Wednesday 11 January 2012

Announced: Fujifilm's 'NEW' Interchangeable Lens Camera- The Fujifilm X-Pro1

Fujifilm X-Pro1


2012 is going to be a good year! The most exciting news so far, is the announcement of Fujifilm's NEW compact interchangeable lens camera- The Fujifilm X-Pro1. Going on the technological breakthrough & success of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 & FinePix X10, the NEW Fujifilm X-Pro1 sounds incredibly appealing. But they have not just made an interchangeable version of the FinePix X100, they have pushed the boundaries of sensor technology again and the claims are very high.


The NEW APS-C sized 16 Megapixel  X-Trans CMOS Sensor has been newly developed for this camera. The RGB pixels are now grouped in 6x6's which delivers much greater colour reproduction & the optical low-pass filter removed, this in return reduces the occurrence of moire & false colours but still maintaining high resolution. This new sensor was inspired by the random arrangement of the fine grains of silver halide in film, and this is what Fujifilm claim: "The X-Trans CMOS™ sensor is capable of delivering resolution that is parallel, if not superior, to a full frame sensor". To translate the data sent by the new sensor with lightning speed, Fujifilm has also developed a new processing engine- the EXR PROCESSOR PRO.

But what of the lenses, i hear you say! Three NEW X-Mount prime lenses will be available at the launch of the camera- The XF18mm F2 R (135 equiv. 27mm), XF35mm F1.4 R (135 equiv. 53mm) & XF60mm F2.4 Macro (135 equiv. 91mm). These large aperture lenses will offer optimum quality in sharpness & colour rendition, nice depth-of-field & lovely background bokeh. Also, the large aperture creates very fast shutter speeds to capture action or photograph in low-light conditions.


The Fujifilm X-Pro1 also incorporates the next generation of OVF /Digital hybrid viewfinder- introduced on the Fujifilm FinePix X100. Using an Optical viewfinder on compact digital camera is such a breath of fresh air and our only concern revolves around the viewfinder. If Fujifilm releases future lenses (which are needed for it to become a successful system), how will it affect the Optical Viewfinder? Will additional lenses mean they can only be composed using the Digital part of the Viewfinder. 


The X-Pro1 has the retro leica-esque look & now it has versatility & quality to match. As long as additional lenses keep coming throughout the year, our prediction is that this will be the most sort after camera of 2012.  




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Tuesday 10 January 2012

Announced: The 'New' Canon Powershot G1 X

Canon Powershot G1 X (pictured)
Much anticipation has been thought over Canon's response to the Compact System Digital Camera's around today & the latest arrival of Nikon's NEW compact Interchangeable Lens cameras, the Nikon J1 & Nikon V1. But Canon is still reluctant to release a compact interchangeable lens system! Instead, we have the release of the NEW Canon Powershot G1 X. Looking at the Canon Powershot G1 X specification, in many ways we understand why:
  • Large 18.7mm x 14.0mm -14.3 MP CMOS sensor (measures approx. 6 times larger than the sensor in the Canon Powershot G12 & just marginally smaller than the APS-C sensor used in the Canon EOS 600D).
  • DIGIC 5 image processor allows for better Detail, Tone & Digital Noise Reduction even when using High ISO's up to ISO12800.
  • X4 Optical Zoom (Wide 28-112mm) with Intelligent Image Stabilisation
  • Optical Viewfinder + 3-inch Vari-Angle LCD screen (920k dots)
  • 4.5fps as a 6 frame burst
  • Full HD 1080p at 24fps
  • HDR mode & 3-stop in-built ND filter
Many Pro/Enthusiast Photographers use Canon's Powershot G' range as their compact camera because of their quality & control, & the Canon Powershot G1 X will be on all of those wish-list. The quality will be vastly improved & also the resulting images will have greater depth in regards to depth-of-field due to the larger sensor. Im sure there will much debate about the Powershot G1 X not having the versatility of interchangeable lenses, but it is this that makes the Canon Powershot G1 X very compact- compared to its rivals.

Due in the shops feb' 2012