Samsung NX1 goes to Madagascar (and Samung profits goes down).

Samsung published that great NX1 4K video shot in Madagascar. Looks great and definitely much better than their current financial results :)
Reuters reports:

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is heading for its first annual earnings drop since 2011 after it revealed its July-September profit would be the lowest in more than three years and said short-term prospects for smartphones were uncertain.

Until now Samsung seemed to be “Immune” to the crisis and unlike many Japanese competitor it was doing well in the smartphone market (not so in the camera market). Hopefully Samsung will recover soon as Panasonic did (and not end like Sony!).

One more thing: Can You Spot the Samsung NX1 Pre-Production Model’s Sample Photos? Check out at Digitalversus!

New TFD “Foveon alike” sensor has 36 layers!

Spanish researcher from the University of Granada announced a new kind of sensor having 36 different colored layers(!). It works just like the Sigma Foveon sensor but Sigma uses only three layers (Red-Green-Blue) aligned vertically one below the other. The current Sigma and Bayer sensors only extracts information from one of these three colours (RGB) in each pixel within the image. To extract the information from the rest of colours in each pixel, it is necessary to apply algorithms which in most cases are among manufacturers’ best-kept secrets.

The new 36 layer sensor named “Transverse Field Detectors (TFD)” can obtain up to twelve times more color information than the human eye!

According to the PI in this group, Miguel Ángel Martínez Domingo:

“the new sensors developed at the Polytechnic University of Milan are called Transverse Field Detectors (TFD) and they are capable of extracting the full colour information from each pixel in the image without the need for a layer of colour filter on them.
In order to do so, they take advantage of a physical phenomenon by virtue of which each photon penetrates at a different depth depending on its wavelength, i.e., its colour. In this way, by collecting these photons at different depths on the silice surface of the sensor, the different channels of colour can be separated without the necessity of filters.”

There is yet no info about when these kind of sensor will make it into a real mass production camera.

More info about the sensor at Opticsinfobase.org and Canal.

First Zeiss Loxia unboxing vid and tests.

We all hate them but most of us watch them anyway :) So here it is the first unboxing video of the new Zeiss Loxia for Full Frame mirrorless FE system cameras. And a list of first test shots can be found over at SonyAlphaRumors.com.

Preorders at BHphoto:
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here).
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here).
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 35mm f/2 Lens (Click here).
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 50mm f/2 Lens (Click here).
Zeiss Rear Lens Cap for Loxia Series Lenses (Click here).
Zeiss De-Click Key for Loxia Lenses (Click here).

This is Panasonic’s prediction of how much Mirrorless will growth by 2016!

Panasonic showed two interesting slides at their Tokyo GM5/LX100 presentation event (Source: DC.watch). The one on top shows you how much Mirrorless will growth compared to the DSLR market. Panasonic expects worldwide mirrorless share to be 34% of all system cameras. Panasonic is known for their very reliable and non exaggerated financial forecasts (Source: Bloomberg). Therefore I believe their mirrorless forecast is also founded on a solid and realistic approach.

They do not expect Mirrorless to “boom” or quickly eat up the DSLR market. It’s more a of a slow process.

The second slide shows the progress on the German market. Here it’s interesting to see that Germany is one of the few “western” countries where mirrorless is growing fast. End of May 2014 41% of the system cameras sold in Germany were mirrorless!

As we all know the most “conservative” market yet is USA. But this will change in time too..