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[OM] Re: The next competitive arena for DSLRs? [was Full E-330 review on

Subject: [OM] Re: The next competitive arena for DSLRs? [was Full E-330 review on dpreview]
From: Winsor Crosby <wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 11:31:20 -0800
You may be right, but apparently price seems to be the most important  
area of competition right now. I think all the 2/3 sensor EVF cameras  
are gone now apparently being replaced by low priced, but more  
profitable DSLRs. Sony DSC-R1 may have the right idea and will  
probably steal sales from Oly. What is interesting to me is that Oly  
could have held that down by doing a cheaper version of the E-330  
with one viewing system instead of three, minus the traditional slr  
viewing hardware. A camera with a kit lens not much more money that  
the Sony, but with interchangeable lenses could have killed the Sony.  
But Oly is slow.

I really don't thing viewfinder quality is any more likely to grab  
money now than it did with the OMs.  Autofocus won that race. I don't  
think that people buy the 5D for its viewfinder. They buy it for the  
prestige of being like the 1DsmkII and to use their old lenses. VF  
clarity is just an unexpected bonus. Of the many calls for Nikon to  
do a FF DSLR I have seen, I don't think the viewfinder clarity was  
ever given as a reason. While initial, pleased surprise has been  
expressed with the quality of view on some of the latest Nikons, the  
really consistent discussion has been about the merits of various  
autofocus systems.

I will not be surprised if the other makers follow Sony's DSC-R1  
lead, like they did with the 8MP 2/3 sensor cameras. I also would not  
be surprised if one of them, maybe a Canon, had their standard lens  
mount instead of a fixed lens, justifying that Rebel logo.



Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA




On Mar 19, 2006, at 12:13 AM, Moose wrote:

> The first great technical area of development in digital  
> photography has
> hit the shoulder of the S curve. Sensors are now big enough, fast
> enough, quiet enough, have good enough color accuracy to surpass 35mm
> film in essentially all respects for the vast majority of professional
> and advanced amateur uses previously done with 35mm film and a good  
> deal
> of MF film uses.
>
> There will continue to be advances, but not at anything near the rate
> nor with anything like the dramatic improvements of the preceding  
> few years.
>
> So where will the next feature battleground be? Well, what are the
> biggest things wrong with current DSLRs compared to their 35mm
> predecessors? In my book, the big areas are ergonomics and  
> viewfinders.
> Many on this list are keenly aware of the ergonomic advantages and
> disadvantages of various DSLRs. Certainly, we will see progress in  
> this
> area as the category settles down from the recent wild ride. On the
> other hand, it's a fuzzy area, so it's hard to use for features driven
> marketing.
>
> I'm thinking the next great battleground may be viewfinders. As it  
> turns
> out, the format size of 35mm, derived from another source altogether,
> movie film, is about the minimum size to allow a really large  
> appearing,
> bright, direct SLR viewfinder. I don't find the viewfinder on my  
> 300D to
> be all that bad, but I have exceptional vision in my viewfinder  
> eye. But
> I recognize that the 4/3 and APS size sensor DSLRs really have second
> rate viewfinders. Of course, millions of people are using them, mostly
> without complaint. But that doesn't mean all the old film SLR hands
> don't want something better. It also doesn't mean that all those who
> don't know any better can't be shown what they are missing with good
> marketing.
>
> Can*n fired their first shot in this battle a long time ago, even  
> if we
> didn't recognize it in this context. More recently, the 5D is much  
> more
> obvious. And in the not to distant future, when it or its  
> replacement is
> selling for $1299, it's going to  be a major factor. Camera stores  
> will
> only need to have the customer look through it and through a small
> sensor DSLR to make a lot of bigger sales.
>
> I used to think the EVF would be the next step and eventually replace
> the mirror/prism arrangement. I still think that will be the long run
> solution, at least for APC and smaller sensor sizes, but it's  
> apparently
> not ready for prime time yet, although Sony may think it is. Hard  
> to say
> just where the Sony DSC-R1 fits in, but I think it is at least in part
> Sony's first effort at finding the right viewfinder combo for an  
> ILEVR,
> Interchangable Lens EVF Reflex, or what ever they end up being called.
> All they have to do is put a lens mount on it and they are off and
> running. And now they own a mount with lenses already available. They
> may choose to rethink the AF motor set-up, though.
>
> Now Oly, a player which simply can't go the FF route because it  
> doesn't
> have the lenses and mount, mixes things up good with really innovative
> thinking and engineering. Whether a bridge to eventual EVF or at  
> least a
> medium term solution all on its own, it's a brilliant idea.
> Unfortunately, even Oly doesn't seem to "get" it completely, so  
> they've
> partially failed in the implementation. With any luck,that can be
> quickly fixed in firmware.
>
> As Walt has pointed out, the E-330, and its clone(s), are going to be
> the flat out best small sensor macro DSLRs out there. For many uses,
> better at that than FF sensor models.
>
> The overall viewfinder set-up is quite flexible too, Mode A live view
> for most conditions for those of us who like that, with the normal
> reflex finder for dim light or conditions where reflections kill  
> the LCD
> display. And the reverse for those who prefer the reflex viewfinder,
> with the LCD coming to the rescue for low and high shots and macro.
>
> And then they blow a big opportunity. What none of us knew all these
> years, or at least thought about, is that the reflex viewfinders we've
> used all these decades are seriously flawed. They have no choice, but
> still, the flaw is there, they don't indicate how the image will be
> exposed. Now I know we have all prided ourself on learning just how to
> judge the proper exposure using our experience and the metering  
> tools at
> hand, and it's a nice thing to be able to do. But... We've all had our
> share of failures. The metering systems all have their strong points,
> but they just aren't smart enough to get it right all the time.  
> Like the
> inevitable move to AF, viewfinders will help us more too.
>
> So what if the viewfinder could show you the overall tonality of the
> image before you take it? I've really become aware of how helpful this
> can be with my F10. The F10 is pretty much automatic, you don't have a
> lot of control over exposure, especially without going into the  
> menus to
> change exposure compensation and/or iso settings. On the other  
> hand, for
> landscape and lots of other shots, leave metering in spot, and just  
> move
> the frame around until you have the fight exposure on the LCD, half
> press, frame and shoot. I really became aware of this when traveling
> with F10 and 300D. Exposure under difficult conditions was so easy and
> intuitive with the F10 that I would forget, and blow shots with the  
> 300D
> when firt using it after the F10. Sure, its got fancy metering, but it
> still doesn't show me what it's doing. On the other hand, in some
> lighting conditions, the F10 LCD is almost impossible to see, all I  
> see
> is my reflection in the mirror.
>
> Sony 'gets' it. The DSC-R1 "In FRAMING mode the camera attempts to
> always produce an image bright and clear with which to frame the shot.
> In PREVIEW mode the image you see is most representative of the final
> shot (taking into account the final exposure). PREVIEW mode can be  
> most
> useful in aperture priority where it effectively gives you a live  
> depth
> of field preview, as you change the aperture you see the effect on  
> depth
> of field instantly." And the mode is selected with a switch, not  
> down in
> some menu! They also put in live histogram and overexposure area
> indication. (Of course, they blew it for me in another area, with  
> stone
> slow RAW writing speed and enormous RAW files, even bigger that Oly's.
> And Oly has finally really fixed their RAW writing speed with the  
> 330.)
>
> If Oly can add something like the choice of submodes to 'A' and  
> preview
> histogram and overexposure area indication options, they really have a
> unique and useful tool. If it had that I would probably have one at
> least on the way here by now. They better get on it, I'll bet that  
> Sony
> DSLR with EVF and live view LCD isn't far off (and by the way, the
> display options above apply to the EVF too.).
>
> Moose
>
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