T3, minus just the IBIS. That kind of steals the thunder of the X-H1. Quick, which is better for video, the X-T3 or the X-H1? It kinda depends on what you mean by "better."

So what's going to happen in the future? Is X-H[x] going to become a new category—the videocentric Fuji—reiterated in successive iterations like the other cameras? Or are the features of the X-H1 going t0 migrate into the X-T4? Or is the X-H1 going to be orphaned, like what Panasonic did with the GX8 or Olympus with the E-1?

The X-H1 just doesn't seem to fit any plan. It may not be the first product that Fuji's made that's merely a Nikon-like reaction to the competition, a we-can-do-that-too camera, but it feels like it is.

Not that there's anything wrong with that**
Note that all this isn't necessarily a criticism of the camera. It doesn't really have anything to do with the camera. It's more a reflection on the marketing plan of Fuji and the gestalt of Fuji's systematic thinking overall.

I don't know, maybe Nikon's spaghetti-mess quality is just what happens when companies stick around for a long time and continually try to adapt to changes in markets. But Jay Leno says he likes cars that were the product of one strong vision, one person's clear ideas, and I like that too. That was why Apple became such a success, because it expressed one strong-willed person's clear vision. (Whether you liked that vision or not is beside that point.) I have no idea if there's a single individual behind Fuji's beautiful clear strategy, or who that might be, but there sure seems to be. I've loved the fact that Fuji goes its own way and does its own thing with such calm boldness and assurance. It's...refreshing. Maybe that will become muddled as they evolve from a young company (the post-X100 camera division, I mean) into an older one. 

And see what I mean? None of this really has to do with the X-H1 as a camera. It doesn't affect how any one owner will be able to use the product. It's really just a holistic marketing concern, an aspect of corporate identity. An issue of...consistency. It's a "meta" concern. It doesn't belong in a camera review.

Mike

*Sorry. I get carried away.

**Seinfeld reference.

Original contents copyright 2018 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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Dennis: "I get what you're saying here and I think this is part of what some people find so appealing about Fuji. However, I find myself a little disappointed in the actual details of the concept when I look at Fuji. You have bodies with ISO dials, bodies without, bodies with Bayer sensors, bodies with X-Trans sensors, lenses with labeled aperture rings, lenses with unlabeled aperture rings, and lenses without any aperture rings at all (including the 18mm pancake, not just cheap consumer zooms). Zooms with IS, zooms without IS (16-55mm), and now, bodies without IS, but a body with it. And you have compact camera models that have people wondering about replacements for (only the X100 has been consistently upgraded).

"Meanwhile, in Nikon land, if you restrict your view to F mount, things look much less messy. Sure, there are all of the DSLR inconsistencies you've mentioned (and probably a few you haven't) and I don't deny that it's messier than Fuji. But looking just at F mount, it's cleaner than looking at the entire Nikon product line, and Fuji, I think is messier than its image portrays.

"As for going from F mount to mirrorless, that was inevitable. It's a shame they waited to copy Sony, instead of showing leadership. But as you say, it's not their fault they had a legacy mount that pretty much necessitated some mess.
Ultimately, though, even if I find Fuji a bit messier than you do, I agree with your assessment: Fuji seems fairly 'focused' and Nikon seems to lack vision.

"As for the X-H1, I can't say much about it, but I think you can only be so focused for so long if you want to grow. I don't know if they could have done a better job designing a camera for the video crowd while fitting it in better with the rest of the X series, but on the other hand, I don't know that it sticks out any more than, say, the X-A5 with its PASM dial."

Dillan: "Your exasperation with Nikon makes me feel slightly better about Canon's mess. It puts things into perspective."

Eamon Hickey: "This is tangential to your topic but Mike, after reading you for many years, it's clear to me that there's just something about Nikon that rubs you the wrong way. Which is fine. I feel that way about Verizon.

"All the behaviors you selected (out of a larger pool of behaviors) and are putting in the harshest possible spotlight for Nikon are to be found in all the other camera companies. All of them are, after all, for-profit technology corporations from the same nation and culture. Their DNA is 99% the same.

"And in the case of the Fuji X-H1, that's great, as far as I'm concerned. As your picture clearly shows, they finally—finally!—were smart enough to copy Nikon's AF-ON button size and placement, making this the first X-series camera with a good implementation of this crucial feature that Canon (!) invented 28 years ago.

"Come to think of it, the last time Fuji had a good AF-ON button was on the S5 Pro. Wait, what happened to that lineup of DSLRs? Surely, they didn't abandon it because it didn't turn out to sell as well as they hoped? I kid, I kid."

Mike replies: No, I don't think I accept that as fair. What's more true is that I tend to exaggerate for effect when I make points, which makes me seem harsh to people who feel tenderly toward what I'm writing about (cf. my occasional disparaging comments about singers, which I'm trying hard not to do any more—I've learned that there is always someone out there who loves that singer who will be offended. It's never my intention to be offensive to anyone. Even people who like Ji...nope, not going to say it! Heh.)

I don't think it makes much sense to either love or hate companies. They're soulless, really. Your tastes and desires might align with their product portfolios and marketing philosophies for a stretch, but sooner or later they'll go their own way and let you down. It's seldom safe to get sentimental about them. I'm much more passionate about and engaged with photographers I like, not so much with camera nameplates.

But of course I like Nikon. I have an antique Nikon on display in my front hall next to my 1903 Rochester Optical whole-plate camera. I shot with Nikons for years; literally wore out two N8008's. As for the behaviors I spoke of being found in other companies, of course! I said as much. Just used Nikon as an example because they've been a little worse lately (and I know the details a little better, thanks to Thom), not because they're the only ones getting caught up in such tangles. Far from it.

John Merlin: "I like the fact the way Fuji keeps adding capability and new form factors to their lineup while retaining what I find are the two biggest investments I make in a camera-line: the lenses, and the time I spend learning the controls/menus.

"My photo interests keep evolving and Fuji keeps offering more solutions in a rational system that I can understand and anticipate. I left a Nikon system for the compact easy-carry XEs, then as I started a new personal project, the faster AF and more sophisticated flash capabilities of the X-T1 were just the thing for it. Lately I have missed the larger form factor, the deep grip and the top display of the Nikon—and Fuji produces the X-H1.

"I can't help but think that the continuing rational line extensions, including the GF series, new form factors, and the regular firmware updates within each series, must make the Fuji systems more and more attractive both to current users and those new to the system."

Joe Holmes: "I'm deep in the Nikon environment. I've owned 12 Nikon SLRs and DSLRs, and I've got so many Nikon and Nikon-mount lenses I can't even count them. But I think a lot of what you complain about, Mike, is true. Nikon often frustrates the hell out of me. I've owned other cameras (my wife and I both own Fuji mirrorless for example), and I've used others including Leica, Mamiya, Olympus....

"But I'm stuck here in Nikonland because this D850 is plainly superb in my hands. It's the best picture-taker I've ever lifted to my eye. The thing is close to transparent in use. It's 95% perfect for my needs (and at half the weight it would be 98% perfect). So while Nikon the company frustrates the hell out of me, Nikon the camera gives me enormous pleasure every single day. What's a guy gonna do?"

Mike replies: Exactly what you're doing, I'd say.

Look What Came (Fuji X-H1 Part I)

I had a lunch meeting today, and as I was speeding South toward home I passed the FedEx truck speeding North. Thinking he might have my eagerly-awaited Fuji on board, and not wanting to lose a precious day, I screeched to a halt, pulled a yooey, and gave chase.

Back in town I ran into the UPS man twice but failed to find the FedEx truck.

...Which brings up an interesting point. With Lensrentals, your rental period starts whenever the equipment is delivered, so if you miss FedEx or they miss you, you still get the full however many days, whatever your rental period is. However, if by chance FedEx gets it there early, you still don't have to ship it back it until your rental period is scheduled to end. So if delivery is late, you still get all your days, but if delivery is early, you get that extra. Possible bonus, but no penalty. Thought I would clarify that.

First impressions of the X-H1
The size/weight brouhaha is a tempest in a teapot, turns out. Not as significant as I had feared. The camera came in a soft case inside a hard case inside a corrugated boxl as soon as I peeled the layers and got the camera in my hand, I immediately thought: this is fine.

It's a camera. It's camera-sized. Not too big. No big deal.

It's larger than the X-T1/2/3, but if you use the large handgrip with the latter like I do, then the size and weight of the two aren't very far apart. And the X-H1 feels relatively light for its bulk, which helps the impression of a comfortable heft.

I wish I had that scale I used to use to weigh equipment, but it's in the barn somewhere. Oh well.

Other points:

• Fits my hand really well. But then it's not like the X-T1 doesn't.

• The shutter sound is suh-weet. I don't think this matters all that much, but it's really, really nice. And you can customize the volume! It's delicate-sounding and quiet on the middle volume setting.

• The flip-up screen is magic. It can't work the way it does, but it does. Sorcery, is my guess.

• AF seems a little slow.

• I really like the way the eyepiece overhangs the back of the body.

• I love the whatchamacallit top plate info readout thingy (I'll look up the names for these things when I have more time; I'm kinda rushing right now). [UPDATE: It's the "secondary LCD monitor."]

And it lights up in the dark! (You can see the eyepiece overhang in this view, too. Please excuse moiré—iPhone snap.)

• Touch screen also seems pretty laggy. I like moving the focus point around with the toggle—joystick—whoops, that's officially the "focus stick (focus lever)."

• Curiously, the shutter button is extremely sensitive. I don't know if you can adjust that, but it's very light (Fuji calls it "featherweight"). A curious choice; shutter-button feel varies, of course, but I'm not aware of having had this impression of a hair-trigger release quite like this on any camera before. I don't mind it so far, but it's different for sure.

And of course I had to run a quick test on what really interests me—the IBIS...

...But now I'm out of time. More about this tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, whenever I get back to this.

Gonna have me some fun this weekend! Of course it will rain, because it always rains when I rent cameras—it's a law of the Universe, for some reason—but I'll manage somehow.

Mike

Oh, did I forget the unboxing video? Oh no.  :-)

Original contents copyright 2018 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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Armond Perretta: "When will Fuji provide a sync cover that stays put?"

Mike replies: Fuji is a high-tech company of considerable capability, but naturally it can't do that. It would be like curing the common cold. Photographers have been losing the little rubber or plastic covers to PC (Prontor-Compur) terminals on cameras since they became the worldwide standard for flash sync in the 1960s. The purpose of this is so the terminals can become bent and get dirt in them, at which point the question of whether the flash will fire becomes a delightful adventure.

The best solutions that I know of are a.) to use the tiny little hotshoe flash that comes with the camera...

...to trigger the slave on the monolight or other studio strobe, or b.) Nikon's 1980s invention of using a hot shoe adapter, although these naturally only work with standard hot shoes. They do not solve the problem of lost covers, of course, but when the sync socket gets bent and dirty you can just get a new adapter and throw the old one away, paying only $14.95, as opposed to having to send your whole camera to the authorized repair station and waiting eight weeks while they let your camera sit around for seven weeks before finally installing a new PC sync socket in your camera and then reluctantly send it back.

I suppose another alternative would be to buy a handful of PC sync socket caps and keep a dish of them handy. (It may come as a shock, given their retail price, but these do not actually cost a reasonable fraction of $2.95 each to manufacture.) This solution is a manful stopgap, but it requires an appropriately fatalistic attitude on your part, like that of a magnificent salmon struggling mightily to swim upstream to spawn and then taste grim death; you must realize that, fight as you will—meaning it does not matter how many spare caps you buy—you are contending against fate and the natural order and are doomed in the end to fail.

El Inglés: "I bought the X-H1 several months ago with a view to it becoming my main Fuji camera. After a few days, I was smitten; after a few weeks, less so. Now it comes into play only when I know I'm going to need its IBIS. Yes, it's neither too big nor too small, and it has that gorgeous EVF (and the IBIS, of course). But I hate the shutter release with its lack of feel; the exposure compensation button which is nowhere as good as a dial, no matter how it is set up; and, for my money, the raw conversions to black-and-white are far less rewarding than those from the 16MP X-Trans II sensor (something I'd already suspected from the X-T20 which preceded the X-H1 in my menagerie). Bottom line is that I'm back to using the X-T1 and X-T10 which are fast enough, and have enough megapixels, for my photography. Of course, YMMV (and I'd be pleased for it to do so)."

Peter Baglole: "X-H1 is not quite as eye catching as the silver X-T3. However, the more you use the H1 the more you appreciate its attention to the process of making photos. I think it is quite a nice looking body too. I dated the X-T3 but married the X-H1."

David Wilson: "The light touch shutter button is one of this camera's many plus points. Couple this feature with IBIS and a decent mass, and I'm extracting more from my XF lenses than any other Fujifilm body."

Deep Discount for the Panasonic G9 (Where's That Mast?)

Thought you might want to know that the Panasonic G9 just got a huge discount, to $1,297 from $1,699.

Panasonic's current "stills flagship" camera was mildly slagged when it came out for being a.) as good as, but no better than, its chief rival, the Olympus E-M1 Mark II, despite being later into the marketplace; and b.) too expensive relative to cameras offering larger sensors.

Those disadvantages vanish when you slash more than $400 off the price.

Odysseus had to lash himself to the mast of his ship when the voyagers encountered the Sirens, a race of bird/women whose song was so alluring it could drive sailors insane and entice them to abandon reason and cast themselves into the sea as they tried to get to it.

All I can say is, good thing my ankle is tied to the leg of the desk.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2018 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:

David Evans: "As of today, Amazon UK's price for this body is exactly 51% higher than Amazon US's. Thanks, Amazon UK, for saving me from myself yet again."

Mike replies: They certainly do rake you blokes over the coals when it comes to the prices of things. Why is that? Have you all got that much more money than the rest of us? Anyway, I'm glad it saves you from flinging yourself into the sea this time.

Kurt Kramer: "Wow, I had Panasonics G1, G3, and G5. Then when Olympus released the highly touted E-M5 Mark II, I crossed lines to Oly. So great that the two brands share lenses. But at this price, I am tempted to move back to Panasonic. Always liked the look and feel of my Panasonics a little bit better. Thanks for the info Mike."

Plannerben: "Ah, the Sirens, the subject of the most mind-blowing question of my liberal education: What song did the Sirens sing? When Homer narrates the story, he doesn't describe their singing much.

"Later, however, when Odysseus recounts his story to a king who rescues him, he tell us that they sang 'we know of all the great deeds you did under the walls of Troy.' In other words, the Sirens want to lure Odysseus by telling him how great he was, as if he were a middle-aged man yearning to relive his high school football glory. He literally cannot resist and only his cleverness (his defining characteristic, in this case the forethought to have his men tie him down) saves him.

"Homer, I think, wants to warn us of the dangers of nostalgia. If Odysseus hadn't ordered his men to tie him up, he'd have died rather than met his destiny, to return to rocky Ithaca as father, husband and king. I'm sure there's a message in there somewhere."

Sven W: "Serious question: I'm still reasonably happy with my five-year-old Sony RX10 as a general-purpose travel camera. In terms of image quality, is there much improvement with the recent Micro 4/3 bodies?

"Sure, the ergonomics and AF of Micro 4/3 is better, but the IQ is pretty close to the 1" type sensor. I believe I would have to go to APS-C to get a noticeable improvement in IQ."

Mike replies: Hi Sven, I think Lensrentals is your friend here. Rent a Micro 4/3 camera with the latest 20-MP sensor and do the comparisons yourself—only you know your standards, your uses, and your sensitivity to the differences.

Arg: "And $1,999 with the 12–60mm PanaLeica which is $900 alone.

Rodolfo Canet: "I wonder if this price lowering has anything to do with Panasonic repositioning Micro 4/3 once FF is coming."

Zeiss ZX1 Update

I just got an email from Bertram Hönlinger, Consumer Products, Carl Zeiss AG, and he confirmed for us that you don't have to use the Lightroom CC features in the forthcoming Zeiss ZX1 if you don't want to. So there's no requirement that you have to have an Adobe subscription to use the camera. No evil skullduggery afoot to secretly force you to kowtow to the Adobe juggernaut. You can just transfer the files to your computer or the cloud and use whatever Editor you want to on the files.

Just followin' up.

Mike

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Apple iPhone XS and XS Max: The Camera Is the News

News from smartphoneland: John Gruber at Daring Fireball has an excellent article about the camera in the new iPhone XS. First, he quotes Apple Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller emphasizing that Apple is the leading camera company in the world. Later he makes the point that most people do not upgrade their phones every year, then defends his comparing of the XS to last year's X by saying: "for the people who own an iPhone X who are considering an upgrade to the XS, to my mind, the camera system is the one and only reason to do it."

The XS has a new wide-field lens and a larger sensor for the wide lens (there are two cameras and two sensors—the longer lens's sensor isn't changed). The wide lens is actually longer in focal length: 4.25mm vs. 4mm in the older phones. The sensor, however, is ~30% larger, meaning that the wide lens changes from 28mm-e FOV to a wider 26mm-e FOV despite the lens being longer.

But it's the "vastly improved" Neural Engine that's the big change, according to Daring Fireball. The Neural Engine, you recall, was the big news in the iPhone X, the part of the processor that performs AI. The original A11 Bionic had two cores and was capable of 600 billion operations per second; the A12 Bionic ups that to 8 cores and 5 trillion operations per second, and makes possible the always-on "Smart HDR" that John's examples demonstrate so spectacularly. 

The XS Max is approximately the same overall size as the 7 Plus and 8 Plus, but the display is much larger because it covers the entire face of the phone.

He concludes: "My takeaway is that the Neural Engine really is a big deal for photography and video. Supposedly, it’s just as big a deal for AR [augmented reality], but the camera has been my obsessive focus this past week. For users, it’s a big deal because it has a dramatic, practical, real-time effect on the quality of the photos and videos they can shoot. None of this happens in post; all of it is visible live, as you shoot."

Since blown highlights are my bête noire with small sensors, Smart HDR sounds promising to me. Check out the article.

Compute the blur
The other big feature of the XS and XS Max is adjustable bokeh...in Portrait Mode, using the "Depth Slider," you can choose the degree of background defocus you want after the fact. (Here's a brief video from Apple Informed if you want a visual demonstration.) Early tests are showing that the feature allows more control than a fast lens on a large sensor. Because it's done in software, it's easier to keep all of the main object in focus and change the degree of apparent defocus on the background only, avoiding the foreground blur that so often disfigures narrow focus as captured on large sensors. For example, a dog's face photographed with a FF camera and fast lens, as you've seen many times, will often leave the dog's nose out of focus if you want maximum background blur. With the iPhone XS, you can dial up the apparent defocus in the background without putting the dog's nose out of focus too.

Cool stuff.

The Android world of course has a number of smartphones that vie with Apple's photography capabilities; competing equivalents of Apple's Neural Engine are beginning to make their way into competitors' products even now. I'm only writing about Apple because that's what I use. A smartphone is now definitely part of my photography kit, although I use it more for visual note-taking than anything else. I get a lot of pleasure out of it. I'll see if I can post a few examples of what I mean by "visual note-taking" someday soon.

Mike
(Thanks to a number of readers)

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HR: "People who say the phone cameras are getting so good that it can replace a regular camera indicates to me that the kinds of photos they take are vastly different than what I take. Being limited to the very awkward, fiddly ergonomics of a phone with its very slow camera usage, inability to make quick decisive photos at an exact instant in time, being limited to just a wide angle lens (or maybe two in some recent very expensive phones), having only a screen to use even when it is not good in sun and at night the light from it illuminating you and making it obvious to everyone you are taking a photo, the tiny sensor that doesn't work well in low light, etc. makes it a no-go as a main camera for me. It is also hard for me to imagine wildlife photographers, sports photographers, BIF photographers, etc. thinking that a phone, no matter how good the IQ gets to be even close to a substitute for a camera with good ergonomics, fast, decisive operation, interchangeable lenses of many types, and so on.

Mike replies: While I don't know of any photographers who use a phone as a main camera, several extensive and very good photojournalists projects have been done using much earlier cellphones and smartphones. Several advertising campaigns have been shot with phones. Doug DeMuro's YouTube channel is shot mostly with an iPhone. The list goes on. Obviously they're not the tool for every job, and obviously they're not the tool for any job for certain photographers, but they're cameras, and virtually all cameras can be used for good work in the right hands.

John: "Impressive, but I’ve never experienced one iota of fun taking a picture of something with my iPhones. And fun is what it’s all about for me."

Steve W: "As Ken Tanaka has alluded to, this is the future of photography for most people. When they add a third lens/sensor/camera in the 85mm-e to 100mm-e range...what more would most people really need?"

Jack: "Thanks for the link to the article. The photo in the article that compares backlit shots with the two phones was quite a difference. Wow."

c.d.embrey: "For me the decisive moment is when my client's check clears. There are very few paying jobs that I couldn't shoot with Apple's iPhone XS. Anything from products to portraits to panoramas...."

J. K. Lux: "Mike's article (and John Gruber's) is about the technology of photography, not about what's better or worse than anything else (phone vs. 'pro' camera, Apple vs. Android, etc.). The phone companies are coming up with interesting solutions to some enormous constraints (like the size of the phone) in pursuit of better cameras (in pursuit of bigger market share). Just because I love shooting with my X-T2 and all its physical dials doesn't mean I'm not interested in how a tech company is dealing with dynamic range or focus bracketing in ways that are different than the major camera brands, or solutions to fitting a better lens into a smaller package—solutions which very likely will have an impact on dedicated cameras as well."

Mike replies: Thanks for rising to my defense. I was just about to remind people that I'm not personally responsible for cameras being included in smartphones!   :-)  

NEW BLOOD

Zeiss of Germany, a maker of lenses, surprised everyone a month or two back with rumors of a complete camera for Photokina.

It's not the first time in the modern era that the former West German cameramaker has dabbled in making cameras.

Superficially it resembles, in type and format, the similarly named Sony RX1[x], which has a Zeiss lens.

Despite its conventional and derivative name, the new Zeiss ZX1 embodies something that might be sorely needed in the conventional non-smartphone camera industry: a fresh approach. Instead of just targeting market segments and piling on the me-too features, Zeiss has evidently taken a fresh look at how cameras might look and feel and operate, what features they might offer and how those might be accessed.

The basics: it has an aluminum body and an oversized viewing screen, which is also the interface for most of the controls (there are very few controls on the camera itself). It has a 37.4-MP full-frame sensor "developed by Zeiss" whatever that means. It sports a fixed 35mm ƒ/2 lens. Those specs promise a serious imagemaker, with very large files suitable for printing. But the interface has been inspired by smartphones, intended for instant sharing. It has built-in wireless Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity for direct uploads and backup to the cloud, as well as a USB-C connector. Adobe Lightroom CC is integral. The camera has a huge 512 GB of internal SSD storage.

How it will all work remains to be seen.

Zeiss headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany. Photo by Dwi Secundus.

The significance of the camera also remains to be seen. It might end up a curiosity or a style accessory. But recall that Fuji was surprised by the worldwide sensation it created with the original X100 and pivoted into being a full-line cameramaker; so anything can happen. We'll have to wait and see with open minds.

Whatever it turns out to be, it is a signal that Zeiss is willing to take a new look at what digital cameras can be and how they might be used.

No word on pricing yet, but this will be an interesting camera to watch whether you're interested in owning one or not. There's a dedicated website, and you can sign up to receive a newsletter.

Fresh air! Just when you thought you'd seen everything this September. How great.

Mike

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Ed. Note: Because most of the comments are basically reactions, and because most of the reactions are brief, I think I'll refer you to the full Comments Section. Fascinating range of reactions, from "brain fart" to "Bauhuh?" to "nice clean design" to "looks like the..." to "this is the one that interests me the most"!

No One Gets Out of It Alive

It's GAS is what it comes down to, you know.

I wear two hats. One is my outward, public, professional hat as a writer, editor and photo pundit, and the other is my inward-looking, personal, quirkily independent hat as an idiosyncratic photo fanboy and meandering here to there gear geek. Wearing the first hat, I am a paragon—coolly objective, intelligent, dispassionate, and full of wisdom and probity. It is in this state that I recommend to you what you should do, and often give sound, calm advice. Wearing the second, I'm a fanboy, a geek, a hobbyist, wildly subjective, and susceptible to being buffeted by the winds of irrational passion. It is in this state that I decide what to do for myself, and often do stupid things that give me dull and lasting pains right in the wallet.

The two intersect or mix together all the time, but I'm pretty strongly aware of which is which. I can keep them separate if need be.

And with my photo-geek hat on I had been feeling pretty smug about all the new announcements of this watershed September. I had already decided that I don't really need full frame for my own uses. I've used a Nikon D750 and I've used a Sony A7III. I liked them both. A lot. They're excellent. Their results are superb. Wearing hat #1, I can see—easily—why people choose them. I can see why people love them. No mystery.

And they both leave the me in my second hat relatively cold. I have seen FF, I have met FF, I have owned FF (my Sony A900, a long-deposed onetime King o' the Heap now in the hands of my son in Oshkosh) and I just don't really get turned on by it for whatever reason. My Fuji X-T1 with its 16-MP X-Trans sensor does very nice B&W, and my Panasonic GX8 has a rich, crisp look to the files and a film-like "grain" to high ISO results and shadow noise that I like a whole lot even though I can see it's not the best available technical "image quality." I don't care if it's not; I like it better. Game set and match.

So blast away, Nikon, Canon, and PanaLeicaSigma—I'm immune to your blandishments this time! Resistant to your importuning! Indifferent to your allurements! I can leave the dread disease of GAS* to you other poor fellows. Smile. Pat pat pat. Smug, smug, smug.

And then along come the Fuji GFX 50R. Hmm. Dang. Looks nice. Looks nice. I really kinda want one. But I don't need such a thing. How could I need such a thing when I don't even need full frame? I don't need one. I really kinda want one, though. Don't need. Don't.... Dang. Hmm.

Unfortunately, GAS is not rational. We all know that.

Any more than the flu....

And then comes the news that Fuji will be making a delightful, diminutive, lightweight 50mm (40mm equivalent FOV) ƒ/3.5 pancake lens (picture at the link). To go with the already perfect complement, the GF 110mm ƒ/2 R LM WR (88mm-e FOV). I always liked more lens speed in my portrait lens, more so than my walking-around lens.

Ow ow ow! Hep me Law. I've got GAS, and my wallet isn't big enough to offer any relief! Ow ow ow OW!

How about you? Are you smug? Or are any of the new things enough to tweak your dread disease?

Mike

*Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

P.S. You'll note that yesterday's post was with hat #1, today's is with hat #2.

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Dennis: "I'm not sure that anything recently announced is doing it for me. My problem is that I'm 10 years into my eternal quest for a truly satisfying system. I used to shoot A mount, now shooting Nikon (APS-C). Tried E-mount (APS-C) for quite a few years, but selling that.

"APS-C looks to have a bleak future, except for Fuji. Fuji lacks IBIS and I'm not enamored with X-Trans and the lens I'd really want (16–80mm) is still a year away. Nikon, Canon, Sony and Panasonic all really want me to buy FF, and it has its appeal, but I don't need it. Micro 4/3 is probably the best solution, but I have to get over the whole 'lotta money for a small sensor' hangup. (And the 'does Micro 4/3 really have a future ?' hangup).

"So I'll keep shooting my 'old' D7000 and my two Sony 1"-sensor digicams until something strikes my fancy."

Rodolfo Canet: "I've been aflicted by a strong Fuji-GAS attack lately. But I'm a veteran tough guy and know how to fight it: just bought a Loxia 50mm for my Sony and alas! no more money in my wallet!"

Al C.: "GAS is to be embraced, not dreaded. Bring it on. Folks like us who are afflicted by GAS, whatever the object(s) of our affection may be (cameras, turntables, cars, fishing flies...all of the above), are a whole lot less likely to engage in—or worse, addicted to—the more putative 'social' vices such as drinking, partying, womanizing, gambling etc. Signed, A proud, card-carrying member of GAS Anonymous."

Andrew John: "The Fuji body and those two lenses would amount to roughly 1/3 of the quote you got to build the 'TOP Visitor's Center' with the added advantage of setting up your pool table. I'm telling you while wearing my #1 hat. Then with the #2 hat I say: I like it...I like it...I like it."

Matt: "Personally, I'm feeling pretty smug. Like you, I've had my experience with the larger formats and learned several times over that they're not going to fix my shortcomings as a photographer. Even the X-T3, nice as it looks, doesn't seem to be tempting me enough to ditch my perfectly fine X-T2. So, nope, no new cameras, or systems, or maybe even lenses for me this year, thank you very mu.... Wait, what? Ricoh announced the GRIII? Well...um...hmm.... Maybe I'll just take a quick look over at KEH and see what I can get for some of my more seldom used gear. You know, just for the sake of curiosity."

Timo Virojärvi: "Z7 does it for me. IBIS + tilting screen are the main criteria, but I like lighter weight, the good EVF and plenty of pixels also.

"If only it could show highlight zebras when taking stills and not only in movie mode. Sigh. Maybe Nikon will see the light and fix it with firmware upgrade."

sfmurph: "I'm frustrated that the whole market is moving away from what I want: smaller. I like my Olympus E-M10, but I'd prefer a camera without the hump. The Pen-F is tempting, but so expensive. I have all the 'mini' lenses that Panasonic put out (12–32mm, 35–100mm and 15mm) and love them. But it looks like the GM series didn't sell, so I don't expect any more of these. (Where's the matching 7–14mm? Or a redone 25mm?) Unfortunately, the market seems to have spoken. And disagrees with me."

Mark: "The most recent round of gear announcements have left me oddly indifferent. I'd estimate that I'm at least two or more years away from changing anything. I'm a landscape photographer. The Sony a7r2 and "new"-ish FE 24-105 are a stellar real-world combination for hiking and backpacking in terms of weight vs. resolution. When I have some extra cash, I'll pick up a Loxia 21mm, but that's a known solution. I'm still pondering a tele zoom, but an adapted Contax 100-300 is excellent in the meantime. If Sigma and Panasonic manage to work together to get a FF foveon sensor without its historic issues, I'd be very interested. If Sony puts out an a7r4 with the color rendition of the A900 (and better pixel-shift capabilities), I'd be interested. But honestly, I'm more satisfied with my gear than I can ever remember. It's a pretty nice place to be."

Steve Jacob: "Let's face it. Without GAS in its widest context, the world economy would collapse. No-one needs new clothes, mobile-phones, cars, etc. nearly as often as they actually buy them. Very few really need a camera or motorcycle or jet ski or SUV or set of golf clubs or yacht or gun at all. They just want one, or two, or three....

"On the upside, the industry of want employs billions and feeds their families. It also pays for research that has other benefits in terms of materials science, health, food production, communications and transport. OTOH, if we could rid ourselves of this obsession with possession, we would reduce greenhouse emissions, particulate emissions, depletion of resources, despoilment of large areas of natural wilderness, etc. I guess the challenge then becomes how to amuse millions of bored people in perfect health with nothing to do except reproduce or read a book."

Mike replies: You are taking an admirably wide view of it Steve. What hat is that?

Surprise! Fuji Announces 100-MP GFX Camera

In an announcement that evidently came as a surprise to the watchers-and-waiters (I ain't one, so I dunno), Fujifilm announced that it is working on a one-hundred megapixel GFX camera. This is something for the future, not for now, but there are a few known details. Imaging-Resource reports that the upcoming camera will not only have IBIS, but will have on-sensor phase-detect autofocus across the entire sensor. The price is expected to be an effective way to make $10k disappear...unless you're in the target market, which would consist of professionals who would use the camera to earn many times $10k.

This is not even as delightful as Fuji's other announcement today, which I'll get to in a minute....

Slightly overwhelmed Mike

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Stephen Scharf: "Not only that...but, Phase One has announced Capture One Version 3 today with full Capture One Pro support for all Fujifilm cameras, including medium format RAF conversion and tethering! There is also a free version of Capture One Express. I just downloaded my copy of C1 v.11.3 and there are camera profiles for both the GFX50S and GFX50R! Woo-hoo! This is a GOOD day!"

JOHN GILLOOLY: "I find all of this to be very exciting and yet unsettling at the same time. I was chugging along happily for 25 years with Nikon. Then Micro 4/3 peeked in with some compelling benefits. Then Sony brought along mirrorless with all of the benefits of a full-frame sensor. Then Nikon finally answered and their mirrorless roadmap looks very promising to me. Now the floodgates have opened. I'll be relieved when I am once again settled within a system."

New Leica S3 Jumps to 64 Megapixels

In yet another development announcement, Leica Camera has announced that the third Leica S, the S3, will be arriving next Spring. The announcement comes on the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the original S, which was called the S2, in 2008. The main change in the new camera is the resolution jump, from 37.5 MP to 64 MP. Continuous shooting improves to 3 FPS, and the new camera will offer 4k video capture.

Mike

CORRECTION: The new Leica S3 will actually be the fourth Leica S camera. Hence the name of the new one is another splendid example, among many, of corporate camera-naming convention gone slightly wopplejawed. (Thanks to Hugh Crawford for this.)

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New 24-MP Ricoh GR III is Coming

In another development announcement for Photokina, Ricoh says the upcoming GR III will be smaller than the current camera and have a 24-MP sensor, up from 16. The lens will still have the same 28mm ƒ/2.8 spec, but is redesigned. The body now has 3-axis SR (Shake Reduction, Ricoh's and Pentax's name for IS) which is also used to simulate an anti-aliasing filter for reducing moiré and color effects. The viewing monitor is now a touchscreen and sports a 3:2 ratio.

The Ricoh GR is almost a cult camera, beloved by owners for its simplicity, pocketability, and excellence.

Slated for early 2019, the price of the new camera has not yet been announced.

Mike

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Leica, Panasonic and Sigma Announce 'L-Mount Alliance'

Micro 4/3 will soon have a full-frame counterpart—a consortium of different companies building products around the same lensmount with shared specifications.

In Cologne, Germany, this morning, the site of this week's Photokina, three companies—Leica Camera AG of Germany, Panasonic Corporation of Japan, and Sigma Corporation of Japan—have announced the L-Mount Alliance (the official symbol is at right) centered around the L-mount already developed by Leica.

All three companies are cameramakers and all three companies are lensmakers, and all three will contribute future compatible products to the full-frame and APS-C L-mount system.

Due to legal regulations, the three companies will not coordinate their product roadmaps. The new dedicated L-Mount website states, "The three companies are competitors who manufacture and sell cameras and lenses. However, when we consider each company's standing point and strengths, there are very few areas where they interfere with each other. This is an exceptionally balanced partnership." Panasonic, which of course had an existing partnership with Leica and works in cooperation with Sigma on Micro 4/3 products, served as the "middleman" to bring the alliance together.

The owner of Leica, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, said, "For photographers, the ability to choose from a wide range of lenses for their system of preference is extremely important. Especially in the strongly growing market for mirrorless system cameras, users seek increasingly greater product diversity to fulfill a wide range of different photographic needs. We have therefore decided to work together with prominent partners in the photographic segment as an immediate response to these needs."

Note that Leica's existing L-mount lineup comprises both full-frame (24x36mm) and APS-C cameras (the T/TL/TL2 and CL) with the same lensmount. The L-mount has a diameter of 51.6mm and a flange distance of 20mm. Although slightly smaller in diameter than the Nikon Z and Canon R mounts, Panasonic noted that Leica developed the first 35mm camera and "they know what they're doing."

The contributions of the two Japanese partners are still basically in development at this point.

Panasonic has has given a clear idea of what's upcoming: it made a development announcement of two cameras, one 24 MP (emphasizing speed, and pro wedding and journalist customers) and one 47 MP (emphasizing resolution, and enthusiast and artist customer), that will be available by early 2019, along with three lenses, and it has stated that its L-mount products will include no fewer than ten new lenses by the end of 2020.

A world of possibilities
The possibilities for us photographers are pretty heady. At the most basic level, it means a wide array of lenses available relatively quickly at a number of different price points. It would seem to offer the possibility, too, of greater ease in moving up within the system without obsoleting earlier investments. And of course there's the possibility of greater flexibility: Leica SL owners will be able to augment their mainstay Leica lenses with less expensive lenses for more occasional uses, for example. But more than that, the L-Mount Alliance tantalizes with the possibility of complementing capabilities within the same system: the coming Panasonic cameras will offer the "World's first support for 4K 60p/50p video recording in a full-frame Digital Single Lens Mirrorless camera," for instance, and it's likely, or possible, that Sigma will build a Foveon-sensor camera that is native to the L-mount at some point in the future.

UPDATE: Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki has reportedly confirmed the development of a full-frame Foveon sensor in an interview at Photokina. He also said that Sigma will be killing its proprietary SA lensmount in favor of L-mount.

It's Photokina day, and there's a lot going on, so that's enough for now.

Mike

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Woo-Hoo, the Plot Thickens!

If a brand-new SLRumors site is to be believed (and it's not April), it's not just a new Panasonic FF camera. It's a full frame consortium between Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma, all working together, and all using the existing Leica SL mount.

This is bad news for Nikon and Canon. Not only are there six existing Leica SL lenses, but an adapter can bring into play Sigma's extensive full frame ART lineup and voilà, there will be 17 more. That's 23 lenses before Panasonic's own lenses even enter the fray and before Sigma adds any native lenses for SL mount.

Once you have three different companies adding native lenses to the same SL system (presumably at three different pricing levels, or at least two), Canon and Nikon, each acting alone, might have a hard time keeping up.

Seems more threatening to Canon R and Nikon Z than just a fledgling system from Panasonic with three or four lenses like Canon and Nikon launched with.

And with all three companies making cameras, could a full-frame Foveon sensor eventually be in the offing? It's not beyond the range of possibility. And would this mean that Sigma might open its Foveon sensor tech to mighty Samsung, which is reportedly building the new Panasonic FF sensor?

No word on when this becomes official, but most likely the rollout will be some time next week, during, or just before, Photokina. The "rumors" sites are the only ones with information because they (like us) are not under any pre-announcement nondisclosure agreements.

Note that I have no inside information about this at all. Just passing the rumor along. See SLRumors for everything I know.

This is definitely the most interesting short stretch of time in the camera industry in years. Feels just like the old days.  :-)

Mike
(Thanks to Nic M)

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Jeff (partial comment): "The L mount for the Leica SL already provides adaptation for Leica M lenses, Leica R lenses and Leica S lenses. And third party adapters provide functionality for Canon and Nikon glass as well. The smaller format Leica CL and TL have the same L mount and can similarly accommodate different lens lines. Panasonic and Leica already share technology for the SL system according to various reports, for the camera innards as well as the native zooms, which are extraordinary. The marriage and possibilities run even deeper than you portray, it seems."

Thomas Paul McCann: "Off to Photokina next week. Can't wait. Hasn't been this much 'excitement' in years."

elitephoto9: "If it's true, and I hope it is, it just goes to show that cell phones are taking over. The three together will undercut Nikon, Canon, and Sony. Sigma lenses would be wonderful on a FF Foveon. WOW let's hope it true. So here's how the future looks to me. FF Foveon, three Art lenses, and a cell phone."

Also Due on the 25th (Fuji and Sigma)

Also expected on the 25th is the announcement of the Fuji GFX 50R, the rangefinder-style counterpart to the medium-format SLR-style GFX 50S. The new camera is expected to be somewhat lower spec and somewhat less expensive.

But we'll see.

And Sigma is expected to introduce a portrait lens in mounts for both Micro 4/3 and Fuji X-mount this week—a 56mm ƒ/1.4. I'd be in the market for that, so I'll be watching. But given that I have a Micro 4/3 camera and a Fuji X camera at the moment, the choice as to which mount to get could mean I'd be making a hard choice between the two cameras and formats, and it could potentially make my head explode. So if you stop hearing from me.... :-)

[UPDATE: Oh, sorry, "brain fart." The new Sigma will be Micro 4/3 and Sony E-mount, of course. Sorry for my confusion. Or wishful thinking, whatever. —Ed.]

Mike
(Thanks to Hugh Crawford)

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The Coming Panasonic FF Camera

Most of this comes, directly or (probably) indirectly, from 4/3 Rumors: Apparently Panasonic will introduce a full-frame camera on the 25th of this month, six days from now—next Tuesday. (Photokina begins the next day and runs through the 29th.) It will be one of those "development" announcements, or pre-announcements—it will not announce the rollout of a camera that's nearly ready for sale, but one they're working on for next year. Supposedly it will have a body similar to the GH5's, no sensor-shift IS, excellent video, and have "way more" than 30 MP. The specs they'll release on Tuesday are believed to be pretty firm.

There are two reasons why the announcement's noteworthy: one is that it puts an exclamation point on the Q4 2018 FFM tipping point, with many companies deciding all at once to follow Sony's lead into full-frame mirrorless; and the other is that it marks the first departure of a major member of the 4/3 consortium into a format other than 4/3.

Personally, I think what underlies all this is that the camera companies are being chased. "Serious" interchangeable-lens cameras are going to have to flee from the smartphone juggernaut if they aren't already.

This doesn't mean Micro 4/3 is doomed—it would be jumping the gun considerably to say that—but I think the cameramakers are already thinking more about differentiation than they would have if they still had the camera market to themselves. As ever, I could be wrong, but that's my sense of it.

Mike

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Andrew: "The interesting thing about the Panasonic FF camera possibility is the relationship with Leica, which I believe would continue. They can both concentrate on the FF format, which is Leica's bread and butter. Leica would maintain all-out lens designs for its own FF cameras (i.e. the SL, which might have a v.2 soon) while working with Panasonic on still-very-good but cheaper FF lenses. I love the G9 (+ "PanLeica" 12–60mm) and a FF version of that camera would be divine. In any case, a FF camera from Panasonic would be telling. Where would that leave Olympus?"

Which Full Frame Mirrorless (FFM)? (Short Takes)

Three short takes:

1. Three Sensor Sizes, Same Weight: Despite my fondness for the 20-MP Micro 4/3 sensor, I still think 16 MP is enough for me.

Do you do that? I've always constructed "targets" where various aspects of cameras are concerned, based on what I know of my preferences from experience.

I don't know if that's smart or valuable, and I could understand if it doesn't enter into other peoples' thinking. I guess it's just sort of a mental habit with me. (I'm an "idealizer.")

For instance, I really feel I don't need a sensor bigger than APS-C. I've investigated. I've seen the differences. I can readily see how those differences might be a big concern, even an overriding concern, for others. (See below.) For me, not so much.

Again, I'm just talking about my own subjective choices, not choices that are somehow objectively good for everyone. (It's easy to be misunderstood when status issues are lurking.)

A decent ISO 3200...that's plenty. On and on like that.

Of course, some things you feel more strongly about. I got imprinted on IBIS by the original Konica-Minolta 7D, even though I've never had a camera since then with IBIS that was quite as good. And I'm annoyed—actively irritated, on an ongoing basis—by heavy cameras. Don't like 'em. So I probably pay more attention to weight than most people.

Fuji X-T3 with 23mm ƒ/2, Sony A7III with 35mm ƒ/1.4, Fuji X-H1 with 23mm ƒ/1.4, Canon EOS R with 35mm ƒ/1.8, and Nikon Z6 with 35mm ƒ/1.8. Ain't CameraSize fun?

A long time ago, in days of yore when smartphones were science fiction and we used grownups as politicians, I settled on 18 ounces (510 grams) as a sensible target weight for a camera body. These days, with so many small and even tiny cameras out there, it remains a reasonable target in my opinion. Of course, if I wanted to use a bigger camera for some other reason I would. But sure enough, my GX8 comes in at 487g/17.18 oz. and my X-T1 at 440g/15.52 oz. (The MHG-XT grip I use adds 3.2 ounces for a total of 18.82 oz.)

The Sony A7III felt too dense for me. (Could be I'm oversensitive, but I had neck pain for years as the result of running around with cameras hanging off me.)

How are these for stats, though (all with batteries—numbers from DPReview):

Nikon Z6: 675g/23.81 oz.
Fuji X-H1: 673g/23.74 oz.

And just for fun:

Panasonic G9: 658g/23.21 oz.

That's not a lot of difference between three different major formats, is it? Wow. Of course the lenses would tend to have greater size differences, as the illustration shows.

2. Micro 4/3 Just as Good as FF? Not Quite: A number of people have been passing along a video to me recently. I linked to it the other day. In the video, Marc Newton compares big prints from a FF and Micro 4/3 cameras and his expert printer can't tell the difference. While it seems like a good test as far as it goes, I'd just gently remind people about my old point about the middle vs. the extreme(s) of the various optimization curves. For example, lenses usually perform better at middle apertures, doing less well at the extremes...and so forth.

Years ago, I wrote a column in an English photo magazine comparing the output from an 8-MP digicam and an 8-MP DSLR. As long as you were in the middle of the optimization bell curve for most parameters, there was really not much difference between the two. But as soon as you "stressed" the equipment with adverse conditions, the differences began to be highlighted. To really tell the whole story between big prints from his two cameras, I think Marc would need to do things like shoot in very low light requiring high ISOs, shoot high-contrast subjects requiring high DR, and shoot pictures where subtle color differences were important. I'm pretty sure that adverse conditions would tease out the differences in the sensor sizes. But then, I haven't done the tests either.

It's nice to know, though, that for shots made in good light and good conditions, medium-large Micro 4/3 prints are as good as FF prints.

3. Roger Weighs In On the FFM Wars (and Mike's Pick): A lot of people are fans of various people like, well, me—people who write about or create videos about photography or cameras. Meanwhile, while knowing that I have my own fans, I myself am a fan of some of the same people. Like Thom. And Ctein, who is now a science fiction author. One of the ones I like best is Roger Cicala at Lensrentals. Roger's my favorite lens geek. I love it that his business allows him to gather statistical data, and that he can not only test lenses but strip them down.

The other day, Roger weighed in on the new FFM cameras, in "Roger's Rants."

Meanwhile, people have been asking me which way I'd go, if I were going to with with full-frame mirrorless. And as I was reading Roger's column, my brain clicked in.

Obviously, Sony is the only practical choice for now. Much more mature system with a far broader lens choice. And the Canon, oddly enough, seems the most alluring—I like the control configurations and would love to try that camera out. I'd described the EOS R as "Apple-y" in some of its design aspects. It seems...elegant.

 

Zee Zed Six

But thinking of the long haul, I'd go with Nikon if I were in that category. I'd do as Roger says and wait till the second generation, and I'd be relying on Nikon's promise to make "Other lenses" [sic] in the future that were lighter and smaller but still good enuff. Lastly, I'd choose the Z6 level because of what I was talking about at the top of this post. Why? Nikon is the only one with a large throat diameter and IBIS and a flip-up screen like I prefer. And I like what Roger said about what the first lenses point to about the differences in the companies' approaches to the lens lines.

P.S. You can't always get what you want—didn't that used to be a song? Of course, the camera I really want is the "GX8 Mark II," with tech advancements from the G9, like the bugs worked out of the IBIS and Panasonic's newer shock-free shutter. Or the X-T4 with the X-H1's IBIS, which our resident Fuji-whisperer Stephen says is impossible [UPDATE: but see his comment in the Comments Section. —Ed.]. My crystal ball says neither will ever happen, though, because, well, they're what I want, that's why. That's the way that works. You know what they say: Oh well.

Mike
(Thanks to Jeff Schimberg)

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

Rodolfo Canet: "Human tastes are always disconcerting and impossible to be explained by reason. I don't like weight, but I like density, as if it was a subconcious indicator of quality. My Sony A7's density is a big plus for me, and when I tried a Fujifilm X-T2 some weeks ago I felt it unsubstantial."

Mike replies: Right, but the point is that we each know our preferences. That's the important part, not what the preferences are.

Huw Morgan: "Thanks for your point on stressing cameras at the margins. As a music performance photographer, I'm frequently shooting in dimly lit situations, relying on high ISO settings to allow me to get enough depth of field and to choose a fast enough shutter speed to avoid motion blur. Full frame cameras (Sony in my case) just seem to have the low light performance needed for this type of work.I tried APS-C, but the noise levels were just too high. However, at the rate sensor technology is advancing, I'm sure that it's only a matter of a few years before smaller sensors are good enough. Sony is reputed to be just about to launch a mini A9, so maybe we are getting close. I'll gladly ditch the weight and expense of full frame as soon as I can."

David Brown: "You can’t always want what you get."

Robert Harshman: "Much ado about tools. Choose the ones that work for you. They are all good in the right hands and brain."

Steve: "I’m afraid this much variety and new tech will simple freeze me in place for a while."

Rob: "Three guiding principles: a.) buy only what I really, really need; b.) use it to the best of my ability; c.) have no truck with envy, because, after a point, photographic results very seldom come down to equipment."

s.wolters (partial comment): "What always surprises me that there are few reviewers that pay attention to colors. For me they are much more significant than for example resolution. Of course you can set a camera the way you prefer and you can endlessly change things in post processing. But the differences between the standard settings can be enormous."

Mike replies: Agreed. The wonderful color accuracy was one of the great things about the old Konica-Minolta 7D. But few seemed to care. Or notice....

Terence Morrissey: "Why not have several cameras? One compact Micro 4/3 or APS-C and one full frame high-MP camera. Different tools for different jobs."

Mike replies: The key is in your use of the word "jobs." Most pros do have multiple systems, and they can use what suits because they know what the job is going in. It can be a great strategy for amateurs too, but there are a few possible downsides. One is that it's expensive to invest in more than one system. Because I switch systems to write about different things, for instance, I've never had a full complement of lenses in any one system. Even now. Second, it might hinder your ability to get "the feel of the wheel" with cameras that have different control configurations—the ability to let muscle memory take over so you can forget about operating the camera when you're out shooting. Third, it increases the chances that you'll have the wrong camera with you at any given time (because if you just go out to shoot you what you find, don't necessarily know what the job is. There are other disadvantages, but those are three.

Of course it all depends on the individual. Maybe some people have the ability to recall the ins and outs of three different menu systems, for example. I can hardly remember one!

That Addictive Little Sensor

Detail. It just has a "painterly" look somehow.

A while back (April 2017) I wrote of my budding infatuation for the Sony IMX 269. The huh?

That's the 20.4 MP Micro 4/3 sensor so far found in only in five six cameras: the discontinued Panasonic GX8 (in which it debuted), as well as the Panasonic G9 and GX9, and the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and Pen-F.

(Let me know if I'm overlooked any.) [UPDATE: Forgot the GH5! —Ed.]

Entire frame. Note that the blogging platform we use softens images somewhat.

I don't know what it is about this sensor, but it's addictive. Does it somehow mimic film (if it can be said to, it would have to be some sort of "super" film), and I subliminally recognize and respond to that? I don't think so, but I don't know. I do like the "grain" of the way it renders at higher ISOs.

Apropos of the "Best Comment Ever" post, I once heard something that has stuck in my mind: that the craft we put in to our pictures mostly serves to make craft invisible to people who look at our pictures—and that the geeky gear enthusiasms we gush about and fight over, on the other hand, are something photographers indulge in for their own pleasure. (Such things "nourish our enthusiasm," was the way Ansel Adams rather gingerly put it.)

If you like full frame, for example, I wouldn't argue with that for a millisecond. I get it. I've owned FF cameras and I recently caught up with the state of the art compliments of B&H Photo, which sent me a Sony A7III (currently back-ordered) to try out. Lovely camera, beautiful files. Honestly, if that's what "sends" you, I have zero objections. Not veiled, not backhanded. No argument from me whatsoever.

GX8s with Pana/Leica 45mm Macro (left)
and 12–35mm ƒ/2.8 zoom (right)

But I love the way the 20-MP Micro 4/3 sensor renders. My current GX8 might be the only digital camera that's ever given me that "indulging myself in geekery" feeling...that sense that I'm photographing things to enjoy how pretty the camera is going to make them look. It has a look of edge sharpness, a distinctive crispness.

Scrumptious. Lovely. I really like the "look."

D'ye ken?
Do you shoot with one of the five six cameras? If you do, let me know if you know what I'm going on about. I'd be interested to know if I'm not crazy. (Actually I'd also be interested to know if I am crazy.)

Mike

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Featured Comments from:

Paul Richardson: "I have the Pen-F, and no, you’re not crazy. Or we both are, as I know exactly what you mean. I’ve gone back to certain images I’ve taken with the Pen-F, and I’m baffled by the look of them—in a good way. Painterly is an apt word to describe it, but it’s something more, which I can’t quite put my finger on. And that’s with the 'cheap' 14–42mm lens."

Tom Hassler: "Well Mike, I can't speak to the state of your sanity, but I will second your opinion of this sensor. It does have a lovely, long-scale look that really benefits the format. I'm currently shooting an Olympus E-M1 Mark II and it rarely disappoints. Sony is on a tear lately with state-of-the-art sensors in several formats...."

Cecelia: "Based on my experiences with multiple Micro 4/3 cameras and my current OM-D E-M1, I completely agree with you. It is much better than the 16-MP and 12-MP Micro 4/3 sensors I have used. Lower noise at low ISO and more pleasing noise at higher ISO. The dynamic range and colors are generous. I also like the Nikon 24-MP full frame sensors—they are even nicer, but come with the good and bad of full frame."

Omer: "Yep, I see that in the pics from my GX9, though I thought it was a Panasonic thing."

Matt: "I shoot with two of those cameras. The E-M1 Mark II, which I bought the day it came out, and the GX8, which I just bought used last month. While I'm a sucker for larger formats (which I have indulged to the extreme with an old 8x10 view camera), there is definitely something to be said for the 20MP Micro 4/3 sensor. I find that I'm really enjoying using it at ISOs that really are 'too high for it' (6400 and even 12800). For the right subject the desaturated colours and visible noise/grain of 6400/12800 add something to the image. This is in stark contrast to every other digital camera I've had where strong noise was something I could never come to terms with in my images."

John Camp: "I have two GX8's, and if it weren't for GAS, I could happily shoot with them forever. In lots of ways, they're perfect cameras—they're small but not too small, as are the lenses; the sensors are large enough to capture all the quality I need; they have IBIS; and I do like the files. I shoot with a D800E as well, and it's hard to explain the difference in 'look,' but it's there. I think of the GX8 files as looking 'dusty,' but that sounds bad, and it's not bad. It's more that the pixels seem to contain more than one color, though that can't be true. Another thing. I know that you (Mike) are a wide shooter, but the Olympus 75mm ƒ/1.8 is something else. I've not seen the new Z lenses, obviously, but I really think I've never had a lens as good as the 75mm. And I've had a bunch of Summiluxes."

Dennis Mook: "As a Fujifilm X-T2 and Olympus E-M1 Mark II user and really loving the Fujifilm colors, I created a series of presets in Lightroom mimicking the Fujifilm film simulations so I could apply them to the Olympus raw files. As good as they look in the X-T2 images, they seem to look better applied to the Olympus files. They seem to have a different, even more film-like quality."

The Story With the New Fuji X-T3

The big news is right at the heart of the new Fujifilm X-T3

All-new sensor, all-new processor: That's the basic takeaway for the new Fujifilm X-T3 announced today. Yes, there are other changes, but most of the big ones revolve around the sensor and processor.

Although effectively the same resolution as the X-T2 sensor (26.1 megapixels vs. 24.3, an unnoticeable difference if nothing else changes), it's Fuji's first APS-C sensor to have a back-illuminated structure with phase detection pixels distributed across the surface. Of course the new sensor means the camera has to have a new processing engine. It's a quad-core CPU called "X-Processor 4."

The effects of the new sensor and processor: AF performance (originally a bit of an embarrassment to Fuji when the X-Pro1 was introduced) can be expected to leapfrog into the realm of the cutting edge; AF now takes place over the entire frame with 2.14 million distributed phase-detection pixels. Focus tracking is expected to be vastly better; the camera refocuses and takes AE readings 1.5 times more often; low-light autofocusing ability jumps from –1 EV to –3 (vs. –4.5 for the Canon EOS R—Canon's advertised spec cheats a bit by using an ƒ/1.2 lens for its "–6 EV" claim); 4K/60P 10-bit video output; shutter lag is getting close to instantaneous; and a smoother, more responsive viewfinder.

There are some other minor changes (160 base ISO, a locking diopter knob, and the adoption of Color Chrome Effect from the GFX-50S for example) but it's the sensor and processor and all the functions they affect that are the main story with the update.

Proud
Fuji claims the sensor readout is ten times faster than the original X-Trans sensor, and that the processing engine is twenty times faster than the one in the X-Pro1. It calls the X-T3's AF performance "exceptional" and proudly states that the X-T3 "boasts the highest performance in the history of X Series."

Price is $1,499 for black or silver (which apparently is not the deluxe and expensive "Graphite" finish that was optional on the X-T1 and X-T2). Note that that's $100 cheaper than the old regular price for the X-T2. The camera ships on September 20th, two weeks from now.

Mike

P.S. Meanwhile, the older X-T2 is a still a swell camera and on sale for a bargain price.

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Featured Comments from:

Andy F: "This is a worthy upgrade and you didn't mention its class-leading video capabilities. It's a crying shame it doesn't have IBIS."

Mike replies: At least Fuji now has a camera with IBIS. But it appears they're going to ghettoize it into that one model. I was hoping for trickle-down into the right-sized-for-me X-T[1-2-3] series. You know what they say: Oh well.

Craig: "Wow. Impressive. I had been thinking I was perfectly happy with my X-E2s, but I may have to consider this...."

Dennis Mook: "This new X-T3 may be more of a bargain than just US$100 less expensive than the original price of the X-T2. In order to benefit from faster AF, higher frame rates and a few other things, one had to buy the X-T2’s Power Booster grip for an additional $300. Now those features are standard in the X-T3, effectively a $400 savings."

Kenneth Tanaka: "The X-T3 looks to be every bit the the sort of thoughtful incremental model improvement that Fuji owners have come to expect. It looks to me like nearly all of the camera's technical improvements are aimed toward the movie-makers. It's mostly the same still camera as the X-T2. While I've enjoyed my (admittedly very under-used) X-T2, I recently downgraded to try an X-T20...and I love it. Same image quality and imaging features as the X-T2 in a smaller camera body with a very handy tiltable touch-screen at a nice price!"

Canon Too!

Canon EOS R with the smaller of the two new zooms

As expected, Canon (which is actually much bigger than Nikon) has released its own first salvo in the upcoming FFM Wars. The elegantly named R System* consists, to begin with, with a mid-level body intended to compete with the Nikon Z6 and Sony A7III, plus four lenses rather confusingly designated "RF."** 

The camera is a nonstarter for me personally, because unlike the Nikons and Sonys it has no IBIS, plus it has a flip-out screen. But there are no doubt more variants to come. And that might not matter to you.

Without doing the metrics, this launch seems much quieter and more cursory to me, with less furor at the major news sites than accompanied the Z System launch. C|net isn't circumspect about it: its headline is "The EOS R is official and it's a big leap for Canon / But the company's long-anticipated full-frame model seems a small step for mirrorless."

However, the R does feature an all-new lensmount, and, as with Nikon, the structure of the mount is going to open up new possibilities for Canon's lens designers. So the most exciting thing about the new system are the rather glorious initial lenses, which include a seemingly rather compact 35mm Macro with IS, a utility 24–105mm slower zoom, and, as I mentioned yesterday, two all-out pride-of-ownership efforts: the RF 50mm ƒ/1.2L and the RF 28–70mm ƒ/2L zoom. Although the latter has a somewhat limited range, it's already beginning to receive glowing praise from early field testers.

Canon has a long and distinguished history with superfast lenses.

All in all there are two takeaways. The first is simply that Canon is the biggest bear in the woods and seems likely to grab gobs of market share like a bear pawing honey, and, that the promise of this new system remains largely in its future. As Canon apparently wants to have emphasized.

The best overview of the new equipment I found—easiest to read, most to-the-point, and best-illustrated—can be found, oddly enough, at B&H Photo. It's called "Canon Launches R Mirrorless System with Spectacular Glass." The article is by Shawn C. Steiner.

The next launch in the FFM category—allegedly, according to rumors hither and yon, for a version of the Panasonic GH5 with a full-frame sensor and possibly even a Leica SL lensmount—should be a good deal more interesting.

Mike

* At one point, Leica would have objected to that, but then, Canon already calls its smaller mirrorless cameras "M." Leica's not using "R" any more anyway.

** I had kinda thought those letters were reserved for "rangefinder," but guess not.

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Featured Comments from:

emptyspaces: "I’m with you, Mike, on a couple of key features here. First, I really dislike flip-out screens. I much prefer the flip-UP screen of my Olympus camera, because I have young children and the combination of waist-level shooting and the near-eye priority face recognition AF let me get shots of them at head level rather than overhead shots. If I had to flip that screen out every time it would drive me nuts. Second, IBIS is wonderful, even the simple three-axis version my camera has. My hands are rock steady, but I still love that IBIS. Those two features have become more important to me than almost anything else when considering a camera system."

Jim Richardson: "Count me among those who were scratching their heads when I read 'No IBIS!' Huh? Isn't that about half the reason you buy a mirrorless camera? What were they thinking?"

Eolake (partial comment): "Though I changed to Canon when the first 5D came out (I can’t believe how long it took for Nikon to even start to compete with that), in this case the Nikon seems much more appealing to me. I’m not so sure why actually."

Josh Hawkins: "For those who remember Canon’s initial digital offering, the D30, this seems like the same idea. Start with mid-upper level and go from there."

[Working photojournalist Josh H. was the manager of an old-line city camera store in his youth. —Ed.]

c.d.embrey: "IBIS falls into the not-invented-here category—it's beyond my comprehension why folks expect Canon to abandon their invented-here [in-lens] IS. In a former life I did a lot of tripod-mounted vertical shots, so I luv flippy-screens!"

David Bateman: "Well it will be interesting to mount those Canon R lenses on the Nikon Z to gain IS. The 4mm difference and slightly larger mount of the Nikon will allow for it."

Kshapero: "Wasn't the whole idea behind mirrorless, that it would be much lighter? So now we are getting lighter bodies with enormous humongous lenses. Waiting to see what Pany brings us."

KeithB: "Ken Rockwell answered the 'I thought mirrorless was supposed to be smaller' question: 'Full frame mirrorless systems will be the same size and weight as DSLR systems have been. The bodies are smaller, but the lenses and flash and everything else is just as big. It's the same thing in television. Professional TV cameras in the 1950s were the size of VW buses and today are the size of a DSLR, but the big 100x zoom lenses we use to televise sports are still as big as your leg. Cameras get smaller, but asking lenses to get sharper and sharper means they will keep getting bigger and bigger.'"

 

Are We Witnessing a Sea Change?

Sea change, noun: A profound or notable transformation.

Canon's FFM (full-frame mirrorless) announcement is due tomorrow, if the rumors prove true. If so it's bound to be a bit anti-climactic, since pictures and specs of the EOS R are already online. The best thing about reaching the official announcement date is that all the big equipment sites are constrained by NDA's (non-disclosure agreements) until the official date of release. Since they've all had working cameras and have been briefed and have run actual tests, they'll know far more about the new equipment than we get from the leaks. Short take for now: it's a 30-MP Z6 competitor, with a new lensmount and four dedicated lenses to start with, including an RF 50mm ƒ/1.2L and an RF 28–70mm ƒ/2L zoom. The camera is unlikely to have IBIS because the RF 35mm ƒ/1.8 is an IS lens.

If Canon's and Nikon's FFM are indeed followed by a similar announcement from Panasonic, and maybe even if they aren't, I've got a question: are we witnessing a sea change here?

I believed more than a decade ago that eventually the SLR would go the way of the dodo, for the simple reason that it costs much more to build a camera with a flipping mirror than without. Frankly I'm surprised that the old 35mm configuration has survived so little changed for so long already. Is this the "tipping point" where the old SLR is going to start to go away? Assuming that the remaining advantages of DSLRs will gradually be eroded as mirrorless gets better.

What's your take?

Tomorrow should be fun.

Mike

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Featured Comments from:

Stephen Scharf: "My take, the ire of YouTube talking heads aside, is that Canon will take the majority of the FF mirrorless market share. They already have the leading mirrorless market share in Japan. They've been doing this literally for decades."

John Camp: "Yes, I think we are witnessing a sea change. A lot of people think the Z6 and Z7 will be followed quickly (after more lenses are produced) with more 'pro-spec' Z's, and that might be the practical end of DSLRs. There might be a D900 and a D6, but they'd be the been-nice-to-know-ya equivalent of an F6. IMHO."

Gordon Lewis: "My opinion (and it's just that, an opinion) is that Canon and Nikon's entry into FF mirrorless is motivated more by a desire to increase their profit margins in a shrinking overall market than anything else. They see Sony charging $2,000 and more for camera bodies and a 50% premium on every lens and want to get in on the action. Guys like me who don't want to pay that kind of money can sort through whatever else is left at the lower end of the price scale. If I've lived this long without feeling the need to own a BMW, I can live without a Sony, Canon, or Nikon FF mirrorless camera and lens."

And Then There Were Three?

We've been hearing for the past couple of days that Canon will announce its own full-frame mirrorless (FFM) system camera(s) and lenses in September (the 5th).

But wait—is there going to be a third ingénue coming to the already gala FFM party?!?

Fourthirds Rumors thinks so. It is reporting the rumor that Panasonic will introduce its own full-frame mirrorless system in September (the 25th).

Just passing this along. Whee.

Mike

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Featured Comments from:

Beuler: "The first out with a FF camera plus lens for $999 wins."

Sylvain G.: "There's now a rumour that Fuji will release a rangefinder version of its medium format...GFX 50R.... Then there is that other rumour of Zeiss fixed lens camera (RX1 like...) The whole industry is going ALL IN!...except Olympus, or are they? I'll get to see that at Photokina!"

hugh crawford: "I'd wager that it is a downmarket Leica SL, which makes tremendous business sense. Think Nikkormat (made by a licensee of the Copal Square shutter but sold by Nikon) vs. Nikon."