Author: Richard

I know a few professional photographers who have the Leica CL as their carry everywhere camera, with its DX cropped sensor, taking the L mount and with adapters just about any other lens available, its a very flexible camera.

I know I go on a lot about how good Fuji, Leica and several other of the smaller camera companies are at supporting there products but it is definitely something to consider if your the sort of person who keeps a camera for a long time.

Well Leica have just announced version 4 of their firmware for the Leica CL. When Leica released the recent Q2 they revamped the user interface and have been rolling out this together with other newer features to their other cameras. Now these features reach the old CL. Many people have been expecting the CL to be replaced shortly so some were surprised by this; thinking the new interface changes and features would be in the CL2 when released, but no, CL users have got them now.

Mirrorless cameras have a number of advantages, the best being able to use most lens available with the use of a suitable adapter.

In an age where modern lens are getting closer to closer to being perfect when combined with software correction, sometimes people want a more unique look.

There is now a growing interest in older lens of character and a number of older designs have come back into production.

A company is now making an adapter to enable the use of Leica M mount lens on the mirrorless Hasselblad medium format camera. The results are striking and if you have a mirrorless Haselblad and some M glass you should really give it a try.

The release of a professional Nikon was always exciting and something I looked forward to.

The Film range were got better each year, maybe the autofocus F4 was a little lacklustre compared to Canon but all the F range had something to recommend them.

With the release of the Nikon D1 we had the worlds first professional digital camera, the D2 were the speed demons, and then came the D3, the camera that stole the crown back from Canon.

Since then each release has tried to increase the megapixel count, increase the focus speed but still keep what made the D3 so good, its insane low light performance.

If your a sports or photo journalist then get the new D6, for the rest of us who maybe want something else then speed you may want to look at the D8** range.

I love my Leica M10, whilst there maybe better carry everywhere cameras (the Leica Q and Leica CL come to mind), I find it an accomplished camera.

If the rumour is true we will be getting an M10 with a higher resolution sensor. My Leica M10 is currently 24MP and my Nikon D800 is 36MP, but many of the latest cameras are now up to 50MP so for many an update is needed.

As a walk around camera the M10 at 24MP is currently enough for me, when I start to look at replacing my main studio camera I’ll be looking for something in the 50MP plus range.

Camera manufactures are really struggling, the camera phone has become the camera for most people.

Minolta sold there camera division to Sony, the medium format sector is consolidating with really only PhaseOne and the now Chinese owned Hasselblad the big high end players left.

Nikon have been struggling for a long time but the new Z range is now the go to mirrorless camera. With their lower end Z range having better performance and lower price to Olympus, Micro Four Thirds is now really on the back foot.

The investment company buying Olympus is part owned by the Japanese government so Olympus may yet carry on. Certainly it would not stop be buying an Olympus camera today, but there is a real question on the future.

Olympus has been around for eighty four years and have been an icon in the small camera field.

So what of the future for Micro Four Thirds. Only Panasonic and Olympus have really been players in this area. Panasonic seem to be moving to full frame with the Leica L mount; but as full frame has advantages over Micro Four Thirds, so Micro Four Thirds has advantages over full frame, and no where is this advantage bigger than in the area of video.

Olympus may continue in name, whether they can carve a niche is to be seen, but I hope the mount and format survives.