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Life after Photokina: Sony’s unreachable wonder.

 
One of the most impressive announcements at Photokina was Sony’s Cyber-shot RX1, which is basically a point-and-shoot with a full-frame sensor.

The RX1 is the first full-frame Leica-imitating AF rangefinder-style camera. Sony posted some “specification changes” two days ago, which might explain why this camera was the only one on my very long “shopping list” that was only visible behind glass.

With a fast but very limiting fixed 35mm f/2 lens and a $2,800 price tag, which becomes close to $4,000 once a lens shade and EVF are added, this potentially great system will only be accessible to very few photographers. The image quality, according to this Flickr gallery, is very high.

In case you missed it, we previously wrote about the good and bad about Sony’s announcements here. We will definitively dig deeper into these systems on our upcoming Google Hang­out on Mon­day Octo­ber 15 at 1pm EST.

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Life after Photokina: Fuji’s retro sexy X-E1.

 
During Photokina Olympus, Panasonic, Sony and Fujifilm announced new mirrorless systems. Fuji has not one but two new cameras, the X-E1 and the XF1. The X-E1 is noticeably smaller than the X-Pro1, but it retains the same Leica-esque retro rangefinder design.


The quality of the EVF is amazing, the grip is very comfortable, and the overall size-to-weight ratio is excellent. The X-E1 is available for preordering on Amazon for $900 body only or $1,400 with the 18-55mm f/2.8 lens.

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Life after Photokina: Samsung’s Galaxy Camera.

 
News from Photokina are like Fall leaves. They are everywhere and it is hard to know where to start taking care of them. Because of that, we are doing two things: a few blog posts highlighting the most interesting and influential products, and a paid Google Hangout on Monday October 15 at 1pm EST, where we will discuss what we saw and learned, and how it will affect your business in 2013.

Photokina is a huge show. There are nine giant exhibition halls and most of them are two stories high. Every corner of these buildings is filled with everything having to do with the photo industry.  Canon, Leica, Nikon, and Sony introduced full-frame 35mm-sized sensor cameras, ranging from compact (Sony) to low-cost DSLRs (Canon, Nikon) to high-end pro rangefinders (Leica). Almost everybody claimed significant reductions in shutter lag and focusing speed, and many manufacturers added some form of Wi-Fi connectivity. If you think the iPhone 5 blurs the lines between cameras and smartphones you haven’t seen Samsung’s Galaxy Camera, by far the most original product we saw at Photokina.

As we saw before with Nikon’s Coolpix S800c, Android is rapidly becoming the OS of choice for smart phones.

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