Mapcamera reports that the Ricoh GR IIIx was the best-selling camera of January.

January Ranking of New Digital Cameras

1. Ricoh GR IIIx
2. Sony α7C II
3. Nikon Z50II
4. Fujifilm X-T50
5. Fujifilm X-T5
6. Fujifilm X100VI
7. Ricoh GR III
8. Canon EOS R5 Mark II
9. Fujifilm X-M5
10. Nikon Z f

Used Digital Camera January Ranking

1. Nikon Z50
2. Sony α7III
3. Nikon Z fc
4. Canon EOS R5
5. Nikon Z f
6. Sony α7IV
7. Ricoh GR III
8. Nikon Z6II
9. Nikon Z5
10. Sony α6400

Nikon patented the design of a never seen before 85-135mm f/1.8-2.8 Full Frame lens. Nikon Japan writes:

Conventionally, variable magnification optical systems suitable for photo cameras, electronic still cameras, video cameras, etc. have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such variable magnification optical systems, it is difficult to obtain bright and good optical performance while making them compact.

So basically Nikon’s goal here is to offer an ultimate portrait zoom lens that still has reasonable size. In this design the lens of the length is 119.454mm up to 149.236mm when fully extended. That’s truly compact if you consider the 135mm f/1.8 S Plena Lens is 139.5mm long!

Of course, this is a patent and there is no guarantee that they will ever make this lens. But damn… I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this beast will be made!

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via Asobinet

Lexar announced the launch of an ‘indestructible’ SD card made entirely of stainless steel. Something like the Cybertruck of SD cards :)

The ARMOR GOLD SD Card with a stainless-steel construction that is 37x stronger than typical SD cards, it is designed to withstand grueling usage out in the wild while offering up to 210MB/s^[1] write speed and Video Speed Class 60 (V60) to seamlessly capture 6K footage.

There is yet no info about when those cards will be available to market.

Additional note: Lots of Lexar gear has big discounts on their Amazon page (Click here) and at BHphoto.

And we fools thought the megapixel race was over! Today Canon announced a new 410 megapixel full-frame sensor! But hand on heart, I doubt we’ll see this sensor in any future model in this range. It is more likely that it will be used in industrial applications. And why? Putting 410 tiny megapixels in such a small area creates a lot of artifacts and problems for photographers. For example, mass diffraction at medium aperture. The only way I see such high Megapixel number on ral cameras if you find a way to solve the 3-layer tech (What Sigma names Foveon). Only in that case the pixel size would be truly big enough to get rid of the artefacts.

Press text:

Canon develops CMOS sensor with 410 megapixels, the largest number of pixels ever achieved in a 35 mm full-frame sensor

TOKYO, January 22, 2025— Canon Inc. announced today that it has developed a CMOS sensor with 410 megapixels (24,592 x 16,704 pixels), which is the largest number¹ of pixels ever achieved in a 35 mm full-frame sensor. This sensor is expected to be used in applications that demand extreme resolution in various markets including surveillance, medicine, and industry.

The newly developed CMOS sensor features a resolution equivalent to 24K (198 times greater than Full HD, and 12 times greater than 8K). This enables users to crop any part of the image captured by this sensor and enlarge it significantly while maintaining high resolution. While many CMOS sensors with a super-high pixel count are medium-format or larger, this extreme resolution sensor is compacted into a 35 mm full-frame format. This allows it to be used in combination with lenses for full-frame sensors, and it is expected to contribute to the miniaturization of shooting equipment. As data readout of a CMOS sensor tends to take longer as the number of pixels increases, achieving a CMOS sensor with a super-high pixel count requires advanced signal processing technology. The newly developed sensor employs a back-illuminated stacked formation in which the pixel segment and signal processing segment are interlayered and also includes a redesigned circuitry pattern. As a result, the sensor is capable of achieving a super-high readout speed of 3,280 megapixels per second, delivering video at 8 frames per second².

This sensor³ also features a “four-pixel binning” function that virtually treats four adjoining pixels as one, thereby improving sensitivity and making it possible to capture brighter images. When this function is in use, the sensor can capture 100-megapixel video at 24 frames per second.

By leveraging the technology it has accumulated over many years as a leading imaging company, Canon has developed breakthrough products including CMOS sensors with super-high pixel count and ultra-sensitivity, and SPAD sensors, which detect faint traces of light even in dark areas. Canon will continue to advance its technology and contribute to the transformation and further development of society.

Additional information

The sensor is scheduled to be displayed at the Canon booth at SPIE Photonics West, a leading global conference for optics and photonics held in San Francisco from January 28-30, 2025.

• 1 As of January 21, 2025 (According to a survey by Canon).
• 2 Applies to both color and monochrome sensors
• 3 Monochrome sensor only

BCNranking collected the sales data from a majority of the Japanese stores. And there is really good news! BCN reports:

After losing a lot of sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, the camera market is recovering in the post-COVID era. December sales volume was 123.7% higher than the previous year, showing a booming performance. Unlike PCs and TVs, cameras generally increased year-on-year until around last summer. There were times in the early fall when sales fell significantly below the previous year’s level, but they regained momentum in November and December and significantly exceeded last year’s level. Compact cameras with built-in lenses showed particular growth. December sales volume was 132.7% higher than the previous year. Meanwhile, sales volume of interchangeable lens cameras, whose momentum has slowed due to rising unit prices, continued to fall below the previous year’s level since August, but in December it rose to 101.0%, slightly higher than the previous year.

Canon led the camera market overall in December with a 25.5% unit sales share. Sales volume increased significantly to 151.4% compared to the previous year. Fujifilm, in second place with a market share of 18.6%, maintained its good performance with a 107.3% increase compared to the previous year. Kenko Tokina, which rose to third place for the first time with a market share of 11.8%, also put up a strong performance with a 256.8% increase compared to the previous year. However, Kodak, with a market share of 10.4%, was affected and ended up below double digits at 89.7%. Sony, which remained in fifth place with a market share of 9.7%, also fell below the previous year to 92.4%.

As is often the case, we don’t receive detailed reports from markets like the US, China, or Europe, which is unfortunate. The key takeaway here is that Sony holds just a 9.7% market share. This is largely due to their absence from the growing affordable compact camera market, which is experiencing a boom right now. In contrast, companies like Kenko Tokina and Kodak had strong years, as both offer popular compact models