Car enthusiasts have long enjoyed what are called "spy shots." Automotive manufacturers go out of their way to keep new models secret until their official introductions, but they also need to test the cars on real roads, out in the real world, and they need to take them places. Fanatical "spy photographers"—sheetmetal paparazzi—specialize in bringing in shots of sometimes heavily disguised or camouflaged cars spied "en route" or in the wild; the pictures are then dissected by automotive journalists to try to identify just what the cars might be. The shot above, for instance (which, obviously, comes from worldcarfans.com) was labeled all over the 'net as being BMW's new Z Vision Concept, on its way to the Frankfurt Auto show.
Likewise, photo enthusiasts now enjoy tracking "leaks" of upcoming cameras prior to introduction. The latest leak, for instance, involves Panasonic's GF1, which would be its second (or third, if you count the G1 and GH1 as separtate cameras) Micro 4/3 offering and an answer to Olympus's still hot-off-the-production-line E-P1.
Contrary to popular belief, camera companies don't leak information about upcoming products deliberately. But the information gets out for the same reason news about upcoming cars does—the companies have to get the cameras into the hands of beta-testers for real-world use, to gather crucial early feedback and identify teething problems. And, of course, the more people who know a secret, the less secure the secret is.
I've personally never had much interest in "pre-launch" buzz, except perhaps in a few select cases, but I do understand the appeal. I'm sure for some it's a lot of fun to track it all. Generally, I'd rather wait until something is real to talk about it. That's why TOP isn't the greatest source for the latest news about leaks.
(But just for the record—in Nostradamus mode, and we all know how painful that can be—I'll venture the guess that the biggest news this coming Fall will be from Sony, and will concern DSLRs. Dum-de-dum. I'm just sayin'.)
Oh, and about that picture at the top of this post—according to worldcarfans, BMW says it's actually a 5-year-old design study being transported from BMW design studios in Germany to a storage facility. Is that true, or is it further indirection, a sort of nefarious verbal/conceptual camo? I guess that's all part of what makes spy shots, like camera news leaks, so intriguing.
(Thanks to Andreas Sakka)
The lenses in the photo are 20mm and 45mm prime which look promising.
As for the Sony DSLR, are you referring to the A900 with the Exxmor sensor which is on the Sony Style Canada website?
Posted by: Ed | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 02:12 PM
Could you be refering to the sub $2k Sony A850, which has the same sensor as the A900?
Posted by: Andy | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 02:22 PM
Will the big news be about Sony actually having usable ISO 400 and up rather than the watercolour paintings they have now?
Posted by: juze | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 03:30 PM
That Panny looks like a *big* black brick. It's not nearly as pretty as the Olympus, but sadly (for Olympus) I fear it will be a much better shooter (if the G1 and the GH1 are anything to go by).
Still with the already announced 20, and the 45 in the photo, all they need is a 14 and it would be like a modern reinvention of the CLE. Which is something I would then be *strongly* compelled to buy...
Posted by: Peter | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 04:08 PM
This new Panasonic looks like a promising camera. I can't wait to see one when they come out.
Posted by: Nick | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 04:11 PM
When I worked at Nikon, the D70 was leaked from two sources: (1) Images from an advertising agency in South Africa (2) Specs from the "user manual" print shop in Belgium. The info was world-wide in minutes thanks to the Internet. To me, that says all about how difficult it is to keep a secret these days...
Soeren
P.S.: The bigger of the two lenses reads "Leica Macro-Elmarit" 45/2.8, if I'm not mistaken. Interesting !!
Posted by: Soeren Engelbrecht | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 05:24 PM
That's looking like it also has no optical viewfinder. Which makes me sad. If there are going to be two very similar cameras, why not make one with a viewfinder? Geesh. I'm going to cry a little.
Posted by: Paul McEvoy | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 05:39 PM
Man... I have missed your column!
Posted by: Richard Skoonberg | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 06:47 PM
This makes me wonder. What is the camera equivalent of the dreaded Bangle Butt?
Posted by: Chad Thompson | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 06:55 PM
The Leica forum is buzzin' with posts about a possible M9 announcement on 9/9/09. Could be an interesting Fall season.
Posted by: Jeff | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 08:29 PM
Judging by the little slot below the hotshoe, the Pany probably has an optional shoe-mounted EVF.
Posted by: David Long | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 08:45 PM
"I'll venture the guess that the biggest news this coming Fall will be from Sony, and will concern DSLRs"
Really? Cheap full frame?
Thom had a great idea: how about a mirrorless full frame camera? We could have full frame quality in a camera the size of a Leica M8, maybe?
... I'm disappointed that the new Pana doesn't seem to have a hinged screen. That's my favorite feature of the G1.
Posted by: Eolake Stobblehouse | Sunday, 09 August 2009 at 11:09 PM
I like the black brick look. Here's to hoping it actually has a viewfinder of some sort.
Posted by: Jammy Straub | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 12:33 AM
"What is the camera equivalent of the dreaded Bangle Butt?"
The Canikon Prism Housing Hunch. As seen on the 50d and d300-700-3-3x.
Posted by: Iñaki | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 02:52 AM
Oh, snap!
I thought that the best and biggest announcement of the month will be that Samsung or LG were announcing a decent handset with a decent camera on it.
Now come to think of it, there you have the DMD: the digital revolution didn't make it on regular camera field, but on phone field.
Sad but true. The single and official digital imaging device is a cameraphone, not any of the "whateverformats" you can find.
Posted by: Iñaki | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 02:55 AM
Oly goes to the past for inspiration. The lens tests recently added to the DPreview test of the EP-1 are, unfortunately, uninspiring.
Panny targets the looks of cameras they want to pull buyers from, late Canon G series models. May not be a bad idea. There are a LOT of Gs out there and many are in the hands of people who really want something small, but more serious in IQ, but settled for the closest thing.
Moose
Posted by: Moose | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 05:17 AM
Great! When Panny brings out this model then the G-1 will be two models back and prices could drop....or not.
Posted by: john robison | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 07:25 AM
I been using a PEN E-P1 for 4 weeks and love it, yes the screen is equivalent of a screen from a couple of years ago as is the auto focus but I see it as a digital Cosina Voigtlander T or early Leica and you can fit the neat CV minifinder set the ratio to 3/2 and it is a small street camera.
I think this area or type of camera will grow to fill the need for a Digital Rf type camera which is not in the realms of Madof's associates.
Sony are trying really hard and getting lots of knocks along the way but just look at the growing system and what is to come. Relate their progress from the Minolta base which was tied to all the years of R &D that has gone into Canon and Nikon.
David
ps good to have you back
Posted by: David Aspinall | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 07:57 AM
Mike, I'm afraid I have to disagree on whether or not some leaks are intentional.
Leaks like the Sony A850 manual are almost assuredly intentional. Ditto the A500 and A550 model numbers showing up on some Sony sites. This is a fairly clear case of viral marketing. You don't release things like a PDF manual to a regional distributor over a month early for any other reason.
Leaks like the GF1 spy shot probably aren't intentional. These are classic leaks from internal documents.
Posted by: Adam Maas | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 09:49 AM
"Thom had a great idea: how about a mirrorless full frame camera? We could have full frame quality in a camera the size of a Leica M8, maybe?"
Zeiss Ikon Digital, I guess?
Posted by: Adrian | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 09:58 AM
"I'll venture the guess that the biggest news this coming Fall will be from Sony, and will concern DSLRs."
So, I guess you've heard about at the new "Party-Shot" for DSLRs. It's going to be big!
Posted by: John S | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 11:46 AM
Obviously beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.I find the EP1 a 1950s Flash Gordon
sort of look.The Panasonic looks like a professional instrument and I have no doubt
they will take the olympus features and improve them significantly.The focusing on
the G1 and GH1 is exceptionly fast,the LCD is superb,both far superior to the Olympus EP1.Many will wish they waited.Olympus decesion to live in the past will hurt them
in the present.
Posted by: Danny Chatham | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 05:16 PM
I'm interested if the Sony 950 and 850 mean that there are plenty of the sensors that they share with the Nikon d3x in the pipeline and there is pressure to release a d700x soon.
As for the micro 4/3 they remind me of the first generation point and shoot AF 35mm cameras. Why doesn't someone revive active autofocus ? It seems like it would work better than passive phase detection or contrast detection systems.
Posted by: hugh crawford | Monday, 10 August 2009 at 09:10 PM
As to leaks, manuals have to be translated. Manuals are usually written in Japanese, then translated to English, and from English to most other languages. At least that's the workflow for European languages.
This will involve at least three or four companies, with the document passing through about four people at each step (project manager, translator, editor, checker), and in case of large projects, several translators are involved to meet the deadline.
And, of course, it then goes into print, which again involves quite a few people.
Actually, it seems to me that there are remarkably few leaks, considering.
Posted by: juze | Tuesday, 11 August 2009 at 04:50 AM
@Hugh Crawford: Ricoh was in fact using Active AF in some cameras until a couple years ago (the GX100 was the last). They discontinued it because they were unable to source components anymore.
I'd love to see Active AF come back myself, but the additional component cost over contrast-detect AF (which requires no dedicated components or space on the front of the camera) make it a non-starter in the marketplace right now.
Posted by: Adam Maas | Tuesday, 11 August 2009 at 09:24 AM
I recently made the transition from film to digital with the purchase of a Canon SD880 while I waited for the Panasonic LX3 to again become available. I have learned to use the 880's LCD, sort of, but I feel that the lack of a proper viewfinder has deprived me of a certain intimacy with my subject and this disconnected way of seeing is evident in my photographs. Of course, I can shoot a gazillion pictures and perhaps even sort a keeper or two out of the multitude. The next compact digital will have a viewfinder be it electronic or optical.
Posted by: John Henry | Wednesday, 12 August 2009 at 12:55 PM
@juze: Note the manuals in question were leaked on the official Sony HK Manual Download site, not in communications between various groups which would be the more likely source of a real leak rather than a planned leak.
Posted by: Adam Maas | Friday, 14 August 2009 at 10:08 AM