Paul D

2011 was an important year for cameras, photographers and filmmakers. In the wake of the HDSLR revolution brought about by the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, manufacturers finally got the message (more or less) that what independent filmmakers want is a large sensor, interchangeable lens camera, with a professional feature set, at an affordable price and responded with the Panasonic AG-AF101, Sony PMW-F3, Sony NEX-FS100 and Red Scarlet. But, it wasn’t just about large sensor camcorders. Panasonic understood the need for a small(ish), full HD, broadcast quality camcorder and released their answer to the 8 bit 4:2:2 Canon XF305 – the 10 bit 4:2:2 AVC Intra AG-HPX 250. On the stills front, Fuji realised that real photographers want real cameras in small packages and released the retro styled Finepix X100. However, the much anticipated and widely rumoured Canon 5D Mark III, Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 were nowhere to be seen and the Sony A77 and Sony NEX-7, though announced, were delayed by floods and earthquakes. So what can we expect in 2012? Well given that it is both a Photokina and an Olympics year, a fair bit Actually. Continue reading “New Cameras in 2012”

Last week, the UK’s biggest still photography expo, Focus on Imaging, took place at the NEC in Birmingham. In between meals with major manufacturers, I managed to find time to circumnavigate the event floor, play with some gear and have a few interesting conversations.

The star of the show was, without doubt, the Fuji X100, which is both smaller and lighter than I had anticipated. Furthermore its EVF, whilst not perfect, is perfectly useable and seems to work well in conjunction with its optical viewfinder. Fuji were surprised by the sheer number of people with DSLRs saying they want one as a second camera. They were also surprised that the three most requested features (for a future version) were interchangeable lenses, 1080p video and an articulated monitor…which they seem to have heard loud and clear… Continue reading “Focus on Imaging 2011”