A decade of affordable digital system cameras

In August 2003, Canon launched the EOS 300D. It was not the first digital SLR camera. Both Canon and Nikon had models preceding it. But it was the first truly affordable DSLR camera. Still a lot more expensive than a similar camera today, but it was sold at a price that most enthusiasts could justify.

Prior to this launch, people interested in photography would typically still use film based SLRs, or digital cameras without interchangeable lenses. So it is fair to say that the camera started a big change in the camera market: Affordable digital system cameras. Here is a look at what has happened over the last decade.

Mirrorless cameras: Smaller wide angle lenses

Compared with DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras have lost the mirror, obviously. This makes the construction simpler, but there is also a more important factor: It allows putting the lens mount closer to the imaging sensor, giving a shorter register distance.

A shorter register distance means that wide angle lenses can be constructed simpler. With a long register distance, typically for a DSLR camera, you need a complicated retrofocal optical design to make wide angle lenses. With a shorter distance, the lens design becomes simpler, and you can make smaller, lighter, and less expensive wide angle lenses.

Here is a good example. On the left, there is the Yasuhara Madoka 180 7.3mm f/4 (my review), designed for the Sony E-mount mirrorless system. On the right, is the Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 with an adapter for Sony E-mount. Both are circular fisheye lenses for the APS-C sensor size. But the lens on the right is designed for use on DSLR cameras, with a longer register distance.

Beyond being designed for mirrorless and DSLR, respectively, the lenses are a bit different. The Lensbaby covers a slightly wider field of view, and has a marginally larger maximum aperture. The Yasuhara lens is more distorted in the edges, and has the better optical performance. But by and large, the lenses do the same thing. And there is a huge difference in the size. Which lens would you rather bring along?

Bokeh part 3

In part 1, I discussed what bokeh is (the nature of out of focus rendering). I also illustrated that the larger the aperture, the more selective focus. In part 2, I compared the bokeh between some different lenses.

Here, I am going to illustrate how the sensor size affects the degree of selective focus. Some would say "the amount of bokeh", but that is the wrong use of the term. I'll stick to the correct nomenclature in this article, to avoid angering people.

First off, here is a comparison of common sensor sizes:

The full frame sensor size is derived from the common 135 film format, commonly used in SLR and compact cameras. At this time, there is only one mirrorless camera system which uses a full frame sensor, the Sony A7 series. You'll also find full frame sensors in Nikon D810 and Canon 5D III DSLR cameras, to name a couple.

Old bag, new bag

Camera bags are very personal things. A bag that works well for me, might be totally wrong for someone else.

For the last seven years, I have used the Tamrac Velocity 6x sling bag. I have used it extensively, so much that I needed to replace it with a new bag. And what better bag to buy than exactly the same model? Here they are, the new to the left, and the old to the right:

Is metal better?

The last years, there has been a clear trend within consumer electronics: The devices must have a smooth metal surface. This is perceived as a mark of quality: Metal means solidity for the general public.

One example is the Lumix G 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 (my review) pancake zoom lens, seen below (to the left) compared with the older Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (my review):

Lumix G 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 (left), Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (right)

The older black lens has a plastic body, while the newer silver lens has a bare metal surface.

Product news, sensor size is the new megapixel race

The camera industry is in a crisis. People have more or less stopped buying basic compact cameras, since mobile phones take good enough pictures anyway. Also DSLRs are seeing less sales.

There are two areas which still see good sales: Premium compacts and mirrorless cameras.

Panasonic used to be king of the premium compact line, with the Lumix LX7, and the Leica rebranded version. However, Sony raised the bar significantly with the RX100 series of cameras with a larger 1 inch sensor.

Panasonic's answer was the Lumix LX100, with an even larger sensor, however, now the camera is getting worringly larger than the predecessor. Also Canon wants to take part in this segment, with their Canon G7 X, also sporting a 1 inch sensor. Both of these cameras have significant issues, though: The Lumix camera lacks an articulated LCD screen, and the Canon lacks an EVF.

4K video

When the Lumix GH4 camera (my review) was launched this spring, it was a game changer. It was the first affordable interchangeable lens camera to feature 4K video recording. Since this time, we have seen some competition.

One concert, two cameras

I had the chance to bring two different cameras to a concert, to see how they compare. I brought the Lumix GH4 with the Leica 25mm f/1.4, and the Nikon 1 V3 with the Nikon 18.5mm f/1.8. Both systems are shown below:

Even if the lenses have different focal lengths, they still have the same field of view, because of the different crop factors of the cameras systems. Both are what we usually call "normal lenses", with the classic 50mm equivalent field of view.

Also, both lenses are quite fast, in the sense that they have a large maximum aperture. This makes them well suited for use in dark venues. And the concert venue was very dark indeed, also having oddly coloured artificial stage lights which makes the exposure very tricky.

Basic tele lenses compared

All camera systems have a cheap tele zoom lens available. Here are two such lenses, the Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6 for Micro Four Thirds, and the Nikon 1 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 for the Nikon 1 system:

The Nikon lens is seen here in a glossy orange finish. I guess it could have been worse, it could have been pink. Yes, this lens also exists in pink!

Both lenses cover a fairly wide range of tele focal lengths, useful for daily use. The range of the lenses is illustrated in the diagram below, in 135 film equivalent terms. You can also compare the maximum aperture as a function of the field of view:

Third party grip for the GM1, LB-GM1

The Lumix GM1 is a fascinating camera: Very small, nicely designed, has good external controls despite the size, and offers top image and video quality.

The only problem I have with it, is the lack of a proper grip. It is awkward to hold.

There is the official grip, which I reviewed here. However, it is quite expensive, and it blocks the tripod mount, and the battery and SD card compartment. Which makes it less than optimal, to say the least.