Michael Clark said:

Today's newest bright and shiny just released model will one day be discontinued and then, some time after that, be dropped from support. So even the hottest brand new products are beginning their "descent into the inevitable decline" the day they are introduced.

How long products "must be supported by law" varies greatly from one locale to the next. Most companies cover themselves by reserving the right to substitute an "equivalent" or "improved" product in lieu of fixing an outdated product still under warranty.

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Michael Clark said:

People who claimed "EOS M is dead!" in 2015 or so were premature. People who claimed "DSLRs are dead!" in 2012 were premature. Everything eventually "dies". That doesn't mean everything no longer being made today is already dead today, though.

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P-visie said:

If you use the center column: do not extend it too much, i.e. 10-15 centimeters. You can attach something heavy to the hook of the center column to increase the mass to dampen out vibrations. I use spikes on the tripod legs and push them into the ground for extra grip.

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EricN said:

Do you have any trouble with your tripod vibration? I purchased a FEISOL 3441, but it vibrates so much for focus stacking something like 40 on an mp-e 65 because I have to make the adjustments and wait at least 5 seconds. For something on ef 100 macro, it's ok

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SvO2 said:

Using the legal system and DRM to block the use is still blocking. Something they didn't do with the EF mount even though they could have.

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roby17269 said:

M and EF(-S) gear will be serviced till 7 years have passed from when they have been discontinued. So your M gear is still being serviced by Canon but the clock is ticking. And Canon does that because a) they are bound by law and b) it would be bad customer karma to not support older gear till the expiration date set by law. Not because they want to keep the M system alive further.

Regardless, when a manufacturer stops developing new gear for a system, the writing is on the wall and the managed descent into the inevitable decline starts. Obviously the manufacturer will not say that openly since they want to keep selling unsold inventory as long as possible. They will use careful language to give the impressions that the system is not being abandoned, while in reality it is. I've seen many people quoting Canon or Sony execs saying that they were still supporting M or A or whatever every time the future of their system was put into question. Sorry to say, but those people were drinking the company's Kool-Aid.

We may call a system dead or abandoned or obsoleted or discontinued or on an undetermined hiatus or whatever term you find not offensive. But the fact of the matter is that such systems are not being developed further and they will be inevitably left behind as technology marches on and new offerings are not compatible anymore.

Having said that, those discontinued cameras and lenses can still take great images till they keep working. I know very well that the HC system is dead. But I still happily use my H5X till it will give up the ghost. I am looking at a H2D II though. Because my H5X is not in great shape and getting it repaired, while still possible, is getting more and more expensive (like $1500 to replace a faulty leaf shutter - it gets to the point where it's cheaper to buy a replacement used lens than to repair one).

I do not harp on a system being on the way to oblivion, because I do not think it's great to lose choices, nor it is great for the ones who have invested in such system, but at the same time I do not put great hopes in the goodwill of manufacturers.

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scottburgess said:

Well, Richard, to repeat the point: it's a business.

Chinese manufacturing is known for brazen intellectual property theft, so it's expected they will steal elements of lens design and camera design, manufacturing processes, and other patents. Remember that Chinese companies do not have to be profitable in the standard sense: unlike in the West, the CCP views full employment and complete control over business activity as political tools to remain in power. Chinese industries are heavily subsidized and gifted ridiculous advantages (like permission for extreme environmental degradation or violating international law) over their counterparts. Most Americans don't realize that Chinese labor is generally more expensive than comparable countries, not less. Higher-skilled Mexican labor, for example, is far less expensive. So is labor in most of SE Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. The Chinese make this work by edging their way into countries' individual business sectors, stealing their technologies, taking over their markets with lower prices, and finally jacking prices up when they have a monopoly. Just look at the buyer's regret that Brazil has: huge chunks of Brazilian manufacturing lie dead and Brazil may take decades to recover if it ever does. Countries in Africa and South America are slapping tariffs on Chinese goods because they don't want the Brazilian experience and China openly set its sights on gutting numerous markets there when Trump hit them with high tariffs.

If Canon is trying to protect their business from this, good for them. I wish them luck, support them by buying their products, and hope hope hope they win out. Heck, I might even buy a Sony compact camera for overseas travel (oh, the horror!). I'm not going to help kill the goose that laid the golden egg. I'd rather have Canon, Nikon and Sony gear as the majority market than Laowa or Siriu cameras and lenses that eventually put photography under a Chinese yoke.

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AdamBotond said:

Well, you mentioned "pro build" twice, just to make the list of which the R3 superior is look longer. ))

Anyway, for me who shoots mostly wildlife, it would not be reasonable to buy even a used R3 anymore, which has only the benefit of stacked sensor and pro build over the R6 III. I am not sure if there is a major difference in buffer between these two, 150 RAW pics of the R6 III is plenty even at 40 fps. I rarely photograph birds, so rolling shutter is less of an issue for me. More video options, precapture/prerecording, 40fps, 32 MP, lower price etc outweights not having stacked sensor or pro build, which I also like.
Maybe a sports photographer, who can not afford the R1 would gravitate towards the R3, but still precapture, 40 fps, the price point of the R6 III is very tempting.
I also noticed the increasing number of used R3s for sale just prior to the announcement of R6 III...maybe just a cooincidence.

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Nemorino said:

Didn't You ask about the Laowa 25mm? I needed some time to search for images I took
and "making-of-images" I took with my smartphone.
It is a smaller lens compaired to the Canon MPE 65 and not as easy to use as"normal" macro lenses due to the high magnification.
A tripod and a macro rail is highly recommended. I bought it for less then 400€, a black friday deal last year. This made the good value for money even better.

R5m2 +Laowa 25mm macro
18 frames
View attachment 226557
and 43frames (42@ f/4 + 1 frames @ f/16)
View attachment 226558
and the "making of"
View attachment 226559View attachment 226560

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AlanF said:

For pairs of similar sensors, like the R6 and R5, and R6ii and R5ii, the DR curves are very similar despite the factor of close to two in pixel count.

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Del Paso said:

Science has to conform to political opinions, best seen in a former colony...
Isn't it nice? No longer climate warming, co2 issues, or cancer causing windmills, pandemics etc...

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Click said:

Very nice series. Well done, becceric.

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Click said:

Nicely done, becceric.

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