From Fujilove, Firmware Updates For GFX 50S, X-T3 and X-H1 Coming Soon.
Fujifilm is still improving the camera they already sold. My X-T3 will be happy with the video improvement.
Links
The DLSR will probably die
The Computational Photographer wrote The DSLR will probably die. Are mirrorless the future of large standalone cameras?.
Let’s see why I think the reflex design is doomed, even though it has dominated serious photography for decades.
[…]
The DSLR has to die because the mirror is too high a cost for its diminishing benefits. The mirror adds to the complexity of the camera and its manufacturing, it makes the camera bigger, and it introduces challenges for lens design. And its advantages don’t extend to video, which is an increasingly important usage case.
[…]
Furthermore, the mirror in DSLR severely constrains the design of lenses, by preventing lens elements to be placed near the sensor.
This goes in the same way as what I wrote in September in The future is mirrorless. The reflex design was addressing a constraint to be able provide a through-the-lens view which is now provided using the current sensor technology.
Zink archival quality
In today’s Instant photography there are two different technologies. The old instant film pioneered by Polaroid and now dominated by Fujifilm Instax, and the new digital printer, usually ink based, the later being pushed by the Polaroid brand (as opposed to Polaroid Originals), with Zink that uses thermal printing technology.
From All About Images, Zink Twice about Polaroid (their pun):
Polaroid and Zink have chosen not to provide any stability information on their products. One can only assume that the expected lifetime for this product must be poor, since if it were not, they would have every reason to publicize it.
Lifetime of prints is an important matter. I’m convinced that the majority of the digital photography archives will be lost to obsolete and failing technology, destructive services, etc. and that printing is one of the limited ways to preserve them. But prints have to be long lasting. Photographic paper like the Fujicolor Crystal Archive is rated for 70 years and this is way longer than Zink.
Fujifilm X-T3 teardown
Via PetaPixel, a Fujfilm X-T3 teardown:
But, the X-T3 is here, and it’s as beautiful as ever.
Aesthetically pleasing and minimally invasive, the X-T3 is an artist’s camera. Upon initial inspection of the retro chrome exterior, we found some fairly decent sealing around the ports and doors.
Previouly: the Canon EOS R teardown, and the Nikon Z7.
Flickr new account policy – the “Flickrpocalypse” is coming
This year, Flickr was bought from AOL, er, I mean OAth by SmugMug.
The new Flickr is changing their account policy for free accounts to a limit of 1000 photos/videos. The original Flickr was at 200. No problem, they want us, the users, to be the customers and not the product. They also need to operate in a way that is sustainable, and by do so they are giving an incentive to get a paid account (they call it “Pro”).
But there is one important detail, hidden in the fine print of another page:
Free members with more than 1,000 photos or videos uploaded to Flickr have until Tuesday, January 8, 2019, to upgrade to Pro or download content over the limit. After January 8, 2019, members over the limit will no longer be able to upload new photos to Flickr. After February 5, 2019, free accounts that contain over 1,000 photos or videos will have content actively deleted — starting from oldest to newest date uploaded — to meet the new limit.
After February 5 they will delete content, just based on date. What about these projects of the commons? What about these accounts of people that left us? They will be erasing a large cultural heritage, just like that, not taking the responsibility of stewarding the content they acquired. I think this is a bad move for them. It feels like a breach of trust ; it is perfectly ok to prevent upload on any unpaid account over 1000, but deleting it, it is not. Also they are voluntarily crippling something they need: inertia that the traffic drives, making the service more popular.
Just as a side note, my Flickr account is still under the threshold, there is currently no risk, until Flickr decide to change the limits later.
Creative Commons are working with them to mitigate the loss of some much Creative Commons material:
Flickr is one of the most important platforms to host and share CC licensed works on the web, and over 400 million of the photos there are CC licensed — representing over a quarter of all CC licensed works on the web.
And I know the Internet Archive team will be working hard on trying to mitigate the disaster.
Please, please, Flickr, don’t delete the content.
Update: it seems that there is a program to exempt institutions from this. Don MacAskill, SmugMug CEO donated 100-years of Flickr Pro to the Internet Archive, even though it is covered by the program. Also Cory Doctorow agrees with my suggestion. This is not a reversion of the delete policy, just a mitigation for the Commons.
Nikon Z7 teardown
LensRental, after doing it for the EOS R, tore down a Nikon Z7 to show what’s inside:
This is not marketing department weather resistance. This is engineering department weather resistance. Anything that can be sealed has been sealed. I’m impressed, and I will say for future cut-and-paste blurbs: this is as robustly weather sealed a camera as we’ve ever disassembled.
Remember this is a ~USD$3,500 camera body, which the build quality impressed.
What’s inside the EOS R
Lensrentals has a teardown of the Canon EOS R Mirrorless Camera. Nicely engineered camera, albeit nothing out of the ordinary.
It was rather a boring disassembly, really, about what we should expect for Canon doing a Canon 6D Mark II quality mirrorless camera. It’s neatly laid out and nicely engineered inside. One thing that struck me is that it’s not very crowded inside there, or as we like to say “they left a lot of air inside”.
Leica M-10D
Leica just announced the M10-D a M-mount rangefinder digital camera, that doesn’t have a screen or other controls at the back. Sounds familiar? It seems the timing is in sync with the Pixii I talked about yesterday. Similarly, to control anything but aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, you have to use the companion smartphone app.
The Leica M10-D is a stripped down version of the M10-P. Is it cheaper? No. Both have an advertised street price of USD$8,000.
Pixii
It is not everyday that there is a new rangefinder camera not made by Leica.
The French startup Pixii announced their camera.
The Pixii is a rangefinder digital camera (yes, an actual rangefinder) with an M mount for the lenses. Of course M39 screw mount lenses can be used with an adapter. There is not much known about the specs, neither the sensor size, nor the price. One of its key features is that it doesn’t have a screen, but rather just have connectivity to a smartphone.
From PetaPixel:
No word yet on pricing or availability. PIXII says those details will be announced in the coming weeks.
To be continued…
Yashica is not back
As I guessed a year ago, Yashica isn’t back. Petapixel has reports that Yashica’s “Unexpected” Y35 Camera is Worse Than Anyone Expected
While the concept may be novel and fun for people yearning for the look and feel of film cameras while having the convenience of digital, execution appears to have been lacking.
I personally didn’t believe the idea was any good. It seems that it is not even good in its making.