Photo news: VR boost from Apple and a teaser for Z 6 III

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When Apple jumps on a hype train, it does so with all the weight of a tech giant and a corresponding amount of fanfare. This was also the case this week when the company presented its "Apple Intelligence". The extent to which the company can change established industries - and that brings us to cameras - was demonstrated by the other major innovation at the WWDC developer conference. The Apple Vision Pro VR system is not just a trial balloon for the domestic market, but will also be available in other countries. In Germany, it will be available from 4000 euros at the end of June.

As Apple obviously wants to pursue the concept of "spatial computing" in the long term, it needs content. This is why the apple company is now cooperating with Canon, which has already developed solutions for stereoscopic videos for VR headsets from other manufacturers. Two new lenses will soon be available specifically for the Vision Pro. What Apple showed in its WWDC video is the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dual, which is not due to come onto the market until fall 2024. It also looks far more stylish than the new RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM Dual Fisheye, which, like previous VR lenses, has a body that protrudes from the barrel.

Canon cooperates extensively with Apple

What Apple did not make clear at its event was that both lenses, although built for the RF mount, will initially only work with the EOS R7, and only if it receives a firmware update. This should be coming soon. And then you also need the workflow for the stereoscopic videos. After all, Canon itself provides the EOS VR Utility free of charge. Apple is also relying on the upper mid-range when it comes to the camera; the R7 is an APS-C body for around 1,400 euros. The dual lenses, on the other hand, are costly: the fisheye lens is said to cost 1,300 euros, and there is no price indication yet for the more compact 7.8 mm lens. The less complex design should make it significantly cheaper.

And other manufacturers are not far away when Apple comes calling. Blackmagic has announced the URSA Cine Immersive for serious filming, including professional accessories – i.e., significantly more connections than with a DSLM. We're talking twice 8160 x 7200 pixels, i.e. more than 8K resolution for each eye. Although the Vision Pro cannot display this natively, it leaves plenty of room for post-processing the material if you only use it as a target system. And, according to Apple itself, this can be done via DaVinci in the Blackmagic raw codecs.

Tiny camera for POV

Perhaps the new software will also make it possible to record footage from the new Insta360 Go 3S in Apple's headset. Although it is actually built for POV videos, these first-person perspectives would be particularly appealing for the Vision Pro for action content. Our detailed report reveals what the new tiny camera can do despite its size.

30 seconds for the Z 6 III

A lot of pure announcements so far, and at least for a few days this also applies to Nikon's Z 6 III. With the switch to the mirrorless Z system, the arch-competitor had adopted the principle of "marks" from Canon in order to designate completely new cameras in an existing segment. And since the digits 5 to 9 are already occupied in the single-digit naming scheme, the "Z 6 Mark III" must now be introduced. And soon because the Z 6 II has already been on the market for three and a half years. And there have been so many rumors about version III in recent months that Nikon has now had to quickly release a teaser video. The camera is to be unveiled in full next Monday, June 17, 2024.

So let's just stick to the three points that Nikon hinted at in its 30-second clip: Recording before the shutter button is pressed, a brighter viewfinder and, literally, "beautiful in-camera colors" are promised. The latter can be happily interpreted to mean LUTs, but that's a stretch. And the first two points are simply standard for modern system cameras. That's why we won't speculate any further about the AI autofocus or other functions, which are also obligatory today, but let us be surprised.

However, the price must be mentioned in this column because Nikon itself has created some expectations here, especially with the Z 8, which is almost inexpensive for its performance. The Z 6 II came onto the market with an RRP of €2,150 at the end of 2020, quickly fell well below €2,000 and was often available for around €1,500 last year with discount campaigns. And since the Z 7 II, the next largest model, is now also available for around 2800 euros, Nikon is unlikely to charge much more than 2000 euros for the Z 6 III. However, as cameras are generally becoming more expensive rather than cheaper, you are not safe from surprises.

Nikon is tentatively making its own repairs easier

One positive and unexpected piece of news, however, is that Nikon has launched a self-service repair program, at least for the USA. However, the Self Service Repair website so far only contains the service manuals for two rangefinders and the Nikkor Z 28-400 mm f/4-8 VR lens. An inquiry from Petapixel regarding the further development of the initiative has so far remained unanswered. It is also unclear whether Nikon is preparing for the new European right to repair, as spare parts and special tools can currently only be ordered in the USA.

All about sensors

You could almost think that Nikon had taken our recommendation for a long watch in the form of the destructive disassembly of a D70 from last week to heart. But we would rather not be that presumptuous, and this time we'd rather recommend one of our own. Our basic article on camera sensors provides just about everything you need to know about the path from photon to pixel on ten screen pages. And, before we have to read it in the forum: No, we are not recommending an article from the heise+ range because the publisher now sponsors Hannover 96 and urgently needs to earn more money. The sensor story is really so good that you simply have to read it.

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