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| TZ80, hand held. I use this picture to remind myself that even a small sensor travel zoom camera can make very good pictures. Some mega-megapixel models on the market today are complete overkill for the great majority of users. |
I have been using cameras for 63 years and in that time have tried just about every type of camera available to ordinary consumers.
Through the second half of the 20th Century snapshooters used film compacts while most enthusiast/ expert photographers preferred the Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera type.
Then a succession of paradigm shifts arrived, changing the world of cameras forever.
* Film was replaced by digital capture.
* Mechanical operation was replaced by electronic.
* Printing gave way to screen viewing.
* Advances in zoom lens technology allowed designers to replace multiple, interchangeable single focal length lenses (primes) with one zoom lens.
Snapshooters now use smartphones. The formerly ubiquitous ‘bar of soap’ entry level compact camera has almost disappeared.
But expert/enthusiast photographers have not disappeared. They are still alive and well and keen to use an actual camera for taking pictures.
What kind of camera will they use ?
One answer to this question might be that they will simply exchange their 20thCentury SLRs for 21 st Century DSLRs and carry on as before. Indeed it is clear that plenty of photographers are doing just that.
Some have discovered the Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) and are exploring options in that realm.
Both these groups are staying with the concept of interchangeable lenses and interchangeable lens cameras (ILC).
But here’s the problem:
I hate changing lenses and I don’t know anybody who likes doing so. Fair enough I don’t know everybody so I guess there might be four or five photographers in the whole world who for their own mysterious reasons actually like changing lenses.
The first camera which convinced me that it might be possible to replace a whole bag full of interchangeable lenses with just one camera fitted with a fixed (non removable) zoom lens is the Panasonic FZ1000. We still have two of these in our house and after two years I can say that with some reservations the FZ1000 can and does replace an entire ILC kit with multiple lenses for most photographic purposes.
This encourages me to believe that the way forward for camera development lies with further evolution of the fixed zoom lens type (FZLC).
I might be wrong about this. It might be that photographers are reluctant to change their ways and might stay with their ILCs and might continue wrestling with interchangeable lenses perhaps in the belief that this will produce ‘better’ pictures.
Will enthusiast/expert photographers come to use a smartphone for their main photographic endeavours ?
Maybe some might but I think there remains a persuasive case for ongoing development of the camera as a stand alone image capture device.
What can a FZLC have, built in (not an add-on) which a smartphone cannot have if it still wants to be a smartphone that looks like a smartphone and works like a smartphone ?
1. A superzoom lens
2. A built in EVF
3. An anatomical handle and anatomical thumb support
4. A set of tactile, manual controls for the enthusiast/expert photographer. These might include
* Twin control dials
* Mode Dial/Drive Mode dial
* Real time constant feedback of current aperture, shutter speed, ISO setting and exposure compensation together with controls to alter each of these as required.
* A JOG lever to quickly move the active AF area
* Availability of manual controls if required.
5. (usually) A larger sensor for better picture quality especially in low light.
In other words, quite a lot. I don’t see the smartphone supplanting well conceived, well designed, well executed cameras any time soon.
I think they will live along side each other.
However I do hope that half baked, poorly specified, low quality FZLCs with poor performance are driven off the market by discerning buyers who expect better.
What have we got ?
All the Photokina announcements have been made so this is a good time to review what is or will soon be on offer.
Canonoffered no new fixed lens cameras at Photokina.
They did announce the EOS M5 which at last brings some decent capability to Canon’s MILC line.
But this camera is still substantially underspecified compared to offerings from Panasonic and Sony.
The only Canon FZLC which meets my desirable criteria above is the G5X. I think a Mk 2 version of this might appeal to me if they rectify several problems with the original including a not-so-good lens, slow performance with RAW capture and poor continuous autofocus.
Canon has been rolling out plenty of product in the FZLC space but thus far all the models have been relentlessly mediocre in specifications and performance.
I have to wonder whether Canon lacks the technological capability to bring on better performing products or if the problem is more ideological and rooted in a tradition that the good tech goes in the EOS DSLRs leaving the Powershots to make do with second rate capability.
How much longer can Canon continue to trade on it’s A grade brand while offering B grade products ?
There was a time when Fujifilm offered a substantial collection of interesting FZLCs including advanced compacts and superzooms. But Fuji appears to have decided to concentrate on its ILC models and to go upmarket as indicated by the just announced medium format GFX50X, which is due for release next year sometime.
If the Fuji GFX50X or Hasselblad X1D or Leica SL is the answer, what was the question ?
Hardly anybody needs or can make full use of the resolution of the medium format models.
I think these are prestige cameras targeted mainly at wealthy enthusiast photographers who want and can afford something which they might perceive as being superior to standard models, whether that is demonstrably the case or not.
I imagine these are the people who buy prestige cars, watches and clothes as markers of their success and refinement. In other words status symbols.
I think it is no coincidence that these prestige cameras are big things which others will definitely notice.
Nikon appears to have lost the plot with regard to FZLCs, to such an extent that one has to wonder about the ongoing viability of this famous brand. The DL trio and B700 announced in February have failed to materialise with no definite ETA yet proclaimed. Vendors have been taking customer’s money for preorders on these thus-far-non-existent products.
Following the failure of the “1” series MILC this non appearance of key FZLC models makes one wonder what is going on at Nikon.
Olympus is another maker which appears to have given up on the FZLC sector apart from a few well regarded waterproof/shockproof models to concentrate on its Micro Four Thirds ILC models.
In the M43 space Olympus appears to be repeating a strategy which failed in the 4/3 DSLR market.
That is, concentrating on high spec, pro style lenses with few suitable bodies. In fact since it started in the M43 business in 2008 Olympus has produced about 19 models only one of which (the EM1) has a proper, anatomical handle built in and specifications and performance suitable for professional use.
Now they have announced they are “developing” an EM1 Mk2 which would appear to be a suitable body for the pro style lenses, with a claimed 18FPS with AFC. But is this a case of being too late to the party ? We shall see.
It has seemed to me that many of Olympus’ cameras (such as the Pen-F) have prioritised style over function. I have noticed on user forums that these cameras appeal to people who are very interested in the appearance of their chosen equipment.
Panasonic has recently been very busy in the FZLC arena with a string of interesting new models.
At Photokina they announced the LX10 (LX15) and the FZ2000 (FZ2500).
As the company which more or less invented the TravelZoom compact Panasonic has a long standing and ongoing presence in the FZLC market.
The LX10 looks to me like a complete ergonomic messup, in the I-can’t-believe-they-did-that category. I will post a separate piece about this so egregious do I find Panasonic’s failure with the user interface on this camera.
The FZ2000 is a different piece of work altogether and appears to have achieved a fully coherent ergonomic realisation. However it appears to use the same sensor as the FZ1000 so I wonder if still photo users will find a reason to upgrade from the FZ1000 which is already very good.
Perhaps Panasonic’s most welcome Photokina offering is the G80 (G85) M43 MILC.
At last we have the desirable inner workings of the GX80/85 in the ergonomically superior body of an upgraded G7.
Finally, eight years after the original G1 Panasonic appears to have gotten the mid range M43 concept, technology, specs, performance and ergonomics right and managed to put it all in the same package.
Prior to Photokina I had decided to abandon ILC cameras altogether as I hate changing lenses and in fact have sold off all my M43 cameras and lenses. But the G80/85 might just tempt me back to the M43 system. I read there are some very interesting new Pansonic zooms in the pipeline which could make M43 even more appealing.
Sony Has taken over from Canon as the leading imaging technology innovator. Many cameras from most brands use Sony sensors. But Sony continues to have difficulty producing models which are enjoyable to use. Sony’s approach to ergonomics is inconsistent across the various product lines.
For instance the just announced A99Mk2 appears to have a very appealing ergonomic layout (based on product photos and reviews of its predecessor which has a very similar control layout) but other models such as the A6300 and the RX10 variants have a completely different layout which is much less effective ergonomically.
YI (Young Innovators) is a Chinese company with a presence in the action cam market. They presented the M1, a new mirrorless interchangeable lens camera at Photokina. This has the Sony IMX269 sensor used in several Micro Four Thirds (M43) cameras but is not billed as a M43 model so maybe it doesn’t meet the M43 standard. If it does not that will have been a huge mistake for YI as
I believe a new startup would need to be able to use existing M43 lenses to have any hope of success.
In addition there are early user reports of poor autofocus and other functional deficiencies.
Another problem is the almost total reliance on a touch screen user interface. Canon tried this with their Elph/Ixus 510 and similar models in 2012 but soon reverted to models with a more camera like button and dial user interface.
The YI product development people may not have fully grasped that the user does not engage with a camera in the same way as a smartphone.
In the face of declining sales across all categories the barrier to new entrants is very high. I wish YI well but I imagine the chances of success for this first MILC to be low at least in its present configuration and in existing camera markets.
