Only High-End Camera Gear Sales Did Not Fall Down In Japan Last Year

Japanese agency Cipa published the digital camera market sales analysis for 2012. The report is available in Japanese only but here is some key information:

  • Japanese companies produced 44% less cameras (14,4 Million cameras).
  • The compact camera production declined by 50% (11,2 Million cameras produced).
  • The DSLR and the mirrorless production declined by 25% (3,1 Million cameras produced).
  • Only high-end camera and lens sales had a little growth. There is a growth of 14,1% in the full-frame lens production while APS-C lens production felt by 21%.
  • In the Japanese DSLR segment Sony has a 6,1% share. In 2010 Sony had 7,8%. Canon (52,2%) and Nikon (33,6%) are the leaders.

Click on these two thumbnails to see the most sold Mirrorless and DSLR cameras:

[Photoscala via Sonyalpharumors]

A Bit Of Everything

Canon Rebel SL1 In Stock and Ready To Ship (plus a hands-on review)

Rebel SL1

B&H has Canon’s new Rebel, the world’s smallest DSLR, in stock and ready to ship. The Canon Rebel SL1/EOS 100D with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is on sale for $799 (click here).

They also posted a hands-on review about the Rebel SL1. Core specs:

  • 18.0MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 5 Image Processor
  • 3.0″ Clear View II Touchscreen LCD
  • ISO 100-12800, Expandable to 25600
  • Full HD 1080 Video with Continuous AF
  • 4.0 fps Continuous Shooting
  • 9-Point AF System
  • Scene Intelligent Auto Mode
  • Compact and Lightweight; Weighs 0.8 lb
  • EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens

Samyang/Rokinon Tilt-Shift 24mm To Be Released In Mid-May (and sample images)

Tilt-Shift 24mm

(source: dicahub, slrclub)

Samyang Poland posted a press release with some sample images taken with the Samyang/Rokinon Tilt-Shift 24mm. More sample images can be seen at pophoto.

The Samyang/Rokinon Tilt-Shift 24mm should be available in Europe mid-May 2013, price tag: Eur 979. The lens is already available in Korea (1,060,000 Won). It will first be available for Canon EF and other mounts (F, A). Other mount types will follow later.

The lens is available for pre-order for $999 (click on shop name): Adorama, B&H and Amazon.

  • Wide-Angle Tilt-Shift Prime Lens
  • Full Frame/35mm Format
  • Aperture Range: f/3.5-22
  • Maximum Tilt: +/- 8.5º
  • Maximum Shift: +/- 12mm
  • Mount Rotation: 90º Left and Right

Samyang Poland press release:

Samyang Tilt-Shift 24mm to be released in mid-May

T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC, the new Samyang lens featuring the perspective control function, will be soon released on the European market. The lens was first presented at last year’s Photokina fairs in Cologne. Thanks to the advanced optics and sophisticated mechanical construction, this new Korean lens comes as a highly competitive tool which may outdistance other products in this category.

Source of inspiration

Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC is a wide-angle prime lens designed for full frame cameras. Its optics and mechanic features enable independent shift of the optical axis and lens plane tilt. This feature, combined with the Tilt-Shift section rotation function, gives unlimited range of image creation options with the use of perspective and depth of field. New Samyang lens is an ideal tool for landscape and architecture photography, but it’s also a limitless source of inspiration for ambitious photographers who express their emotions in new ways, through unique perspectives, precise placed focal planes, corrected convergence of lines within the frame and high-resolution panoramas.

Broad potential

Tilt-Shift function of the lens allow for smooth adjustment of the focal plane angle (from -8.5 to +8.5 degrees) and parallel shift of the lens optical axis by ±12 millimetres. Given sections responsible for tilt-shift function may be rotated to the left by 30, 60 or 90 degrees against each other. Since the bayonet mount may be also independently rotated to the right by ± 90 degrees, also at 30 degrees increments.

Technical precision

The wide range of functionalities of this Tilt-Shift lens required designing sophisticated optics based on highest quality elements had to be designed. For this reason Samyang T-S 24mm comes with sixteen lenses divided into eleven groups. The optics includes two aspherical lenses (ASP) to prevent spherical aberration effect and two lenses made of low dispersion glass to reduce chromatic aberration to the minimum. Such construction allows to obtain great details reproduction and slight bokeh typical of the highest quality lenses. Each lens is covered with multi-layer anti-reflective UMC coatings which provide perfect light transmission, high contrast and faithful colour reproduction.

Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC will be initially available with mounts for Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony A. Versions with Canon M, Fujifilm X, Samsung NX and Sony will also be released.

Suggested retail price of the product in Poland is 3975 PLN, in Europe is 979 EUR.

The first batch of the lenses will be released in mid-May 2013.