3
Photography News | Issue 60 | photographynews.co.uk
News
Photokina report
from and Panasonic, a fixed-lens Zeiss and a new lens mount championed by Leica, Sigma and Panasonic. And Fujifilm gatecrashed the party with a newmedium-format camera that it called (tongue firmly in cheek) ‘super full-frame’. In all, it was a good Photokina and over the next six pages we bring you all the news from the show. Canon, Nikon
Last month, the imaging world assembled for Photokina in Cologne, Germany, and Photography News went along too. Lots of new kit in lots of product sectors was unveiled but this year’s show will be remembered as the year of full-frame.
After several years when the emphasis was on the weight- saving APS-C and Micro Four Thirds formats, the camera brands – almost as one – have realised that the 35mm full- frame still has huge potential, and we saw mirrorless systems
FujifilmGFXsystemexpands Sensor
Specat aglance
51.4 megapixels Sensor format 43.8x32.9mm Bayer array ISO range
Fujifilm unveiled its medium- format mirrorless camera system at the last Photokina two years ago to much critical acclaim. At this year’s show a second model was announced and will be on sale later in the year; a third model is in development for a 2019 launch. The Fujifilm GFX 50R has a 51.4-megapixel 43.8x32.9mmCMOS Bayer sensor and features the X-Processor Pro processor, so the
same imaging system as the GFX 50S: and we know how good that camera is. However, the GFX 50R body at just 66.4mm thick is 25mm thinner and lighter by 145g when compared with the GFX 50S, so it’s even more portable. The GFX 50R’s styling harks back to Fujifilm’s popular medium- format rangefinder film cameras. The rangefinder styling means the viewfinder eyepiece is to the extreme left of the body (when viewed from behind) so you can have one eye up to the eyepiece while keeping your other eye on the subject. The EVF viewfinder itself is 0.77x with 3.69million dots to give a lifelike view of the subject. The GFX 50R’s body is sealed in 64 places to give dust and weather resistance and the camera can perform at -10°C. Key body features include two large control dials for adjusting shutter speed and exposure compensation, and there is a focus lever for quick adjustment of the focus point. Finally, it is the first GFX model with Bluetooth so you can quickly transfer images to your smart device via the free Fujifilm Remote app. The GFX 50R is priced at £3999 body only and is available to pre- order now. The GFX lens system is already up to eight options, covering from 23mm to 250mm (equivalent to Panasonic and Sigma. So, for example, the already-announced Panasonic S Series has very much a professional image-creator focus with the two models giving the option of 24- or 47-megapixel sensors. Sigma has already said it will be develop a Foveon full- frame sensor to make the most of the L-Mount. The Foveon sensor is different from other imaging sensors with pixel sites that are sensitive to all colours of light; unlike Bayer and Fujifilm X-Trans sensors where each pixel is sensitive to either red, green or blue light. The Alliance is all about the lens mount too. So it might be that
100-12,800, expansion to ISO 50 and 25,600, 51,200 and 102,400 Shutter range Mechanical shutter 60min to 1/4000sec, Bmode (up to 60min) Electronic shutter 60min to 1/16,000sec, Bmode (up to 60min) Flash sync 1/125sec or slower Drive modes Single, continuous up to 3fps Metering system TTL 256 zone with multi, spot, centre and average patterns Exposure modes PASM Exposure compensation +/-5 EV in 0.3EV steps Monitor 3.2in, 2360k dot touch screen Viewfinder 0.5in EVF with 3.69million dot OLED Focusing TTL contrast AF with single point (13x9 or 25x17 grid), zone AF (3x3, 5x5, 7x7 from 117 areas in 13x9 grid) and wide tracking AF Storage media SD card Dimensions (wxhxd) 160.7x96.5x66.4mm Weight 775g with battery and card
18mm and 198mm respectively in the 35mm format). Three more GF lenses were added to the GFX lens roadmap: the GF100-200mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR telephoto zoom (equal to 111-221mm in the 35mm film format); the GF45-100mm f/4 R LM OIS WR medium telephoto zoom (36-79mm) and a compact and lightweight lens, the GF50mm f/3.5 R LMWR (40mm). The development announcement was for the GFX 100. Key features include a 100-megapixel resolution, the X-Processor 4 and phase if one company developed, say, an innovative flashgun or a new exposure system, such innovation would not appear on the products of the other two members. The L-Mount has been developed with the 35mm full- frame format in mind but will also work with APS-C sensors. Its diameter is 51.6mm which will permit the design of fast aperture lenses, and the flange distance is just 20mm and this will help to design smaller lenses. The shorter flange distance will also enable adapters to be made to take lenses of different mounts. The benefits are the same as the Canon EOS R, Nikon Z and Sony E bayonet mounts which can accept legacy lenses as well as other brands.
detection AF across almost the whole sensor for speedy, accurate focusing and there are a couple of world firsts. To get the most from the sensor’s ultra high resolution the GFX 100will be the world’s first medium-format camera to have an in-body image stabilisation system and it’ll also be the first medium- format camera to shoot 4K video. No price was confirmed for the GFX 100 but US$10,000 (plus sales tax) was quoted for the body only.
Above In a standing-room-only press conference, a larger-than-life Toshihisa Iida, general manager of Fujifilm's Optical Device and Electronic Imaging Products Division, proudly shows off the newGFX 50R.
fujifilm.eu/uk
L of anAlliance
Leica, Panasonic and Sigma have formed a strategic partnership called the L-Mount Alliance. The L-Mount was developed by Leica and under the Alliance, long-term collaborators Panasonic joined by Sigma have use of the four- prong L-bayonet. It is not an open standard so other brands can’t use the L-bayonet unless the Alliance agrees to it. The three Alliance members will develop products independently and according to their own brand values, so it will be very likely that a Leica L-Mount camera will have a very different specification when compared with the models from
Above The faces of the L-Mount. From left to right: Kazuto Yamaki, CEO, Sigma Corp; Dr Andreas Kaufmann, chairman of the advisory board, Leica Camera; and Junichiro Kitagawa, director consumer marketing division, Panasonic Corp, after the announcement of the L-Mount Alliance on 25 September at Photokina.
l-mount.com
Powered by FlippingBook