Late CP+ post: Hands-on with the Pentax K-01

I fully expected to hate the K-01 when I hit the Pentax stand at CP+. After all, it was not exactly a looker in the initial press shots. In fact, my initial impressions were, "Oh dear. Pentax is going down with this one". I honestly thought it was that big a mistake.

However, having seen it in the metal, I was blown away. It was the surprise of the show for me. Despite my initial thoughts, it is gorgeous in real life and even better, feels brilliant to hold. Say what you like about Marc Newson, if this is his idea of a camera, he knows his stuff.

As you can see from the hands-on video below, the buttons and controls are sparse but well laid out, and in my half-Asian hands, all controls felt brilliant to the touch. Plus, the aluminium chassis gives a true solidity that no plastic camera can match. It just feels 'right', which is always a good sign.

Even the super-thin, 40mm f/2.8 lens looks OK! And let's not forget the K-01's ability to use any K-mount glass in existence. Legacy glass users rejoice!

I really applaud Pentax for going out on a limb with this camera, and as long as people can get past the initial looks (and if the image quality matches the exterior design) Pentax deserves to sell truckloads of these.

Queuing - a Japanese pastime

You know you've got the most popular models at the show when people are willing to queue for an hour just to get a moment's hands-on time with your new hotness. In contrast, when I walked past earlier, Olympus had a 45-minute wait time for hands on with their OM-D, and Fujifilm had a 30 minute wait for their X-Pro 1.

Given the paucity of time I had at the show, I had to pass on both the latter two (thankfully, I'd already had hands on with the D4 and D800 at Nikon's HQ as part of my Nikon Asia launch junket), so can't report on those, but hopefully will get time with both very soon. Although given my comments on the X-Pro 1, I'm not sure about that one...


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're getting coverage. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's yet another part of it. I will and have been posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

The coolest thing on the whole Canon CP+ 2012 stand

When you come across a great idea, you want to shout it from the rooftops. This is one of those times.

To whit, Canon Japan introduced their Photopresso system last year, whereby you could publish your own photo books via a special Canon website. You simply upload your photos (any image, including scanned drawings or paintings, is cool), pay your money, and get beautifully bound books sent out to you. Totally customised, totally unique, and a brilliant gift for your friends.

Yes, I know you can get photo books from other companies, but these are just cooler, at least to me: They look better, are unique in style, and are so very Japanese. I love them.

They do cost a bit (starter price for a 40-page book is 1700 Yen - about AU$20 - and they go up from there to 5700 Yen - about AU$65 - for a 100-page book), but they are a great gift idea, and something I'd like Canon to introduce in Australia.

Pleeeeeaaaasse Canon Aus? Pleeeeeaaasse?

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've had coverage already on this blog, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Just because I want to...

Drooooool...



Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Canon and Tamron's IS systems up close and personal

Following on from my earlier post, one of great things about CP+ is the number of cutaways and technical demonstrations available. For a camera geek wanting to learn how things work, it's a joy.

Take image stabilisation, for example. For most people, the IS system in their current lenses (or bodies if you're a Pentax user) is a modern marvel that just happens to help them take better photos. You only miss IS when it's gone, and for me, at least, I don't really think about it when I'm shooting. There are other things on my mind.

But let's take a look for a moment at how a modern stabilisation system works. Basically, as you might be able to tell from the picture above, the way most work at the moment is by suspending one lens element (always towards the back of the lens) in a ring of piezoelectric motors, controlled by a system of gyroscopic sensor chips and control chips (like the ones in the front-most element above). The rearmost element in Canon's set-up is the actual power ring that moves the whole lot. 

As you can see from the video I shot at the Tamron stand below, what happens when a vibration hits the lens is as follows: The sensor chip/s (highlighted with a blue square in the video) pick up the vibration and tell the controller chips what direction the vibration is coming from and with what g-force. The controllers then tell the piezoelectric motor ring (below left) to move the floating lens element (left) a corresponding amount the other way to compensate. That's it, really. Not much to it, but it's taken years for us to get to the level we are at now. 

The fact we can squeeze all that into a modern lens is a marvel to me. Hope you find it as cool/enlightening.

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Lens porn

There are just certain things all camera geeks want to do when it comes to photography gear, and one of them is to peek inside. You want to know how things work. How bits interlock. How the focusing mechanism works. How the optical stabiliser works (more on that later).

Sadly, the only way you can normally do that is either go to the factory and see the thing made, take apart your own gear (potentially very expensive) or see one of these cutaway models. And even these are rare. So when the chance came up at the Canon stand at CP+ to see how three of their superb L-series super telephotos worked, I couldn't say no. Included are shots of the 600mm f/4 (above), 500mm f/4 and 400mm f/2.8 (below).

As you can see, the construction is virtually identical in each one. The same number of lens elements, the same groupings. The same autofocus and stabilisation mechanism placements. The only difference is size. And you wonder why these super telephotos weigh so much!


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Canon 1DX first hands-on impressions

There are many cameras in this world that scream, 'Look at me!'. The Canon 1DX, however, is not one of them. At least, not to the average observer.

While the rest of the CP+ crowd went about their orderly queuing business (more on that later), waiting for just a few minutes with the D800, D4, Fujifilm X-Pro 1 or Olympus OM-D, the Canon 1DX sat alone, unloved and easily within reach. No queues. No waiting. Just hands on time.

Which is what I got. Now, it has to be said that I've never been too impressed with Canon's 1D series in general when it comes to ergonomics. The portrait grip has always struck me as either too shallow, too rounded or lacking depth when it comes to the index finger groove. Despite their lower-end models having spectacular ergonomics (especially for a left-eyed person like me), the 1D series has always lacked a little something. Especially when compared with the D3, which, along with the 5D Mk II, remains one of the best cameras I've ever used, ergonomically.

So I was hoping that Canon had learned their lesson and improved on this. Sadly only a little. The 1Dx is still a LOT better than the 1D Mk IV (which, ergonomics aside, was a woeful camera and rightfully replaced early), but it's still not great. The portrait grip is still too fat and lacks depth. The index finger grip is, again, not as deep as it needs to be. And the weight balance is not that great, either. Certainly in comparison to the D4, which improves significantly on the D3 by way of placing more of its weight at the bottom of the camera, balancing things out wonderfully.

The twin joysticks are useful, it must be said, and the rest of the button placement is still OK. It's not quite up there with the D3/4, but it's usable. I can see why many pros still use 1Ds.

However, the main reason to use this camera is the spectacular photos it takes. Now, the usual caveats apply here. No, you can't tell just by looking at the screen. And no, I didn't get to take an shots home this time. Canon, like all manufacturers at CP+, had sealed up the card covers with black gaffer tape to prevent such a thing from happening. And yes, the test camera was fitted with a 50mm f/1.2. But the test shots it took were AMAZING. I had never seen such clarity, colour or depth of field before in my life. The subjects were pin sharp and the bokeh jaw dropping. I actually gasped in disbelief at the shots it took. The Nikon D3s I had around my neck at the time, admittedly with only a 24-70mm f/2.8, could not come close, even comparison-shooting the Canon at the same aperture and ISO.

This is not to say the pictures the 1DX takes are without issue. Looking at the A2 pictures Canon had on the stand, some colour rendition issues and slight shadow noise were evident, even at ISO1600. That said, the fact Canon can now match Nikon's best in low light is amazing in itself. And the dilemma is now thus: Do you buy a camera that could possibly beat a D4 for image quality, but live with the ergonomics, or do you live with possibly slightly inferior images, and go for something that is usable all the time?

That's something only a true cross test (and your own personal preferences) can work out. Trust me when I say I want to get these two side by side as quickly as possible to find out.


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Quick post - the guts of a D800

Ever wondered what the electronic heart of the Nikon D800 looks like? Well, have a look. :) 

The sensor - some say it has 36.3 effective megapixels. And they'd be right. Good job, them. 

The sensor unit - the CMOS chip above plus the electronic gubbins required to make get all the information from the sensor to the...

...EXPEED 3 processor. Basically a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Chip) core with separate image processor, accessory controller and memory I/F. 

Finally, we have the Multicam 3500FX AF sensor. This is what makes sure you get fast, accurate focusing and tracking in 3D. Laaarvly. 

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's part of it. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Nikon's polished, bare frame D4 and D800 magnesium alloy bodies are the sex (And look like the Terminator. Kind of. Don't judge me).

The polished D4 body above is easily the sexist thing on the Nikon stand (apart from the bare frame D800 - which you can find after the break, along with another angle of the D4 body). Don't you just want one?! Ok, so maybe the full camera is nicer, but in terms of an objet d'art...

By the way, my girlfriend though the D4 body looked like a coffee machine. See if you can figure out how... ;)

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's part of it. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Biggest disappointment of the show? That'd be the Fujifilm X-Pro 1

I went in all excited to see the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 today. It's considered sexy, and its new X-Trans sensor and unique filter array means it supposedly does away with moire and outresolves a full-frame like a 5D Mark II. I came away disappointed beyond belief.

Let me explain:

Fujifilm had hung about 10 A1 pictures taken by the X-Pro around the X-Pro 1's booth section. Every picture I saw was fuzzy. Every. Single. One. There was a complete lack of detail in elements like distant human faces (which became a blocky blur, like a 16-bit game character), and complex areas like the metal cables on a bridge were all out of shape. And it didn't matter whether it was distant or close, the lack of detail remained the same. People, objects, everything. Edge details were even worse. Now, every lens has edge fall-off, but this was noticeable.

The colours were also off. And by that I mean each one had a label explaining which Fujifilm film they were supposed to imitate. None of them came close to matching the colours of the originals. Now, I admit I'm not an expert in old film, but I know what Velvia looks like, and for example, what they had on this booth was NOT Velvia.

The worst thing is I don't know if this was due to the optics or the filter. But either way, Fujifilm need to get this right. Fujifilm used to have a reputation for their optics. If this is the best they can do for the X-Pro 1, they need to go back to the drawing board. I hope they can improve. I hate to see a company that has done so well do so badly.

Oh, and yes, I did contemplate that Fujifilm had screwed up the processing. Or the printing. But given this is Japan's biggest camera show, I doubt it.

Anyway, biggest disappointment of the show? Hayup...

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Because I love it

Two more shots of the OM-D. And yes, it's better in silver. And the optional rectangular lens hood is the best ever invention. 

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

This what the inside of an OM-D looks like

An Olympus OM-D, today

It's CP+ time, people! Yay! I'll be posting lots of photos and info over the next few hours, so stay tuned!

First up, it's one of the stars of the show, the Olympus OM-D. And what have they done to it?! They've taken a laser to it, that's what. Or at least, that's what I like to think.

It's a cut away, obviously, but it shows a lot of detail and what goes into the lens and body mechanisms. It's a brilliant little camera and I can't wait to try it for real.

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously.