Friday night creative writing

Remember the Great Megapixel Race? Time when companies were rushed to put more pixels into cameras. In year 2000 compact cameras with 'big' 2/3" sensors had just 2MP, and in 2004 the advanced 'not-so-compact' compact cameras had about 8MP. All major camera makers had top notch models with fixed lenses. Than the Great Extinction of Advanced Compacts had occurred, and it was coincided with the Rise of DSLRs. The DSLRs, the giants of the camera world, dominated on the planet. Do you want a good image quality? - get DSLR. The hegemony of DSLRs lasted for years and resulted in mass lens addiction among fellow photographers. It was not just picking up a camera, it was all about the choosing of a right system. However, some unexpected things happen. First, nearly instant renaissance of advanced compact cameras: around 2011-2012 all manufactures released 10-12MP fixed lens cameras with good lenses and UI aimed at enthusiasts. The number of pixels did non increased much over 8MP Olympus C-8080 or Minolta A1/A2 but the image quality did. It turned out that many people do like to have a small camera with a decent image quality for a casual shooting. It is simple and convenient. The other unexpected thing was a failure of mirrorless cameras to conquest the photographic world in the way of digital to film transition. It did not happen, and it probably would not happen very fast. One of the reasons is the identical media: both are digital, so there is no difference in post-shooting procedure. Compare it to film vs digital. Buy film rolls, keep several rills with you, develop film, print, put prints in album and send it to you relatives - or just copy the pictures to the computer. The only hassle was batteries but I had a spare set. In some sense, mirrorless do not offer much over DSLR cameras except for size and weigh, while loosing in battery life and continuos autofocus speed. Just to clarify: I am satisfied with the autofocus speed and accuracy on my Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm lens. DSLRs might be faster, but I am the limiting factor in this situation :-(

Olympus: DSLR or FT/MFT hybrid

Olympus made very good lenses for 4/3 cameras, plenty of them. On other hand, no new bodies were announced after release of E-5, a flagship professional camera. So, people who prefer a smaller body of E-6x0 or E-5x0 style were left without choice. So, for me migration to a mirrorless camera was predetermined because I was not happy about the size and weight of my E-30. But I still have a couple lenses, so I am curious about Olympus plans for DSLRs. The rumors on this topic are wild, numerous and contradictory. Several times Olympus representatives reiterated their commitment to DSLR cameras, and the rumor sites are full of speculations on a hybrid FT/MFT camera that can efficiently use both 4/3 and m4/3 lenses. While Olympus does not tell much about their plans, rumors suggest the second half of this year as a release / announcement time for this mysterious camera.

Panasonic GX2 with build-in viewfinder

The most interesting development in camera world is happening on its periphery, in mirrorless / compact system cameras, and very often the innovative or interesting ideas are offered by companies without strong tradition in photography. This post is about rumored Panasonic GX2. According to the leaked specs the camera will have a new 18MP sensor and tiltable viewfinder. Finally, m4/3 guys decided to put a viewfinder on the side of the camera. Several Sony cameras such as NEX-7 have such arrangement, as well as Fuji X-E1 and X-Pro1. On other hand, cameras with a "hump" viewfinder such as Olympus OM-D E-M5 are fairly tall. The rumors also suggest in-body image stabilisation, which sounds a bit unlikely for Panasonic: the company got several optically stabilised lenses for their m4/3 cameras. It is not completely implausible. Olympus and Panasonic share some knowledge on cameras. I would not be surprised if Olympus would share its latest 5-axes stabilisation with Panasonic. Anyway, this would be one of the appealing MFT models, a compact and capable camera

Another interesting posting from Thom Hogan

Thom Hogan is one of my favourite bloggers. I am not a Nikon user, unfortunately, but I follow his blogs, especially Sans Mirror, with a great interest. I am a casual shooter, with a limited experience for different brands, cameras and lenses, so I rely on opinion of other people. For example, I regard the  Fujinon XF18-55mm zoom lens as excellent but this is of little practical value for other people 'cause my experience in this product range is essentially limited to several ZUIKO / Olympus lenses. But it becomes a valuable information when Thom says the same thing. Thom is not the only person who gave the high mark to Fuji's zoom, but he is the one I trust.

Despite of such high quality I am still inclined to replace the standard zoom with the wide angle and the tele option. The wide zoom is not released yet, so I still have time to think about my plans.

Another interesting post on Sans Mirror is dedicated to the bleak future of Olympus cameras. Actually, Thom is somewhat optimistic here. Olympus mirrorless cameras, both PENs and OM-D models, are extremely popular, but the company essentially abandoned DSLR line and their share of compact cameras is shrinking like an air balloon with the hole in it. It would be pity to loose another major name in the camera world. Olympus is an innovative company, so it might adapt and survive. To some extend, the situation with Olympus is similar to Fuji. Both are big companies with small non-profitable camera divisions. Both are trying to change the situation. Olympus is pushing a small popular CSC/mirrorless, while Fuji is offering a top cameras and lenses aimed on a specific group of photographers. Cameras such as X100S or X-Pro1 are not aimed on an average shooter. Even now Fuji does not have any cheap standard zoom lens. Leica would be an another company that do not offer a cheap lenses, but I doubt that I can afford Leica even in a very distant future.

Walk in Natural Bridge national park

Waterfall in cave at Natural Bridge national park | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Natural Bridge national park was created around a single major local attraction, a cave with the waterfall in it. The park is sitting in the Gold Coast Hinterland, not far from the Queensland / NSW border. The walking track is very short, about 1 km or slightly more. The park is very popular with families and kids, especially on weekends. The vegetation is a typical rainforest, and the park provides an attractive alternative of the summer heat in the Brisbane city or Gold Coast.

Short drive south will bring you to the lookout at the border between Queensland and New South Wales. Drive a few more kms into New South Wales, and you will end up in Chillingham, a small and beautiful community, with several shops selling local products, coffee and bananas in chocolate.

Passiflora flower with Fuji X10

Passiflora sp. | Fuji X10

It was cloudy, and the light was suboptimal. Even on f4 the camera produced enough depth to capture this big flower, so I was able to get a sharp shot at 1/34 sec & iso 200. The image was cropped in GIMP and the levels were adjusted a bit. That's the beauty of a compact camera: no hassle with autofocus in supermacro mode. Well, to be precise, much less hassle compared to the dedicated macro lens on Fuji X-E1. I have little doubt that Fuji X20 would produce more resolution, but I am happy with the amount of details from the X10 in supermacro shots. The image above was cropped, and the hi-res photo is available on flickr.

Open source cameras

It is interesting to watch development of the camera world. The famous Kodak missed the digital train and gone. Pentax is shrinking. Canon and Nikon dominate the digital world, especially in professional / advanced cameras but both companies have very small presence in new area, mirrorless cameras. This segment is fairly small and crowded  with competitors, including electronic giants such as Samsung. It is a new field, with many things happening. Samsung just made the software behind their mirrorless cameras NX2000 and NX300 public, so anyone with a proper knowledge can improve or tweak it. Compare this situation to the DSLR world where Canon used to handicap the entry-level models by software. The software was hacked at some point. Or another hack that improved Panasonic video recoding?

Now Samsung is jumping on open source train. Good on them! I use OpenOffice and GIMP at home. Wikipedia content is created by public. I know people donated(?) hundreds images to the Wikipedia. Potentially it might be a win-win situation for camera makers and the users. The camera companies can save on software development, and photographers may have a choice of different firmware. Many current CSC / mirrorless models have very short life span before being replaced with the next model. The companies are not interested in software improvement for old models but the public does. Things like a noise reduction or white balance can be improved, the image correction can be added, and so on. For example, now Fujifilm claims to have an algorithm to work around the diffraction. Obviously, there are limits of what can be done, but this approach may extend an average camera life for some people. It would not work for all people, that's for sure, but it might work for active part of the population. It also comes with the responsibility: do it on your own risk.

Kudos to Samsung for breaking the rules.

Affordable X mount camera from Fuji

I am a new convert of the the Fujifilm world. The decision was made to go mirrorless, and I was torn between Olympus and Fujifilm. On one hand, I shoot Olympus since the start of millennia when I had acquired 2MP Olympus C2020. On other hand, I was not really happy with layout of Olympus PEN or OM-D camera. The OM-D E-M5 is a bit small for my hands. In meantime I got hooked on Fuji UI and colors after we bought Fuji X10 as a family camera. The two reason for going mirrorless were size of the camera and lenses, and small viewfinder on my 4/3 DSLR. The Fuji X-Pro1 is way too expensive, and primes are not very flexible for shooting during bushwalking or hiking. I've grabbed Fuji X-E1 zoom kit once it first appeared in Australia, and since than time the DSLR gear stays locked in the closet. The X-E1 is a very mid-range camera, light and relatively compact compared to DSLR. The XF18-55mm lens is also mid-range, bigger and better than standard kit zooms for both mirrorless and DSLR cameras.

Now we expect at least one entry-level X camera from Fujifilm at affordable price. The camera would not have a build-in viewfinder and probably will have less controls. Think XF1 and X10/X20. However, there is an apparent issue, namely, lack of a small affordable zoom lens for such camera. The entry level CSC models from Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony have a compact affordable zooms, e.g. Samsung 20-50mm. Obviously, Fuji can fit the "X-M1" with pancake, and it might be appealing to certain people. It even will be very popular among street shooters or some other groups. So, in this case it probably will be a niche product, with a somewhat limited attraction for am average person. Nikon A is not selling as hot cakes, at least according to Amazon.

Would I be interested in a smaller standard zoom lens for X mount? In other words, would I be happy to carry a smaller camera/lens combo on an average day? Yes, but it depends on price. Some kind of a compact zoom for a casual / everyday use would be a nice option, especially if it will have a better macro capability. It probably would not go on my hiking trips where I am hoping to use the wide angle and tele zoom lenses and ignore the standard zoom altogether. In this case a light second body can be very attractive, especially combined with the wide zoom.

Indulgence

If I have to choose just a one word for Fuji X cameras, it would be "indulgence".

Very hard to quantify or measure :)

It is applicable to my X10 and X-E1, but even more to Fuji X100 or X100S.

And Fujifilm XF 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS Lens is available for pre-order for $799 in Brisbane…

Olympus said it, finally

I went to the DPReview site today to double-check some info. I used to be a regular reader of the site but at some point the image quality and capacity of digital cameras exceeded my needs, so I've lost a great deal of interest in the latest cameras. There was a big ad on the top with something like this "do you know that DSLRs stay at home 90%?" Obviously, I went to check the thing. It was Olympus promoting their PENs.

Finally the advertising for CSC goes to the main advantage of mirrorless cameras, which is  a small size.  Other features might be important to some people, e.g. EVF and lack of mirror slap, but DSLRs win in most other aspects: lenses, fast autofocus, battery life. The truth is: on casual day not many people want to carry an extra 2-3 kg in big dedicated bag. Most people I know don't give a thing on wi-fi in camera or any other fancy thing. They take pictures, so they want to have a portable camera with the image quality above the smartphone level. It can be the tried and trusted Olympus C-8080, or a modern advanced compact camera, or a mirrorless camera. The camera that is always with you.

Bushwalking in Noosa Heads national park

Alexandria bay, Noosa Heads national park | Olympus E-30

Today was a rainy day in Brisbane, with grey skies and persistent drizzling. It is cold, by Brisbane standards, of course. It meant to be a start of a subtropical "winter". At day like this it is nice to go through photos taken on a nice sunny day in a nice place.

These pictures are from the Noosa Heads national park located north of Brisbane, in about two hours drive from the city. The park covers rocky hills near the Pacific ocean / Coral sea and it is a popular destination for tourists visiting Noosa or the Sunshine coast. Park is relatively small, but it has a diverse vegetation including Paperbark / Melaleuca forest, small patches of a coastal rainforest, big chunks of a coastal heathland and Banksia forest. Pandanus trees are common near the coastal line. The park is famous for beautiful beaches and koalas. The walking tracks go along the coast and inland, and it is possible to see the whole park in one day. It is very popular park with probably hundreds people walking on the popular track to the Hell's Gates, where turtles and dolphins can be seen on a good day. The inland tracks are more secluded.

I used to go there by train and Trainlink bus, but one way trip takes about 3 hours. Keep in mind that on weekends the car park fills up very early, especially during the high season, but generally plenty of parking spots are available in Noosa along the coast, one or two km north of the park.

Sea turtle at Hell's Gates | Olympus E-30 & ZUIKO 50-200mm SWD

Best selling cameras on Amazon

Sony RX100 is in top 20 list at $650. Well done, Sony! Considering that the announcement of RX200 is rumored for the start of the summer, it is truly amazing. Right now the camera has no direct competitors, so the price stays the same. Nikon 1 cameras may have a faster autofocus but RX100 has all benefits of a compact camera.

Fuji X100S is on position 51 among the best selling digital cameras on Amazon. This ranking includes all cameras and bundles, DSLRs, compact, CSC/mirrorless - you name it. Either I missed Nikon A or the camera did not make it to any lists including the best selling 100 compact cameras. Ricoh GR is not available yet.

As usual, common sense is prevailing, so the entry DSLRs, such as Nikon D3200, are on the top. The new Nikon D3200 with 18-55mm lens is offered for $550 with free shipping, and Canon EOS Rebel T3i kit is available for $600. Both are tested and proven cameras, viable alternative to mirrorless cameras.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 is also present among top 100 best selling cameras .... for $250 body only.

I am surprised to see Fuji X20 in top 100 compact cameras. It is very good camera, but it is also relatively expensive.

The link to the best selling cameras on Amazon is on this page.

Bushwalking at Mt Greville - 2

View from Mt Greville | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

(check the previous post)

Mt Greville has several rocky patches without any trees, with pleasant view of Fassifern Valley and the Scenic Rim. The valley is widely used for agriculture but mountains belong to national parks or state forests. The vegetation is quite diverse. The track starts in dry eucalypt forest, or bush. The rocky spots are covered by shrubs and grass trees (the picture on the top). Upper part of the mount is covered by trees and shrubs, including some interesting grevilleas as on the picture below (note the small red flowers).

Identified as Grevillea linsmithii, Proteaceae | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Bushwalking at Mt Greville

Palm Gorge, Mt Greville, May 19, 2013 | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Mt Greville is one of my favourite national parks around Brisbane for bushwalking. It is a tiny park within one hour drive from Brisbane, with short but rewarding tracks. The tracks require certain level of fitness. It is a good place for stretching legs and hands :) The mount has couple "gorges", big narrow cracks with tall vertical walls. The Palm Gorge is very popular and the most straightforward route to the summit. The gorge has an interesting microclimate, and, as a result, a distinct vegetation. It is so narrow that the sun does not heat it much, so it is always cool there during the day time. While the surrounding aria is covered by bush or mountain (heath) vegetation, the gorge has species common in wetter places: Piccabeen palms, Strangler figs, and even tree ferns.

The tracks are essentially unmarked and not signed, so it is good to walk with someone who knows the place. This time we missed Logan's lookout, a rocky outcrop below the summit, with a wonderful view towards lake Moogerah and the Fassifern valley. Eventually we made to the top and went back through the Palm gorge. I was surprised with number of plants in bloom at time: it is dry and cold now.

More photos from this marvellous place are available on flickr.

Palm Gorge, Mt Greville, May 19, 2013 | Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Review of Fuji X20

I nearly missed the Fuji X20 review on the DPReview site. The camera got a "silver" award. The X cameras are aimed on certain group of photo-enthusiasts, people who enjoy extensive controls and manual zoom lens and don't mind to pay a premium for the camera. It is an indulgence. The X20 is a unique camera on the market, with unique hybrid viewfinder, fairly big 2/3" sensor, bright manual zoom lens. The image quality is essentially the same in current advanced compact cameras, so the other features are more relevant. Want a truly compact camera - get Olympus XZ-2 or something similar. Nikon P7700 offer 7x zoom, up to 200mm (eqv), with relatively bright lens for such compact design. Fuji gives a feel of "the _camera_". It is joy to use. Obviously, not everyone has the same perception as me: as I wrote at the start of the post, this camera is aimed on certain people.

Both Fuji X10 and X20 are available in Brisbane camera shops, at $600+. Fuji X10 comes with some promo option. People can choose between the two models equipped with different sensors. Fuji X20 shows more resolution and has vastly superior viewfinder, but Fuji X10 has an unique sensor.

Olympus pricing

The latest Olympus PEN E-P5 with 17mm f/1.8 lens and external viewfinder is available for pre-orders in B&H for $1550 (USD of course), and the body only for $999. Curiously, Olympus OM-D E-M5 body is offered for the same price. Smart move to boost OM-D sales :)

From RX100 to RX200

In these days many digital cameras have a very short "shop life". The model turnover is fairly fast, especially for compact cameras. On top of it, compact cameras are squeezed out by mobile phones or smartphones at low end and by affordable  mirrorless cameras and entry-level DSLRs. There are some exceptions, such as Fujifilm X100, a niche camera that kept the same price for about two years. But this post is not about Fuji, but Sony.

Sony RX100 is a very interesting camera. It is very compact but it is build around 1" sensor, The 1" sensor is twice bigger than the sensors used in Fuji X10 or X20. Nikon 1 cameras are also build around 1" sensors. Most other compact cameras have smaller sensors.

Does the sensor size matter? The answer is Yes and No. Yes, because big sensors have more pixels with the same technology (aka pitch size), so the resolution can be higher. No, because the sensor technology is evolving very fast, so sensors can have higher pixel density with litre or no sacrifice in quality.  Subject separation, aka depth of field depends on sensor size, too. That is why in compact cameras everything is in focus while full frame DSLRs such as Nikon D800 with proper lens creates a nicely blurred background. The narrow depth of field is a big problem in "nature macro" photography because objects (flowers, bugs etc) are big, and generally some parts are out of focus. This is why advanced compact cameras are very popular for the macro photography. On other hand, image quality on cameras with a small sensor is not as good as on a DSLR, especially in low contrast areas.

Enter Sony RX100. The sensor is at least twice bigger than in most other compact cameras. The camera is smaller and lighter than any Nikon 1 camera with zoom lens. There is no other compact camera with such specification at the moment. The result? Sony RX100 announced in June 2012 is still priced at ~$650 in the US and ~$700 here in Australia. At the time of writing it is the most expensive model among 20 most popular compact cameras on Amazon. Well done, Sony! It is an innovative product, and people do pay for this type of things.

The RX100 was build as compact as possible. The sacrifices: the lens is a bit slow at the tele end, the distortion is very pronounced but it is corrected automatically. It has no viewfinder. In some sense the design of RX100 is opposite to Fuji X10 or X20. Fuji models have very good lens, amazing camera controls aimed on enthusiast photographers, and a viewfinder, but the cameras are relatively big. It is good to have choice. I've got the X10. 

Now with all these rumors about a premium Sony camera build around 1" sensor (link to my post on RX200), I am on the fence again. I do not upgrade my cameras very often. I do like X20 slightly more than X10 (based on specs) but for me the difference is not big enough to justify $600+. However, high end 1" compact camera is one of the thing I am dreaming of.  

Another rumor on entry-level mirrorless X camera from Fuji

Another rumor post on entry-level mirrorless camera from Fuji. Not much new there. The same price range as rumored earlier, ~$550 for the body + lens kit. What lens? It is a lens. Can be a new XF27mm F2.8 pancake (41mm eqv). It probably will be a good combo for street shooters. As expected, the camera will be smaller and with less controls than Fuji X-E1. The UI of X-E1 is good but some buttons are "dumb" in certain modes. So, with some optimisation the UI of the "X-M1" might be comparable with other X cameras.

Am I interested in a pancake lens? Not much at the moment. I am after the XF55-200mm zoom or/and the wide angle zoom. However, for other people the fairly wide prime lens in combination with small camera might be very attractive. Street shooters may like it.

mirrorless vs DSLR

Another interesting post from Thom Hogan on mirrorless cameras and DSLRs. He also posted the results of his poll.

Obviously, people lurking on photoforums do not represent the whole population but still the result of the poll is quite telling. In some sense, Fuji is doing a good job with their niche X cameras. Olympus went minute, and PENs are very popular.

Still, some niches are not filled. I bet many nature-loving photographers would be happy to have a compact camera with a medium-sized sensor, either 1" or m4/3. It is all about size, supermacro and image quality. Hopefully, the rumored Sony RX200 looks like a step in right direction. I wish it will have Fuji X controls and lens.

Sony RX200

Damn Sony: I've thought I've settled with my cameras for a long time. My plan was to get  two zoom lens for Fuji X system in next year or two. Now I learned about the latest Sony rumors: RX100 is going to be upgraded in nearby future. Just a quote from Photorumors:

"The RX200 will have an improved 28-140mm f/1.4-2.2 lens (compared to the current 29-105mm f/1.8-4.9) and an unique built-in pop-up viewfinder (similar to the pop-up flash)".

These are two big steps in right direction: better lens and EVF. The only thing I am not sure is a user interface. There is no info for this yet. It might be an ultimate solution for supermacro shots I am hoping for.

Sony is very innovative with the digital cameras. The company made DSLRs with semi-transparent mirror (the idea is not new but currently Sony is the only company with such cameras. Their NEX line is hugely popular. Sony made RX100 compact with 1" sensor. It is the only compact camera with such sensor. It also released RX1 with the full-frame sensor.

Sony sensors are widely used by Nikon and Olympus.

Olympus PEN E-P5

Olympus E-P5 pictures and specs were leaked. The thing that caught my attention is an improved autofocus compared to OM-D E-M5. As any other PEN model E-P5 does not have a build-in viewfinder. The camera got the 5-axis stabilization first appeared in OM-D E-M5 and tiltable screen. So, the image stabilization should be better than in E-PL5. At least on paper the camera looks more attractive than existing PEN models. It will cost slightly more but still less than OM-D E-M5.

Update: link to some picture of this little beauty, E-P5.