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2018 was the biggest shakeup in years for the camera world
2018 was the tipping point for mirrorless cameras.
If you're a photographer who fears change, 2018 might've shook you up. First Sony launched the A7 III, arguably the world's best full-frame camera, then Fujifilm released the X-T3, the top APS-C model you can buy right now. Right after that, Canon and Nikon launched all-new full-frame mirrorless systems with three new cameras, the EOS R, Z6 and Z7. To top it off, mirrorless video champ Panasonic announced it was diving into full-frame mirrorless as well with two new models, the S1 and S1R.
This is the biggest upheaval in the camera industry for years and could have a big impact on your buying decisions. On top of that, companies that don't adapt quickly may not survive, especially in a market gutted by ever more incredible smartphone cameras -- and moving fast will be a challenge for conservative companies like Canon and Nikon. Based on everything that happened in 2018, you can expect more drama and turmoil in 2019, but also even more innovative and interesting cameras.
[...] While Full-frame is great, most of us don't have $1,500 or more to throw down on a camera, let alone the lenses. What I hope to see is the same level of innovation on more affordable mirrorless products that cost under $1,000. With multi-camera AI-powered smartphones starting to close the gap there, too, camera companies have got to bring some of the same capabilities. Here's hoping that 2019 is just as eventful as 2018, if not more so.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rich on Friday December 28 2018, @04:20PM (2 children)
I needed one to make a few product shots and maybe a few decent quality video clips. Because that will mostly involve a synthesizer and other audio equipment, my absolute must-have checklist item was an audio input jack (when even output jacks get out of fashion). That made the selection easy, effectively narrowing the choice down to four Fujifilm models, divided by fixed/changeable lenses and cheapo/pricey sensor. I went for the changeable/cheapo one, called X-A5.
It makes nice photos. That's all my nonexistent qualification as photographer allows me to say, and I have hardly ventured past point-and-shoot yet. The only deeper investigation was to check how the external audio gain works (it is settable, so hopefully there is no auto-gain involved, which would be troublesome for recording of a production console involved). For the pictures, I assume these days about every camera above the "disposable" class from any brand manufacturer is picturewise as good or bad as the person operating it (and the lighting environment), for 99.9% of persons.
The Japanese manufacturers have made an art of letting features only slowly trickle in, so their business model is sustainable. In that regard, I'd don't think there was a particularly big shakeup in 2018. At the moment, main "progress" is made with 4K video (e.g. rough current price in EUR = 40 * fps@4k). And viewfinder mirrors increasingly disappear. When the 4K fad is done and over, they'll move on to dynamic range.
The big shakeup was from 2011/12 on, when phone cameras started to become good enough that no dedicated camera was needed anymore for the majority of use cases.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday December 28 2018, @08:44PM
4K will die when 8K kicks in. HDR is already here. A Galaxy S9 can record audio at 32bit/384k, impedance matching with your gear shouldn't be too difficult.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday December 30 2018, @04:24AM
I've been wondering for years why DSLRs stuck with this piece of more-than-a-century-old technology. A digital viewfinder, i.e. taking the image off the sensor and displaying it to the user, has massive advantages over the optical one, why would you continue using something that's an artefact of 1880s film and camera technology when there's no need for it, and in fact many disadvantages?