New Sigma Foveon sensor patent discloses dual pixel design

Sigma officially confirmed they will announce a new Full Frame L-mount camera in 2019. The current Foveon tech is really outdated and superslow. A newly published Sigma patent discloses a way to make the sensor readout much faster Instead of the classic three layer sensor Sigma is working on a dual layer layout. Every pixels has a green layer The second layer has an alterning pattern of red and blue sensible pixels.

It wouldn’t be a TRUE Foveon sensor anymore but it would help Sigma to overcome the speed issues

via hi-lows-note

Panasonic and Sony announcements at CES: What can we expect?

Panasonic and Sony will show new products at the CES show. What can we hope to get from these companies?

Panasonic could unveil some more details or even the full specs of the new S1-S1R cameras.
Sony is rumored to announce a full set of 8K products including a camera/camcorder.

Canon, Nikon,Olympus, Pentax have no scheduled CES events.

BCN chart shows Sony’s Full Frame sales success in the past year

The chart above has been posted by BCNranking which collects the exact sales number from 2/3 of all Japanese stores.  It shows the sales share of Full Frame cameras for every single month. The column at the bottom shows the difference compared to previous year.

It’s clear how Sony managed to win over the market in the past 12 months. In October Canon managed to fight back while Nikon sales seems to be not as good as the Canon’s. We will see how the Z6 sales will impact the November results.

ZY Optics releases the Mitakon Speedmaster 65mm f/1.4, designed specifically for Fujifilm GFX cameras

The weakest spot in the current Fuji GFX system are the lack of real fast primes. Well Zy Optics is kind enough to fullfill those needs and today they officially released the Mitakon Speedmaster 65mm f/1.4.
I know it’s manual focus only but it’s relatively cheap (available here on eBay) and as you can see from the images samples shot by Jonas Rask it shows an excellent performance!

Press text:

ZY Optics releases the Mitakon Speedmaster 65mm f/1.4, designed specifically for Fujifilm GFX cameras

Shenyang China, Nov 30, 2018 – Zhongyi Optics (ZY Optics) has released a new Mitakon Speedmaster 65mm f/1.4 for Fujifilm G mount, the fastest standard-length native lens for Fujifilm GFX cameras.

Offering a natural perspective (50mm field-of-view) along with a fast maximum aperture, the Mitakon 65mm f/1.4 is a versatile normal focal length prime characterized by its bright f/1.4 aperture to suit working in low-light conditions. It also affords a great degree of control over depth-of-field for isolating subjects from the background and producing selective focus effects.

A carefully-designed 11 elements in 9 groups optics system with 2pcs of HRI (High Refractive Index) & 2pcs of UD (Ultra-low dispersion) elements successfully minimizes the chromatic aberrations and delivers exceptional image quality to meet the demanding 51.4MP sensors.

A rounded nine-blade diaphragm helps to produce a softly diffused out-of-focus rendering (bokeh). The enclosure of the lens is made of metal to strengthen its durability.

The built-in retractable lens hood design successfully minimizes the stray lights from entering the frame and at the same time, saves the trouble of losing the lens hood when you are on- the-go.

Pricing & Availability

Mitakon Speedmaster 65mm f/1.4 is now available to ship and purchase at ZY Optics authorized resellers and at our official website (http://www.zyoptics.net/). The Recommended Retail price is USD 799/pc.

About Us

Shenyang Zhongyi Optical and Electronic Company (ZY Optics) is a leading Chinese camera lens & adapters manufacturer. We currently manufacture and distribute lenses and lens turbo adapters under the brand name of ‘Mitakon’ & ‘Zhongyi’.

For more information about Shenyang Zhongyi Optical and Electronic Company Limited and our products information, visit our official website http://www.zyoptics.net

Product Page

http://zyoptics.net/product/mitakon-speedmaster-65mm-f-1-4/

Image samples (Click on it to enlarge):

Panasonic: 8k on MFT is complicated while 8k on Full frame is coming in 2020

L-rumors spotted and translated this new Panasonic interview posted by the french website Mizuwari. And yes there are some bad news for MFT and good for the future L-mount fans:

1) Panasonic’s first goal is to give current MFT users a possibility to step up into Full Frame.

2) There are some physical limitations with MFT that Panasonic wants to overcome with Full Frame. Panasonic had no doubt that theyr would arrive in full format one day or another, because technically speaking the 8K on Micro 4/3 is complicated, if not impossible.

3) Panasonic will keep the promise and announce an 8K Full Frame camera by 2020

4) The full format will not meet the expectations and needs of a lot of users who will choose to turn to Lumix, if only because of size and price. So, of course, again, we will continue to release Micro 4/3 lenses and cameras, and our 10-25mm f / 1.7 under development is a good example of this.

5) Already 8 years ago Panasonic was thinking about going Full Frame

I wonder what Olympus managers are thinking right now. Will they go Full Frame too?