Mirrorless Camera News

Olympus just announced a series of firmware upgrades designed to enhance the performance of its OM-D mirrorless camera line for pro and enthusiast photographers. The firmware updates include Version 4.0 for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera, Version 2.0 for OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera, and updates to M.ZUIKO lenses as well as Advanced Olympus Capture Version 1.1 and OI.Share Version 2.6.

Sony further updated its mirrorless camera lineup this morning by adding the Sony A7S II, which is designed for low-light shooting thanks to its high sensitivity full-frame CMOS sensor.

It took them a while but Canon is finally bringing its EOS M3 mirrorless camera system to the U.S. in October 2015. The 24.2-megapixel M3, which uses the same APS-C CMOS sensor as in the Canon Rebel T6 and T6i DSLRs, was launched globally last February but the company held off bringing it here for undisclosed reasons.

I didn’t realize how much I could appreciate a mirrorless CSC (Compact System Camera) till, after working with the Samsung NX500 for several days, I picked up my Nikon D610 DSLR and realized I was carrying a brick in my hands. Don’t get me wrong, though. I still love my D610 and wouldn’t trade it in for anything (not just yet), but the new NX500 felt like a feather around my neck and in my hands. Even when I added the relatively heavy 50-150mm S-series lens, the combo still left me feeling as if I were working with a lyre, not a harp. Admittedly, like the lyre, it’s not as full-bodied an instrument, but the NX500 still plays a sweet tune.

Fujifilm announced today it will be offering an IR (Infrared) version of its pro-level X-T1 mirrorless camera. Called, appropriately, the Fujifilm XT-1 IR (Infrared), the camera is aimed at law enforcement, medical research and scientific communities, which use IR photography as part of their work, Fuji said. Applications include crime scene investigation, healthcare diagnostics and observation, and other scientific and technical applications.

A new start-up company called Z Camera has just unveiled the E1, a GoPro-style camera that uses a Micro Four Thirds sensor, takes interchangeable lenses, and is capable of shooting 4K video. We got some hands-on time with the E1 last week during a meeting with Z Camera’s founder, Jason Zhang. Images of the camera in this story are from that meeting.

The 16-megapixel Fujifilm X-T10 mirrorless camera reminds me of the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial (bear with me Millennials) where two strangers—one eating peanut butter and one eating chocolate—bump into each other and somehow smash their food together. After a brief bit of yelling (“you got your peanut butter on my chocolate!” “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter”) they realize that the combination is better than the individual elements.