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Photo industry

Saturday, 20 August 2011

Sony's Big Mistake

In the Comments yesterday, Thom Hogan, one of the most knowledgable gadflies* of the camera industry there is, said, "...while I like the NEX, so far Sony hasn't delivered on lenses, and I don't see how going to 24 MP is going to help."

Like going to 24 MP in the A900 in 2008 didn't help.

Just to put an underline on this point: this is why Sony now runs neck-and-neck with Canon and Nikon in the compact camera arena but doesn't come anywhere close in SLRs. The company doesn't pay enough attention to lenses. Not for nothing were most of the traditional cameramakers optical companies first and foremost. Sony doesn't get that the lens lines are what sells interchangeable-lens cameras. It's quite apparent from the product lineup and the pace of product introductions that to Sony's way of thinking, lenses are an afterthought, and a limited hodgepodge that includes a few standard zooms and a few premium examples is all you need. Wrong.

Prediction: Sony will never rival Canon and Nikon in SLR (or, let's say, SLR-type) sales** unless and until Sony has a full, complete, and up-to-date lens line for whatever cameras it wants to sell.

Mike

*I use the term as a high compliment. Cf. Wikipedia on Socrates: "Plato refers to Socrates as the 'gadfly' of the state (as the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung various Athenians), insofar as he irritated some people with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness."

**and NEX will never catch Micro 4/3

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Featured Comment by Michael Trupiano: "The A900 was the first DSLR I purchased after not using a 35mm for many, many years (exclusively used view camera). I chose the A900 over Canon and Nikon for specific reasons (mostly to do with UI). While I am happy with the camera I frequently wonder if I made the right decision, precisely due to lack of a complete lens family.

"And what Sony perhaps does not understand or perhaps refuses to accept (or perhaps they just don't care) is that photographers invest in a system. And that once they have a significant investment in glass they tend to stick with the same body manufacturer for years to come (all other things being equal)."

Mike replies: I hear ya. I would have bought an A900 but for the lack of lenses. See also SeanG's much harsher comment in the Comments section.

In some ways, Sony parallels in the digital world my favorite cameras from the film era: Contax. Whenever people would ask me about getting into the Contax system, I'd tell them the very same thing you and SeanG are suggesting with Sony: just make sure the lenses you want already exist and that you can afford them, because waiting for new lens introductions—or for prices to come down—would be an exercise in frustration. I knew whereof I spoke.

Significantly, Sony is probably dealing with some of the very same frustrations Contax had to, in that some of the lenses of each were and are made by the same make-haste-slowly company, Carl Zeiss.

That said, I will give Sony credit for introducing one of the lenses I actually wanted, the 85mm ƒ/2.8 (and, completely as an aside, does anybody know where there's a cross section of that lens on the web? I haven't been able to find it). That happened after the advent of the A900. Of course the Sony Alpha mount system is not as complete yet as the Zeiss Contax/Yashica mount system was, either, so they've got more gaps to fill. Still, gotta give credit where it's due.

Featured Comment by mbka: "I think the bigger problem at-large is not confidence in the present (lens lineup, technology) but confidence in the future: credibility that a product line will be supported, expanded, etc. Just as in the larger economy, trust in the future. In this light, Sony's problem is a lack of consistency. First the DSLR line was introduced and heavily advertised as a future complete system. Then NEX as a mirrorless. Then the 33/55 as a mirror-bearing mirrorless. No one knows if NEX is going to get finders or if the A33/55/77 will get smaller. The NEX is an odd product in itself for the reasons you said—odd lens lineup, unclear future, and especially, the lenses are huge compared to the body. It doesn't look very useable to me at all as a setup.

"For all its faults and some slowness in the lens line buildup, Micro 4/3 looks by far the best and most flexible and most 'modern,' truly contemporary, system right now. Yes, some brighter zooms would be nice, probably prevented by the CDAF that needs light lens elements. Yes, sensors have a handicap. But the Pana/Oly systems are remarkable complete compared to NEX, say, never mind the other brands. And I have much higher confidence that at least Panasonic and Olympus will stay the course with m4/3."

Featured Comment by Pascal Jappy: "The infuriating thing, with the (likely) new A77 and NEX-7 is that they seem very good with manual focus lenses but Sony, who seem to have a strong partnership with Zeiss, have no access to the current ZE/ZF lenses that might be well suited to the densely packed pixels of the new cameras. What a shame. Leitax to the rescue (or adapters for the NEX), possibly, but still it's not the same."

Mike replies: I agree, that's positively bewildering.

Featured Comment by Harry Lew: "I have more than enough Alpha mount lenses (Sony/Minolta)...35 at last count for my a700, a850, and several legacy Minolta bodies. (OK, I'm a collector.) But what I'm most excited about is how the NEX cameras open the door to countless manual-focus lenses in whatever brand you crave. Right now, I'm savoring my OM Zuiko 50mm ƒ/1.2 on a cheap (purchased at a ridiculous close-out discount) NEX 3. A $30 adapter lets me use a killer lens that had been languishing in my closet. The lens is a dream to fondle and operate, produces luscious images with incredible bokeh. With a lens like this, who needs native-mount NEX lenses? Having said this, I will be at the head of the order window when the NEX 7 becomes available. And the Zeiss 24 1.8 will be hard to resist."

Featured Comment by Bob Rosinsky: "I purchased a Sony a850 and the CZ 24–70mm ƒ/2.8 alpha mount lens to complement the camera. I love the combo. I primarily photograph dogs in a studio environment with this kit. I set the lens to ƒ/13 to ƒ/16 most of the time. To this day, I am continually amazed by the amount of detail and contrast the lens is able to draw onto the sensor. As for the Sony, I am continually amazed by its dynamic range. I generally shoot at base ISO and use strobes. I've used the Canon 1DS III with the 24–105mm lens too. The Sony/Zeiss combo knocks the socks off of the Canon setup. Fortunately, my lens requirements are rather modest. If I shot architecture, sports, and low-light subjects, my opinion would differ. I am eagerly awaiting the next iteration of a Sony FF camera. I may even consider the a77 as a backup. As with any craft, there is always the right tool for the right job."

Posted on Saturday, 20 August 2011 at 12:38 PM in Lenses, Photo industry | | Comments (56)

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Nikon Outpoints Canon in J.D. Power Satisfaction Surveys

The press release:

J.D. Power and Associates Reports:

Online DSLR Camera Buyers Are Most Satisfied with Picture Quality, While Camera Durability and Shutter Speed/Lag Time Provide Opportunities for Brand Differentiation

Nikon Pro Series Ranks Highest in Online Buyer Satisfaction with DSLR Cameras

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 19 July 2011 — Owners of DSLR cameras indicate they are highly satisfied with the picture quality of their cameras, but are notably less satisfied with durability and shutter speed/lag time, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera Online Buyer Study released today.

The study examines satisfaction among verified online buyers of digital single-lens reflex camera models. Responses were collected by PowerReviews and reflect the attitudes of actual DSLR camera owners who conducted their purchase using an e-commerce site. The study measures satisfaction among DSLR camera owners across five factors (listed in order of importance): picture quality (including picture clarity, sharpness and color); durability and reliability (including damage resistance, battery life and sturdiness); variety of features (including zoom, image stabilization and low light settings); ease of operation; and shutter speed/lag time (overall "speed" of the camera, including shutter lag time).

Overall, online DSLR buyers indicate they are well satisfied with their cameras, with satisfaction averaging 887 on a 1,000-point scale. Among the five factors, camera owners are particularly satisfied with picture quality (917), but are least satisfied with the shutter speed/lag time and durability of their cameras (866 each).

"Clearly, picture quality is crucial to online buyers of DSLR cameras," said Larry Wu, senior director at J.D. Power and Associates. "However, owners expect no less than high-quality photos from their DSLRs, and other performance factors—such as durability and reliability, which is the second-most influential factor in overall satisfaction—have evolved as ways for DSLR camera models to differentiate themselves."

The Nikon Pro Series ranks highest in online buyer satisfaction with a score of 914. The Nikon Pro Series performs particularly well in shutter speed/lag time, durability and reliability and ease of operation. The Canon Mark-Series follows in the rankings with a score of 909, and performs particularly well in performance and picture quality. The Canon D-Series and Nikon D-Series rank third in a tie, each with a score of 889.

The study also includes the following key findings:

  • Online buyers spend an average of $937 on their camera.
  • Online buyers report taking an average of 918 photos per month using their DSLR camera.
  • A vast majority of online buyers (87%) say they "definitely will" recommend their DSLR camera to friends and family.
  • One-third of online DSLR buyers use their camera for shooting video.
  • While overall performance is cited as a reason for purchasing a particular DSLR model 31 percent of the time, online buyers cite previous ownership and brand reputation nearly as often.

The 2011 Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera Online Buyer Study is based on responses provided by PowerReviews from nearly 4,500 verified buyers who purchased a DSLR camera online. The study was fielded October 2010 through April 2011.

The chart of the makes in the survey can be seen here. Sony pro series (A850 and A900, I presume) and Olympus E-series cameras weren't included because the survey sample sizes were too low.

Mike

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Featured Comment by Dennis: "My satisfaction with my DSLR is vastly higher than my satisfaction with J.D. Power surveys."

Posted on Tuesday, 19 July 2011 at 02:02 PM in Cameras, new, Photo industry | | Comments (60)

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Open Mike: Educate the Editor

I often say that TOP isn't a forum, and I seldom just throw out plain unadorned discussion-leading questions for the sake of eliciting answers. But no one knows everything about anything, of course, and right now I have a question that I think readers in the know could educate me about more quickly than I could do the research myself.

Twenty-five years ago, I taught at a girls' high school, had fallen in love with a model*, had recently assisted for a studio advertising photographer, and was soon to be a partner in a studio myself. I even had a student who had paid for her own college education (completely, and yes, really) by modeling in Japan every summer during her high school years**.

So I knew a lot about (not all about, but a lot) the modeling scene and modeling as a career. When one of my students came to me wanting a headshot or a comp sheet or with questions about a modeling career, I could at least talk intelligently about it.***

No longer—my knowledge is out of date.

So my question: if a young woman came to you asking what she needs to try modeling, what's today's answer? What body type (height/weight) is the standard for what they're looking for these days? What kind of work is available? Where is it? What are the going rates for part-time character models, catalog, fashion, runway? What does a standard headshot look like these days, and does a model need one? What's the current equivalent of the composite sheet—do they still use those, or is there some more up-to-the-minute version, on the web or something? Assuming the prospective model has no tearsheets, are single-photographer comp sheets useful, or does it have to be a mix? What are the better agencies? (I'm mainly interested in the Midwest, if that's not a non sequiteur.) What's the path of least resistance to breaking in?

A side note: It's always a bit obnoxious for a person asking a question to specify who he wants to hear answers from, so I apologize in advance for that, but I'm really looking to hear from people with firsthand recent experience—people who are models or who work with them. I don't need to hear about something somebody read in a magazine or saw in a movie, and out-of-date info isn't going to help (as I say, I already have a lot of that myself).

If you can help educate me, or rather re-educate me, I'd appreciate the help.

And, as they say on the forums, "thanks in advance."

Mike the Ed.

"Open Mike" is a series of open-topic posts by yer 'umble 'ost that appears on certain Sundays. Recently we have had a hard time staying off-topic, but we'll work on that.

*She was a hair model—they'd fly her to New York, some haute couture hairdresser o' the moment would work his magic arranging her coiffure, she'd be photographed, and she'd return to school on Monday morning with a check in her purse which to her art school friends seemed astronomically large. A few weeks later she'd show me the latest issue of Elle or Glamour or Vogue sporting a stunning picture of her looking ravishing and ready to slay men's dreams with a single dusky glance.

G
G. the hair model. A digisnap from a fading 16x20 print made from a 4x5 neg.

**I have a very interesting picture of her around here that would make a wonderful web tutorial if I could ever find the "before" print. And if I had a working scanner. Oh, never mind.

***Mostly, I just talked them out of it.

Posted on Sunday, 17 July 2011 at 04:16 PM in Open Mike, Photo industry | | Comments (22)

Wednesday, 01 June 2011

Discontinuous Demand and Its Discontents

In a comment written in response to the "Film Falls Off a Cliff" post below, our friend Thom Hogan (of ByThom.com, the world's best Nikon news site) wrote the following:

Beware that statistics can show something both 'up' and 'down' simultaneously. You have to look at what's being measured. The 'down' statistic is overall film sales. This is a 'global' statistic, the entire universe of film. You can have 'up' statistics, too. For instance, if there were 10 competitors each with 10% of the global market, the global market shrinks by 50% and six competitors close their doors, someone's sales are going to go up (maybe all of the remaining four, but by definition, at least one).

I talked to one local lab about this. Their sales were up, and they felt comfortable that film was seeing a resurrection. Then I pointed out that all their local competitors were now closed, so anyone who was still shooting film who had used a local competitor was now coming to them.

Still feel confident that things are 'up'?

Just so. Oren and I had been discussing this privately. He referred to it as "taking share from others." Writing back, I wondered what accounted for Harman's 8% rise in sales in 2010. "It's quite possible it could have been linked to disappearing competition as easily as increased popularity. I really don't want to have to research it—especially since I know the conclusions will be, well, inconclusive—but it's quite possible it could be simply people migrating to Ilford as other B&W films went south. Impossible to know without more data than we have readily available."

The concept was most vividly and succinctly put into words in my experience by the late Ian Brightman, who was at that time the owner of Beseler, the enlarger manufacturer, in a meeting in the publisher's office at the photo magazine I edited. The publisher asked him if he was worried about the decline in enlarger sales, and he replied, "Not necessarily. In a down market, the last man standing makes out like a bandit."

But what if there is no 'last man'?
A somewhat related topic is what happens to industries when none of them can weather an abrupt market change (apropos the Ctein column below, I should say that I'm doubtless discovering for myself ideas that are very familiar to economists—I've never taken an econ course in my life, more's the pity).

To create an illustration, let's say that somebody invented hovercars that were half as expensive as automobiles and ran on antigravity, sunlight, and optimism. The market for gas cars would crash as the world's population swiftly migrated to hovercars for their personal transportation. But let's say that 15% of the population still needed or wanted petrol cars*. The problem would be, for the short term, that for a while there would be a huge number of perfectly good gasoline-powered cars glutting the used market—so many for so little money that, for a good long stretch of time, no one would need to buy a new car. So all the car manufacturers would go out of business, or switch to making the newfangled hovercars.

But then, eventually, the supply of decent used petrol cars would begin to dwindle and disappear. At that point, the 15-percenters are in trouble, no? Because they still want to use petrol cars, but no one is making petrol cars any more. The irony in this scenario is that there might be, at that point, a market perfectly sufficient to support one or two companies making petrol-powered cars. There just wouldn't be any manufacturers who had survived from the era of petrol-powered cars to supply them. (And, of course, re-starting an industry is much more difficult and expensive than simply continuing an existing industry, even on a much reduced scale.)

If I had to put my own name to this problem, I might call it "discontinuous demand." Not only does an industry get whacked by an abrupt shift, but there's a period when the remaining demand "looks" artificially low, because of temporarily high supply from the used market.

That's the situation film camera makers find themselves in right now, I suspect. There's probably a market out there for film cameras—it never really went away, and it will be sufficient in the future to support one, two, or three small companies. But it can't support any camera manufacturers in the interim, because of the vast supply from the used market that it can't compete with.

The situation isn't absolute—there are still some nice film cameras available. But you'll notice that many of them are niche products suited to markets that were already very small even before digital came along. (I'm speaking mainly of bespoke handmade view cameras. The Fuji folder is another example—Fuji was making the odd occasional quirky one-off camera every now and then back in the film-only era, too.) Those companies can deal with limited demand, because they'd been dealing with a limited market all along.

Crystal ball gazing
My friend Phil Davis used to tell me he didn't fear death—that his problem with reaching the end of his life (he died at 85 in 2007) was that he was so curious about what was going to happen next. I won't be around to survey the camera market in 2060, but I wish I could be. I'm very curious as to what it will look like.

I'll make two predictions: first, that large-format black-and-white optical-chemical photography, practiced by a small band of craft adherents, will be the very most prestigious form of photography—and that there will be one, two, or three small manufacturers making a variety of film cameras, steaming merrily along and doing very well, thank you. Just a guess.

Mike

*The diehard pessimists?

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Featured Comment by David A. Goldfarb: "Case in point:

Driving Essentials Whips
Chrysalis Acres Tufflex Carriage Driving Whip
Westfield Whip
Advanced Equine Whips for Drivers
Big Black Horse Whips and Accessories

Featured Comment by Chad Thompson: "As much as people love to trot out the old adage involving buggy whips, something a little closer to home is the wet plate camera. Currently there are about three manufacturers of them here in the states. Near as I can tell they're all doing fairly well selling their buggy whips. Here's my whip:

Thompson-2

"And thanks to another reader here for the referral to the builder."

Posted on Wednesday, 01 June 2011 at 06:16 PM in Cameras, new, Photo industry | | Comments (33)

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Ricoh, Panasonic, Olympus to Shed Jobs, Factories

Without knowing the situation in more detail it's probably impossible for a mere blogger in the hinterlands to say definitiely that this news is a result of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, but there have been various announcements in the past month regarding companies with a stake in the camera market.

Mayumi Negishi at Reuters is reporting that Ricoh, which makes offbeat point-and-shoot cameras beloved of enthusiasts (including the popular GRDIII and the very offbeat modular GXR system, which features interchangeable lens/sensor units on the same body) will cut 10,000 jobs and "unprofitable products." The article, however, implies that this is overdue cost-cutting that comes in response to the natural disaster but was not caused by it—and that the news caused a bounce in Ricoh's stock price.

Meanwhile, a month ago now, according to Businesswire, Panasonic—makers of the mirrorless GF2 and the new G3 that's coming in June (not to mention my favorite lens for digital)—announced that it will cut 17,000 jobs and close as many as 70 factories. President Fumio Ohtsubo's comments at a business policy meeting were summarized thusly: "While operations at Panasonic factories in the disaster-hit region have been recovering steadily, disruptions in its supply chain are still affecting the group’s operations." However, Panasonic "is determined to play a significant role in the country’s reconstruction efforts with its products and business activities."

Finally, Olympus, whose new President and COO, Michael Woodford, is British, will cut jobs to address "what he said was an unacceptable slump in earnings," according to Business Times. But not in Japan. (Translation: the jobs that will get the axe are mainly in China.) Olympus makes the sleek E-PL2.

Of course, all three of these conglomerates have business interests far beyond cameras. Without greater familiarity with the situations of each, it's impossible to do more than guess at the ramifications these moves will have on the respective companies' photographic product lines—if any.

Mike
(Thanks to Editor-at-Large Vlatko Juric-Kokic)

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Posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011 at 04:19 PM in Photo industry | | Comments (4)

Tuesday, 05 April 2011

Real Reasons to Pick One Camera Over Another

...Or a few that I can think of right now, anyway. In reverse order of importance:

8. You have a relationship with the company or one of its representatives. I know too many stories to recount. Includes sponsorship by that company, or membership in that company's Professional Services. Or maybe you just know someone associated with that brand, like my now-retired friend Don "Mr. Pentax" Nelson.

7. The camera really does have a feature you really like that a competing model doesn't have. If you really, really want video, you won't be happy with a Sony A900. If you really want, oh, say, body-integral IS (ahem), you won't be happy with a 5D Mark II.

6. You're "standing in line behind yourself." Dan Ariely, in his book Predictable Irrationality, notes that people love to do what other people are doing, so all of us are more likely to "stand in line" behind others and do what they do. In other words, lots of people buy Canon because lots of other people buy Canon. But, Ariely points out, we also "stand in line with ourselves," meaning, we want to do again over time what we have done before. Marketers know that if you've bought six Nikons in a row over twenty-five years, you're much more likely to buy a seventh Nikon. If you think of yourself as someone who "always buys American cars," your next car is much more likely to be an American one. And so on. It's harder to market something new or different to someone with entrenched habits. (I still can't believe I bought a car without a stick shift.)

5. The system in question has certain accessories you really need—the best flash system or a certain underwater housing or whatever.

4. You are already invested in that system.

3. It's what all your friends use. A friend emailed me this morning privately about this, and he's right. If all the photographers around you use one brand and you use another, you lose all kinds of benefits—loaning lenses and accessories back and forth, sharing esoteric secrets of menus and settings, etc. I started out with Contax, and switched to Nikon because I joined a studio with three other shooters, all of whom shot Nikon. It was partly that I wanted to borrow their equipment, and partly that I wanted to do my part within the group and be able to loan my equipment to them.

2. The lenses you want or need fit that camera body.

1. You really want a particular camera. It amazes me that so many people will go to such great lengths working to objectively justify a particular buying choice when the real reason is simply that they really want it. To me, really wanting something is the best reason to buy something, not the worst. There's nothing dishonorable or indulgent about it; you'll be happier, shoot more often, and might even do better work if you have the camera and/or lens you want. They're only cameras—we're not talking beach houses or Italian exoticars or Gulfstream jets. If you really want something, lucky for you—how much better is that than indecision, or not having a basis to choose, or, worst of all, "purchase paralysis"? It's worse to not know. So if you really want something, save your money and get it.

Why not? It's a very good reason, if you ask me. We only live once.

Mike

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Featured Comment by hugh crawford: "When I was doing this stuff for money, the biggest reasons to pick a brand were that:

  1. It was easiest to rent if you needed some esoteric lens or accessory;
  2. It had enough people using it that it was easy to buy or sell used gear at not too much of a loss (pro gear didn't used to lose value very quickly);
  3. Assistants knew their way around it; and
  4. Clients were comfortable with it.

"So I ended up using Nikons, Hasselblads, and Normans, because they were effectively the cheapest, most practical gear I could be using, because it was popular, even though I would have much rather used Rolleis, Pentaxes, and Graflexes. Normans were fine either way.

"Now I'm using full-frame Canons and the Sony NEX because they work with all the Nikon, Pentax and other weird bits of gear that I have lying around or want to try. Don't much care for the lenses that match the cameras, although there are some lenses for the other Sony cameras that look pretty nice."

Posted on Tuesday, 05 April 2011 at 07:17 PM in Cameras, new, Photo industry | | Comments (42)

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Fuji X100 Production Halted

I have to confess I have found the days since Friday hard to face. "Business as usual" has not come easily.

I know I personally have no concerns and nothing to complain about. I suffered no loss in the disaster in Japan; I have experienced none of the corrosive worry affecting those in need of news; and I don't know firsthand any of the places that have been ruined or any of the people who have been lost. But I can't keep my sympathy in check. I can't keep Japan and its people from my thoughts. I soak in the news, watch the sickening but fascinating videos. I find myself imagining the stories we have not been told.

I worry about my own country; it seems natural at this time to think "what if." We are far less well prepared than Japan for such an event. I think of my own relatives near the Pacific. Our government has been weakened by systematic antagonism from within, our economy made fragile by the irresponsible behavior of the greedy. Our response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was far less adequate than our response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and things aren't getting better: just days before the disaster in Japan, the newly elected majority in the House of Representatives passed a bill gutting the funding of, among many other things, California's tsunami early warning system—yet another irony in a dispiriting parade of ironies in America. Japan, with a far more homogenous population and greater political unity, arguably as much wealth, and far better preparation, is reeling terribly. How would we do?

Such thoughts don't make for easy nights.

Well—back to the news. Fujifilm Inc. confirmed Monday that its Taiwa-Cho factory, 20 miles from Sendai city, was damaged in the disaster. No employees were injured, but the production of the much-awaited X100 has been halted. This is, of course, but a tiny data point amidst the enormity, not significant in itself, yet perhaps symbolic of the irruption that will roil the waters of world commerce in the days and weeks to come. Even Toyota has closed all its plants until Thursday.

Much of Fujifilm's digicam manufacture was transferred to the Suzhou industrial district of China in 2007, and is not affected.

Nokton "First Shot" by Pieter Franken, from the flickr X100 Group Pool. (RAW converted to TIFF in Silkypix and edited in LR3. ISO 200 at ƒ/2.)

Meanwhile, the number of X100 samples on flickr has risen past 500, and B&H has started to accept pre-orders.

Mike
(Thanks to Robert Jagitsch and Arthur Elkon)

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Featured Comment by Nikhil Ramkarran: "I work less than a mile away from the Atlantic Ocean in a city that is six feet below sea level (protected by an immense length of seawall). While we are exceedingly fortunate here not to be subject to any natural disasters (unless you consider politicians 'natural'; I don't) I can't help but wonder, what if it had been us? I've seen several of the videos of the onrushing tsunami and wondered how many of those people had to contemplate their families and loved ones being inundated. It is a thought to give you nightmares (and it has to me, two nights in a row now). With all the bad things happening in the world right now, I consider the fact that I can be typing this, a matter of great fortune which I am treasuring. Anyone who wants to donate, should do so sensibly and have a look at the guidelines that Consumer Reports give."

Featured Comment by Chris Y.: "I lived in Japan for two years, working in the mountains of Nagano. I was not a kid, I was 38 years old when I arrived. It was 20 years ago, and to me it still seems like yesterday. The Japanese daily devotion to inner strength, calm, patience and respect changed my life profoundly, and for the better. Yes, I know, I was a gaijin, an 'outside-world-person' and that is all I will ever be to Japan. But what Japan is to me is still inside me, and to see the news of this catastrophe absolutely breaks my heart. I know I am not alone in this. Everyone who has ever made friends in that Alice-in-Wonderland world is feeling the same. We know that like the pine bough weighted with snow, Japan will again bend, but it will not break."

Posted on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 at 07:20 AM in Photo industry | | Comments (20)

Monday, 14 March 2011

Canon Reports Injuries, Plant Closings

Note: In no way is this brief report intended to minimize, mitigate, or delimit our concern for all the people of Japan or for any of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami or the nuclear powerplant crisis there. This is a photography-related website, and we discuss many things as they relate to photography. I hope it goes without saying that that does not mean that's the only thing we care about. —Ed.

Canon Inc. has this morning issued a Damage Report [link is a PDF download] detailing the suspension of operations at several operation sites and group companies. For most, the resumption of normal operations is marked "To Be Determined," but in the case of the Utsunomiya plants and Fukushima Canon Inc., an additional note is appended saying that "additional time will likely be needed before operations resume." There are 15 employee injuries reported at the Utsunomiya plant.

The report also notes that if Canon has to shut down operations for more than a month, it will consider making use of undamaged alternate sites as a means of continuing production.

Nikon and Epson have also issued further damage reports.

'They're just coming to take photos'
I noted that a Japanese woman in this Reuters video mentions that "nobody's coming here. They're just coming to take photos, and that's about it."

Speaking of photos, few things have brought home the incredible power of the tsunami more than these interactive shutter-curtain photos at nytimes.com. They're comparative satellite photos before and after the tidal wave. Astonishing and horrifying.

Particularly heartbreaking is that apparently, in areas largely swept away by the tsunami, few survivors are being found.

Topsider-3

Tsunami-proof house
Just as a point of interest (and to inject a faint note of hopefulness after a very discouraging weekend following the news), I happened to remember from my housing research a few years ago that there's a company called Topsider that builds hurricane- and tsunami-resistant houses. They use a radiating pattern of reinforced post-and-beam atop a concrete piling.

Mike
(Thanks to Vlatko Juric-Kokic)

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Featured Comment by Marc Saylor: "The designers of the Topsider tsunami-proof house might want to add the possibility of passenger ferries to their contingency plans."

Ferry Associated Press

Posted on Monday, 14 March 2011 at 08:30 AM in Photo industry | | Comments (14)

Tuesday, 01 February 2011

Localization in Camera Markets

Panasonic has announced the pricing of the GF2, a somewhat smaller and simpler successor of the GF1. It'll come in black, silver, red, and white models and have a suggested retail price of $499.95. Availability is imminent—the middle of this month.

And speaking of mirrorless developments, Ricoh Camera has just announced the so-called "GXR Lens Mount Unit," in development for release next fall. You remember the GXR—that's the camera with the interchangeable self-contained lens-sensors units. The Lens Mount Unit will enable the use of Leica M mount lenses in a unit that contains a 12.9 MP APS-C sized CMOS sensor behind a focal plane shutter. In other words, exactly what many enthusiasts were barking for when the exotic GXR was first treed.

And speaking of Ricoh...it's a company that has long had a very low penetration and a low profile in the U.S. market. Think of Ricoh (the camera division, I'm talking about—the company also makes business products and much else) as being roughly analogous to Subaru—a proud but quirky little company that goes its own way, and that has a user base sometimes described as a "cult following." Small but dedicated. For years, Ricoh bypassed the U.S. for its cameras, feeling its products got lost in the crowd. In the last decade, however, it has quietly re-entered the U.S. market with at least four dealers: Adorama, Tony Rose's PopFlash in Thousand Oaks, California, and Rich Pinto's Photo Village in New York City, and it has just struck an agreement to sell directly through Amazon. So at least non-gray Ricoh cameras are available here again, and have been for at least six or seven years now. Still, Ricoh remains a very minor presence in the U.S.

And speaking of "regionality" where cameras are concerned...take the following with a grain of salt, because I'm no expert on the international camera market—this is just a report of rumors, none of which has an official source. But I hear there are some significant regional aspects to the popularity of various cameras and brands. For example, evidently it's mainly China that's keeping the global pipeline for the Leica S2 dry as a bone: the S2 is rampantly popular among newly minted millionaires there (and to a lesser extent in India). The country that's turning the Pentax 645D from a prestige loss-leader into a viable cash-cow product is India (and to a lesser extent China), where the camera is in great demand. And the Brazilians (they of the most recent economic miracle) are apparently wild for Sony NEX cameras. NEX 5's are apparently just the hottest thing going there. Or so rumor has it.

Of course, the opposite happens sometimes as well: The Fuji X100 was reportedly conceived as a niche boutique product principally for the Japanese home market, but is now slated for a worldwide rollout because of all the attention it got in the wake of Photokina.

Fave
My favorite lens. For now.

Finally—on a matter of extremely local concern*—can anybody steeped in Oly links 'n' lore fill me in on the current status of the rumored upcoming "pro" Micro 4/3 camera? Any camera that takes my current favorite lens is of at least a little interest to me.

Mike

*Here in my office, or, you might say, inside my head.

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Featured Comment by Russ: "In New Zealand Subaru are very popular and Ricoh not so much, so even your comparisons are localised!"

Featured Comment by Jeff: "My understanding is that the largest proportion of late model Leica M film cameras (MP and M7) have been sold in Japan."

Mike replies: Thank you Jeff. I forgot that example.

Posted on Tuesday, 01 February 2011 at 06:35 PM in Cameras, new, Photo industry | | Comments (23)

Monday, 10 January 2011

The End of Cameras?

I haven't mentioned CES yet this year—the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which ended yesterday. I guess it's because I found the whole thing to be pretty much a giant yawn this year. Basically, a bunch of new digicams were announced. That's got to be exciting to people who just didn't have enough digital point-and-shoots to choose from before.

The new digicams included a waterproof one from Kodak (the EasyShare Sport), a "ruggedized" (waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof) one with GPS from Fujifilm (the FinePix XP30), and a Casio with a BSI sensor (the catchily named Exilim EX-ZR100). Probably the two most significant camera introductions at the show were the Olympus E-PL2, an improved uptick of the E-PL1, and the Samsung NX-11, both mirrorless cameras based on earlier models.

Ces-1

The Olympus E-PL2 sure is a sleek and handsome little box.

Ces-2
It's safe to say that cameras weren't creating the biggest splash at CES. In fact, I can't escape this nagging sense of foreboding in the back of my brain that the camera functionality of multi-use devices is beginning to fatally contaminate the concept of the "camera" altogether. Well, maybe that "fatally" is hyperbolic. But first you have the increasingly ubiquitous cross-contamination of video and still-picture functionality, and then there's the continued improvement of the cameras in phones; and given the astonishing number of tablets introduced at CES—I think I heard the number was 80—how long can it be before tablets replace laptops and include built-in cameras up in one corner? Seems like the still-picture single-use device category is starting to take a beating. I hope the photography area of CES 2021 won't be a forlorn little corner with a few cheap, basic remnant products in it, like the darkroom supply area of my local camera store is now.

I don't know, maybe this is just general curmudgeonliness, or something I ate. I had a bad weekend, despite the Packers win and the generally fantastic football (see the video at the link if you haven't already). Let me rephrase that: I didn't have a bad weekend so much as America had a bad weekend*. Whatever the cause, and whether or not this sense of foreboding I'm describing has any merit, this CES still seemed rather forgettable in my book.

Mike

*Despite this mention, I'd rather not have to ride herd on a discussion about the event in Arizona. Too far off topic, and I'm far too preoccupied with it as it is. Thanks for your co-operation.

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Posted on Monday, 10 January 2011 at 10:30 AM in Cameras, new, News and Occasions, Photo industry | | Comments (56)

Sunday, 05 December 2010

Are Digicams Doomed?

Along with daytime soap operas, print magazines, and Compact Discs, digital point-and-shoot cameras—digicams—appear to have passed their peak. According to a recent article by Sam Grobart, unit sales of digicams are down 16% since 2008.

Their sin? They are "single use devices," according to Grobart.

Devices that do only one thing. Like can openers. How quaint. Even a rolling pin has two uses—it can roll out pie crust, and Olive Oyl can use it to brain Popeye when she's sore at him.

All digicams do is take pictures. Well, movies, too, most of 'em—but that only gets them into the rolling-pin category. Call it 1.1-use.

Lumix-2A digicam (this is the Panasonic TS10) is an amazing marvel of technology, but its best attribute—convenience—is fast being superseded

As it was long predicted they would, cellphone cameras have, in the past few years, surpassed the magic quality threshhold—the point at which their quality has become "good enough" for their convenience advantages to engage with a turbocharger kick. Sales of smartphones are soaring. Not just because of their photographic capabilities, of course; but their photographic capabilities are causing more and more people who own them to set aside their fusty old 1.1-use point-and-shoots. (Or leave them at home on the shelf...just as point-and-shoots once caused casual "consumer"-type photographers to leave their SLRs back home in the bag in the closet.)

Sam Grobart says people love the apps, too. I'll take his word for that.

The reported trend accords with my anecdotal experience lately. I can't tell you how many people have told me that their iPhone 4 or other smartphone has become their carry-all-the-time camera. That includes at least two real pros (by "real" I mean people who make all or almost all of their actual livings as photographers, not just those who sell a print once in a while or do a few weddings a year for friends of friends. I'm not a pro, by that measure).

As with CDs, the softening market might only soften so far. Some people like single-use devices—you'll laugh when I tell you about my own newest photographic single-use device, which I'll get around to doing probably within the next few weeks.

And remember, this isn't necessarily bad news for digital imaging. Sales of DSLRs are up, continuing a trend that was only briefly interrupted by the worldwide recession. I foresee a good world, imaging-wise, in the immediate future, in which multi-use devices of ever-improving quality and flexibility take the low end, a thriving market for good-quality 4/3-to-ff-sensor cameras occupies a smaller but vibrantly competitive and healthy middle ground, and a decent handful of quality-above-all cameras like the Leica S2, Pentax 645D, Leaf Aptus II-12, and Hasselblad H4D-40 occupy the Olympian fastnesses at the pinnacle.

That's until the next paradigm shift, at any rate—which is also coming. (We just don't know what that will be yet.)

The point-and-shoot—the camera real photographers loved and hated, loved to hate, and hated to love, but sometimes did. Too early for an R.I.P., but maybe the beginning of the long goodbye.

Mike

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Featured Comment by Paul Van: "I would suggest that the watch business is a good place to look at to get an idea what will happen.

"At one time, everyone had a watch. Then, it seemed to decrease as clocks were available in all cars, microwaves and so on. Then timekeeping became a cell phone function.

"A lot of watch names disappeared, but the market has stabilized. People wear watches, still. If you ever thought photographers or audiophiles were a little obsessed, then check out some of the watch forums! But be careful...like audiophiles and photographers, they welcome you into their world—and you might not leave!"

Featured Comment by D'11: "One another interesting and unintended effect of many smartphones (or at least the iPhone): People of my generation (in their 20s) adjusting to the idea of using a single, fixed-focal lens. The iPhone doesn't have an optical zoom, and people seem to be alright with that. All of a sudden, when I hand people my GF1 + 20mm kit, they seem to be more likely to take a step forward or backward, instead of immediately asking where the zoom button is."

Featured Comment by Jeffrey Goggin: "As yet more proof that cell phone cameras are indeed becoming our future, Dave Wyman is now offering photo tours of Yosemite National Park geared to cell phone users:

Alternative Photography in Yosemite—Thursday through Sunday, November 17–20, 2011

We will test our creative eyes on this unique trip to Yosemite, where there will be one restriction: no DSLRs. A digital point-and-shoot, a cell phone, Holga, Diana, Instamatic, a Rolleiflex or Yashika Mat, a Polaroid or a pinhole camera? Yes.

For a few days, we will remove ourselves from the burden of weight and the burden of technological complexity, and from the belief that weight and complexity are necessary components of meaningful or artistic photography. Includes accommodations, a couple of meals, field locations. Instructors: Chuck Nadeau, Dave Wyman. Cost: $525 (single supplement available).

Posted on Sunday, 05 December 2010 at 12:18 PM in Cameras, new, Photo equipment, Photo industry | | Comments (59)

Wednesday, 01 December 2010

The Red and the Black*

The conventional wisdom so far seems to have it that overall Black Friday retail sales for 2010 were up only slightly, by .3% (the figure seems to trace back to a Chicago research firm called ShopperTrak). However, online sales were reportedly up by 16% to 19% for the day, depending on who's reporting. ("Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, when most Americans have a day off, is regarded as the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in the U.S. It usually ranks among the top ten or twelve shopping days of the year.) So people aren't buying more, but they're buying more of what they do buy online.

A big winner in the photography category in 2010, according to PMA Newsline, is Leica Camera AG, which saw sales nearly double from €59.5 million to €110.8 million ($78.8 million to $146.74 million) in the first half of fiscal 2010 compared to the same period in fiscal 2009. "Sales were driven by the Leica M9 rangefinder camera and the Leica S2 professional system," according to the article. Leica's CEO, Alfred Schopf, is quoted saying that Leica has added 30 new manufacturing employees in order to help fulfill its order backlog.

Another winner is Hoya Corp., parent company of Pentax...I think. PMA Newsline says, "Hoya Corp. posted a net profit of 33.9 billion yen (US$842 million), up 139 percent year-on-year, on group total sales of 212.6 billion yen (US$2.62 billion), up 5.4 percent, according to JPEA Photo Electro News." I don't know exactly what that means, because it doesn't specify a sales period—maybe financial people know such things intuitively? (I looked up "year-on-year" and it apparently means a comparison from "the same period" the previous year.) Sounds like good news, anyway.

An apparent loser this year is Olympus, which saw an 80.5% decline in "consolidated net profits" and a 4.2% decline in sales.

The best-selling DSLR continues to be the Canon T2i.

Mike
(Thanks to Dean Johnston)

*So where else do you get Stendahl titles with your financial news?

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Posted on Wednesday, 01 December 2010 at 09:53 AM in Blog Notes, Photo industry | | Comments (20)

Thursday, 09 September 2010

More New Stuff Like the Old Stuff

Pentax35mm
...And speaking of the Department of Redundancy Reduction of Redundancy, as we were in the previous post, Pentax has announced a new prime lens. Full moniker: the SMC Pentax DA L 35mm ƒ/2.4 AL. A brand new...er...35mm ƒ/2.4.

What?

Oh, right, right...

...Because, of course, Nikon has had a modest success with its economical normal-lens-equivalent for reduced-sized sensors, and then Sony came out with its version, and so now Pentax wants one, too.

I think this is partially a cultural thing. I don't know any Japanese people, so I'm just going on a mix of hearsay and received wisdom and possibly bigotry, but it's a commonplace that Americans are known to value individuality, innovation, and going your own way ("Think Different," advised the Apple computer ads, proudly if ungrammatically), whereas the Japanese place a higher cultural value on co-operation, conformity, and imitation as a virtue. I don't know that firsthand, or for a fact.

I do know that, as an American, tracking Japanese product introductions can sometimes drive me insane. So there's that data point.

As everyone knows, I'm all in favor of primes. And I love Pentax—they're our major sponsor right now, God bless 'em—but this is not the new prime lens we needed from Pentax at this point. Because of course it almost exactly duplicates the already-existing DA Macro lens. Which is one of the best lenses currently made for digital cameras, period. But why would you want to use a superlative lens that is one of the best reasons to shoot Pentax at all, when you could have a cheaper, crappier version?

I shouldn't say the new lens is crappier. That's irresponsible, and provocative. Pentax won't like it. It's cheaper. It's not the DA Macro, which is enough to indict it in my eyes, but then, I'm prejudiced: I've used the DA Macro.

Pentax-wielding friends, Romans, countrymen: The DA Macro is expensive. But it's not that expensive. Assuming you want a prime 35mm, here's my advice: SAVE UP. Put aside fifty bucks today and do the same thing two weeks from now. Add a twenty or a C-note when you can. Sooner or later, you will have saved up the difference between what the cheap new lens will cost and the DA Macro.

You will not be sorry. A camera body is just a camera body, but a great lens is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Mike

UPDATE

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Featured Comment by Alex H.: "While on the topic of 'normal'/standard lenses: Let's pray that someone bright at Nikon, Sony, Pentax will finally think it a good idea to have a reasonably fast, not incredibly expensive 24mm DX/APS-C lens (35mm-e). Now that would be something new...."

Mike replies: From your lips to the ears of the directors of product development, Alex. (Although there we go again, just thinking in terms of what photographers need and not in terms of what will sell well.)

Featured Comment by Ctein: "Normally I'm in your camp on the dearth of decent primes, but this time I think you're barking up the wrong tree. That wonderful Pentax 35 macro's a $550 lens! I'll eat the web page if the new 35mm's street price is over $200. That is not a trivial difference in price; it's an entirely different class of buyer. Complaining that this is redundant feel to me a lot like complaining that it's redundant when camera makers produce two superficially similar DSLRs that sell, respectively, for around $800 and $2,000."

Mike replies: Okay, okay. My judgement is probably clouded by the fact that it's not "a reasonably fast, not incredibly expensive 24mm DX/APS-C lens (35mm-e)."

Featured Comment by 645D Next?: "Here's the 35mm ƒ/2.4 color choices link."

Posted on Thursday, 09 September 2010 at 10:41 AM in Lenses, Photo industry | | Comments (57)

Sunday, 05 September 2010

The Most Excellent Engineers of LPL Co., Tokyo

One of the very first of the 250 or so published articles I wrote for various photography magazines was about enlargers. I got into a rather bitter fight with a manufacturer, which had a salutary side effect: very early in my career, it taught me to go ahead and say what I meant and to pay no attention to pressure. Ever since then my priorities have been ordered: readers first, employer second, manufacturers third. I didn't go to the mat with employers very often, but I did so when I thought it necessary to look after the readers' interests. I lost at least a couple of those fights. But I won some, too.

That early disputation over enlargers had another happy result: it introduced me to the Saunders/LPL 4500II 4x5 enlarger. At the time, the enlarger of choice for large-format and Zone System photographers was the Beseler 45MXT, which is still available new, equipped with an aftermarket cold-light head of the type manufactured by Aristo. (The cold light head was what caused all the ruckus, mainly because it was not manufactured by Aristo. I'll tell the story someday.)

The Saunders, which I will henceforth refer to as the LPL—Saunders was the then-importer, LPL Co. of Tokyo the manufacturer—was a whole 'nuther animal. It was based on dichroic color enlarger technology, and seemed to me clearly to be built to an altogether higher standard than the American enlargers of the day. It was slick and very convenient to use, and technically very competent.

Fast-forward to 1994. I lived in a very beautiful loft apartment in Chicago, with 14-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls, giant wooden beams, naked ductwork, and panoramic rooftop views. The only place for a darkroom was a converted powder room or half-bath. There was no room for the big Saunders, which therefore had to be de-accessioned. To replace it, because I had been so happy with the larger one, I bought the smaller, medium-format Saunders/LPL 670 VCCE (670 refers to the largest format the enlarger handle—6x7cm—and VCCE stands for "variable contrast constant exposure").

Lpl-1Saunders/LPL VCCE, c. 1994

I quite honestly didn't think a lot about it one way or the other. It wasn't terribly fancy and it did what I expected it to do. Nothing to get excited about—it was clearly a step down from its big brother.

Fast forward to today. I've been happily puttering in the new darkroom—which I find relaxing. The aging LPL has been sitting, neglected, in a corner, for almost a decade. So I had to take it entirely apart.

Lpl-5

As you can see, spiders had set up house in the bellows! The whole thing needed a thorough clean-and-check.

Having it all apart gave me a renewed appreciation for the thought and care that went into making this thing. I know it's not rocket science, but the engineering problems aren't trivial, either—not when they're solved to this degree of elegance—and there are a number of them that all have to be satisfied equally well. For instance, the light source must be perfectly even and bright; no light can come out of the device except where it's supposed to; many different parts need to move and adjust relative to each other yet still remain rigidly positioned with a really pretty high degree of precision; the color of the light has to change without changing the intensity; and the whole thing must be easy and intuitive to use.

From what I hear, LPL's engineers derived a number of their solutions from earlier Durst enlargers, Durst (1936–2006) being the longtime European leader in enlargers. But wherever the "prior art" came from, this is clearly a refined design with a long engineering evolution behind it, cleverly and thoroughly thought through.

Lpl-2

Lpl-bulb This is the enlarger head, removed from the chassis, upright, and with its top off and the light mixing box removed. The three small glass filters you can see—one yellow, one magenta, and one neutral density (ND)—slide up and and down in varying ratios as a single knob on the side of the side of the head—the big black one visible in the first picture—is turned. The effect is to change the color of the light without varying its intensity. The bulb itself, a regular 12V, 100-watt halogen projector bulb like the one pictured here, is hidden in the chamber behind the filters.

Here's a detail. As usual, you can click on any of these pictures to make them larger.

Lpl-detail
The three filters do an independently-variable little up-and-down dance when you turn the contrast-control knob. The weird color and the apparent green bar are caused by reflections from the optical coatings.

Lpl-3

After passing through the filters, the light enters the light-mixing box through a hole. This is what sits directly above the negative carrier. (And this whole arrangement raises and lowers with a lever, too, to allow easy insertion and removal of the negative carrier.)

Lpl-4

The core of the mixing box—and thus, in essence, the core of the enlarger—is made of styrofoam! Not fancy, but ideal from a functional standpoint. I've heard that these styrofoam mixing boxes were known to yellow over time in early 4x5 models, but this one is still bright white after 16 years or so (the yellowish-greenish tint comes from my horrid mixed lighting). The last piece—what the negative sees—is a diffuser made of translucent plastic that comprises the bottom of the box. You can see a bit of it there to the right of the mixing box.

I wonder if the engineers who designed the 670 VCCE are still active and working for LPL? Wherever they may be now, they have my respect, admiration, and regards. For all its modesty, this is a well-made, high-value product.

My enlarger seems to have held up well over time, for the most part, despite the spiders. The big question for me is whether the contrast filters have held their values over the years. If they've faded, either the parts or the whole head will have to be replaced.

LPL enlargers are now distributed in the U.S. by former competitor Omega. The 670 VCCE now costs $1,295, which isn't much of an increase from the ~$895 I paid in '94, especially when you factor in today's considerably reduced demand. Used ones, of course, are not difficult to find.

Mike

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Featured Comment by Helcio J. Tagliolatto:

Enlargers

Posted on Sunday, 05 September 2010 at 06:24 PM in Film and Darkroom, Photo equipment, Photo industry | | Comments (16)

Monday, 30 August 2010

Nikon at Photokina

I always just assume that everybody knows about Photokina (as I understand it, the official name is spelled with a lowercase "p"—the official title is "photokina, world of imaging [sic]"—but I'm too middlebrow to write it that way).

But maybe some people reading this don't know. And, to be honest, it took me by surprise this year—I'm either having a big success with TOP or else wasting my precious life, because it's hardly conceivable to me that a whole two years could possibly have passed since the last Photokina. Time flies when you're sitting like a lump staring at your computer every waking minute.

Anyway, Photokina is the world's largest international photography- and imaging-related trade fair, held every two years in Cologne, Germany. This year's Photokina, coming up fast now, will be held at the Cologne International Expocenter (a.k.a. Kölnmesse) from Tuesday, September 21st, to Sunday, September 26th, 2010.The public is welcome.

Traditionally, companies working in our sphere reserve at least some of their big product announcements for Photokina—even though the torrid and fiercely competitive pace of digital innovation has de-emphasized that schedule over the past decade or decade and a half. Every year, it's news within the industry as to who's got what sized booth, who's conspicuous by their absence, and so forth.

Nikkor200-400 And most of the major announcements don't actually wait to appear until the trade fair starts; they're announced in the run-up to the show. Canon has already dropped its major news this year—the EOS 60D, PowerShot S95, two new teleconverters, and four new lenses: the EF 300mm ƒ/2.8L IS II USM, EF 400mm ƒ/2.8 IS II USM, EF 70–300mm ƒ/4–5.6L IS USM (an L lens for the consumer market), and the EF 8–15mm ƒ/4L Fisheye USM (because they're Canon, and they can).

Now that the Canon announcements have dropped, we're waiting to hear what Nikon is going to put on offer for this fall and Christmas season. The lenses have already been announced—there's the AF-S Nikkor 85mm ƒ/1.4G that we already wrote about ("Nikkor," by the way, is the trade name for all Nikon lenses), the AF-S Nikkor 28–300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 ED VR (another exemplar in a class of lenses that has always made me shudder with dread and horror—truly anti-Mike lenses), the AF-S Nikkor 24–120mm ƒ/4G ED VR (sure to be popular), and the AF-S Nikkor 200–400mm ƒ/4G ED VR II (shown). That last should be called "The Wildlife Lens," a descendant of the lens Art Wolfe made famous, perfect for the D300s. Also already announced is the entry-level D3100, a refresh of the nifty D3000, heir of the D40.

Also expected are one more major and one not so major camera, with a third one casting its long shadow über allen. I'll put the names in quotation marks, not to mock them but because they're not officially official yet. Expected are the "P7000," a premium small-sensor digicam that will compete with the Canon G11, and the "D7000," said to be the replacement for the D90.

The D90 is a tough act to follow. For a long time, its sensor ranked highest at DxOmark.com of all ~APS-C DSLRs, and it is a supremely well-sorted camera in terms of size, ergonomics, and performance, at least by the standards of these times. It's a bit boring—Nikon is extremely concerned both to regularize its lineup, in accordance with the current Japanese fashion, and to match Canon pretty closely step-for-step—but it's a very capable mainstream camera that sold by the gobs. The replacement is doubtless slated to improve the video performance, but it had better not mess up in any other area, either: the stakes in this segment of the market are high.

The camera that everyone is wondering about is the D700 replacement / complement. Whether what comes will be a "replacement" or a "complement" is something nobody seems to be quite sure of any more. For a while it was assumed that Nikon would continue its lower-pixel-count/faster, higher-pixel-count/not quite as fast bifurcation of models, seen for example in the D3s and D3x, and introduce a sort of "D700x," whatever it would actually be called. In his 2010 predictions, Thom Hogan, who knows more about Nikon than Nikon does, called for this camera to be announced by March. Well, March has marched past. Now the CW seems to be thinking that the "D800" that's coming (whatever it will actually be called) will be a D700 replacement.

Again, high stakes...very high. The D700, a full-frame, 12-MP camera with extremely good high-ISO performance, has been a stellar seller, very, very popular amongst the core cadre of loyal Nikonians. The "D700x/D800" is widely expected not to make its appearance at Photokina. So, then, when? For Nikon's sake, let's predict: before Christmas. Time, as ever, will tell.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on Monday, 30 August 2010 at 12:23 PM in Lenses, Photo industry | | Comments (30)

Thursday, 26 August 2010

A Micro 4/3 Rangefinder

As a personal comment derived from the previous post, I would like to express the hope that Mr. Kobayashi of Cosina (a great photography enthusiast himself, based on the available evidence) will one day bring to market a manual-focus optical-rangefinder camera based on the Micro 4/3 standard and on the lenses Voigtländer will be making for that system. I believe such a product would complement rather than compete with Leica's astutely-judged digital product lineup, and that such a camera would likely bring happiness and satisfaction to a wide spectrum of photographers and photography enthusiasts.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on Thursday, 26 August 2010 at 06:38 PM in Photo equipment, Photo industry | | Comments (67)

Sunday, 04 April 2010

Whither Goest Thou, Big Digi?

So I was just wondering. What happens to the online end of the digital imaging hobby when new camera introductions slow to a crawl?

People love to read about new cameras, new technology, new ideas—"whatever's next," in the words of one commentator. According to 1001 Noisy Cameras' latest "Leaderboard," there were 123 new cameras introduced in the first quarter of 2010. Seems like a ton. So all is well then?

Herein lies the rub: of those 123, only eight were new interchangeable-lens types with 4/3-sized sensors or better. And of those eight, two (Panasonic G2, Canon T2i) were updates or modified versions of existing cameras; two were "stripper" or more basic versions of more fully-featured cameras (Sony A450, a bare-bones A550, and Panasonic G10); and one was a longtime vaporware camera that still hasn't actually materialized (that I know of—the Sigma SD15). Only three—the Samsung NX-10, Olympus E-PL1, and Pentax 645D—are significantly new models capable of generating any degree of real excitement among enthusiasts. And none of the three are mainstream APS-C or "full-frame" DLSRs. Two are mirrorless Micro-types, and only one—the big Pentax—is the kind of thing that used to keep the writers working late and the fires burning bright.

...And it might not even make it to the English-speaking countries at all. Hmm.

Sonyw290 Sony has a rare recent hit on its hands with the popular new W290. But it's not the sort of camera that gets a veteran photo-dog's heart pumping hard.

Of course, new cameras will continue to be introduced, and we'll all continue to be interested in them. But most people reading this will remember the heady days of the "core" of the digital transition, maybe 1998–2005, when progress was rapid and we were spoiled for news. New things—new big things—new big exciting things—were coming down the pike one right after the other. One right on top of the other, sometimes.

This particular site—I mean TOP—reached the apex of its popularity (measured in traffic, at least) when I offered commentary on the Nikon D3 and D700, the Canon 5D Mark II, and the Sony A900 in the fall of 2008. The scene hasn't been nearly that exciting lately.

It's not like nothing's happened since then. But there's been a definite slowing of progress in the past year and a half (doubtless partly a consequence of the global financial crisis, as well as slowly saturating markets). And, on the digital camera sites, there's been a perceptible calming of the waters—even as competing sites spring up all the time, as Johnny-come-lately webpreneurs vie like neighborhood kids for their slices of the online profit pie. Also, most of the excitement seems to have been at the low and high ends of the scale, with mirrorless pocket cameras and the newest "645" big-sensor cameras, or in new features like the spreading-kudzu video convergence thing (which to me is........snuffurfllubub huuuuunh? What just happened? Sorry, musta put myself right to sleep there. Guess my snores woke me up*).

So I'm just wondering. What's going to happen when there's just not much news to report? Or when cameraphones siphon the juice off the point-and-shoot market and the mirrorless cameras kill the entry-level end of the DSLR market—and the mid-level DSLRs get so good that even some pros won't feel the need to justify the big rigs?

I'll still be over here off to the side happily blowsing about replica sailing ships, horse races, and whatever my current infatuation happens to be amongst photographers and their books (to paraphrase what Thomas Jefferson said of reading, I have a canine appetite for pictures). But whither the big digi sites? Occasional scintillating news of new firmware updates plus tips to deals on printer ink, before the chirping crickets recommence? Not prognosticating here; like I say, just wondering.

Mike

*Video isn't my thing, in other words.

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Glenn Gordon: "I'm not a camera maven. Obsessing over gear and galloping technology makes me slightly nauseous, so I try to maintain a safe distance from the techno-commentariat, all the far-seeing Nostradamuses prognosticating on the future of photography and pronouncing on the fatal flaws of this or that camera or software or new holy wafer of silicon. Gear is seductive—I'm a sucker for it myself—but in the words of one who teaches by example, 'it's not about the bike.'

"I think it would be interesting if every comment offered to TOP were accompanied by a photograph—made by the commentator, so that we could not only read what the person thinks but could see how the writer sees. It would probably make for an editorial nightmare, but it would tether talk to vision, and possibly reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere."

Featured Comment by Shawn Barnett: "This is a Photokina year. Watch for more big news this Summer and Fall."

Posted on Sunday, 04 April 2010 at 11:29 PM in Photo industry, Visual Culture | | Comments (61)

Thursday, 01 April 2010

The Problem of Microstock in a Nutshell

You've got to see this...Chris Barton's remarkable compilation of some of the uses of a particular image. For when you just have to say "perfect-people perfect-world lowest-common-denominator cookie-cutter pile-them-high sell-them-cheap."

Just scroll down and look at the pictures. Worth several thousand words! The "Business Image" one is especially hilarious, I thought.

Mike
(Thanks to Robert Roaldi)

ADDENDUM: People are reporting problems with the link. I've tested it on Firefox and Safari and it works for me. Here is the naked URL in case you can't get to it otherwise: http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/03/microstock-why-would-reputable-company.html

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Spyro: "How much did the photographer make from that photo? Something like six bucks, two marbles and some pocket lint?"

Featured Comment by Don [in reply to Spyro]: "Well, since the photographer is exclusive to istock, and that image has had 6700 downloads, she's made something like $25,000 from that one picture alone. In trying to lambast microstock Chris Barton actually makes a good case for photographers doing it. Lise Gagné could have placed that image with Photographers Direct, and after a few years she'd have earned 80% of, well, probably nothing. Besides, doesn't everyone know that crass advertising actually works?"

Posted on Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 09:47 AM in Photo industry | | Comments (26)

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

Impossible = Possible

Impossible

Amateur Photographer reported yesterday that The Impossible Project's new black-and-white films for use in traditional Polaroid cameras will go on sale this week.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 at 10:36 AM in Photo industry | | Comments (36)

Tuesday, 09 March 2010

The Future of Leica

Some while back, Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape posted "An Open Letter to Leica" subtitled "A Modest Proposal for Reinventing the M Series." Not long after, Michael published a response by Thom Hogan of ByThom.com under the title, "Thom Hogan Considers—What's Next for Leica." Both Michael and Thom speculated about what sort of products they think Leica needs to offer in the future—to quote Michael's article, he's answering the question, "what should the next M series Leica be like?" A perfectly sensible question.

Far be it from me to argue with either Thom or Michael. (And I'm not; their opinions stand for themselves.) But as Michael said, "the ideas that I'm putting forward are worth a public debate."

So here's my modest little contribution to the debate. I think the future of Leica is now.

As the great Inigo Montoya would say, 'let me 'splain'
I'm neither a Leica insider nor a Leica user (well, I've been using an M7 lately, but it's not mine, it's a loaner from a friend). And I'm only basing the following on logic, which can easily lead us astray. But here's where my logic takes me:

1. Old, traditional camera company falls on hard times, is sold by its founding owners (the Leitz family) who don't want to preside over its demise, changes hands several times, flirts dangerously with bankruptcy. 

2. Passionate and independently wealthy enthusiast buys company. 

3. New owner sinks big money into said company. I mean big—according to rumors, on the order of a hundred million euros or more. Again, I'm not an insider, so I don't know this for a fact, but that's the story.

4. After some rough water and a few mistakes along the way, the new owner's team comes up with an outstanding and highly sensible 3-tiered range of products. There is:

a. The Leica M9, a "full-frame" digital replica of the historical company's best-known and best-loved (and, yes, iconic) product. Also, it's exactly what most enthusiasts wanted. Also, it's the second iteration of the concept, fixing the flaws and addressing the drawbacks of the first generation.

b. Below that, the Leica X1, a premium semi-compact with a large APS-C-sized sensor and a beautiful fixed lens. Astutely judged as, if you'll forgive the phrase, a casual camera for the serious user. Or as a smart (in both senses) fashion accessory for the casual user. Just as astutely, positioned so as to complement but not compete with the main product. Affordably* priced at ~$2k.

c. Above the M9, the all-new Leica S2, a clean-sheet camera system conceived from first principles. Well positioned to appeal to not one but two markets: the type of pros who need to be concerned about their image, particularly fashion shooters of various descriptions, and very-well-heeled amateur enthusiasts who want the latest and the best and the most prestigious. (An S2 on your shoulder is the only thing guaranteed to make an M9 owner envious!)

'Psst, buddy, wanna buy a loss leader?'
It makes utterly no sense to me when I encounter various hosers on sundry forums opining that "Canon should buy Leica" or "Panasonic should buy Leica" or somesuch similar nonsense. What, do they mean with its angel? Leica lost four-point-something million euros last year. Should Canon say, "sure, we'll buy Leica, just as long as Herr Kaufmann is included in the deal, and he promises to continue sinking tens of millions of euros from his family's personal fortune into what will no longer be his company"? How does that make any sense at all, to anyone? The answer to "X should buy Leica" is not only "No—no, it shouldn't," and it's not even "Shut up," although both those responses are perfectly reasonable ones. It's that the perfect guy already bought Leica. Leica's owner is a seriously rich guy who loves the marque and is a passionate photography enthusiast and is willing and able to lose huge boatloads of money lovingly nurturing the company and grooming its product line. Nobody could fantasize a better owner for Leica than Leica already has.

And that's where I come down on this "future of Leica" thing. You're holding out for the future? The current cameras just aren't good enough? So, what, you're going to hold off and wait until the next time somebody sinks €100 million into a money-losing company and comes up with an ideal product lineup?!?

Really?

My opinion: the future is now. Right now. 2010 is 26 years past 1984 and nine years past 2001. For anybody who ever wanted a digital Leica, 2010 is the top of the bell curve; the best time for the company since 1958 (i.e., the year before Nikon introduced the F); the perfect time to jump on board.

The company has already given us more than anybody ever had a right to expect—more than reasonable people were even hoping for ten and twenty years ago. Leica can't make enough M9's and X1's to even keep up with demand. B&H won't even let you pre-order an X1 (I think that means their current pre-orders exceed the number of units they're expecting in their next shipment—I'll try to check on that). 

Finally, before anyone brings up the obvious: yeah, time will go on. History didn't end in 1992. Newer products will continue to replace older ones. Even Studebaker, once the largest maker of wheeled vehicles in the world, couldn't sell horse-drawn buggies past 1919. The years do keep coming. With luck, the current ownership of Leica will prosper, and its team will come up with products in the future that will be appropriate to future conditions. But...this is the golden hour. Where Leica is concerned, for all practical purposes, the future's here. 

Mike

*Money being relative. No one wants or needs a $35,000 Rolls-Royce. The people to whom a premium, high-prestige camera brand appeals are the kind of people who can easily afford $2k for a camera. If you think it's too expensive, then it's just not for you.

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Featured Comment by Tina Manley: "I agree with you, Mike. The Leica M9 is the digital camera I've been waiting for since I switched to digital. It's the closest possible digital camera to my beloved M6. And I still have all of my wonderful Leica lenses that I can now use full-frame on the M9. The time for Leica is now!"

Posted on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 at 11:07 AM in Photo industry | | Comments (58)

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