Product news

Here is a summary or recent interesting product news, and my comments to them.

Panasonic GX7

Of course, the big news right now is the Panasonic Lumix GX7, which was announced on August 1st.



To better understand what the fuss is all about, let's look a the key features of the GX7, compared with other premium mirrorless cameras:

Camera	Crop factor	Tilt LCD	EVF	IBIS	PDAF	Flash	Compact	Focus peaking	Price
Lumix GX7	2x	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	$900
Olympus E-M5	2x	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Medium	No	$900
Olympus E-M1	2x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Medium	Yes	$1400
Olympus E-P5	2x	Yes	Optional	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	$950
Lumix GH3	2x	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	$1100
Lumix G6	2x	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Medium	Yes	$750
Sony NEX-6	1.5x	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	$650
Sony A7	1x	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	$1700
Sony A7R	1x	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	$2300
Fujifilm X-Pro1	1.5x	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	$1200
Fujifilm X-E1	1.5x	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	$800
Fujifilm X-E2	1.5x	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1000
Canon EOS M	1.6x	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	$300
Nikon 1 V2	2.7x	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	$800

By looking at the table above, it is clear that the GX7 ticks a lot of the boxes, and that is why it has generated so much interest. People have been complaining about the high initial price of the GX7, but comparing with other cameras with similar features, the price does not look so bad.

The GX7 is the first Panasonic MFT camera to feature in-body image stabilization (IBIS). Previously, this was the realm of Olympus only. It is clear, though, that the IBIS of the GX7 is not as advanced as that of the Olympus E-M5 or E-P5. Still, it will make it more easy to use non-OIS prime lenses with the GX7, like the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 or the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 in low light.

On-sensor PDAF is the new hype nowadays. This has not yet been implemented with Micro Four Thirds cameras. PDAF promises faster AF, and less focus jogging back and forth to confirm the focus. CDAF, which is used by Micro Four Thirds cameras, does very well for single frame photos of non-moving objects. This is more than good enough already with Micro Four Thirds cameras. Where PDAF could improve this further, is continuous focus following moving objects, and autofocus during video recording.

However, I think it is fair to say that the real life benefit of on-sensor PDAF is unclear still. Even without PDAF, I think that the Panasonic GH3 focuses really fast during video. And based on what I have read, the PDAF currently used is somewhat limited in effectiveness.

Another area where Micro Four Thirds has been slow to catch up, is focus peaking. This is a technique which aims to highligh areas in focus in the viewfinder, to aid manual focus. See it demonstrated here with Sony NEX-3N. However, the newest MFT cameras now feature focus peaking, making it easier to use adapted legacy lenses.

The Panasonic Lumix GX7 also adds a retro like look, appearing to be inspired by Olympus and Fujifilm. However, it appears to retain a good ergonomy, based on the pictures. I think it has the potential to become a really popular camera.

At this time, Sony and Olympus have started cooperation between their camera businesses. This could give Sony access to the IBIS technology, and Olympus access to PDAF, further filling in the gaps in the table above. According to rumours, the coming high end Olympus OM-D E-M1 will feature on-sensor PDAF technology from Sony.

Panasonic have said in interviews that they don't plan to implement on-sensor PDAF in the near future.

Of course, people don't choose a camera system based on these key technologies alone. The lens selection is also important. And Micro Four Thirds has a very good lens selection, much better than the competitors. The lenses are also smaller than similar lenses from other systems.

Panasonic Leca DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2

Here's a premium, large aperture portrait lens. Panasonic have co-branded it with Leica, meaning that it gets a high price tag, and a very good quality. This lens is for those who think that Olympus 45mm f/1.8 does not have a large enough aperture, or need more selective focus. The new lens is also going to be better for hand held video recording, since it features OIS.

Canon EOS 70D

Canon have struggled in the sensor department the most recent years. They have used their 18MP sensor technology in a number of camera generations, and have lagged behind the competition.



With the Canon EOS 70D, though, they aim to correct this. The camera has a brand new 20MP sensor, which is very innovative. Essentially, every one of the 20 million sensor photosites are split in two. When focusing, the camera can compare the light coming from different parts of the lens onto the same pixel, to see if they are out of phase, and how much. This should make the camera able to see if the image is in focus, or if it is focused too close or too far, and if so, by how much. Hence, you should get PDAF focus performance, also with the mirror up.

And this is important. A lot of people like to compose images on the LCD, rather than using the optical viewfinder, and they expect the focus to be as fast with LCD viewing. This camera is aimed towards them, and Canon is also gearing up to use this technology in their future mirrorless cameras. After all, their first mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS M focuses horribly slow, in my experience. So Canon really needs this technology.

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8

For APS-C DSLR cameras, Sigma have announced the 18-35mm f/1.8 large aperture zoom lens. It is the largest aperture zoom lens made for DSLR cameras, and is probably going to be very popular. Previously, you needed to buy prime lenses to get this speedy aperture.



So, is Sigma going to release this lens for Micro Four Thirds? I doubt it. First of all, the focal length is not as useful for Micro Four Thirds, where normal zoom lenses usually start at 14mm. Also, this lens is designed for the long register distance of DSLR cameras. Everything else similar, Sigma should be able to design the lens smaller for Micro Four Thirds, due to the shorter register distance. Usually, wide angle lenses are easier to design on a shorter register distance.

If mirrorless cameras start selling more, then Sigma might design a large aperture zoom lens specifically for this format, which could be smaller in size.