We're coming up to the halfway point of the year, and while there have been a lot of new cameras introduced, what exactly was the highlight?
To refresh your memory, here's the list of serious cameras so far:
- Canon: 600D, 1100D
- Fujifilm: X100
- Leica: M9-P
- Nikon: D5100
- Olympus: XZ-1, E-PL2, E-PM1, E-PL3, E-P3 (last three coming next week)
- Panasonic: GF3, G3
- Pentax: Q
- Sigma: DP2x, SD-1
- Sony: NEX C3, A35
Of these, the X100 and SD-1 were announced at last year's Photokina in the fall and finally made it out this year.
Pretty dismal lot, eh? The X100 and SD-1 are the two most interesting and polarizing entries, and definitely the most talked about in terms of their impact on serious photography. I regard the X100 as a work in progress (Fujifilm today released a huge firmware change, one so massive it required them to revise the manual for the camera). The SD-1 has an intriguing sensor at a non-intriguing price in a non-intriguing body. But at least both cameras moved the bar and opened up new possibilities for serious photography.
Olympus seems to be on a iteration intensification drug of some sort. What else can explain launching a E-PL3 to replace a six-month old E-PL2?
Of the shipping cameras so far, the XZ-1 turns out to be my leading candidate for Serious Camera of the Year so far. It pushes compacts in a nice way to some new levels of usefulness while maintaining a simple, straightforward approach. The X100 probably should have taken that spot, but despite its very excellent image quality, I just keep tripping over things in the firmware and handling of the camera that really needed to be fleshed out before shipping.
That's not to say the D5100 or E-PL2 or NEX C3 aren't good cameras. But each of them is a small step forward of something that was already at a high level. They don't stand out as something new we have to pay attention to as serious photographers, just nice incremental pushes forward of something that we've already taken note of.
The second half of this year is likely to be insane for serious photographers, though. I'll wager a very large bet that my final Camera of the Year hasn't been announced yet. Here's just some of what is expected in the second half:
- Canon: 1DsIV, maybe 5DIII
- Fujifilm: X200, mirrorless?
- Nikon: D4, D400
- Panasonic: GH3, G?1 (the true GF-1 replacement)
- Pentax: APS mirrorless
- Samsung: NX20, NX200
- Sony: A77, maybe NEX-7
So take heart serious gear junkies: the second half of the year should prove to be very, very interesting.