Nikon FF (and DX) Mirrorless rumours/ announcements (3 Viewers)

58mm f0.7 !!!!!!!

An interesting third party design study has come up with this 'outer limits'? Z mount high speed design .....
https://nikonrumors.com/2018/12/17/...rorless-lens-designed-for-nikon-z-mount.aspx/

Not quite sure what you'd use it for, but interesting nonetheless !




Chosun :gh:

5.76M-dot Evf !!! and other Industry musings ....

Very interesting competitor development with Panasonic entering the FF Mirrorless arena with their S1 /S1R. They both use the highest resolution EVF on the mass production market at 5.76M-dot at 120fps progressive scan, quite comfortably out pointing the Nikon Z6 /Z7 (interesting given Nikon's stated aims right at the start of this thread of having leading [strong/uncompromising ] EVF performance ..... post#5)
https://m.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-s1-s1r-review-in-progress/3

More details of this Sony sourced uber EVF here:
https://m.dpreview.com/news/6857011184/sony-reveals-faster-higher-res-oled-viewfinder-display
It seems that Panasonic may be using a 3:2 crop of this native format 4:3 EVF sensor - that would still put it at 5.12M-dot, so still well and truly in the lead.


Other interesting developments in the industry are the general doom and gloom in the ILC market, with Canon's CEO predicting a halving in overall market numbers in very short order (which I have linked on the Canon 7D MkIII thread ...). The survival plans for all the major players seem to centre around Mirrorless and FF in particular ..... which doesn't really solve the huge glass size and weight concerns that many folk on these photography forums increasingly mention.

I will change my opinion on a Sony a9m2 arriving for the Olympics as they have released a major firmware update for the a9 making it an a9m1.5 in practice. This means I don't think we will see CaNikon R9 /Z9 competitors this side of the Olympics, and until both companies work out how to nail this Mirrorless AF gig at high speeds. Both Canon and Nikon seem to be headed to the Olympics with updated EOS 1DX III and D6 DSLR flagships respectively.

It seems the next Mirrorless developments from the big two may centre around more entry /mid level FF offerings, and the next wave of high resolution (63MP+) offerings - R8 and Z8 if you will, though these may be post Olympics too. I think that such machines would put the final nail in the Canon EOS 5DSR and D850 DSLR coffins ..... perhaps no further full iterations of those DSLR's, or maybe some sort of smoke and mirrors mid life tinkering many years down the track .....

The situation looks equally dire for entry level DSLR's (most of which are APS-C). It looks like the plan is model range consolidation down to perhaps 3 levels at most .... entry /prosumer /pro.
- Nikon D3600/5700 combined, D7500+, and D500S ??
- The story at multimodelled and micro marketed Canon will be more interesting - very hard to psychologically change that leopard's spots and turn that juggernaut around (I imagine Canon will soon return to spewing out a plethora of barely discernably different models at every price point known to man - but in the Mirrorless realm ....)

Interesting times, but the future is looking decidedly Mirrorless (last roll of the dice FF and derivative APS-C? DSLR Flagships for the Olympics notwithstanding)




Chosun :gh:

Nikon’s 3rd Quarter Financial Results Are Out

https://nikonrumors.com/2019/02/07/nikons-3rd-quarter-financial-results-are-out.aspx/

Nikon's market share is dropping in a dropping market - lenses more so than cameras.

With Nikon retreating to high margin products, the question then becomes where is there entry level pipeline coming from that incentivises (sunk cost and emotional attatchment) customers into the Nikon fold (Z mount) .... ?

I think Nikon has to do some very savvy marketing and product innovation to turn the sinking ship around.

I think Nikon has to subscribe to "If you build it they will come" .... :cat:

This would entail:
Lenses:-
* get the F mount PF line fleshed out ASAP - 600/f5.6, 400/f5.6 - these would work well enough with the FTZ adapter to keep both DSLR and ML users happy, and even I would suggest 400/f4 and 800/f5.6 in Z mount since the market has spoken loud and clear - it wants high quality high performance lightweight lenses, particularly important for the more compact Z system.
* lighten the big guns F mount FL lenses 300/f2.8, 180-400/f4, 500/f4, 600/f4

Cameras:-
* DSLR: kill off the D3xxx line, use parts bin engineering to immediately upgrade the D5xxx, and D7xxx lines, and deliver the full banana D500S at the same time as the nascent D6 DSLR flagship, all importantly including the connectivity, communications, and work flow ease that customers crave.
* ML: I think the (relatively) poor AF upon release of the Z6 and Z7 was a bad miss. The firmware fix needs to be promoted, perhaps by special promotional deal bundles, and maybe even computational photography upgrades. Also introduce an even keener priced entry level model - I don't even know what this could be called - the Z3, or Z4 ??? :cat:

Special mention ! APS-C Mirrorless: I note that absolutely no-one has taken up the invitation to speculate on developments in this arena ! :h?: .... probably with good reason it seems quite a difficult problem to solve :cat:
I think any DX ML range must more likely than not have to use the Z mount for upgrade incentivisation. The truly difficult part is that entry level models must compete with high end smartphones, and therefore must do something that they cannot. I don't think Nikon will have the resources to do all that it needs to given declining market share and profitability, therefore the DX ML range will have to work flawlessly with the FTZ adapter. I would also think that as a minimum, all Nikon cameras going forward must offer a fully articulating touchscreen, and at least 4K30p video, with all mid range and higher models being 4K60p .....

I really am barracking for Nikon, but it looks like quite the uphill battle. Now is the time to be its innovative best ..... :cat: :king:






Chosun :gh:

Chosun Juan said:

- The story at multimodelled and micro marketed Canon will be more interesting - very hard to psychologically change that leopard's spots and turn that juggernaut around (I imagine Canon will soon return to spewing out a plethora of barely discernably different models at every price point known to man - but in the Mirrorless realm ....)

Chosun :gh:

Click to expand...

I'd not underestimate Canon.
When the boss says that business will drop 50%, it surely sends a message of change to the entire organization.

etudiant said:

I'd not underestimate Canon.
When the boss says that business will drop 50%, it surely sends a message of change to the entire organization.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are right and I'm sure the Canon machine has already got the message, and the vast array of DSLR models is already winding down. Canon has already put together parts bin specials, and some models may never be updated again.

I hope the rumoured amalgamated 7DIII replacement for the 80D and 7DII lines is a killer bit of kit that can compete with an upgraded Nikon D500S. If it falls short of the current D500 then Nikon make take it's own good time in bringing out an updated S model.

It seems a lot of the major (existing and new) players (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic) all have the same strategy ..... retreat to the higher end, higher margin products. Canon though already seems to be returning to the old familiar leopard skin coat in the Mirrorless arena as I mentioned. Being early days (at least amongst the big two) I can't fault them for that .... the new entry level 'RP' model looks like an astute move, and I'm sure will turn quite a few heads with it's ~450gram body weight and 24-105 /f4. https://www.canonrumors.com/canon-eos-rp-specifications-images/

It's all about putting bums on Mirrorless mount seats, and this entry level offering looks like a good move - one that Nikon would do well to match (as I suggested above, and I'd suggest something like a native 'Z' mount 24-120 /f4 lens to go with it even though there doesn't appear to be such an animal on their published roadmap) unless it wants to cede the mass market to the 'R' mount. The big problem in doing that is that those low end customers are then pretty much forever lost to the higher end upgrade path as they lock into the 'R' mount one accumulated lens at a time .....

This entry level Canon 'RP' might be an 'old' strategy, but one that will work well for Canon, especially given it's lead in already having lightweight supertelephoto primes to market (it would be very interesting to see if the MkIII versions of the 300 /2.8 and 500 /f4 debut in 'R' mount).

Each of the big 4 seems to have carved out their own leading parameter so far in this highly competitive race:
Panasonic leads the EVF race at the moment
Nikon is strong in IBIS
Sony leads in ML AF
Canon looks set to capture the entry level and has a lead in longer lightweight lenses .... (Nikon doing well at the shorter lengths with it's PF's).
I expect much toing and froing of the lead in these various parameters (as well as 'AI' and computational photography) as the next couple of years unfolds ..... :cat:

This intense level of competition should drive a range of offerings that are able to drag smartphone uses into the 'proper' camera realm.




Chosun :gh:

Hermann said:

Actually, the one guy I know who's already got the PF 5.6/500 says he wouldn't get a PF 5.6/600 no matter what. His setup is D500+PF 5.6/500+1.4 TC. That's 1050mm in FX terms, and he reckons that's good enough. A 5.6/600 would be quite a bit larger and heavier and would in his opinion defeat the wole purpose of the PF lenses, namely to provide a lot of reach in a small, lightweight package.

Hermann

Click to expand...

Yes, I've been kind of thinking the same thing. I've about 80% decided at this point that I will sell my "old" 500mm f/4G VR and switch to the 500mm f/5.6E PF. The weight savings is just really compelling. The PF lens at 3.2 lbs. is less than half the weight compared to my 500mm f/4G at 8.5 lbs. I won't mind too much that the PF lens doesn't take teleconverters as well because I almost never use a teleconverter on the f/4G anyway; I have found the image degradation pretty noticeable even using only the 1.4X. I know from experience that 750mm equivalent is enough for me to be successful. For a bit more reach, I turn to my Olympus E-M1 II gear where the 1.4X teleconverter on the 300mm seems to degrade the image less (gets me to 840mm equivalent). Also I sometimes attach a small astronomy telescope to the E-M1 II which really makes a razor sharp "reach machine" albeit with manual focus only. The slower f/5.6 speed of the PF lens also doesn't concern me too much because I almost always do bird photography in decent light and I usually try to stop down to f/5.6 or even f/8 anyway, to get more of the bird in focus.

Long term, I'm pretty sure mirrorless cameras with EVF's and eye-tracking AI technology are going to usurp and replace DSLR's for all sports/wildlife photography. So basically I see the switch to the lightweight 500mm PF as my "last" DSLR super telephoto lens, which would be easier for me to carry to places where I have BIF opportunities. And I think it should be easier to sell the PF lens in a few years if/when I finally switch to mirrorless for all my bird photography. Unfortunately it will be harder to sell my older heavy f/4G.

Dave

Chosun I love your enthusiasm!
I have teased you in the past because I think you have a tendency to not just count chickens before they hatch, but count eggs before they exist.

With all the big boys finally jumping into the mirrorless race and all of them mostly focused on full frame, it just seems like it is going to take quite a while longer for a mirrorless camera to finally put it all together as a bird photography tool. I'm still hoping for a crop sensor mirrorless system for birds. It's not that a full frame camera cannot do it, it's just that with full frame I think you need to pay for a super high res sensor and you are paying for a lot of additional capabilities and maybe extra size when for birds you would use it in crop mode 99% of the time. And as you know, we are waiting not just for C-AF/tracking (seems maybe Sony is getting very close there), but also ideally native super telephotos that mount directly on the camera without a clumsy adapter.

I still really like micro-4/3 as an ideal format for bird photography. I prefer the 4:3 aspect ratio and if you take this into account you are really not giving up much sensor area and image quality compared to APS-C with its 3:2 aspect ratio. I was disappointed with Olympus' latest announcements, but I'm invested in Olympus so I'll be sticking with them for my crop-sensor mirrorless body, and also for now I'm sticking with good ol' Nikon DSLR's.

Dave

opticoholic said:

Yes, I've been kind of thinking the same thing. I've about 80% decided at this point that I will sell my "old" 500mm f/4G VR and switch to the 500mm f/5.6E PF. The weight savings is just really compelling. The PF lens at 3.2 lbs. is less than half the weight compared to my 500mm f/4G at 8.5 lbs. I won't mind too much that the PF lens doesn't take teleconverters as well because I almost never use a teleconverter on the f/4G anyway; I have found the image degradation pretty noticeable even using only the 1.4X. I know from experience that 750mm equivalent is enough for me to be successful. For a bit more reach, I turn to my Olympus E-M1 II gear where the 1.4X teleconverter on the 300mm seems to degrade the image less (gets me to 840mm equivalent). Also I sometimes attach a small astronomy telescope to the E-M1 II which really makes a razor sharp "reach machine" albeit with manual focus only. The slower f/5.6 speed of the PF lens also doesn't concern me too much because I almost always do bird photography in decent light and I usually try to stop down to f/5.6 or even f/8 anyway, to get more of the bird in focus.

Long term, I'm pretty sure mirrorless cameras with EVF's and eye-tracking AI technology are going to usurp and replace DSLR's for all sports/wildlife photography. So basically I see the switch to the lightweight 500mm PF as my "last" DSLR super telephoto lens, which would be easier for me to carry to places where I have BIF opportunities. And I think it should be easier to sell the PF lens in a few years if/when I finally switch to mirrorless for all my bird photography. Unfortunately it will be harder to sell my older heavy f/4G.

Dave

Click to expand...

Dave, I think in your case with the 750mm eq @f5.6 that the PF 500 f5.6 would give you being enough, along with the huge weight savings, that you should jump into that PF 500 f5.6 pre-order queue pronto !

From everything I have read, that is likely to be a pretty long queue and supply is likely to be tight for some time. For all the other reasons you mentioned too, now would also be a good time to trade out of your existing 500G f4.

I agree that we are seeing the last great roll of the DSLR dice, and with the upcoming D6 and hopefully D500S (and the Canon 1DXIII and hopefully 7DIII) they are likely to be the best performing machines we have ever seen of any format, type, or description. For the life of those machines (until they are no longer supported for service) they will give their owners exceptional performance that is not likely to be technically superceded for many many years.

I also agree with your following post that the immediate Mirrorless pathway from the manufacturers is focused on FF, and for that to be of any real use to birders means buying high resolution bodies as you said and cropping using adapted long lenses - a very expensive way to get bird photos! With all that the manufacturers have on their plate, I can't see this changing until a couple of years after the Olympics.

One of the big challenges for Mirrorless will be to get the AF tracking better than the upcoming D6. All the components are there - full sensor real time sensing, ability to use improved algorithms and AI, etc, it's a matter of effectively implementing that in practice. That raises all sorts of extra computing power requirements, high speed busses, and the need to dissipate all that extra heat generated. Certainly that will take some substantial time to filter down to any APS-C Mirrorless offerings to work well with native long lenses.

I think that should give you 100% permission to get in that PF 500 f5.6 queue today!




Chosun :gh:

SONY's 'Real-time tracking' is a big leap forward for autofocus

This just seems like such a basic and logical algorithm that I wonder what has taken so long to get here ?!
https://m.dpreview.com/articles/065...-tracking-is-a-big-leap-forward-for-autofocus

Looks like Nikon now has a clear bar to jump over in its Mirrorless offerings, and even it's DSLR 3D Tracking top dawg :king: crown may be under threat (unless the nascent D6 takes a step forward again ......)




Chosun :gh:

Chosun Juan said:

This just seems like such a basic and logical algorithm that I wonder what has taken so long to get here ?!
https://m.dpreview.com/articles/065...-tracking-is-a-big-leap-forward-for-autofocus

Looks like Nikon now has a clear bar to jump over in its Mirrorless offerings, and even it's DSLR 3D Tracking top dawg :king: crown may be under threat (unless the nascent D6 takes a step forward again ......)

Chosun :gh:

Click to expand...

That is pretty cool. Sony has clearly made some progress on this. It will be interesting to watch whether progress continues to be incremental or whether sort of all at once the mirrorless tracking with AI completely catches up and surpasses DSLR. A bird might be more challenging than a toddler... My guess is that it will still take a while to refine and perfect the programming to "blend" multiple additional algorithms to adapt to all the many different bird/animal scenarios... Also I assume there's probably more money to be made in sports/people and that will take first priority.

Dave

Oppos 10x optical zoom tech for phones is another nail in the coffin for real cameras

Traditional camera mid market space -
Squashed at both ends -
by Sony's eye tracking AF advancements from above, and,
by Smartphone advances (quad pixel, computational photography, HDR stacking, AI, artificial bokeh, ever increasing camera count, including OIS, and now '10x' optical zoom, etc - all now (or soon) tied up in foldable screens to convert to multi app running tablets, more computing power than what used to be on your desktop, and interconnected communications to boot! ) from below
https://mashable.com/article/oppo-10x-optical-zoom-phone-camera-mwc-2019/

Walking around with your phone in your pocket - already such a powerful computer, and very soon a highly capable and super convenient photography device - capable of handling scenes from 16mm to 160mm optically, supercedes a lot of the pocketable point and shoot devices, and places pressure on the smaller sensor cameras. Small sensors or not, there will be a lot of good photography done with these smartphone devices because they will be everywhere, everytime.

It seems that only truly unique offerings will find a place .....
Things like Nikon's P1000, some of the fast lens Panasonic bridges, Sony's ripper little RX-10IV, etc ..... oh what could have been with Nikon's 1 system if only they didn't knobble it so much to protect their traditional DSLR market space ....
The MFT offerings that have physically grown to full DSLR size, and yet with few fast, long lenses, seem in a very strange space.
APSC (Mirrorless) seems to have Fujifilm and Sony both carving out viable spaces. The bar is going to be set extremely high for Nikon to enter, and Canon to work out a way to have it as a viable business segment ....

FF is more and more crowded - fighting over a shrinking pie - under intense pressure. I know at the start of this thread there was a quote by Nikon saying that there was no need to panic in the next 5 years, but really Sony's AF advancements are moving the bar higher and higher as time goes on. What was a non-urgent situation only a short time ago, now seems all the more urgent now.

Had Canon and Nikon teamed up for a common CaNikon FF Mirrorless mount, it is likely that they could have addressed these threats in a complementary fashion, far better, quicker, and far more efficiently and profitably. I could even see the likelihood under this scenario that the overall drastic market number decline could have been somewhat halted, or possibly even reversed ...... :cat:




Chosun :gh:

Seems the key to leadership in future photography will be computation and sensor integration, rather than optics know how.
That implies radical restructuring of the sector. Only Sony has the sensor know how in house, but no one, not even Sony, has all the pieces together as yet.

Imho, the image compositing technology that Light is introducing to the mainstream with the HMD Nokia 9 PureView is just the first boulder in an avalanche. It suggests that the classic photography leaders such as Nikon, Pentax and Fuji will join other august names as DEC and Wang in the pantheon of firms that failed to make the transition when technology changed. I exempt Canon only because their camera business is less than 10% of the enterprise.

etudiant said:

Seems the key to leadership in future photography will be computation and sensor integration, rather than optics know how.
That implies radical restructuring of the sector. Only Sony has the sensor know how in house, but no one, not even Sony, has all the pieces together as yet.

Imho, the image compositing technology that Light is introducing to the mainstream with the HMD Nokia 9 PureView is just the first boulder in an avalanche. It suggests that the classic photography leaders such as Nikon, Pentax and Fuji will join other august names as DEC and Wang in the pantheon of firms that failed to make the transition when technology changed. I exempt Canon only because their camera business is less than 10% of the enterprise.

Click to expand...

Valid observations. There certainly is a lot of progress in computational photography. In the smartphone arena this a necessity to overcome the limitations of the physics of smaller sensors. The so called "telephoto" lens sensors on smartphones are typically even smaller than the usual main lens 1/2.3" sensor.

The OPPO "10x" module I posted above is in fact 159mm equivalent, and so compared to the '50mm' standard is really only a 3.2× normal view telephoto. (though for some strange reason people seem to regard 28mm equivalent as representative of the normal view in smartphones - which would make it 5.7× the normal view). Regardless it is still genuinely short telephoto, though I note they didn't mention the sensor size - it's smaller than compact camera size though - the one used on the 16mm lens.

With a reasonably sized 'phablet' now running circa 140mm+ high (around twice+ human ipd), I'm surprised that with the advent of multi-camera units that some maker hasn't put a main camera group at either end (top and bottom) to capture '3D' views with binocular vision. Twice or more the ipd distance would offer a nice degree of stereopsis at closer target distances. Eventually even the telephoto modules like the Oppo will drop enough in price to include one at each end. Smartphone photos could then be optically captured to look something like the view through a Yosemite 6×30 porro !!

These competitive pressures are why we have seen the flight to FF with its inherent low light, low noise advantages. Even Zeiss have gotten in on the act with its Mirrorless FF Android camera https://m.dpreview.com/articles/179...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source

Nikon seems to have designed some reasonably compact high performing lenses for its new Z system. Canon have gone for larger heavier faster lenses. Though their remarkably compact Mirrorless R mount 70-200 f2.8 seems like a real innovation. The key strength for both is in their fast supertelephoto (real ones of 400mm+) lenses. These systems do something no smartphone can do. These will eventually migrate from their DSLR mounts to the new Mirrorless mounts. As I have said, I would've liked that to be a common CaNikon 'RZ' mount, but that was clearly a step too far, too soon for both companies.

Sony has it's recently released 'Eye AF' to apply pressure for this transition to happen within the one last generation of DSLR's due for the 2020 Olympics. I have even recently read translated Japanese reports saying that Nikon has released it's own 'Eye AF' focusing firmware update for the Z's, and even had this capability before but we're too modest /risk averse to claim it.

Can Nikon and Canon both survive in the photographic space - for the medium term - I think yes (based on the sports /wildlife /birding /low light capabilities). It will be a matter of how they leverage this high end capability into viable mid and entry level businesses. Eventually, optics (as they are produced today) run into resolution limits for higher and higher MP sensors. Current leading edge lenses should be good for 8K capture at least. Beyond that I imagine bigger, heavier, and more expensive until other limits (like portability utility) start to come into play. Things like curved sensors and quad pixel sensors would help here, but of course these are also available to smartphone makers to develop too.

As for Pentax and Fujifilm - I think they face an extremely uphill battle. At least Fujifilm has a viable APS-C ecosystem. How Pentax would survive long term in the face of all this FF Mirrorless onslaught is difficult to imagine - nostalgia?

Of course all the computational photography, AI methods are also available to the traditional camera makers. The question is will they be forward thinking enough to utilise them? or will hubris win the day and seal their fate? ..... and that's just those that have the resources. The real minnows will find it difficult to even have that option.



Chosun :gh:

Apple announces winners of its 2019 'Shot on iPhone' Challenge

Just for interests sake - this is what some of the best of the smartphonophiles are doing ....
https://m.dpreview.com/news/4169223662/apple-announces-winners-of-its-2019-shot-on-iphone-challenge

Some of these photos are a bit clichéd, but some I really like - on the cursory examination I did on my HD phone screen they seem to hold up pretty well ....





Chosun :gh:

Nikon interview: 'The view through the viewfinder should be as natural as possible'

Fascinating interview with some Nikon Execs on all things mirrorless.
Particularly revealing on the key goals for Mirrorless -
* such as viewfinder performance targets and performance realities,
* the Mirrorless vs DSLR futures question,
* Hi-speed Mirrorless,
* the Z6 : Z7 sales split vs the 50 : 50 prediction, and,
* the future of DX Mirrorless
etc ....

https://m.dpreview.com/interviews/3...e-viewfinder-should-be-as-natural-as-possible

It's worthwhile to quote a chunk of the article here (and the whole thing is well worth a read :t:

"How do you think the market for full frame mirrorless will evolve?

In terms of hardware, it is likely that mirrorless will catch up with DSLR. But one thing that is a challenge is the time lag of electronic viewfinders. Even though we have a great mirrorless [solution], we cannot beat the optical viewfinder.

For really high-level professional photographers at sports events and so on, I believe that the DSLR will survive. I think there will be a synergy between DSLR and mirrorless, so we can expand the market moving forward.

I hesitate to talk about our competitors, but while Sony only offers mirrorless cameras, both Nikon and Canon offer DSLR and mirrorless, so there are more options for our customer bases. DSLR and mirrorless cameras have their own unique characteristics.

{The Nikon Z6 and Z7 feature a high-resolution electronic viewfinder which prioritizes clarity and sharpness over response speed. One of the secrets behind the large, sharp viewfinder image is the complex optical unit behind the display panel, which contains multiple elements including an asphere.}

The Z6 and Z7 offer very high resolution finders, at the expense of response speed, compared to some competitors. Why did you make this decision?

There are various factors, however we decided on three main pillars for the Z system. The first pillar is a new dimension of optical performance. The second is reliability, both in terms of the hardware and also the technology, and the third is future-proofing of that technology.

The view through the viewfinder should be as natural as possible

To touch on the first pillar, optical performance, we’re really trying to be the best and provide the ultimate performance of the viewfinder. The view through the viewfinder should be as natural as possible. To achieve that goal we did two things - we focused on the optics, and also on image processing.

With current technology there is always some time lag, it will take some time and if we want to shorten the response time and compromise in terms of resolution, the [experience] deteriorates. Of course, we’ll continue to try to make the response time shorter.

Is it more important for the viewfinder response to be faster in a camera more geared towards speed?

That depends. In the Z7, our first priority was not speed. Therefore, if we were going to launch a camera focused on speed, we’d need to review [viewfinder responsiveness]."


..... I think they would also need to sweet talk Sony (or an alternate supplier) into supplying them with the cutting edge EVF's when they are first released. Already high end Sony Mirrorless cameras have a greater scan rate of 120fps, and they have a 5.1M dot unit that they have developed too (expect that to appear in the next gen Sony flagships) :cat:




Chosun :gh:

Quad Camera Huawei P30 Pro Smartphone with 125mm eq folded optics Tele lands

Huawei has released the P30 Pro.
A smartphone with quad cameras, one of which is a 125mm eq Tele, and it also features field-of-view fusion, and computational photography. The primary camera is a 1/1.7" 40MP sensor that puts out 10MP images from a 27mm eq f1.6 lens.
https://m.dpreview.com/news/1108118049/close-look-huawei-p30-pro

Plenty of food for thought ! ...... :cat:



Chosun :gh:

Interesting Interview Revelations .....

https://www.imaging-resource.com/ne...re-of-autofocus-plus-expect-more-aps-c-bodies
A very interesting interview with the GM of Sony Imaging Products - talking all things: Market potential, APS-C, Processors, Sensors, AF, AI, and Computational Photography. This is particularly interesting given that Sony plans to merge their Smartphone and existing Imaging businesses.
https://m.dpreview.com/news/2460195...r-new-electronics-products-and-solutions-unit

Nikon has also revealed more about the benefits of the Z mount, AF, and the strengths and futures of DSLR and Mirrorless. They are cagey about the future rollout of Z mount superteles etc and APS-C, other than to say that both F and Z mounts will be supported and developed in parallel.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/ne...-help-lens-design-and-af-nikon-tech-interview

Given the way Sony is trumpeting the benefits of it's E mount being compatible with both FF and APS-C, suggests that Nikon will also have to go down this track by using the Z mount for the APS-C Mirrorless line. Judging by what they have said, there can be gains in lens performance and compactness by using the Z mount. :king:

I don't think a brand new smaller, short FFL mount is realistic for Nikon's APS-C Mirrorless, so Z mount it will be. The only caveat is that they may surprise with a limited range of entry level F mount APS-C Mirrorless to replace the D3500, and despite the wasted mirror box distance, at least get that up and running natively with the existing DX DSLR catalogue .... just a guess. This would go some way to matching Canon with it's mirrorless M mount for APS-C, even though I expect they too will eventually offer Pro level R mount APS-C mirrorless products. :cat:

There was a bit of a rumour of the next Nikon mirrorless release being APS-C (some sort of entry level type) , but the details were that thin on the ground as to sit on that one ....




Chosun :gh:

You probably saw the summary on NikonRumors:

• Nikon is working to make the autofocus in mirrorless Z cameras as good as the Nikon D5: "We are in the middle of the process of trying to catch up with the tracking functions that the D5 currently provides."
  
• On Nikon Z AF: "phase-detect pixels can continuously monitor subject distance while the lens is moving its focus elements. Combined with the very high-speed body/lens communication the Z-mount provides, this can potentially lead to much better tracking performance for moving subjects."

The AF and tracking is my biggest problem with the Z7/Z6. it just isn't nearly as good as the d500/d850 for action. Sony has done amazing things with the A9/A7Riii/a6400.

Marc

Nikon Z6 hands on

Lots of interesting discussion here - some of it accurate.

I'm using the Nikon Z6 for bird photography these days. I've used it with the 600 f/4 AFS, 200-500 f/5.6 AFS, and many other lenses, but my favorite birding kit is the Z6, FTZ adapter, Nikon 300 f/4 AFS lens, and the Nikon TC14E II teleconverter.

I've seen reference to 3D tracking for Nikon, and bird photography should never use that mode. I'm using Dynamic AF for slow moving or perched subjects, and Wide Small or sometimes Wide Large for birds in flight or other similar unobstructed subjects. My "in-focus" keeper rate is slightly better than the D810 but short of the D500 and D850 for subjects that are moving rapidly such as in flight. But for perched or static subjects, AF is better with the Z6 than other cameras.

The one big setup trick I'm using for small birds is I have set the Fn1 button to zoom. This allows me to toggle a zoom at 50% or 100% through the EVF. I can use that to check focus, review images, or simple view a subject at high magnification like electronic binoculars.

How does the new Eye-AF compare for ease / speed of use, and accuracy compared to the methods folks started out shooting Nikon Z Mirrorless (such as Eric mentioned above for static birds). What about BIF ?
Judging by size of the "eye detect" focus square I wonder whether this feature has any relevance for bird photographers at the less than ideal distances most of our subjects usually are ...... ?

I have to say that looking at this very interesting YouTube "test" I'm a bit disappointed (and surprised) that Nikon isn't further ahead of the curve in Mirrorless AF given their vast experience at Pro photography ..... Sony seems well ahead in Eye-AF .....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxqa_f6LsQI





Chosun :gh: