Ladies and Gents... are there any new RF stuff at PMA??

[haagen_dazs]

I was wondering if there are any new RF stuff at PMA?
Most sites these days just cover the "major" brands first
cheers

edit: besides the CV 21 25 lenses

[ywenz]

http://www.photomarketing.com/newsletter/ShowNews.asp

[Terao]

Slightly off-topic but the most rangefindery news so far has to be the Sigma DP1 compact: ~5mp APS-C Foveon sensor, 28mm f/4 equivalent aspherical lens, external v/f that looks like something straight out of Mr Kobayashi's factory, evidence of manual controls - certainly a manual focus wheel on the back edge of the camera, PASM modes, RAW option. Potentially the camera the Ricoh GR-D should have been, also similar I guess to those high end Fuji Klasse compacts. Pretty camera for chunk of plastic as well, classic lines. Shame about the f/4 lens but you pay for compactness. Pics on DPReview...

No price or release date as yet, but it might just be the digital camera that finally convinces my Dad he can use one, and I quite like the idea of having a 28mm f/4 prime in my shirt pocket, great focal length for street stuff...

EDIT:

Blimey, impressive microsite here: http://www.sigma-dp1.com/

Some very interesting pro features - bracketing, manual scale focus option, three metering modes (one of which might be spot as I don't see what the difference between centre and centre-weighted might be), exposure compensation, 1/4000th shutter speed...

*need*

[principe azul]

Originally Posted by Terao

Some very interesting pro features - bracketing

Ha! The essential pro feature, for people who don't know what they're doing. And on a digicam, too!

</sarc>

Ricoh GR-D fans tend to be diehard fans, but the Sigma has caused some of us to wonder.

I think the Ricoh has two main differences that make it more rangefindery:

1. Many people report a film-like grain effect at higher ISOs, and a particularly good b/w rendition.

2. It has a separate manual dials for aperture and shutter. (The rear dial you can also press down to change ISO, colour etc. settings on the fly, very quickly.)

Interesting that they're now going with an external v/f. There wasn't even a hotshoe in the press releases last autumn.

Random photo attached, wide open at ISO 1600, resized and downgraded

Gaarghh! That was terribly downgraded!

[rogue_designer]

hrm... bit off topic but:

any comparison of shutter lag between the GRD vs. the DP1 - that's killed nearly every compact digital from being useful to me.

[principe azul]

No idea about the DP1, rogue_designer, but in my experience I'd say the GR-D is less than 100ms. I'm not a big action shooter, but non-anorak friends who've borrowed it say it's much better than their digicams and they say they can capture what they see. I can feel the lag, but then I'm used to the near-instant response from an RF or good SLR... or I'm just highly sensitive...

The GR-D's definitely worth a try ot see whether it bothers you, and it seems to be used successfully by people who do go for the decisive moment stuff.

It's also metal, and you can put external viewfinders and funky Voigtlander gizmos on it, just like a proper camera!

[RdEoSg]

I'll be there Saturday so I will be sure to post anything I come across once I return!

[Terao]

I'm really interested in the GR-D but the noise I keep seeing in samples (and not nice noise IMO like my R-D1) keeps putting me off). I'm just pleased someone out there is thinking rather than just shoe-horning more megapixels onto a tiny chunk of real estate, as the kids say props to Sigma

I know its not really an RF so shouldn't be discussed here but is it that different to a Leica 1? Small body compared to the competition, fixed lens, external finder
I've not been this excited by a new camera since the R-D1 was announced...

[mfunnell]

The big thing to me is the near APS-C sized sensor. The reason I'm not that fussed about, say, the GR-D is that photos I've seen have the horrible (to my eye) flat effect produced with small-sensor-digicams where the whole world from 1cm to infinity seems to be in focus. Sigma's large-sized sensor is quite a difference (as, I guess, was the Sony R1) from the usual run of digicams. That, coupled with a prime lens instead of Sony's zoom might make quite a difference. I just wish the lens was faster. (Perhaps we can't have everything, but I probably want it anyway.)

...Mike

[principe azul]

The converter here http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...ensor-size.htm
shows the Sigma will make a difference if it's APS-sized vs the GR-D's 1/1.8.

Still, it can't touch a 28/2 on 35mm.... I use the GR-D as a carry-everywhere camera - it fits snugly into the breast pocket of a (suit) jacket - and not as a substitute. That's why I haven't bought an M8/RD-1/DSLR, because even there the crop factor takes me away from the aesthetic I've grown used to with 35mm (though some of this is about the affordability of fast ultrawides to replace fast wides). I love 35mm. To me it hits a sweet spot for DOF: a smaller format and it flattens out, as you suggest, and a larger format and it gets unwieldy, plus it's the format of choice even for f2, never mind f1.4, f1.2, f.1, f0.75...

It *is* possible to take out-of-focus areas with the GR-D, but it takes some work (or carelessness, I once got an entire street out of focus!).

The link shows that the Sigma would need to be f1.5 to get the effect of a 28/2, assuming the size is actually APS. On this assumption, the GR-D wide open gives equivalent DOF to the Sigma at about f/8, so in DOF terms about two stops slower.

[ChrisN]

The Sigma does look interesting. I wish the mount for the external viewfinder was offset to the left, so I wouldn't leave nose-grease all over the screen. I wonder if it has a native B&W mode? I know I can convert from colour files, but sometimes I'd rather not be seduced by colour.

[RdEoSg]

If only they had made the DP1 able to take this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07...ma200500mm.asp

[amateriat]

Originally Posted by RdEoSg

If only they had made the DP1 able to take this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07...ma200500mm.asp

Impressive, in a way...but am I alone in wondering how and why the world of serious SLR gear, post-digital, has gravitated toward the bigger and weightier? (Yes, I'm waxing a tad rhetorical here, but still scratching my head.)


- Barrett

[RdEoSg]

Maybe some Sultan somewhere wants one?

[RML]

Originally Posted by RdEoSg

If only they had made the DP1 able to take this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07...ma200500mm.asp

Dang! That thing looks like they can drop it on Hiroshima again! That's one ugly mofo.

[mwooten]

Originally Posted by RdEoSg

If only they had made the DP1 able to take this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07...ma200500mm.asp

Who painted the Stanley Cup flat black?

[visiondr]

Damn, The depth of field at f/2.8 must be about an inch!
Good luck trying to focus that sucker wide open.

[RdEoSg]

That's what your sherpa is for!!

Oh and there is something new to rangefinders at PMA.. sorta kinda..

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/digital-c...ted-242558.php

[haagen_dazs]

Originally Posted by RML

Dang! That thing looks like they can drop it on Hiroshima again! That's one ugly mofo.

check out this photo on the Sigma MEGA LENS
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/st...a_sigma14l.jpg

looks like it is handholdable

[jlw]

Originally Posted by amateriat

Impressive, in a way...but am I alone in wondering how and why the world of serious SLR gear, post-digital, has gravitated toward the bigger and weightier?

I'm guessing a lot of news organizations would want one for covering sports from a fixed location (such as a stadium press box or a golf-course tower) and it also would be pretty handy for wildlife shooters working out of a vehicle.

It does make me glad I'm not personally involved in those kinds of photography, though...

[wlewisiii]

Pity about the external finder on the DP1 as the lack of an internal finder is what kept me from looking too closely at the GR-D. What I'd love is a camera with the analog controls of the Lumix DMC-L1 with an internal finder & either a wide lens - 28/2.8 would be good - or a decent speed normal - a Sonnar 50/2 would be sweet. It'll never happen, but that's my idea of that kind of digital compact.

William