November 2019

The advent of the LCD screen on the back of the digital camera was the real dawn of the age of electronic photography. The sensor, the processor, and all the other ancillary bits were also necessary, but it really did not gel in our minds until we could see that little coloured screen. Once we saw what we had just shot, we were hooked. The hook set even deeper when we could see what it was going to be...

Looks like there is to be a special package from Nikon this Christmas - they have embarked upon a small-frame mirrorless option for their Z-series of cameras. It's a package right now, with a body and two zoom lenses, though in the new year they may split it into separate sales items. But right now it's a team and a very good one at that. As you'll all know there were two Nikon Z-series cameras to start - Z7 and Z6 - and they are both full-frame 24 x 36mm bodies. Nikon then went all out with fresh engineering and designed an APS-C body to enter the product line. It is a little surprising to look down the throat of the Z-mount - itself a major size step from the old F mount and see a smaller sensor. But it is no bad thing - the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f: 3.5-5.6 Vr lens that fronts it is a great little general-purpose zoom. If it seems similar to the standard 18-55 focal range that Nikon put on their DX DSLR cameras, that is...

Sigma may make lenses for other people's cameras, but they have always done a lot of their own thinking. This has been evident in some of their choices - their own mount, their own sensor, their own DSLR, and their own mirrorless cameras. A lot of other firms make a fuss out of the mirrorless idea but Sigma still keeps on doing their own thinking. Witness the Sigma sd Quattro H. I just encountered it this week at CE and got to heft it. Not play with it - the battery was flat - but stare at it and test it out for ergonomic feel. To be honest, the look is off-putting, but the feel is superb. It has the appearance of being a camera assembled from different designs - and this is probably a good way to look at the disparate elements. The basic body is about what you'd expect from a mirrorless rectangle...

Cue dramatic music. Roll footage of medieval armies preparing for battle. Introduce animated flags either side of the picture: " Tilting Screen " vs " Fixed Screen ". Now let the customers and camera club members sqaure off and have a go at each other...

We pause a little in the week to consider a new camera from Fujifilm. Warwick Williams presented the Fujifilm X-Pro3 camera to us last night at the Murray Street store and it was a bit of a surprise. Not a complete one, mind - that's never possible these days when there are rumour sites abounding and DP Review seems to command first look at anything. But first look on the internet is nothing like the first look in actual life when you can handle the actual product and listen to an acknowledged factory expert. It ain't real until you can pick it up. Well I picked up the X- Pro3 body and gave it a chance to focus and shoot - and I was impressed. I say this as the owner of 5 more Fujifilm bodies; one of which is the X-Pro1. The two-generation gap between mine and the new one has been time and development well spent. You'll all have seen the controversy surrounding the flip-down screen and the little film tag window at the back. The film tag window did nothing...

Lenses. You need 'em and Sigma have 'em. And you could be forgiven for being overwhelmed sometimes when you stand in front of the Sigma cabinets in Murray Street or Stirling Street and start to imagine which one you need. Not surprising - Sigma has made their lenses to fit Nikon, Canon, Sony for years. They made their own mount - the SA mount for their own DSLR cameras, and you can get plenty of these still. And now they make lenses that could appear on Olympus and Panasonic cameras - the micro 4/3 mount. Not slowing down, they are supplying the new L mount as well, and this is where the camera taste buds started to throb - I spotted a new L mount lens in the cabinet. This 45mm f:2.8 lens - the left hand one in the picture - is dedicated to the new FP camera - as well as to other L mount cameras. It's marked as a " Contemporary " lens on the little silver side plate but that sounds like PR flak. Any lens you buy is...

Well, it seemed like that last Friday when I set up to review new gear and old ideas in Stirling Street. I had just resigned myself to the thought that there was nothing new under the sun when I turned around and saw the Sigma FP body sitting there...