June 2015

June 30, 2015

Nikon D5500 Camera Review. One of the first impressions the D5500 gives off to a long-time Nikon DSLR user is that it’s small. And light. So let’s start there. Review on dslrbodies.com

Big Fujifilm Firmware Update. Fujifilm yesterday produced a 4.0 firmware update for the X-T1 mirrorless camera that has quite a few improvements to it, and makes the camera a more responsive one, especially with focus on moving subjects. Article on sansmirror.com

June 29, 2015

Nikon Asks: Which FX Do You Want? Briefly this weekend NikonUSA sent an email with a short survey to what was probably an nth-name selection of their registered user base. That survey got shared on a lot of sites and via email, and NikonUSA took it down fairly quickly, probably because once you no longer have clear nth-name from a population, you have no predictability to that population from the survey results. Article on dslrbodies.com

Thom’s Recommended Lenses for DX Users. With all the current Nikon DX DSLRs now at 24mp with incredibly good sensors, just how good the results you'll get from them is going to be partially determined by what you put in front of those sensors to focus the light: lenses. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 26, 2015

Lexus, Toyota, Scion. In my article on What to Make of DX in 2015, I wrote that DX ought to be the compromise solution for the masses, but that Nikon was fumbling that away. A couple of readers challenged me on that, and suggested that it would be impossible for Nikon to market DX and FX side by side with somewhat identical product lines, because they were too close together. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 22, 2015

Why Do People Really Buy Mirrorless Cameras? Time to stir up the hornet’s nest a bit. We can’t move the nest away from the house unless we get all of its occupants out and buzzing about, after all. Article on sansmirror.com

The Measurbators Conundrum. With the release of the Canon 5Ds into the wild, the drums for “more, more, more” in the measurbating crowd are beating all kinds of weird rhythms. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 18, 2015

The Thunderstorm in Adobe’s Cloud. Updated. We have two things to discuss today. First, the problems that arose with the monolithic Creative Cloud 2015 release this week. Second, the implications on users for the future. Article on dslrbodies.com

Sigma 24-35mm Art Lens Announced. Sigma today surprised a lot of people with an echo of their 18-35mm f/1.8 DX lens: the new 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM lens for FX bodies. Article on dslrbodies.comData page for lens.

June 17, 2015

Looking Back or Looking Forward? Today is one of those unusual days in tech. We have multiple players announcing new camera products today. For some, you have to turn your head to the left (look backwards); for others, turn your head to the right (look forwards). Article on dslrbodies.com

June 15-16, 2015

Meta35 Brings SLRs into Modern Age. Meta35 is a small USB dongle and cable that you plug into data port of your film SLR, plus a Windows or Macintosh program. Article on filmbodies.com

What to Make of DX in 2015. It should seem pretty clear that Nikon wants you to buy an FX camera: they make more models and more lenses for the full frame side of the photography coin after all. Beyond that, the clarity in Nikon’s lineup disappears. What does Nikon actually want the rest of you to buy, and why? Article on dslrbodies.com

Creative Cloud 2015 Emerges and Confuses. For a company that once said that one of the reasons to go to the Cloud idea was to get away from monolithic Creative Suite releases, Adobe sure still seems to be doing monolithic releases. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 11, 2015

Re: BSI and Stacked Sensors. Sony’s recent A7rII and RX camera announcements have directed many questions about their sensors into my In Box. Back Side Illumination (BSI) and Stacked sensors have a lot of folk scrambling to understand what’s happening technology-wise. So here are some of the things being asked and my quick-to-the-point answers. Article on dslrbodies.com

I Might Have Been Wrong. One reason why I’ve tended to stay out of the rumors and predictions business for some time now is that those became turbulent waters. Made much more turbulent by what’s happening with the collapse of camera sales. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 10, 2015

Sony Announces A7r Mark II. Sony today announced the 42mp A7r Mark II camera, the expected update of the original high-megapixel full frame mirrorless body. Article on sansmirror.comData page here.

Besides updating the A7r, Sony also introduced new models of the RX100 and RX10. The big news with these two cameras is mostly sensor and sensor related things, as they retain the body and basic features of their predecessors. We get a stacked 1” sensor with coupled memory, which allows for full read-out 4K video, slow motion captures up to 960 fps, a fast electronic shutter, and still shooting bursts up to 16 fps. On the RX100IV the EVF gets a much-needed boost to 2.4m dots and some AF improvements, but the price has bumped up to US$1000. The RX10II bumps up to US$1300. Both cameras should ship sometime in mid July. 

June 2, 2015

Yes PhaseOne. PhaseOne today announced their new medium format digital camera, the XF, as well as two viewfinders (note waist finder in photo on the right), three backs, and two new lenses. Article on dslrbodies.com

June 1, 2015

What Do We Want From Nikon? I was fiddling around with my Nikon Wishlist the other day and realized in so doing that it is really out of date. Either that or Nikon just doesn’t share any of our wishes ;~). Article on dslrbodies.com

Looking for gear-specific information? Check out our other Web sites:
DSLRS: dslrbodies.com | mirrorless: sansmirror.com | Z System: zsystemuser.com | film SLR: filmbodies.com

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