Main Trends

(c) Morgan Bochet

This year the majority of the presentations focus on connectivity. Google and Amazon shows their smart assistants. The market is booming in the United States, where 25% of homes are equipped with a connected speaker. Amazon claims more than 100 million connected devices equipped with Alexa, more than 150 products and 28,000 connected objects embedding Alexa. Google indicates 10.000 home connected objects and Google Assistant which is installed on a billion connected objects by default but this includes smartphones where Google Assistant is used or not Home services and e-health are subject of many announcements. Foldable screens are beginning to appear on TVs and smartphones as well as prototypes of flying cars.

(c) Glenn Chapman/AFP

On the other hand in a market always gloomy, few or no photo news at CES since the Photokina which will finally remain biannual. the main ads are for hybrid mirrorless cameras.

Full Format «24x36»

Panasonic lumix S1R

Sigma MC21

Nikon Z6 filmmaker kit

Nikon S-line 14-30mm f4

The main news concern hybrid mirrorless cameras.

Panasonic has announced that its Lumix DC-S1 and DC-S1R full-frame mirrorless cameras will ship at the end of March. The company also disclosed two previously unmentioned features that will be offered on both cameras:
- 'HLG Photo Mode', which captures photos with high dynamic range using the Hybrid Log Gamma profile. Photos are saved as HSP files, which can be viewed on HLG-compliant devices.
- A multi-shot high-resolution mode, that uses the camera's sensor-shift image stabilizer. The camera moves the sensor a tiny amount to capture eight separate exposures, which are combined into a single image with high levels of detail. A 'suppress motion blur' option is also available.

At CP⁺, Sigma announced that eleven Art lenses would be available in L-mount. In addition, the Sigma MC21 converter can be used to mount 29 Sigma lenses and Canon lenses on L cameras.

Nikon has announced three features under development for its Z6 and Z7 mirrorless cameras:
- The Eye AF,
- The ability to output ProRes RAW video to an Atomos Ninja V. This would make the Z6 and Z7 the first stills/video hybrid cameras to support RAW video output. Nikon announced Z6 Filmmaker's Kit with a bundled Ninja V recorder.
- The support for CFexpress cards.

Nikon has introduced the Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4 S lens, the first ultra-wide zoom for its full-frame mirrorless system. This compact lens weighs just 485g (17oz) and supports screw-in (82mm) filters, a rarity for this type of lens.

Format APS-C and (Micro) 4/3

Sharp prototype 8K camera

Leica D-Lux 7

Ricoh GRIII

Sharp unveiled an 8K camera prototype: the Sharp 8K Camera. It would have a 4/3 stabilized sensor, an SD card slot, an HDMI jack, a headphone and microphone jack, a USB type-C connector and a mini-XLR input. Other features will be provided at NAB 2019 in April.
It is announced at less than $5000 (April 2019).

Canon indicates during the CES that an 8K video capable camera is already in their EOS R-series roadmap.

Leica presents the Leica D-Lux 7. This is the clone of the Lumix LX100 II. Like it, it has a zoom Leica DC Vario-Summilux 1:1,7–2,8/10,9–34 mm ASPH (24-75 mm equivalent), a new 17 MP 4/3" sensor, a 1.24-megapixel 3" LCD touch screen, sensitivity up to ISO 25600, 4K/30P video, Bluetooth or charging live battery on the camera via USB-C. It can be remotely controlled or transfer photos via the free "Leica FOTOS" smartphone application.
It will be available for $1180 (February 2019).

At CP⁺, the Ricoh GR III is the third version of Ricoh's flagship compact. It is built in magnesium alloy and has a CMOS APS-C 24.24 Mpix sensor without low pass filter but with a anti-moire (AA) filter, a hybrid focusing system, a 3-axis stabilization for a 4-speed gain, an image processor ENGINE 6 GR, a touch screen 3" of 1,037,000 points, Bluetooth and WiFi.
It is announced at the price of $900 (April 2019).

Others

camcorder Canon VIXIA HF G50

Ricoh Thetha Z1

Polaroid OneStep+ White

Canon camera concepts

Canon has launched three new VIXIA consumer camcorders. The most powerful is the Canon VIXIA HF G50 with 4K/30p recording and 20x optical zoom. This is the first G-Series camcorder to offer UHD recording, a Canon 29.3 - 601mm 20x optical zoom lens, 8-blade aperture for still image bokeh, 4K 1/2.3-inch sensor, slow and fast recording with a range of 0.4x to 1200x, a DIGIC DV 6 image processor, Dual-Pixel CMOS AF five-axis OIS, dual-card SD slots, a 3-inch LCD touchscreen, and a tilting EVF.
It will offer for $1100 (April 2019).

At CP⁺, Ricoh also introduced a new version of its Ricoh Theta Z1, an 360° camera with 1.0-inch backlit CMOS image sensor, enabling 360-degree shots of approximately 23 megapixels. It allows 360-degree video in 4K (3840x1920 pixels) at 30 frames per second and has a 3-axis stabilization that compensates for rotational movements.
It is announced at the price of $1100 (April 2019).

AT CP⁺, Polaroid Originals Announces a camera called New OneStep + White Instant Film Camera . It connects to a smartphone via the Polaroid Originals app to create creative photos with the Double Exposure and Light Painting features. It also allows for close-up portraits and has a 60-day battery life.
It is priced at $149 (April 2019).

At least, Canon presented to the CP⁺ some concepts of fun or for children cameras.

pierre j.

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Created December 20^th 2018, updated March 1^st 2019.
v1.1 © Pierre J.