Mirrorless News

The official Olympus announcement on May 10th 2013

10/05/2013 By Heather

Leaks have already told us almost everything we need to know about the new Olympus PEN E-P5 – it’s fast, fun, retro-style and packed with the latest Olympus technology, some of which even surpasses that of the OM-D E-M5, the camera company’s flagship. As such, there were no surprises when Olympus announced its upcoming release in June early this morning. Perhaps the only thing that made us blink twice was the price – $1000 for the body alone. Olympus also confirmed that ‘premium models’ with a unique wooden grip will be available in limited quantities.

The new Photoshop CC: the rise of Creative Cloud and death of standalone purchases

08/05/2013 By Mathieu

On Monday, Adobe announced the new version of its famous software, Photoshop. It offers very interesting and advanced new features such as camera shake reduction.

But this new version also marks a point of no return for Adobe Products: you may have noticed that it comes with a CC instead of the traditional CS (Creative Suite) labelled after the product name. CC stands for Creative Cloud, the new subscription service launched by Adobe one year ago. This is important because Photoshop CC will be the first Adobe application available only with a Creative Cloud membership. You won’t be able to purchase it as a standalone application anymore. No more CD/DVD boxes or digital copies. You will need a monthly subscription, that starts at $19.99/month for the Photoshop CC full version which comes with 20GB of storage on the cloud (you can have a look at all the membership plans here). If I do some quick math, this means that the software will cost $239.88/year. Is it more expensive? In my opinion no, and I’ll tell you why.

Should I buy the OM-D E-M5, or wait for the new E-P5?

07/05/2013 By Heather

Deciding on your “forever camera” is never an easy task, especially when there are so many interesting models to choose from. This could not be more true for Olympus, a company which has more mirrorless cameras in its line-up than there are dandelions on my front lawn. (Well, not quite, but you get my drift!)

On May 10th 2013, choosing will become just that much more difficult with the official announcement of the brand new Olympus PEN E-P5. A glance at the the recently released specs list on 43rumors tells us that the E-P5 sits more or less on the same playing field as the OM-D E-M5, with a few obvious exceptions.

Light Field Cameras: a sneak peek into the future of photography?

05/05/2013 By Mathieu

The first Lytro camera, announced in 2011, introduced consumers to a completely different style of photography, one that allows you to refocus after taking a shot. This is possible thanks to Light Field technology, which consists of several micro lenses placed over the image sensor. These microlenses can capture the entire light spectrum of a scene. Then, the camera software uses the data collected to determine the direction of the light rays.

Light Field cameras (or plenoptic cameras) aren’t really a new phenomenon, however. The first ever Light Field camera was actually invented in 1908 by Gabriel Lippmann. Several models have also been developed for industrial and scientific purposes, while others have remained prototypes (including one from Adobe).

A new Samsung mirrorless camera to check out: the NX2000!

01/05/2013 By Heather

We knew it wouldn’t be long before Samsung added a new mirrorless camera to its already large collection. Meet the Samsung NX2000: an interchangeable lens compact system camera that was officially announced today by Samsung Germany.

The new NX2000 will feature a 20.3MP ASP-C CMOS sensor, which outdoes the 16MP sensors we see on most mirrorless cameras. It can capture up to 8fps and has an ISO range of 100-25800. Its small streamlined body sports a 3.7-inch, 800x480p LCD touchscreen, and will be available in black, white and pink. Not only is it the first mirrorless camera to use a micro SD card, but it is also almost “button-free” – that is, you do almost everything with the touchscreen.