Photo News: Bridge surprise and full-frame Pixii

They've done it again. After the surprising presentation of the Lumix S9, Panasonic has announced another camera without any major hints in advance or leaks worth mentioning. This indicates that the company is clearly pursuing a strategy to take the rumor mills about new cameras, which often boil over for months, out of the game. This time, however, it is not an entirely new model, but rather Panasonic has carefully modernized the FZ82, which was launched at the beginning of 2017.

The update is therefore also called the FZ82D, so it does not have a new model number, as other manufacturers sometimes do when updating models. The main new features are an OLED display in the viewfinder, which is twice as high-resolution and larger than the previous camera, as well as a 3-inch touchscreen with slightly higher than 2K resolution and charging via USB-C. At its core, however, the FZ82D remains a typical bridge camera with a fixed lens that puts old camcorders in the shade at 20–1200 millimeters small-image equivalent focal length and thus 60x zoom.

The sensor is still an 18-megapixel 1/2.3-inch component that offers nothing more than hybrid autofocus with contrast detection. This is still sufficient for 4K videos, as with the previous model. However, Panasonic has teased a little more functionality out of the tried and tested camera, for example by incorporating the new "Composition Zoom Assistant" function: If the subject moves out of the field of view at a long focal length, the camera moves the lens back at the touch of a button until it is captured again. This indicates advanced scene recognition, but Panasonic's technical data does not go into any more detail. The FZ82D will be available in August 2024 and cost 479 euros. Its predecessor cost 349 euros at market launch.

Rangefinder camera Pixii Max with full-frame sensor

So the new Brückenlumix comes too late for the current vacation season, and those who stay at home can perhaps put their vacation money in the photo box. This is because French camera manufacturer Pixii has now unveiled its high-end compact with rangefinder, which has been announced a year and a half ago. In contrast to its predecessors, the Pixii Max has a full-frame sensor with 24 megapixels, which is only equipped with an infrared filter and no general low-pass filter. This should enable a "native black and white mode", writes the manufacturer - there are no technical details or sample images.

As before, the company is primarily targeting Leica fans, as the Max also works with lenses for the M bayonet and does not have a display. Image composition is only possible via the viewfinder, which displays frames for standard focal lengths such as 28, 35 or 50 millimeters. Other data can also be seen there, so that you can concentrate fully on taking pictures with the camera in front of you. This may be great, but the lack of memory cards and only versions with 32 or 128 GB of internal memory are rather annoying. The Pixii does not offer any advantages such as good weather resistance. And the Max is certainly not cheap: it will be available from 4,000 euros, pre-orders are possible and delivery will start in September.

If you're wondering how you can see pictures without a display and memory card immediately after taking them - that used to be one of the promises of a digital camera - you can rest assured: There is an app for the smartphone, which can contact the Pixii via WLAN, Bluetooth or USB-C. Another unusual aspect of the manufacturer's entire concept is that existing Pixiis can be converted to the new sensor. This and the viewfinder have to be replaced. Pixii promises to do this itself, but it has not yet been announced when this will be possible and at what cost.

Everything is "freeware" for Microsoft AI

The tiresome ongoing topic of artificial intelligence, especially in connection with real photos as training data, has been avoided in our column for a few weeks - but now we can no longer avoid it. Last week, the head of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, made a name for himself with an almost absolutist claim. In his opinion, everything that is publicly accessible on the web is "freeware". Yes, he really did say that, in complete ignorance of any legal situation. Suleyman also invokes "fair use", a peculiarity of US copyright law that is not recognized in German and EU law, among others.

You can find out how Suleyman comes to this conclusion in our detailed report on the interview in which he made this statement. And because his views are symptomatic of the attitude of AI companies towards the intellectual property of others, from Google to OpenAI, the interview on YouTube is also our recommendation for a long watch on the weekend. Anyone who deals with images, image rights or intangible assets in general should have seen it.

(nie)