We’re always eager to receive the annual hot gear list from LensRentals, a top source for photographers looking to rent cameras, lenses, lighting gear and videography equipment. This year’s data arrived a bit earlier than usual, but we’re assured that what you see below is a definitive list of the most popular cameras and lenses handled by LenRentals in 2017.
Photographers and camera manufacturers do a lot of boasting these days about the high pixel count of their new DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. But how often have you heard anyone wax rhapsodic about the awesome dynamic range of a camera? Chances are, not very often.
You’d be hard-pressed to come up with three digital cameras more different from one another than the Canon EOS M5, the Fujifilm GFX 50S, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. The first is an affordable, compact mirrorless camera, the second is a 50MP medium format mirrorless model, and the third is a big and powerful pro DSLR.
Many photographers are more than willing to pay a significant premium for the latest full-frame cameras, but does the difference in image quality as compared to crop-sensor cameras justify the extra cost? We don’t expect to answer this question here, but the six-minute video below provides an interesting take on the ongoing sensor size debate.
Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras have a devoted following because of their compact size, a wide variety of available system accessories, and the versatility they offer by letting you use older manual focus lenses with an adapter. That said, these interchangeable lens cameras are often criticized because their sensors are so much smaller than those in full-frame and APS-C cameras.
While some mirrorless cameras might be mistaken for a small APS-C DSLR, albeit minus the pentaprism bulge, Canon’s EOS M6 is more akin to a compact camera that can take interchangeable lenses, either the growing list of dedicated EF-M lenses, or EF and EF-S lenses with an optional adapter. (My tests were with the EF-M 18-55mm IS STM lens, f/3.5-22 at wide and f/5.6-32 at tele, with an equivalent focal length of about 28-88mm.)
There’s been growing anticipation of a new Nikon mirrorless camera, especially since the company’ Nikon 1 interchangeable lens mirrorless system with its tiny CX-format sensor hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm. And a recently published interview with Tetsuro Goto, Nikon’s Director of Laboratory R&D in Japan, makes it clear that “If Nikon will go mirrorless it must be full frame.”
Shooting three film types at the same time was an impossible dream back in the days of film photography. But today with my Fujifilm X100F it becomes standard operating procedure.
This morning Fujifilm introduced the latest in their line of ultra-compact mirrorless cameras, the 24.3MP X-E3 with a companion XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR macro lens. Also unveiled was a GF 45mm f/2.8 R WR wide-angle lens for the company’s GFX mirrorless medium format camera.
The Leica TL2 is a mirrorless camera with an APS-C size 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.7-inch touchscreen LCD, 49-point contrast-detect autofocus system and 32GB of onboard storage. Features include advanced, integrated Wi-Fi (with potent smartphone app), UHD 4K and Full HD video, and a variety of other attractions.
The Yi M1 is a very compact camera that offers an interchangeable lens system and is based on Micro Four Thirds sensor technology. It offers a resolution of 20MP and is able to record 4K video.
Olympus unveiled the new OM-D E-M10 Mark III this morning, a compact mirrorless camera with a classic retro-style look and the ability to shoot 4K video.
Canon just unveiled the EOS M100, a compact and stylish mirrorless camera that’s available in either black or white models. The Canon EOS M100 is the successor to the M10, which was introduced in late 2015.
The Fujifilm X-T20 is a mirrorless system camera with a 24MP sensor that was developed by Fujifilm. This “X-Trans CMOS III” sensor is already used in Fujifilm’s top-of-the-line X-T2 and X-Pro2 mirrorless cameras. To optimize detail reproduction and sharpness the sensor doesn’t use a low-pass filter: it uses the unique “X-Trans” RGB pattern instead of the standard Bayer pattern.
The Lumix GH5 is the new flagship camera of Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds lineup and the much-anticipated follow-up to the GH4 from 2014. The Panasonic GH5 features a new 20MP sensor that doesn’t use a low-pass filter; it also has a new image processor, dubbed “Venus Engine.”