The full frame Sony a850 is now officially discontinued at B&H. The camera was announced in August of 2009. The future of the Sony full frame DSLR line is unclear at that point. Sony did confirm that all future Alpha cameras will have translucent mirror technology.
Samsung’s representative confirmed to AP the existence of the 300mm f/2.8 XF ED lens prototype spotted in this promotional video three weeks ago. Currently there are no definitive plans to release this lens.
Back in February, Samsung already announced five NX lenses and the 60mm f/2.8 Macro ED OIS SSA seems to be already distributed to testers. A new 700mm NX lens is also expected. This summer Samsung will release two new mirrorless cameras: NX20 and NX200.
The retail price of the Sigma SD1 is $6,899 – almost $3,000 less than the initial MSRP of $9,700. This also explains why the SD1 kits were priced lower than the body.
The giveaway is now closed. I will announce the winner shortly.
What can I win?
In this giveaway you can win a Fujifilm Finepix X100 camera from Adorama. For those of you outside the US: Adorama was established in 1975 and is one of the major online retailers for photographic equipment in the States. They also offer classes, equipment rentals, Adorama TV, printing services and old equipment buyout program. If you are in New York, you can visit their store in Manhattan.
How do I win?
The rules are simple:
OR
This giveaway will be closed in one month.
Sigma's website still doesn't have a price for the SD1 camera
It’s Monday and the price of the Sigma SD1 is still $9700. I guess the initial price was not a typo. The SD1 kit prices are still lower than the price of the camera.
Few days ago Think Tank Photo released new and re-designed versions of their Speed Convertible bags. Those are hybrid bags that can be worn on the shoulder or as a belt pack. The new Speed Convertible series will be released on June 8th, 2011. You can sign up to this website and Think Tank will notify you once they get them in stock. This is a quick preview of the Speed Demon v2.0 from an early factory sample (click on each image for larger view). Check also the bigger Speed Freak v2.0 and Speed Racer v2.0 versions.
The Speed Demon can easily hold two flashes (Nikon SB-900), a pro body, a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (reversed hood) and another lens (in this case the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4). The top lid has a small opening for quick and easy access:
In a typical ThinkTank fashion, there is a large external pocket that includes a rain cover and multiple smaller compartments:
An interesting size comparison diagram between the upcoming Sony NEX C3 with the NEX 5, NEX 3, Olympus E-PL2 and Panasonic GF2 cameras:
This is a comment from Dan (@ZDP189) on my last Sigma SD1 post that I think it is worth sharing in a separate thread (you can check also Dan’s Fuji X100 review):
Ah, you’ve run into the old Foveon X3 pixel count vs resolution chestnut. Some say Foveon called their technology ‘X3′ because they overstate their resolution by three times.
Foveon’s argument is that Bayer sensors count one sensor element (each of which are monochrome, but tuned to red, green, or blue) as one pixel, so Foveon counts each sensor element as one pixel, even though red, blue and green are stacked on top of each other. In terms of file size alone, this is true.
However, it’s not a count of resolution as we know it. To most people, resolution represents how finely the image grid is laid out. By this measure, Foveon overstates their resolution by three times. The additional colour information is nice because it avoids certain colour artefacts, but it doesn’t represent extra resolution.
The reason it’s less than perfectly clear cut is that Foveon is less susceptible to moiré and the sensor has no anti-aliasing filter. AA filters reduce moiré by slightly averaging out detail, so the sensor is a little sharper without it. Some people claim to be able to see 2/3 of the resolution that Foveon claim. On the other hand, it is a matter of scientific fact that the difference of adding/removing the AA filter does not reduce/increase the resolution by a factor of two, let alone three times, so I think this claim of superior sensor resolution is bunkum. Indeed, many Bayer sensors have no AA filter these days; none of the Super Compacts have one. The X1 does not, the X100 does not. The M8 and M9 do not either. I have never read a complaint about these cameras having moiré issues. These cameras have great resolving power, but I wouldn’t claim that my X100 had 18MP, let alone 36MP.
