First Image Comparison Of Canon G1X

Focus Numerique has posted a JPEG ISO comparison on its website including the new Canon G1X.

First, the camera performs fantastically. It is, as would be expected, bested by the Sony NEX-5n. The interesting bit, though, is its sensorial and nominal brethren, the GX1. All things being equal, they should be nearly identical, and they aren't.

At all ISO's, The GX1 is outperformed by at least half-a-stop. By ISO 1600, the performance difference has extended to 3/4 stop. That is embarrassing for Panasonic. The Canon manages to produce Facebook-usable photos at ISO 12,800. If the dynamic range and color depth of the sensor holds up, this sensor will stand among the current crop of APS-C sensors on the market. The Panasonic looks terrible in comparison.

Now that I have sufficiently ragged on Panasonic, the bad news. The sensor is great, but the camera will likely not be worth $800. Even at f/5.6, the aperture at which all of the pictures were taken, the lens shows significant softening in the corners, devolving into some extreme softening at the edges.

Compare this to the lens on the Fuji X100, which FN has on their comparison page, or the 25mm lens on the GX1, and the difference is inexcusable. For the price, I was expecting significantly better lens performance. This is quite a disappointment.

UPDATE: I realize that the lenses on both the Panasonic and the Fuji are primes and the G1X is a zoom, but when Olympus has upped the bar with the XZ-1, this lens design no longer flies.

Adobe Changes Carousel to Revel

Adobe has changed the name of its Carousel service to Revel.

We originally chose the name Adobe Carousel because it was descriptive of core functionality in the product – access to all your photos on any device (i.e., viewing photographs in a circular manner, like a carousel).

Revel means to take great pleasure or delight…and that’s what we hope to do in the future as we continue to add more functionality and fun to the app. In the future, you can expect we will also be able to offer additional photography solutions on the newly named Adobe Revel platform.

While Revel might mean delight and pleasure, this rebrand means that Carousel has been more than a disappointment; it's been a complete failure. They tout the number of downloads at four million. If we assume a similar "click through" rate as is usually seen in online advertisements of between 0.1-0.5%, that's 4,000-20,000 people. That's actually not terrible. That can only mean, to me at least, that the numbers are even worse.

I'm not sure what they expected. Online image hosting is not valuable, anymore. $6 per month is WAY too expensive especially when Flickr is $24 per year and Picasa costs $5 per year for 20GB. Even Cnet, which almost never calls anything bad, disliked it. Adobe is a shockingly arrogant company.

Doubly annoying from the perspective of a designer: the logo makes no sense, now! Shouldn't it be a picture of some person eating cake or something?

Panasonic GX1 Gets DxOMarked

703. That's the ISO score for the new GX1. DxOMark's ISO score is the ISO level at which noise starts to swamp detail in low light. The GX1 is the first 4/3 camera to crack the 700 barrier, and that's a pretty big deal. Because even though ISO is important for low-light situations, noise in high-light situations is what results in cheaper cameras appearing smeared and bland in color richness and transitions. The lower the noise, the better images at ALL settings look.

Unfortunately, as was expected, the dynamic range and color depth are identical. That is to say, crap. They were quite acceptable when these sensors premiered over three years ago, but today, they are no longer competitive. They are now outclassed by even the Nikon V1 and J1, which have sensors that are 25% smaller.

Still, the increase in ISO performance means that Panasonic has found new ways to decrease noise in the other elements of the signal pathway. That is always good, especially considering that Panasonic managed to make a significantly noisier camera with the same sensor than Olympus, all because their pathway was inferior.

That's not enough, though. The camera is very expensive and only somewhat improves upon the GF1, and is actually inferior as regards color depth. Sorry Panasonic. When Sony produces a similarly-priced camera that achieves over two more stops of range, you are more than out-classed, you are positively obviated. Please. Don't make me give up my 4/3 lenses. Give a good camera!

Fuji X-Pro 1 Impresses

Fuji has launched its new X Pro 1 camera. It is notable primarily because it is innovating with the sensor. The Foveon is the only other sensor on the market that deviates from the standard Bayer layout that all other companies have been addicted to.

I can barely describe how happy I am to see some actual innovation. Both Canon and Nikon have done nothing to push the market forward. As the undisputed champions, they are more than happy to simply lumber along, iterating small advancements every year, slowly milking their dominance for easy money.

If you have not yet read, Fuji's new layout relies on a 6x6 grid of RGB pixels instead of the usual 2x2. The larger layout of pixels will, so says Fuji, eliminate the moire pattern that is the bane of fashion photographers. This is very cool.

Sadly, Fuji thinks that they have a camera that is a poor-man's Leica and have priced it as such. I think that is a bad idea because Leica has a HUGE legacy behind it. People don't buy Leica for the photos, they buy Leica for the camera. Fuji simply doesn't have that cachet. At $1,700, the camera costs more than a Sony NEX-5n and Zeiss 24mm f/1.8, and only slightly less than the NEX-7 and similar lens. That is a difficult value equation to square.

The biggest difference between APS-C and Full-Frame cameras is the noise. There is simply more light being captured. So regardless of the layout of the pixels, their size and number is still dictated by the size of the sensor. And regardless of whatever hyperbole Fuji chooses to use to describe the new sensor, it is bound by these variables.

$1,700 makes this the most expensive APS-C camera on the market: not a place that Fuji wants to be. Only the Canon EOS 7D launched for the same price, and while it was a runaway success, I think is because it was the only APS-C camera in the world that took the enthusiast seriously in that market segment. The world is very different, today. The Nikon D7000, Pentax K5, Sony NEX-7 and A77, and whatever the hell Canon is cooking up all take enthusiasts very seriously and provide world-class image quality in the $1,000-$1,200 range. Some of these cameras are even outperforming FF cameras as regards dynamic range and color depth. In econ-101 terms, that's what we call competition, and Fuji's got it.

That said, the X-Pro 1 offers a beautiful body, assuredly good lenses and image quality, and a system that Fuji has confirmed, in no uncertain terms, will be strongly supported and squarely aimed at enthusiasts. That is certainly saying something, but it may not be enough. Considering the dedication that Sony has expressed for the NEX system, I think that the value equation, for me at least, doesn't equal out.

Canon Reverses Course: Hints At Mirrorless System

Canon has hinted, strongly, at the existence of a mirrorless camera system in the works. This goes against earler statements indicating that Canon was not interested, and instead would work on high-end fixed-lens cameras. The first of these would at least appear to be the G1X, although the 1/1.5" sensor makes that a sad high-end camera.

I do like much of what I'm hearing from Canon, though.

"Camera performance demands a focus on picture quality. Only afterwards is downsizing considered. Even with compact, interchangeable lens cameras, this need must be prioritized. This is the same with a video camera or any other piece of photographic equipment."
-M. Tian Rong Jin, Managing Director Canon Image Communication Business Division

They appear to be subscribing to the philosophy espoused by Sony and Fuji and rejecting that of Nikon and, to a degree, the Micro 4/3 group. Sony wedged a world-class sensor into a super-small body, and while there are limitations and problems associated with the lens size, the increase in picture quality from Micro 4/3 to the NEX-5n or NEX-7 is significant and very noticeable.

Jin goes on to discuss the size of the EOS Kiss (Rebel in the U.S.) line of cameras, and says that their size can be decreased, which is something that I have argued for frequently. The Kiss/Rebel is actually super-small and isn't a serious consideration for enthusiasts because it is cheap, with sub-standard guts, and has access to very few EF-S lenses.

Canon's mistake has not been ignoring the mirrorless market, but failing to recognize that they could have served this market long ago. In a stupid attempt to protect their full-frame business, they left their super-small Kiss cameras rot.

This strangely candid announcement seems to be reactionary. It is coming from the wild success of the Sony NEX cameras and the excitement being generated by Fuji X Pro. It is as though Canon is reminding the blog-reading enthusiast sect that they still exist. Well, Canon, stop being so stupidly conservative and maybe we will start paying attention. Sony innovated. Fuji innovated. Panasonic innovated. What about you?

While I like Canon's language, it is language used by all of the major companies when they feed PR lines to magazines and customers. Much like lawyers, how do you know when a company representative is lying? His lips are moving.

Canon Announces G1X, aka G13 (UPDATE)

GAH! No more X's! For Christ's sake! When there is already a GX1 on the market, do not released a G1X! Are you freaking insane!?

There. Got that out of my system.

Well, it appears that rumors were, this time at least, correct. Canon is launching a large-sensored G-Series camera with a honkin'-big 1.5" sensor. Well, at least I think that is the case. That is a huge sensor, smaller than APS-C, but much larger than 4/3 and Nikon's 1-Series. I wonder if it is actually 1/1.5", which would make it the same size as Fuji's X10.

Then we have the problem of price, though. At $800, a camera with only a 1/1.5" camera would be ridiculous. And I mean that in the literal sense, in that it should be ridiculed. Fuji's X10 camera, at $600, is already overpriced, and $800 puts the camera so close to the X100 as to make them competitors. Canon would have to be out of their mind to release a camera for that price with that sensor. So either the sensor is correct, and it's enormous, or the price is wrong.

If the camera has a 1.5" sensor, then it's incredibly exciting. If it has 1/1.5", then it's incredibly boring. For Canon's sake, let us hope that it is the former.

UPDATE: Well, the information was literally correct. It is, indeed, a 1.5" sensor and is quite a bit larger than Micro 4/3. The camera is officially INTERESTING! If the lens on front is good, and it had better be considering that price, we may have one hell of a camera.

It's not sexy, like Fuji's cameras, but who cares? If Canon has fixed the dynamic range issue with its sensors and brought them up to the level of Sony's current crop, the image quality will be stellar. The maximum aperture is disappointing, though: only f/2.8. Again, even though the sensor will outperform Micro 4/3, I can get a Panasonic G3 and f/1.7 20mm for a similar price and the faster lens will balance the scale.

Canon is a company that gets things like autofocus and professional workflow better than almost any other company on Earth. This camera will have all of that. It is utilitarian. It is meant to get shit done. You may not feel very self-important while using the G1X, but unlike the guy futzing around with a Leica, you will get the shot.

The Fuji X10 was too expensive, and now it has been completely eliminated from an enthusiast's option list. When this camera only costs $200 more, and here's hoping Canon drops the price soon after launch, the X10 is a non-option.

Comparing this up-market to the Fuji X100, the sensors are of similar sizes, meaning that upping your budget to the X100 will probably not net you any significant increase in quality, although there certainly will be some. Thus, by plopping this very cool camera right in the middle of Fuji's price structure, Canon has done significant damage to both camera's prospects. By dropping the price by another $50, the damage could be even worse, so, Canon, I would wholly recommend doing that.

I think that the price is too high to be of great danger to Micro 4/3 as a system. Olympus' overpriced cameras are as good as dead, but Panasonic has the GF3 and G3, both of which cost less than this camera including a lens. That said, the GHx, E-Px, and now the GXx line of Micro 4/3 cameras are in serious danger. They have all been focusing on trying to be the up-market point-&-shoot camera, when they should have been focusing on the specific strengths of the 2x-crop sensor. Now they have been completely leap-frogged by a real point-&-shoot.

Micro 4/3 still has distinct advantages. The GH2 is a world class video camera. Olympus has with its Zuiko line, in my opinion, the best lenses in the world. And the f/1.7 20mm pancake remains such an excellent lens that it goes a long way to eliminating many advantages that other cameras have over the 4/3 alliance. Truly, 4/3 has a lot going for it. Here's hoping that Panasonic and Olympus can leverage those positives into success before other companies put them both out of their misery.

Details Of The Fuji X-Pro 1 Finally Leak

Extensive details of Fuji's upcoming interchangeable lens system have finally released and it is looking good. Remember when I posted that the only thing stopping me from jumping head-long into Sony's system from Canon and 4/3 was that I wanted to wait and see what Fuji produced? No? Read my blog more

While I think that the "Pro" moniker is a little bit presumptuous, the enthusiast market with a little money to burn will eat this up. It has the same retro styling that has made the X100 and X10 such darlings, and is launching with, assuming based on the price, three high-quality lenses. It is a small system, but one that appears well-chosen. Compare this to the large 4/3 and Micro 4/3 market, where they are selling five near-identical 14-42mm lenses with distinctly kit-lens quality.

Details about the sensor will not be solidified until its actual launch. As you would expect, Fuji is touting the sensor as the greatest thing in the history of everything ever, but that is just marketing speak. They claim that their APS-C sensor will outperform full-frame sensors, which I doubt. An engineer can only do so much with a set amount of light.

That said, the sensor is the most interesting sensor on the market, even compared to Foveon. There will be SIX different colored pixels scattered in a random array on the sensor surface. I have no idea how that is going to work, since the non-random nature of the pixels is kinda' important. Still, this has allowed them to use NO anti-aliasing filter, which means that the detail produced by the camera should be very impressive.

Again, I doubt that actual pros will be much interested in this tiny system and its quirky styling, but if Fuji gets the price of a body/lens combo under $1500, Sony will have some serious competition, and Micro 4/3 may be good as dead.