Sigma CEO gives rare insight on future tech: Plastic Glass, Curved sensors and more…

The French website Mizuwari (google translation here) interviewed Sigma CEO MR. Kazuto Yamaki. There are a lot of news inside their article and I am only sharing four of them here:

Glass versus Plastic Glass: “Plastic glasses suffer from a major problem: they dilate strongly when it is hot and shrink just as much when it is cold. These variations are detrimental to optical performance.”

Curved sensors: “The curved sensors would be an interesting solution for smartphones but too restrictive for a conventional camera, fixed or non-fixed.”

Foveon sensors: “We are not against supplying Foveon sensors to other manufacturers, but it is not so simple. Beyond the hardware, it is also necessary to take into account the dedicated processor, the way to exploit it, the very particular algorithms that make it possible to take advantage of the triple layer architecture.
I am completely for a Leica M with Foveon sensor! And if we made bigger sensors, I’d love to see Hasselblad Foveon sensors.”

Medium Format: “we can not afford to embark on such an adventure.”

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One more thing: The new Sigma FE lenses are now on preorder here:
All lenses listed on one page at BHphoto (Click here). In detail:
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto.
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto.

Olympus says they will not make a video oriented camera. Sigma says they will make E-mount natively designed lenses.

The big disappointment was big when Sigma announced their first FF E-mount lenses. But Sony folks will find new hope in today’s french magazine Focus Numerique article. They interviewed Sigma CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki and he said:

“We will develop native optics for Sony FE if they are different from what we can already offer in our “reflex” range.“

At last some common sense :)

The same french magazine also interviewed Olympus CEO Terada where he confirms there will be no professional video oriented MFT camera from Olympus.

 

What’s up next? Sony, Canon, Panasonic announcements at NAB show in April

The next wave of product announcements is coming in one month at the NAB show. There are no reliable rumors yet but this is what we can hope to get:

Sony:
The easy guess is that Sony will announce the new Sony A7sIII. This is really long due for an announcement. The Panasonic GH5s and Fuji X-H1 might not be Full Frame cameras but it’s time to get an upgraded Sony competitor.

Panasonic:
Don’t think they will announce anything MFT related. Although some folks still hope there will be a new AGF100 styled MFT camcorder.

Canon:
Canon will announce a new EOS Cinema camera.

It’s unlikely Fuji-Nikon-Olympus will announce anything at NAB.

Canon manager confirms: Company shifts focus from SLR to mirrorless cameras!

Asian Review posted an interesting article. Seems like Canon is finally aware the focus must go on mirrorless system cameras. Canon manager Sakata reported:

1) they must “actively roll out products for a growth market even if there is some cannibalization”.

2) Sakata did not say much about the possibility of Canon releasing a high-end mirrorless camera. “We will look at the timing and consider it”

I think that at Photokina both Canon and Nikon will show their FF mirrorless system cameras. It may be just a prototype or roadmap announcement. But still, the war ar Sony will begin soon!