The Best And Worst Gear Of 2018, According To DPReview TV

Chris and Jordan from DPReviewTV review the gear announced in 2018, and share their opinion about it.

According to Chris and Jordan, this is the situation:

BEST CAMERA 2018

  1. Fujifilm X-T3
  2. Sony A7 III
  3. Nikon Z 6

WORST CAMERA 2018

  1. Yashica Y35
  2. Pentax K1 II
  3. Fujifilm XF10

BEST LENS 2018

  1. Canon RF 50mm F/1.2L
  2. Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8
  3. Sony 24mm F/1.4 FE GM

WORST LENS 2018

  1. Sony 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6
  2. Nikon Z lenses, particulary the 50mm F/1.8

BEST VIDEO CAMERA 2018

  1. Panasonic GH5S
  2. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
  3. DJI Mavi II Pro

And here is the video. Enjoy, and share your thoughts in the comment section.

The Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Party Of 2018

Full Frame Mirrorless

2018 was an important year for the mirrorless camera industry. Canon launched the EOS R, Nikon released their Z line-up, and Panasonic announced their upcoming Lumix S1 and S1R cameras.

Reason enough for the folks at DPReview to make a short video animation about the state of the full frame mirrorless nation. Enjoy.

Have A Drink with Photographer Steve McCurry While He Tells About His Most Famous Pictures

Steve McCurry

Kate Snow had a drink with Steve McCurry, the photographer who shot the iconic Afghan Girl photo.

Listen McCurry informally talking and giving some background insight on his most regarded pictures. 15 minutes worth of your time.

[via NBC Nightly News via ISO 1200]

Canon Explains The Advantages Of The Larger Mount On The Canon EOS R

Eos R

DCWatch posted some information about an internal Canon presentation.

The benefits and advantages of the large diameter of the RF mount featured on the Canon EOS R are discussed. The main reason is that the RF mount allows for a new and improved lens design.

Apparently, Canon had a try to use the EF M mount for their EOS R full frame mirrorless camera (machine translated text):

Initially, Canon also considered to realize a 35mm full size with the EF-M mount of the APS – C mirrorless “EOS M” series, but satisfactory results were not obtained, such as no performance aimed at . And since the system becomes large when unnecessarily increasing the mount diameter, we actually designed multiple lenses, decided to 54mm while looking at the balance of optical merit and size, the strength of the camera and so on.

This didn’t work out well, as it seems.

Canon sees these main advantages of the larger mount:

  • more flexibility on where the optical elements have to go
  • larger elements can be placed closer to the sensor
  • lenses are easier to design
  • complex lenses like the RF 50mm f/1.2L and 24-70mm f/2L are feasible
  • vignetting and other optical issues are better controlled

Note that while most of the above points would have been technically done also with the EF M mount, Canon clearly decided to go for the new mount type on the Canon EOS R because of the many advantages.

Some rumor outlets still push the rumor that Canon might release an APS-C model in the EOS R line-up; that’s not going to happen.

Meyer Optik Görlitz Trademark Acquired, Lenses Will Be Made Again, No Money Back For Kickstarters

Meyer Optik Görlitz

News8.de reports that Meyer Optik Görlitz got acquired by another German company, OPC Optic. A press text can be read below.

Two important points to list:

  • OPC Optic will make Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses again
  • If you had a lens on preorder on Kickstarter/Indiegogo you will not get your money back. OPC Optic acquired the brand name but not the “net SE” company that is behind the mess. Still, OPC Optic is considering to give those people a discount on future lens purchases

The takeover by OPC Optics includes all brand rights to Meyer Optik Görlitz and the associated products. Open claims from customers and suppliers towards net SE remain with net SE.

Press release after the break.

[via Mirrorless Rumors]

Click here to open the rest of the article

Canon Dominates: EOS R Ranked First By Map Camera

Canon Eos R Firmware Update

Things look good for the EOS R in Japan. Map Camera reports that the EOS R was the top selling camera in November 2018. This stats are slightly different from BCN. BCN considers different camera kits while Map Camera rolls up all kits to a camera model.

The ranking:

  1. Canon EOS R
  2. Sony α7 III
  3. Nikon Z6
  4. Fujifilm X-T3
  5. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M6
  6. Sony α7R III
  7. Nikon Z7
  8. Olympus Tough TG – 5
  9. Nikon D850
  10. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

The Nikon Z6, although released earlier than the EOS R, didn’t manage to get above rank 3. The Fujifilm X-T3 on the other hand shows it can hold up to the full frame cameras and gets a respectable 4 place. It’s the highest ranking APS-C camera. However, it’s Canon to dominate. And that’s after just a short time the EOS R was released. So much to the “Canon has failed/is dead/will die soon” arguments.

[via Digicame Info]