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Camera Update by PlanetMitch - March 2016

NETFLIX ANNOUNCEMENT
Posted by Mitch Aunger
Greetings Earthlings!
 
What a great reaction for the first article - thanks to everyone for reading and commenting!
 
February has been a busy month for camera announcements. And I suspect March will be as well leading into major events like WPPI and NAB.
 
Canon, Nikon, Sony, and even Pentax had major announcements. And interestingly, only one of them was mirrorless.
 
I don’t know… seems like the entire planet is talking ‘mirrorless this’ and ‘mirrorless that’ but yet I also recently found that in 2015, mirrorless sales were only about 10% of the market!
 
Compact cameras have fallen off the edge of the flat Earth and may never be seen again… though interestingly, Canon and Polaroid are still producing them and announcing new models. I guess there are some people on the planet that don’t own smartphones? How can that be?
Galaxy S7
 
Speaking of smartphones, Samsung just announced the Galaxy S7 which has Canon’s Dual Pixel Autofocus. This is a significant move of DSLR tech into the tiny smartphone camera. If you’ve seen the demos, you’ll be impressed with the autofocus speed! Nobody specifically said it is Canon’s technology, but it would be hard to imagine that Samsung would call it the exact same name as Canon’s tech if it weren’t. They’re already familiar with lawsuits (Apple) and I would hope they’d steer away from that fight.
 
There’s a rumor that Panasonic will be releasing the GH5 around Photokina (Sept 20-25 in Cologne) and some are saying it will have 6k video - which would make it stand out in the crowd of any camera either DSLR or video cam. Sure there’s the REDs that shoot 6k, but that’s pretty much the market so far. Of course, the question is who needs 6k when 99% of the planet is still watching 1080HD for the most part? Ok, the only thing you can buy in electronics stores (at least here in the US) is 4k TVs, but there’s still very little 4k content to consume. Maybe if you live in Japan where 4k distribution is more entrenched you might want 6k…?
 
We’re going to get to the point where there’s overkill somewhere aren’t we?
 
Mirrorless? In the last article, I mentioned (ranted) that I am really bothered by the fact the industry has fragmented this interchangeable lens camera market into DSLRs and Mirrorless. But in looking into the overall market, I found a report that shows the Mirrorless fragment is only 9% of the camera market.
 
That’s not as big as many of the filmmaking community will have you think. “I work in a medium sized shop and everyone’s shooting on Mirrorless…” people say. Ok great. Maybe the overall market share in filmmaking is higher than the overall market. That’s ok, but let’s not make it seem like DSLRs are dead.
 
Again, I don’t see that much functional difference between Mirrorless and DSLRs… it really shouldn’t be like this big war… they’re all just interchangeable lens cameras that shoot both stills and video!
 
New Cameras? Okay, I did mention there were a slew of new cameras in the last month.
 
Canon announced the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and the Canon EOS 80D.
Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
 
The full frame Canon EOS-1D X Mark II is a big beefy professional DSLR that now shoots 4k up to 60fps and tons of stills in burst mode (you can find all the statistics here). They’re also selling it as a Dual Pixel Autofocus beast with many options to customize the AF in video that no other Canon camera has. Plus it has a beefy price - $6499. I absolutely loved testing the Canon EOS-1D X a couple of years ago - loving the dual grips and shutter buttons, but I sure can’t afford something like this for my usage… anyone out there rich and feeling generous?
 
The APS-C sized Canon EOS 80D is a “consumer” DSLR that now has many pro video features (tho it didn’t get 4k video). Major features: Dual Pixel AF (first low priced DSLR to get that) (but it doesn’t have all the features of the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DPAF), articulating LCD (which I wish would come on the next 5D but I know I’m dreaming), and an overall more pro feeling. Not bad for $1200. If I were looking for a large sensor stills/video camera, this might be it.
 
Nikon announced both the full frame D5 and the APS-C D500. The D5 is on par with the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and if you have a bunch of Nikon glass, it will be a fantastic pro camera. Their first entry into 4k video - but only for internal recording (you can’t send it out over HDMI). Touch screen looks great (the 1Dx II has it but ONLY for focusing! LAME). Expandable to a whopping 3,280,000 ISO (but we’ve yet to see how grainy that is). So it is quite the beast! Also priced at $6499.
 
The D500 is also an interesting camera for Nikon lens fans. It has many great features the 80D doesn’t (like in-camera time-lapse), high ISO, and 153 AF points. It also is a bit higher in price tho - $1999.
 
Sony’s new APS-C sized A6300 made a big splash with many - specially priced at $1000. It is a large sensor for a small mirrorless body. It includes 4k video up to 30fps, a 5-axis image stabilized sensor (this is cool), S-Log3 for flat video with lots of room to colorize, and 1080HD up to 120fps! It is a sony e-mount so there are fewer lenses in this market but you can also get an adapter (around $350) to use Canon lenses for example… increasing the price to around the same price as the Canon EOS 80D, but may have a lot more features if you like the very small body.
 
Pentax also released a full frame (their first) body called the K-1… but realistically it won’t make much of a splash as well… who shoots with Pentax? (Apologies if you do… I’m sure they’re great - but they don’t have a very large chunk of the market).
 
Too many choices?
So… what to do? Should you be investing in a new camera right now? Well, first, ONLY if you MUST. There are likely to be several more cameras likely coming like the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (tho it will be in the $3000 price range).
 
If you need a small video cam that shoots stills fairly well, you might look at the A6300. But even tho Sony claims it is the fastest autofocus on the market, we’ll have to see. Most will tell you that Sony’s kicking butt on the video side and well the stills side could still use some work.
 
So, if I were needing a new interchangeable lens camera with a focus (bad pun) on stills, and periodic video, I’d lean toward the 80D from Canon - but only if I don’t need 4k (which most don’t).
 
Another option, of course, is to wait until the market floods with used Canon EOS 5D Mark III (the prices are already depressed for those of us wanting to sell - but great for buyers)… or one of the other cameras… there’s nothing really wrong with the older technology! Heck, I know plenty of people still making great photos and videos with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II for example… and you can get those for a steal.
 
Have patience if you don’t have to own a new camera right now. Or jump on the new shiny object that most appeals to you right now and satisfy that gear lust many of us have.
 
Or, if money’s really burning a hole in your pocket, why not buy a new or gently used lens? Now there’s a great investment! Lenses are always good options.
 
Until the next orbit…

About Mitch "planetMitch" Aunger

Mitch "planetMitch" Aunger is the creator and mastermind behind planet5D.com — which covers every aspect of HDSLR cameras (and a whole lot of other cameras as well). A lover of photography since his early days, he graduated to selling stock photos to make a little bit of spare cash. It wasn’t much, but it allowed him to upgrade to better cameras as well as computers, and it wasn’t taking money away from feeding his family.

He loves the stories that the still image can tell. In the summer of 2008, he read a story written by Arnold Kim called “I Quit My Job” — Arn is the owner of macrumors.com. He started macrumors in 2000 as a hobby, and by 2008 he was making more money with the site than he was on his day job, so he quit. The surprise to the story is that he was a doctor making more than six figures! Right then and there, planetMitch dreamed about doing the same thing.

September 2008 rolled around, and Canon announced this new version of the incredible 5D — the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It was the first Canon DSLR to shoot full HD video and the earth moved! (It really was a huge deal in the photography world.) planetMitch knew if there was ever a chance to ride a wave of something he was really passionate about, this was it — and the blog at planet5D.com was born. It is now one of the most popular HDSLR blogs on the planet, and he is making a full-time living from blogging. He couldn’t be happier! You can network with him on Stage 32 by clicking here.

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