Samsung’s Global Download Center already has added the upcoming NX20 and NX200 cameras in their models list. In the past few months Samsung was not shy about making their NX20 and NX200 plans public: see previous statements from Samsung Russia and DDaily Korea.
Is the $9700 price tag of the Sigma SD1 a typo? Sigma advertises on their website a SD1 kit with the 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens for $7,819.00. The 85mm f/1.4 lens alone is listed for $1400 (street price is $969). I talked to a major photo equipment retailer today and they were waiting on some clarifications from Sigma on the price of the SD1 before they officially publish it online and start taking pre-orders. In fact, currently all SD1 kits are listed with a price lower than $9700:
Update: you can see some new sample images from the Sigma SD1 here (the site takes forever to load).
Yes, today Sigma did release the price an availability info on the 46MP SD1 camera: $9,700, starts shipping in early June. Don’t bother with pre-orders, I think there will be plenty of SD1 cameras lying around. Seriously, does anyone think that this price is reasonable?
Full press release with detailed specs and a 100% crop sample after the break:
According to the General Manager at Sigma Benelux, the Sigma SD1 will be released at the end of June, 2011. Sigma is currently running a SD1 giveaway that ends on May 31, 2011 – they better have the camera ready by then 🙂 Some other rumors suggested that the price and availability of the SD1 will be announced tomorrow (Friday).
See all Sigma SD1 related posts here.
Based on the latest patent application from Apple (20110119609), it seems that Aperture might be coming to the iPad:
The long expected Sony a77 camera is supposed to be announced on July 7, 2011. The kit price will be $1099 (with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens). Shipments should start in late September / early October. The surprise here of course is the low price, but there were already previous rumors indicating a price range between $900-$1200.
Going back to the picture of Samsung camera prototypes posted here yesterday – a reader reminded me about an old rumor that Samsung, Schneider Kreuznach and Alpa are working together to create the first, fully digital, medium format camera system. Why would Samsung have those large square camera prototypes next to their NX bodies? Can someone identify the silver lens attached to one of the square cameras? There are some similar Schneider Kreuznach lenses on eBay. You can check also schneideroptics.com.
SLR Magic contacted me to clarify the recent reports about them taking over Noktor’s website which happened just few days after Noktor officially closed it down. Obviously the old Noktor company went out of business. SLR Magic will now design Noktor lenses and sell Noktor products under the SLR Magic brand. No specific plans were given for the future of the Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds but SLR Magic representative confirmed that they are planing to continue the Noktor line with ultra fast lenses.
Next month SLR Magic will start shipping a new 28mm f/2.8 pancake lens for Sony NEX system:
After the earthquake in Japan, many companies have significantly reduced or completely eliminated their instant rebate programs. Canon currently has three different lens rebates:
See also the latest rebates from
I updated this post with several new Fuji X100 accessories:
Since I got my Fuji X100 two weeks ago, I spent some time online looking for accessories. First, the official accessories from Fujifilm: leather case LC-X100, lens hood + adapter ring LH-X100, adapter ring only AR-X100, flash EF-20 and flash EF-42:
Here is what else you can get:
Similar to a Leica M rangefinder, the release button of the Fuji X100 is pretty low and an optional soft release could be helpful. Various options are available on eBay, or you can just get this one from Adorama for $2.49. Here are three different soft releases on the Fuji X100 – I personally prefer the first one:
