Future of Pentax

Recently I came across rumors about new Pentax DSLRs and new mirrorless camera on a Pentax forum. There was a lengthy discussion about K-01 and expected cheaper model, as well as Pentax DSLRs. Several years ago when I shopping for a DSLR Pentax cameras and lenses were on my list as very interesting and attractive system. Not so with their mirrorless cameras. The Q camera looks very strange for me. I would understand it with at least 2/3'' sensor as in Fuji X10. But 800 Australian dollars for a camera with 1/2.3'' sensor and one prime lens just does not make any sense for me. Then there are manual focus lenses for the camera with small sensor. I don't know if these lenses ever appeared in shops and who was a target group. The whole thing looks like a niche product for camera collectors.

As for the K-01... Can you imagine any female carrying K-01 in her handbag? The camera is just heavy for mirrorless and despite of it's size and weight there is no viewfinder and the rear screen is not articulated. So, shooting in bright sunlight or with long lenses can be problematic. Holding camera that weight over half of kilo steady in straight hands (that's how I often take pictures of bugs with Fuji X10) might be nice physical exercise :) In some situations all these things are irrelevant, and, after all, image quality of the K-01 apparently on par with the K-5 (= very good). It might be a good camera for "studio" work or something similar.

The K-01 is priced at 700AUD body only now, just a tad cheaper than Sony NEX-N5 with a similar sensor. For the same money it is possible to get Samsung NX200 with 20-50mm lens or Nikon J1 with 10-30mm lens not mentioning Olympus and Panasonic cameras. Even for Pentax users it would be cheaper to buy KX or KR DSLR as a second body, or just get K-5 body for 1000AUD in Ted's. I cannot imagine why K-01 should be attractive to someone without decent collection of Pentax lenses.

Then there are rumors about new lenses for K-01, with protruded back(?) elements, when the lens goes deep into a camera. This should keep the camera/lens size under control. However, such lenses might not be  compatible with DSLR cameras. So, what lens would prefer owners of a Pentax DSLR and K-01, "SLR" pancake lens or lens dedicated to K-01, considering that the weight probably will be very similar? Hint: "SLR" pancakes can be used on both cameras. Considering amount of available Pentax lenses, I wouldn't be surprised if it would be hard for the company to sell K-01-dedicated lenses. In this situation Pentax will compete with their own products (and very good products). Very gloomy scenario.

No orbs in X10 anymore: new sensor from Fuji

Several days ago guys at dpreview have tested new modified sensor for Fuji X10. The results are very promising: no orbs / white discs.

New cameras are coming

Some documentation for new Samsung camera, NX20, is appeared on the Federal Communications Commission web site (details are on photorumors), and hopefully the camera will be announced within few days. But what happen to NX210 and NX1000? NX210 should be equipped with Wi-Fi, hence it also should be registered  with FCC. 

Goanna

Lace Monitor, Varanus varius | Fuji X10 | Brisbane Forest park, April 9, 2012 | flickr

Lace Monitor, or Goanna, is a biggest lizard around Brisbane. It is about half a meter long without tale. The picture was taken on Simpson falls picnic area. On this day we spotted three goannas in this area. The lizard on the top was not scared of people and passed just a couple meters away from the place we stayed. Kids were quite scared when they saw "the dragon" walked towards them :)

The picture was taken with Fuji X10, cropped on the top and bottom, and resized. I applied blur on background in order to reduce the image size. It didn't help much, so the image was saved at low quality. As usual, unedited 100% crop from the original JPEG is below. Tech: iso 100, F5.0, 1/600 sec.

100% crop from the original image

Samsung NX20 and NX1000

Several "rumor' sites just posted that new cameras from Samsung will be announced within six days. Other sources (on dpreview Samsung forum) say that "a Samsung camera (includes NX) exclusive model, Hyo-Joo Han has a schedule on 4/25 for attending Samsung's Launching New Product Event". On the same dpreview thread stated that the new cameras are expected to be in stores in May. And all these leaks of cameras images in recent weeks... Anyway, the announcement is expected in April.

Three cameras are expected to be announced: NX210, NX20 and NX1000. It seems that NX1000 is a simplified model (pure speculation at the moment). The rumors indicated Sumsung plan to release "NX20 without a viewfinder". Would it be NX300?

Fuji X10: after 4000 pictures

Canna (cultivar) | Fuji X10 | Bowen park, April 3, 3012 | flickr

The image on the top was edited in GIMP: the levels were adjusted, the image was cropped and unsharpen mask was applied. It was taken with Fuji X10 in Supermacro mode, iso 200, F6.4, 1/58 sec. The flower is cultivated form of Canna, Cleopatra or something similar. These plants are very common in parks, and come in different varieties and colors, such as red or mottled as on this photo.

We just passed 4000 frames on the Fuji X10. What can I say? It is my favorite camera right now :) It is probably 4 times lighter than my Olympus E-30 but has buttons for all important controls / functions. The Fuji X10 had changed my photo style: now I take many macro shots and significantly less "landscapes". The autofocus illumination is very useful for taking pictures of animals at night. It turned out that I essentially do not use the viewfinder because it is useless for macro shooting. Even for "landscapes" I prefer the rear screen because it gives the precise framing, shows the focus point, horizon level, grids and essential shooting parameters. I figured out how to use the camera strap for stabilization, and generally do not have problems with camera shake.

I am very amazed with the quality of images from this camera. Even with lowest setting of noise reduction (my default setting) the camera produces very nice images at iso 400 or even high, and I am talking about standard 12 Mp mode here. The colors are very pleasant. The on-board flash works extremely well. Because my pictures are nature-oriented, I don't have issues with the orbs. I got the famous white discs in some street photos, especially on cars, but none of my pictures of flowers or bugs have orbs. I've done some tests in this area but at some point I just lost the interest in orbs issue. I may replace the sensor in the camera in the future but right now I prefer to take pictures of bugs or flowers.

Obviously, it is compact camera with small sensor, and it is struggling in areas of low contrast. The most upsetting thing for my is the implementation of supermacro on the wide end of zoom. While it does help with depth of field it restricts the macro photography. The object must be very close to the lens (not all bugs like it) and the shade from the lens becomes a very serious issue: the rear screen is fixed, and in bright light it is very hard to see all details of the scene.

I suspect the difference in image quality between cameras from the same class is minimal, so it is all about handling and lens. On Fuji X10 I like both.

Just in case: I am not a professional photographer or camera reviewer. I used very few cameras, so my experience with different cameras are rather limited. The photos are the only credentials I can show. After all, cameras are designed to take pictures :) 


The image below was taken in Supermacro mode, at iso 200, F5.6, 1/250 sec. The wasp was very active, and it was very hard to get closer. Size of the wasp (about 3 cm) and the color point to Abispa ephippium, Australian hornet. The flower is one of the Callistemons, probably cultivar but I am not sure. 

Wasp on Callistemon | Fuji X10 | Victoria park, March 30, 2012 | flickr

Dragonfly with Fuji X10

Dragonfly | Fuji X10 | Bowen park, Herston, March 30, 2012

The picture was taken with Fuji X10 in Aperture priority / Supermacro mode, and at some point I pushed the dragonfly's wing with the lens. It is hard to take pictures of flying insects at 28mm :). I had step-up ring and UV filter mounted on the camera, and the filter goes very close in supermacro shooting. It was very lazy afternoon, and the dragonfly was very calm. We had two photo sessions: the first ended when I touched the wing with the lens, and in second the insect was upset at some point with the camera above it.

Tech: iso 200, F7.1, 1/90 sec. As usual, I used a spot metering. The image above was cropped in GIMP. Below is 100% crop from OOC JPEG.


I guess it is one of the most common medium-sized dragonflies in Brisbane but I cannot identify it in Wildlife of Greater Brisbane.

There were quite a few rains this March in Brisbane, so the insects are numerous and ubiquitous :)  It is very different from previous years of drought when main color of landscape was yellow. Now everything is green. 

100% crop from unedited OOC JPEG

Samsung NX20 and NX1000

Few rumors about new Samsung cameras, NX20 and NX1000, were circulated around the web during last week. The specs of the NX20 are more or less known (see the post on mirrorless rumors) but  it is good to know that the viewfinder on the NX20 apparently is as good as on Sony NEX-7. It seems that some people already got working cameras, and one shop, Camera Centre Dublin, already listed NX20 kit for 950 euros. Well, today is April 1, so I take all news with a grin of salt :) but here is the link. It seems that the cameras will be announced in nearby future.

I wish the NX20 will have bigger dynamic range in highlights than NX200. I suspect the price in Australia will be slightly over 1k, at least initially.