The Market Goes Enthusiast<\/h3>\n![\"Sony](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/a72-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Sony a7 II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe biggest development this year was the expansion of the enthusiast and professional grade lineups for all the major mirrorless players. \u00a0This began last year and continued throughout 2014. \u00a0While there were plenty of consumer-grade releases as well, everyone filled out the high-end a fair bit. \u00a0Additionally, nearly everyone now has phase-detect autofocus in their cameras, making mirrorless a viable option for many types of moving subjects.<\/p>\n
Sony expanded their outstanding a7 lineup with the 12 Megapixel a7s, which features perhaps the best low-light performance of any 35mm format or smaller camera ever made. \u00a0They also upgraded the original a7 with the a7 II, adding better ergonomics, better build quality and 5-axis in-body image stabilization – a first for a full-frame camera. \u00a0I have the a7 II in my hands for the next week, so look for a full review on that camera soon. \u00a0Sony also looked to expand enthusiast offerings in the APS-C space and did so aggressively with the excellent a6000.<\/a>\u00a0 The a6000 packs a huge amount of features and an excellent 24 megapixel sensor into a small and surprisingly affordable camera. \u00a0The a6000 is my vote for best value camera of 2014.<\/p>\nSony also expanded the lens lineup to cater a bit more to professionals. \u00a0The pro-grade FE 70-200mm f\/4 OSS and FE 16-35mm f\/4 OSS (which I’ll be reviewing for the next\u00a0week as well) highlighted the additions. \u00a0Sony also announced (but has yet to release) high-end lenses such as a 35mm f\/1.4, 90mm f\/2.8 Macro and 28mm f\/2.0<\/a>. \u00a0Zeiss (without Sony) also released the manual focus Loxia line<\/a> of lenses for the E-mount. \u00a0Sony seems fully committed to the enthusiast market, and this can only be good for the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/grip_front-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a>The Fujifilm X-T1 with\u00a0Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAfter experimenting a bit with the consumer arena in late 2013, Fujifilm realized their bread and butter was the enthusiast market and focused wholly on that segment. \u00a0The biggest splash was made by the Fujifilm X-T1<\/a>, replacing the X-Pro 1 as the new flagship of the X-Series. \u00a0The X-T1 packed a huge host of features into a ruggedly built weather-sealed body with amazing external controls and the best electronic viewfinder on the market. \u00a0I fell in love with the camera immediately and it has become my primary body for my personal shooting. They also gave the camera a massive firmware update<\/a> this month that added 27 new features including an electronic shutter capable of 1\/32,000 second shooting.<\/p>\nOn the lens side of things, Fuji added the incredible\u00a056mm f\/1.2<\/a>, which has quickly become\u00a0one of my favorite lenses of all time. \u00a0They also released their 10-24mm ultra-wide zoom<\/a>\u00a0as well as two new weather sealed lenses: an 18-135mm super zoom<\/a> and the long-awaited 50-140mm f\/2.8 OIS<\/a>, which is a truly exceptional optic. \u00a0Zeiss also released their Touit 50mm f\/2.8 Macro <\/a>for both Fuji X and Sony E mount cameras. \u00a0In all, Fuji has really fleshed out their system in 2014, and with the 16mm f\/1.4, 16-55 f\/2.8, 90mm f\/2.0 and 140-400mm<\/a> super telephoto on the horizon, that trend looks to continue in 2015. \u00a0The wildcard? \u00a0Will the X-Pro 1 ever get replaced?<\/p>\nMicro 4\/3 had a somewhat quiet year for the majority of 2014. \u00a0Panasonic released the excellent 4K capable GH4, but the remainder of the year only refreshes of existing cameras, with the E-M10 from Olympus being a somewhat bargain version of the E-M5, and the new E-PL7 and Panasonic\u00a0GM5 that were announced at Photokina adding a handful of features over their predecessors. \u00a0My favorite camera out of the two manufacturers was the 4\/3 sensor compact Panasonic LX100<\/a>, which was released a few months ago.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/nocticron_em5-300x240.jpg\")
<\/a>The Panasonic Leica 42.5mm f\/1.2 Nocticron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOn the lens side, however, there were certainly some very nice developments. \u00a0Olympus released the tiny and very good 25mm f\/1.8<\/a>, adding a fast normal to go with the excellent 45mm f\/1.8. \u00a0Panasonic released two Leica branded lenses: the very good 15mm f\/1.7<\/a>\u00a0and the truly amazing 42.5mm f\/1.2 Nocticron<\/a>. \u00a0The Nocticron is one of the finest lenses in pure optical quality that I have ever had the pleasure of using.\u00a0If this is the direction Panasonic is going with Micro 4\/3, then there is a lot to be excited about for the future. \u00a0Olympus also released their long-awaited pro-grade telephoto zoom, the excellent\u00a040-150mm f\/2.8 Pro<\/a>. They’ve got two more Pro grade lenses in the wings for 2015 with a 300mm f\/4 and 7-14mm f\/2.8 both set to be released in this coming year.<\/p>\nThe dark horse this year was Samsung, and they put in a huge showing at Photokina this year with the release of their NX1 mirrorless camera. \u00a0This is a big camera in the mirrorless world, fitting in similar in size to most small DSLRs, but it packs seriously impressive punch, including the ability to track motion while firing off an astounding 15 frame per second burst. \u00a0I handled the NX1 at Photokina\u00a0<\/a>and found it to be supremely impressive, even picking it as my ‘best in show’ after the event. \u00a0Samsung also added a fast telephoto zoom, releasing a 50-150mm f\/2.8 in a compact and very well-built body. \u00a0Samsung has quietly built a very impressive lens lineup, including a very wide aperture 16-50mm f\/2-2.8 standard zoom and an 85mm f\/1.4 portrait prime. \u00a0I haven’t had a chance to review the NX1 yet, but I hope to do so in the near future.<\/p>\nContinue: What to expect in 2015<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
What’s Next?<\/h3>\n
Last year I noted that I thought the notion that Full Frame mirrorless would kill the smaller formats was crazy, and I do still feel that way. \u00a0However, I think, at least in terms of Sony, it’s possible that we may see a shift in their focus away from the APS-C format, at least in development of new and exciting lenses. \u00a0Sony didn’t announce much of anything for the APS-C format in terms of higher end lenses. \u00a0The good news is that the APS-C offerings can still use the FE lenses, which may still make sense for the smaller primes and the telephoto zooms.<\/p>\n
Fuji doesn’t seem primed at all for Full Frame, and I’m personally just fine with that. \u00a0They’ve built an incredible APS-C lens lineup and there’s not much more to ask for in that department. \u00a0The few gaps remaining will almost all be filled by the end of next year, though the new lenses appear to be quite bulky, which might affect how popular some of these lenses are.<\/p>\n
Micro 4\/3 is honestly nearing the point where they are a truly mature system, with nearly every base covered in both the consumer lens lineup and the enthusiast lineup. \u00a0The addition of the Olympus 300mm f\/4 will finally add that pro-grade telephoto prime to the system. \u00a0I’d still like to see a 200mm f\/2.8 and perhaps a 100mm f\/2 added to the lineup, but we’ll see where that’s headed as the coming year progresses. \u00a0I am very curious to see which mirrorless system will be the first to release tilt-shift lenses.<\/p>\n![\"Will](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/a72_1Ds-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/a>Will mirrorless supplant DSLRs? Yes…but not yet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nShifts in the industry<\/h3>\n
As I noted at the beginning of the article, the photography industry as a whole is on a decline. \u00a0To be honest, this isn’t surprising to me in the least. \u00a0Before the digital revolution, there was a steady supply of serious photographers who bought SLRs and then there was the casual crowd who had film compacts or used those lovely one-time-use disposable cameras. \u00a0When digital came along, a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon. \u00a0Once DSLRs came down in price enough to be affordable, a HUGE array of people bought them, seeking ‘professional quality’ results. \u00a0This led to a huge boom in sales and profits for the camera companies (especially Canon and Nikon). \u00a0That wasn’t sustainable for two reasons. \u00a0First, a lot of those people who bought them didn’t like the bulk of the system and many didn’t have the skill or patience to learn how to properly use the cameras, leading to sub-par results. Second, those who were happy with their cameras but aren’t enthusiasts don’t feel any need to upgrade. \u00a0In a world where cell phone photos are the norm, a solid APS-C 10 megapixel sensor is still really impressive to most people.<\/p>\n
As DSLR sales drop and compact digital sales fall off a cliff in favor of ever increasingly good cell phone cameras, mirrorless sales have stayed constant, or even slightly risen. \u00a0Why? \u00a0The mirrorless space is where the innovation is occurring. \u00a0EVFs are getting to be incredibly good, surpassing OVFs for lower light work and getting fairly close to a good OVF for outdoor shooting. \u00a0They’ll only continue to improve. \u00a0Mirrorless makers jumped on the WiFi bandwagon early, enabling a host of very useful features that the majority of DSLRs don’t have. \u00a0WiFi is just now starting to make it into serious DSLRs, and even then it’s usually crippled. This innovation, combined with a smaller overall kit with similar (or in some cases better) quality than competing DSLRs is driving more and more photographers to mirrorless. \u00a0A large portion of working pros have added mirrorless kits to their stash of gear, and more and more are finding that they leave their DSLRs at home for most everything except the most demanding paid gigs.<\/p>\n
I think the DSLR will exist in some form for at least another decade, and it’s evident that not all mirrorless kits will be chosen for their size, but rather their capabilities. There are still several things that DSLRs do a bit better than mirrorless cameras, but that list of advantages is dwindling every year, and the pros and cons between each is fairly balanced and tipping towards mirrorless. \u00a0I would wager that the majority of serious shooters will be shooting mirrorless within 5-7\u00a0years. \u00a0Nikon and Canon are lagging badly in this space, but don’t expect that to last much longer. \u00a0Nikon is rumored to be releasing a full frame mirrorless system this coming year, and Canon had better not be far behind with a competent system if they don’t want to be left behind. Of course, due to the huge amount of great glass with those systems, I’m sure any new system will work well with the existing DSLR glass, as it should.<\/p>\n
In all, it’s clear to me that mirrorless is the future. \u00a0I don’t think the shift will come overnight, and there will be many shooters who need DSLRs for the time being (until large, capable mirrorless cameras are created to leverage the large glass many shooters need), but it’ll come. \u00a0And some will be small, and some will probably be the size of a 1DX or D4s, but I don’t think the mirror has much longer to go.<\/p>\n
One more thing: If you have found my work helpful to you in this past year, and you are planning on buying any photographic equipment from B&H, please consider clicking through to B&H on the banner below. It won’t cost you anything extra, but will help support Admiring Light so I can continue to bring you great reviews and articles. Thanks!<\/p>\n
<\/a>The biggest development this year was the expansion of the enthusiast and professional grade lineups for all the major mirrorless players. \u00a0This began last year and continued throughout 2014. \u00a0While there were plenty of consumer-grade releases as well, everyone filled out the high-end a fair bit. \u00a0Additionally, nearly everyone now has phase-detect autofocus in their cameras, making mirrorless a viable option for many types of moving subjects.<\/p>\n
Sony expanded their outstanding a7 lineup with the 12 Megapixel a7s, which features perhaps the best low-light performance of any 35mm format or smaller camera ever made. \u00a0They also upgraded the original a7 with the a7 II, adding better ergonomics, better build quality and 5-axis in-body image stabilization – a first for a full-frame camera. \u00a0I have the a7 II in my hands for the next week, so look for a full review on that camera soon. \u00a0Sony also looked to expand enthusiast offerings in the APS-C space and did so aggressively with the excellent a6000.<\/a>\u00a0 The a6000 packs a huge amount of features and an excellent 24 megapixel sensor into a small and surprisingly affordable camera. \u00a0The a6000 is my vote for best value camera of 2014.<\/p>\n Sony also expanded the lens lineup to cater a bit more to professionals. \u00a0The pro-grade FE 70-200mm f\/4 OSS and FE 16-35mm f\/4 OSS (which I’ll be reviewing for the next\u00a0week as well) highlighted the additions. \u00a0Sony also announced (but has yet to release) high-end lenses such as a 35mm f\/1.4, 90mm f\/2.8 Macro and 28mm f\/2.0<\/a>. \u00a0Zeiss (without Sony) also released the manual focus Loxia line<\/a> of lenses for the E-mount. \u00a0Sony seems fully committed to the enthusiast market, and this can only be good for the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n After experimenting a bit with the consumer arena in late 2013, Fujifilm realized their bread and butter was the enthusiast market and focused wholly on that segment. \u00a0The biggest splash was made by the Fujifilm X-T1<\/a>, replacing the X-Pro 1 as the new flagship of the X-Series. \u00a0The X-T1 packed a huge host of features into a ruggedly built weather-sealed body with amazing external controls and the best electronic viewfinder on the market. \u00a0I fell in love with the camera immediately and it has become my primary body for my personal shooting. They also gave the camera a massive firmware update<\/a> this month that added 27 new features including an electronic shutter capable of 1\/32,000 second shooting.<\/p>\n On the lens side of things, Fuji added the incredible\u00a056mm f\/1.2<\/a>, which has quickly become\u00a0one of my favorite lenses of all time. \u00a0They also released their 10-24mm ultra-wide zoom<\/a>\u00a0as well as two new weather sealed lenses: an 18-135mm super zoom<\/a> and the long-awaited 50-140mm f\/2.8 OIS<\/a>, which is a truly exceptional optic. \u00a0Zeiss also released their Touit 50mm f\/2.8 Macro <\/a>for both Fuji X and Sony E mount cameras. \u00a0In all, Fuji has really fleshed out their system in 2014, and with the 16mm f\/1.4, 16-55 f\/2.8, 90mm f\/2.0 and 140-400mm<\/a> super telephoto on the horizon, that trend looks to continue in 2015. \u00a0The wildcard? \u00a0Will the X-Pro 1 ever get replaced?<\/p>\n Micro 4\/3 had a somewhat quiet year for the majority of 2014. \u00a0Panasonic released the excellent 4K capable GH4, but the remainder of the year only refreshes of existing cameras, with the E-M10 from Olympus being a somewhat bargain version of the E-M5, and the new E-PL7 and Panasonic\u00a0GM5 that were announced at Photokina adding a handful of features over their predecessors. \u00a0My favorite camera out of the two manufacturers was the 4\/3 sensor compact Panasonic LX100<\/a>, which was released a few months ago.<\/p>\n On the lens side, however, there were certainly some very nice developments. \u00a0Olympus released the tiny and very good 25mm f\/1.8<\/a>, adding a fast normal to go with the excellent 45mm f\/1.8. \u00a0Panasonic released two Leica branded lenses: the very good 15mm f\/1.7<\/a>\u00a0and the truly amazing 42.5mm f\/1.2 Nocticron<\/a>. \u00a0The Nocticron is one of the finest lenses in pure optical quality that I have ever had the pleasure of using.\u00a0If this is the direction Panasonic is going with Micro 4\/3, then there is a lot to be excited about for the future. \u00a0Olympus also released their long-awaited pro-grade telephoto zoom, the excellent\u00a040-150mm f\/2.8 Pro<\/a>. They’ve got two more Pro grade lenses in the wings for 2015 with a 300mm f\/4 and 7-14mm f\/2.8 both set to be released in this coming year.<\/p>\n The dark horse this year was Samsung, and they put in a huge showing at Photokina this year with the release of their NX1 mirrorless camera. \u00a0This is a big camera in the mirrorless world, fitting in similar in size to most small DSLRs, but it packs seriously impressive punch, including the ability to track motion while firing off an astounding 15 frame per second burst. \u00a0I handled the NX1 at Photokina\u00a0<\/a>and found it to be supremely impressive, even picking it as my ‘best in show’ after the event. \u00a0Samsung also added a fast telephoto zoom, releasing a 50-150mm f\/2.8 in a compact and very well-built body. \u00a0Samsung has quietly built a very impressive lens lineup, including a very wide aperture 16-50mm f\/2-2.8 standard zoom and an 85mm f\/1.4 portrait prime. \u00a0I haven’t had a chance to review the NX1 yet, but I hope to do so in the near future.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year I noted that I thought the notion that Full Frame mirrorless would kill the smaller formats was crazy, and I do still feel that way. \u00a0However, I think, at least in terms of Sony, it’s possible that we may see a shift in their focus away from the APS-C format, at least in development of new and exciting lenses. \u00a0Sony didn’t announce much of anything for the APS-C format in terms of higher end lenses. \u00a0The good news is that the APS-C offerings can still use the FE lenses, which may still make sense for the smaller primes and the telephoto zooms.<\/p>\n Fuji doesn’t seem primed at all for Full Frame, and I’m personally just fine with that. \u00a0They’ve built an incredible APS-C lens lineup and there’s not much more to ask for in that department. \u00a0The few gaps remaining will almost all be filled by the end of next year, though the new lenses appear to be quite bulky, which might affect how popular some of these lenses are.<\/p>\n Micro 4\/3 is honestly nearing the point where they are a truly mature system, with nearly every base covered in both the consumer lens lineup and the enthusiast lineup. \u00a0The addition of the Olympus 300mm f\/4 will finally add that pro-grade telephoto prime to the system. \u00a0I’d still like to see a 200mm f\/2.8 and perhaps a 100mm f\/2 added to the lineup, but we’ll see where that’s headed as the coming year progresses. \u00a0I am very curious to see which mirrorless system will be the first to release tilt-shift lenses.<\/p>\n As I noted at the beginning of the article, the photography industry as a whole is on a decline. \u00a0To be honest, this isn’t surprising to me in the least. \u00a0Before the digital revolution, there was a steady supply of serious photographers who bought SLRs and then there was the casual crowd who had film compacts or used those lovely one-time-use disposable cameras. \u00a0When digital came along, a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon. \u00a0Once DSLRs came down in price enough to be affordable, a HUGE array of people bought them, seeking ‘professional quality’ results. \u00a0This led to a huge boom in sales and profits for the camera companies (especially Canon and Nikon). \u00a0That wasn’t sustainable for two reasons. \u00a0First, a lot of those people who bought them didn’t like the bulk of the system and many didn’t have the skill or patience to learn how to properly use the cameras, leading to sub-par results. Second, those who were happy with their cameras but aren’t enthusiasts don’t feel any need to upgrade. \u00a0In a world where cell phone photos are the norm, a solid APS-C 10 megapixel sensor is still really impressive to most people.<\/p>\n As DSLR sales drop and compact digital sales fall off a cliff in favor of ever increasingly good cell phone cameras, mirrorless sales have stayed constant, or even slightly risen. \u00a0Why? \u00a0The mirrorless space is where the innovation is occurring. \u00a0EVFs are getting to be incredibly good, surpassing OVFs for lower light work and getting fairly close to a good OVF for outdoor shooting. \u00a0They’ll only continue to improve. \u00a0Mirrorless makers jumped on the WiFi bandwagon early, enabling a host of very useful features that the majority of DSLRs don’t have. \u00a0WiFi is just now starting to make it into serious DSLRs, and even then it’s usually crippled. This innovation, combined with a smaller overall kit with similar (or in some cases better) quality than competing DSLRs is driving more and more photographers to mirrorless. \u00a0A large portion of working pros have added mirrorless kits to their stash of gear, and more and more are finding that they leave their DSLRs at home for most everything except the most demanding paid gigs.<\/p>\n I think the DSLR will exist in some form for at least another decade, and it’s evident that not all mirrorless kits will be chosen for their size, but rather their capabilities. There are still several things that DSLRs do a bit better than mirrorless cameras, but that list of advantages is dwindling every year, and the pros and cons between each is fairly balanced and tipping towards mirrorless. \u00a0I would wager that the majority of serious shooters will be shooting mirrorless within 5-7\u00a0years. \u00a0Nikon and Canon are lagging badly in this space, but don’t expect that to last much longer. \u00a0Nikon is rumored to be releasing a full frame mirrorless system this coming year, and Canon had better not be far behind with a competent system if they don’t want to be left behind. Of course, due to the huge amount of great glass with those systems, I’m sure any new system will work well with the existing DSLR glass, as it should.<\/p>\n In all, it’s clear to me that mirrorless is the future. \u00a0I don’t think the shift will come overnight, and there will be many shooters who need DSLRs for the time being (until large, capable mirrorless cameras are created to leverage the large glass many shooters need), but it’ll come. \u00a0And some will be small, and some will probably be the size of a 1DX or D4s, but I don’t think the mirror has much longer to go.<\/p>\n One more thing: If you have found my work helpful to you in this past year, and you are planning on buying any photographic equipment from B&H, please consider clicking through to B&H on the banner below. It won’t cost you anything extra, but will help support Admiring Light so I can continue to bring you great reviews and articles. Thanks!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Continue: What to expect in 2015<\/a><\/h4>\n
What’s Next?<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Shifts in the industry<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/images\/affiliateimages\/15122-WWShipping468x60.jpg\")
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