Photo News: Canon's corrugated block and Fuji's expensive little one

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We need to talk about money. Both from the manufacturer's point of view and from the point of view of the readers of this column, because the companies naturally want to hit their wallets – with offers that are more or less worth their price. The fact that this applies to both large professional cameras and small vacation snaps was particularly evident this week.

Let's start with the chic little one: The Fujifilm X-T50 sorts itself between the X-T5 and X-T30 II, as described in our detailed report. It has a lot of the technology of the larger model, but is the successor to the T30 II in terms of form and standard. However, based on the RRP at market launch, it is a whole 600 euros more expensive. The body alone now costs 1,500 euros instead of 900 euros for its direct predecessor.

APS-C entry into serious photography

Of course, the 40-megapixel sensor, AI autofocus and advanced video functions justify such an extra cost. However, this also takes the little Fuji out of the league of cameras under 1000 euros. Manufacturers are also aware of such psychological limits; as a second camera, for example, the X-T50 can hardly be justified. But as an alternative to the X-T5, because much of its technology is now also available in a smaller retro body. And gimmicks such as a dedicated setting dial for film simulation. It is quite possible that Fuji has made it easier for some people to get into ambitious photography with such functions.

Fuji shrinks its medium format camera

Shrinking existing technology and offering it in a new device is Fuji's concept, and the X-T50 is not the only one. The GFX100S II, also new, is a compact version of the GFX 100 II with the same 102 megapixel sensor. This makes it one of the lightest modern medium format cameras, with the S model weighing just 883 grams. And the money factor? Fuji wants 5,500 euros for it, a whole 2,500 euros less than for the large version. This is also the price range in which professional full-frame cameras operate today, so the appeal for professional photographers to try out the large sensors is perhaps becoming ever greater.

Sigma optics on a par with Sony

The fact that smaller companies in the photography industry are increasingly trying to offer their products for significantly less money than the top dogs was also demonstrated this week by Sigma. Their 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II lens is, as Petapixel writes, "a G-Master at half the price". This is a strong statement, as Sony's G lenses – the Sigma is available for E and L mount – as well as Nikon's S series are considered excellent optics. It is quite remarkable what can still be achieved from the focal length range of 24 to 70 millimeters, which for a long time was considered the standard zoom.

However, it has taken Sigma a whole five years to do this, with the "DN II" replacing the manufacturer's first model for mirrorless systems. A linear motor now ensures faster and more precise autofocus than with the old stepper drive. However, one restriction remains with Sony cameras: they work with lenses that are not from Sony, stubbornly with a maximum of 15 fps for continuous shooting. This is due to Sony, not Sigma, it is a software limitation.

The R1 elephant is not quite in the room yet

Also very limited is the amount of hard technical data Canon has announced about its new flagship EOS R1. Here are all of them: it has its own chip as an AI accelerator, among other things for autofocus. Really, that's it. Not a word about resolution, continuous shooting speed, viewfinder, display, connections, networking or even the price. While our first report was mainly about the development history and positioning, it is now time to look at the expectations and - of course - the money.

It is clear that Canon has to bring out a camera for professional sports photographers in an Olympic year. That there would be an R1 at some point after the R3 presented over two years ago was also clear according to the classic nomenclature. So much so that Canon itself explicitly confirmed this at the beginning of 2023. Coming up with a so-called "development announcement" now seems a little embarrassing because: Canon has confirmed to Petapixel that the R1 will soon undergo field tests at "international sporting events". The Olympic Games in Paris begin in just over two months.

This means that the camera is almost ready, no further major development is required, only the production and software still need to be fine-tuned. Canon obviously wanted to give its customers some certainty that the camera can at least be tested in Paris. And perhaps also to take some of the increasingly loud rumors out of the discussion. Just last week, before the R1 was announced, the Petapixel podcast reported that Canon had to restart development in 2022. Problems with the sensor had made this necessary.

Difficult development for Canon's flagship

In the same place, we also heard that Canon later had problems with the buffer memory. Given the very high speeds of current cameras – see Sony's A9 III – this is not unlikely. The fact that the computers in the camera represent an ever greater challenge is also shown by the fact that Canon mentions a two-part processor system in its otherwise sparse press release. In addition to a chip from the well-known "DIGIC X" series, there will also be a "DIGIC Accelerator", specifically for AI.

It is not unusual to outsource new functions to a separate chip. However, this is neither cost-efficient for the manufacturer nor energy-saving for the camera as a whole. More chips require more space, more conductor tracks, larger circuit boards and more cooling. And complexity is undesirable, especially for a professional camera, which above all has to be reliable. Canon itself has already indicated that the R1 should be particularly robust, as the coating on the front now has the pattern of a checker plate, unlike the R3.

The checker plate with diamond plate

In the USA in particular, this design is synonymous with everything that is "heavy duty", i.e. utensils for professionals."Diamond Plate", as the pattern is called there, is so synonymous with robustness and tough everyday use in the USA that the Mesa/Boogie company has also been using it for the front of its guitar amplifiers for decades. These are particularly, but not only, popular in many metal genres. In other words, heavy duty.

Canon's first very own digital camera

Our recommendation for a long read for the weekend is of the lighter variety. This is DPreview's review of the Canon EOS-D30. This camera was announced exactly 24 years ago and was Canon's first completely in-house development, including a CMOS sensor. Prior to this, the Japanese company's digital cameras came from a cooperation with Kodak. The same sensor had a resolution of 3 megapixels, which is already a pittance today. Nevertheless, DPreview listed as the first point of the pros and cons that this was a "great resolution".

It is not only in the photography industry that the standards have shifted a little in just under a quarter of a century. The D30 cost an impressive 3,000 US dollars in 2000, which would correspond to around 5,500 US dollars today when adjusted for inflation. And that is now the price range of some professional cameras. At the turn of the millennium, however, this was still considered the "prosumer class". Did we mention that the standards are shifting? Exactly.

(nie)