Thoughts about Photokina 2018 29 September 2018

“Curioser and curioser”  said Alice as she grew much larger after eating the small cake labelled “eat me”.

As I  think about this year’s Photokina offerings it seems to me that the whole thing is rather like Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland with most of the participants apparently having over indulged in magic booster cake.

The theme of this year’s show is BIG….BIGGER……More BIGGERER………

All shall grow until their heads like Alice’s bang into the ceiling.

If cameras are about photographs and imaging the point of all this bigness escapes me completely.

Only  a very small number of professional photographers could in all honesty convince themselves that they actually need most of the products on show this week in Cologne.

Reviewer Lok Cheung described this, correctly in my view, as a “crazy” Photokina.

I think these new cameras have very little to do with photography and a great deal to do with marketing and in particular the desire of camera companies to entice their customers upmarket where  profit margins are attractive.

In the process decent cameras which make good pictures at moderate prices have been sorely neglected.

The old aphorism “perfect is the enemy of good” certainly applies here.

Let’s go through some of this year’s offerings in alphabetical order:

Canon sells more cameras than any other maker so it appears they are better at  marketing than the other players.

But I still have difficulty understanding their product strategy.

Having owned and used a G1X3 and an EOS-M50 I can say with some confidence that the 27mm diagonal (APS-C) sensor in these cameras is easily good enough for the vast majority of photographic purposes. If Canon upgraded the EOS-M5 with a fast processor, a much higher level of performance and a few really good lenses I think they would have a winner good enough for enthusiast and many professional uses.

Professional sports photographers are still going to use one of the top line DSLRs for their fast Servo AF and ability to blur busy backgrounds.

So where does the EOS-R fit into all this?  The camera itself is a bit weird with no Mode Dial, a strange touchy/stroky bar thingy for the right thumb, no thumbstick to position the AF area,  no IBIS,  a dial-like ON/OFF switch taking up space to the left of the viewfinder and an amazing AF Servo rate of three !! frames per second in tracking priority mode. (that’s the one where you want the subject to be in focus….duh…..)

At least it has a monitor which can be turned to face forwards.  Or not, if you wish.

It seems to me that the EOS-R is Canon’s way of pushing into a higher profit full frame system those enthusiast photographers whose needs could easily be met by a decently implemented version of the crop sensor M5 plus some really good lenses. 

But Canon’s product development strategy would suggest it doesn’t want to go there and doesn’t want its customers to go there either .

The whole exercise appears to me to be mostly about Canon’s needs not those of consumers.

At the same time Canon announced the Powershot SX70 which has the SX60 body and lens with a higher pixel sensor and a new processor, both probably the same as those seen in the SX740.  

I bought an SX60 some time ago and was most disappointed by its image quality, controls and performance. Many contributors to Canon user forums have observed that the SX50 which was released in 2012 (!!!) makes better pictures.

I actually think that compact superzoom cameras like the SX60/70 could be much more appealing than is now the case if the makers wanted them to be so.

The SX60/70 is just the right size for comfortable carrying, holding and operating. It has a very well designed handle. The overall concept and zoom range are very appealing. If cameras like this were fitted with a high quality lens (which the SX60 decidedly does not have) and a better quality sensor and processor they could become a very attractive option as a one-camera-for-all-purposes option for many users.

But we can’t have that can we ?  Oh no. The profit margin per unit is too low. At least it is at the present price point. But if the makers put really good lenses, sensors and processors in these cameras they could charge substantially more, keeping users and makers both happy.

But then the users wouldn’t need those high priced mirrorless interchangeable lens models would they ?     And we can’t have that either. Oh no.

I can see and appreciate the dilemma for all the camera makers, not just Canon.

But in their desire, maybe need, to keep profits up with high value products they are neglecting development of more useful, consumer friendly good-enough products for people with modest ambitions and budgets.

Apparently Fuji is on a roll with its 50 Mpx medium format models which are reported to be selling well.

This I take as proof positive that the camera market is no longer a rational place, assuming it ever was.

I can see that there might be a few photographers in the style of say,  Annie Leibovitz who could make use of these high megapixel cameras to produce huge highly detailed  billboards.

But I bet that most affluent enthusiasts who buy one of these things don’t need it at all and cannot really make use of its imaging capabilities.

But wait, there’s more. Yes folks,  if for some unknown reason you thought 50 Mpx was not enough, Fuji is going to develop a 100Mpx model.

If the 50Mpx models are like a bus then the 100 Mpx model will be like a double decker bus.

All this in a world where a compact hatch model will get you there just fine.

Actually Fuji also makes budget cameras which are reported to make good pictures so one could say they take an ecumenical approach to the whole thing.

The wonder of all wonders in the camera world is that Leica has survived and apparently prospers despite a few corporate near death experiences a few years ago. They have managed this by supplying a mis-matched range of wildly overpriced models which nobody actually needs.

And now comes the S3. For those who are unaware, the S3 is a medium format digital SLR camera which is huge and ridiculously expensive. Yes, a DSLR when everybody including Leica (!!) is going mirrorless. It updates the S2 which was released in 2008, with a new 65 Mpx sensor.

Just out of idle curiosity I went to the website of the Leica shop in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building and priced the S2, lenses and accessories.  The S2 body only is listed at AUD27,500.

If one was to invest in a selection of lenses from 30mm to 180mm the total cost would be, depending on exactly what was selected, in the vicinity of AUD80,000.

That’s about 100x more than you need to spend to get a camera which makes really good pictures.  

Oh well I guess that proves there is a market in the camera world for the conspicuous consumption of prestige products.

That is not a trivial observation.

I think the whole camera market is headed in the direction of high priced, prestige products.

Anyway that is what the makers want to sell. We shall see if the buyers want to play.

Some of us will have to stop saying “nikkon” and start using the pronunciation used by Nikon execs themselves which is “nycon”.

Although it was released prior to Photokina I have to mention the Coolpix P1000.

I began this post with a reference to Alice in Wonderland and her alarming growth spurt.

Well it seems that Nikon’s product development people have embraced the whole Wonderland super growth experience with the P1000.

I  have bought, owned and used the B700 and P900 models so I am quite familiar with  Nikon’s recent bridge camera offerings.

I think the B700 has real prospects. It has decent image quality, a decent lens with a very useful zoom range, is compact and nice to hold.  It  is however seriously let down by a sluggish processor leading to poor performance and many frustrations with the user experience. With a (much) faster processor and a complete rethink of the way all the controls engage with the user a successor to the B700 could be a really attractive all purpose camera.

I found the P900 a much less engaging proposition. Although the lens reaches out to an effective 2000mm I found that over about 1200mm the process of making pictures got very difficult. It is difficult to locate one’s subject and keep it in the frame, lens  quality declines at the long end, autofocus is sluggish and unreliable and performance is poor.

I see the P1000 as just a revamped P900 with an even longer lens which in the real world will prove very difficult to use and in fact I think it will be difficult to find a use for it, once new owners get over the WOW-look-at-that initial excitement.

If I was to give an award for the silliest camera of the year (and I might do that) the P1000 would be a short list candidate.

Of course the main event for Nikon this year is their entry into the full frame Mirrorless ILC market with the Z6 and Z7 models. You can read and view endless analysis of these cameras elsewhere. The main issues I have with them are the same ones I have with the Canon EOS-R.

They are underspecified models whose place in the market is not altogether clear. From Nikon’s perspective I guess they represent an entry to the FFMILC arena. Better late than never, I suppose.

From a consumer’s perspective things are not so clear. As with Canon,  professionals and particularly those doing sport/action will stick with their high end DSLRs.

Enthusiast amateurs (if they elect to stay with Nikon) will pretty much be forced into the FFMILC stream whether they like it or not. 

As with Canon,  Nikon’s product development record is clearly designed to encourage the  faithful to move up from APS-C to full frame.  And more profits for Nikon, they hope.

Hmmmm……

I put the “Lumix” in there because Panasonic has been trying, in half hearted fashion it seems to me to promote the LUMIX brand for its cameras for many years without much apparent success.

Anyway the big event for Panasonic this year is of course the L Mount consortium announcement with Leica and Sigma.

Panasonic, Lumix, whatever, has announced with much fanfare,  that it will announce two new FFMILCs next year, the Lumix S1 and S1R.  Let’s hope they actually deliver.

I for one am fed up with camera companies announcing proposed future announcements.

Some reviewers who have had their hands on all four (Sony A7Mk3, Nikon Z6/7, Canon EOS-R and Lumix S1) FFMILCs have indicated they feel the Lumix models have the best ergonomics, best handle and best control layout so that is something in favour of the new Lumix adventure.

Whether the new models will entice anyone up from M43 or across from the other brands remains to be seen. I am skeptical but we shall see.

Just to demonstrate they have not forgotten about Micro Four Thirds, the Lumix guys announced another announcement for some indeterminate future time of a 10-25mm (equivalent to 20-50mm) constant f1.7 zoom lens for M43. Looking at screen shots of the presentation slides this appears to be a giant lens which will no doubt be very expensive.

Maybe it will find a place in a professional videography kit.  On reflection I think that is most likely what it is all about.

I am more concerned by the things which Panasonic did not announce this year.

* There is still no bridge model to compete with the Sony RX10Mk4.

* The LX100Mk2 is underdone for a camera which is going to come on at almost double the price of the outgoing Mk1 version. The lack of an articulated monitor and updated EVF are particularly disappointing.

* No update for the G85.

Look, Ricoh still makes cameras. Well, someone does and they have a Ricoh label.

This year we have another announcement of an announcement of the proposed development of the GR3 which appears to be a mild update of the GR2. Eagle eyed Ricoh aficionados have apparently spotted some minor wandering of various buttons.

If this thing had a built in EVF it might have considerably wider appeal than is presently the case.

Sigma gets a mention because it has signed on to the L Mount triumvirate with various announcements about the possibility of further announcements about possible products maybe including a camera and probably some lenses.

Sony had an uncharacteristically quiet time at Photokina this year. Their contribution was yet more announcements about the likelihood of further announcements about 12 more lenses for the E mount.  Full frame ? Crop frame ?  Who knows ?

Zeiss is a long established company with a record of optical excellence. My Sony RX10Mk4 has a Zeiss branded lens which is very good indeed.

Now they have decided to put their esteemed name on  a digital camera, the first to wear the Zeiss brand.

The ZX1 is certainly the most unusual, innovative and maybe courageous offering shown this year. 

Everything about it breaks from the usual camera conventions. It challenges the concept and operation of the camera genre on many levels.

It runs on Android, has a huge touch screen but no memory card and can run a version of Lightroom in camera.

It sure is different. We shall see if buyers are prepared to put their money down for such an adventurous product.

This is the camera ergonomics blog so of course the thing which attracted my attention was the shape of the thing and particularly the handle if that is what you could call the odd looking hump on the right side.

It reminds me of two other cameras. 

First is the Sigma dp(x) Quattro series of four fixed lens models each having a very unusual shape. These were not exactly a great hit with buyers and seem to be unavailable in Australia although I see they are on special order at B&H in New York.

The second is the Leica TL you know, the one Leica billed as having been milled from a solid block of aluminium.  Or unobtanium. Or something. Expensive.  I was recently watching a video review of the Leica CL by Chris Nicholls. In the process of comparing the CL with the TL he said that the TL was a camera one either loved or hated and no-one loved it.

Well, the Zeiss ZX1 looks rather like that.

The “handle” is super smooth and shaped like no human hand. There is no thumb rest.  How does anyone get a grip on this thing ?

What is the point of all that innovative technology if the would-be user can’t hold the device safely ?

I would say this one is definitely “courageous” in the “Yes Minister” sense of the word.

We live in interesting times……………..