<p><a href="http://www.cipa.jp/stats/dc_e.html">CIPA has released</a> the camera shipment numbers for March 2018 today and there are some interesting things going on with ILC’s.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.canonnews.com/cipa-march-2018-a-new-hope-for-ilcs">Canon News</a> has done their usual great breakdown of the numbers, so I don’t really need to do the same thing.</p>
<p><strong>From Canon News:</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>….With the Kumamoto earthquake finally in the past, we see that the shipments overall for this month is almost that of the year past and maintain a little consistency from month to month at around 95% of last year’s March shipments. Japan for the first time ever has shipped more Mirrorless than DSLR’s which is an interesting notable that will have to be watched in the coming months ahead.</p>
<p>….DSLR’s continue to ship less, thereby raising the mirrorless market share.  This month instead of looking at percentages, we’re going to look at units, where it shows a far more startling trend for DSLR’s over the last 4 or so years than it does if you looked at percentages of market.</p>
<p>….In summary, for this month we are seeing a more consistent picture of shipments, marginal increases to mirrorless and the continued slow decline in DSLR shipments.  The interesting takeaway is that when you see a camera released, and you are puzzled to why on earth the company released it, imagine how it may fit into the different markets, whether it be for DSLR’s or for Mirrorless.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.canonnews.com/cipa-march-2018-a-new-hope-for-ilcs">Head on over to Canon News</a> for a lot more analysis and pretty graphs.</p>
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<p><em>Launches iXM Metric Cameras and Motorized Lenses</em></p>
<p><strong>COPENHAGEN, April 30, 2018</strong> ― Phase One Industrial today launched the iXM series: a breakthrough aerial camera platform driven by the world’s fastest medium-format imaging sensor. Engineered for UAV-imaging missions, the iXM 100MP is a high-productivity metric camera with a range of high-resolution lenses. The iXM is ready for integration with a wide range of UAV platforms, including Phase One’s DJI Matrice 600 Pro solution.</p>
<p>The iXM 100MP metric camera incorporates the first medium-format sensor with backside-illumination technology, enabling high light sensitivity and extended dynamic range. Fast, highly responsive, robust, and weatherproof (IP53 compliant), the iXM 100MP delivers superior quality aerial imaging and flexible operation to satisfy diverse mapping, surveying, and inspection applications.</p>
<p>Also today, Phase One announced four new specially developed RSM lenses – with focal lengths ranging from 35mm to 150mm – to seamlessly fit the new sensor’s 3.76μm pixel size and 33×44 mm frame size, ensuring image sharpness across the entire FOV. The lenses are available with either fixed-focus or motorized-focus functionality.</p>
<p>The fixed-focus 35mm and 80mm lenses provide superior image radiometric quality, high ground resolution, and large coverage ­­– perfect for surveying applications.</p>
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<p>The motorized-focus 80mm and 150mm lenses are ideal for a wide range of inspection applications, including electricity poles, wind turbines, bridges, and other private-sector or government structures.</p>
<p>Motorized-focused lenses, having no external moving parts, enable a number of new uses for inspection applications where the focusing distance can be predefined based on flight planning, or by the operator, using a wireless remote control. With the motorized lens, the camera captures sharp and highly detailed images of multi-distance or 3D objects.</p>
<p>The cameras’ RSM lenses incorporate a new leaf-shutter technology, which supports 3 fps capture – with a speed of 1/2500 sec – while guaranteeing 500,000 actuations. The lenses are thermally stable to ensure consistent focus over a wide range of temperatures and flight altitudes. With optics designed to exploit the full benefits of the new sensor technology, the lenses provide with greater productivity, flexibility, and reliability, offering superb image quality.</p>
<p>The new iXM platform adds XQD high-speed storage technology to handle the sensor’s extremely fast frame rate. Also on all cameras, HDMI output from actual exposure provides UAV operators simple and outage-free feedback of actual view, exposures, and camera status in overlays. In addition, the new platform includes USB-C and 10G Ethernet for versatility of connectivity to large UAVs and aircraft.</p>
<p>For complete technical specifications, please see <a href="http://industrial.phaseone.com/landing/The_New_iXM_Series.aspx">http://industrial.phaseone.com/landing/The_New_iXM_Series.aspx</a></p>
<p>“Working with our UAV partners, we see a fast-growing market driven by great potential for time and cost savings over traditional inspection and surveying methods,” said Dov Kalinski, General Manager of Phase One Industrial. “With its new technology, design, and capabilities, the iXM 100MP promises to help start a new era in inspection missions with UAVs. Phase One Industrial continues to push technical boundaries to equip drones and larger UAVs with superior imaging technology – engineering advanced systems, cameras, and software – to help achieve that potential.”</p>
<p>Availability and Pricing</p>
<p>The iXM 100MP and iXM 50MP metric cameras are available today for advance order – from Phase One Industrial partners worldwide – with delivery in June 2018.</p>
<p><strong>Pricing for the:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>IXM 100 MP camera: 32,000 Euro/40,000 USD</li>
<li>iXM 50 MP camera: 17,000 Euro/21,000 USD</li>
<li>Lenses: 8,000 Euro/10,000 USD</li>
</ul>
<p>For more information regarding purchase options and partner locations, please contact us at: <a href="https://industrial.phaseone.com/Contact.aspx">https://industrial.phaseone.com/Contact.aspx</a></p>
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<p>This is an update of Canon gear that has been registered with various agencies. There is nothing new to report, but we still have three unreleased products.</p>
<p><strong>Registered Canon Gear</strong> (and what we think they are):</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>PC 2352 (PowerShot 740 HS)</strong>
<ul>
<li>Digital camera</li>
<li>Made in Japan</li>
<li>Wi-Fi · Bluetooth installed</li>
<li>Size: 110.1 x 63.8 x 39.9 mm</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Interchangeable lens 1 (EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II)</strong>
<ul>
<li>SKU: 2309C005AA</li>
<li>Made in Japan</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Interchangeable lens 2 (EF-M 32mm f/1.4)</strong>
<ul>
<li>SKU: 2439C005AA</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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We originally reported that the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II was coming this month (April), but it looks like it may have been bumped.</p>
<p>We’re now told that the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II will be coming “very soon”. <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/is-the-ef-70-200mm-f-4l-is-ii-still-being-announced-this-month/">As I mentioned in a previous post</a>, lens announcement dates moving isn’t unusual.</p>
<p>I am very confident that we will indeed see the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II very soon.</p>
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<ul>
<li>Selected ARRI ALEXA cameras available</li>
<li>Comprehensive check and overhaul of all components</li>
<li>All cameras subjected to final function test</li>
<li>Certified cameras come with one-year warranty</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>April 24, 2018; Munich, Germany</strong> – ARRI announces the introduction of the Certified Pre-Owned Program. The motion picture equipment manufacturer is now offering selected pre-owned and refurbished camera systems of the ALEXA series for sale. “We are excited to offer the ARRI Approved Certified Pre-Owned Program,” says Stephan Schenk, Managing Director of ARRI Cine Technik and General Manager of the Business Unit Camera Systems. “It’s a global initiative which adds a new tier to our products, allowing more filmmakers access to our technology. It also gives educational institutions a cost-effective way of providing high-quality equipment for their students.”</p>
<p>ARRI’s attention to detail and intimate knowledge of conditions on set for over one hundred years have resulted in generations of cameras that are robust, reliable, and simple to operate. Under the ARRI Approved Certified Pre-Owned Program selected ALEXA Plus and ALEXA Classic EVs undergo thorough assessments, are given thorough overhauls, and are recalibrated.</p>
<p>All components—starting with the sensor—are checked to confirm they are fully functioning, and that all systems work as they should. Any parts that require replacement are exchanged.</p>
<p>Christian Richter, Manager Certified Pre-Owned Camera Systems at ARRI, says the program delivers reliability, affordability, and dependability. “It will give more filmmakers access to tools that will enable them to capture stunning images,” he says. “They can be sure that they are not sacrificing performance for price, because the selected ALEXA cameras come directly from the manufacturer and are backed by ARRI’s warranty.”</p>
<p>Before the ARRI Certificate of Approval is issued, the equipment goes through the same final function test as new cameras, ensuring it meets the high standards expected of it. The ARRI approved and certified cameras are also covered by a one-year warranty.</p>
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<p>There is still some chatter around the web that an EOS 7D Mark III will be coming ahead of Photokina in September. We can safely say that this is not the case and the EOS 7D Mark III will be coming some time in 2019.</p>
<p>If we go by our <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/buyers-guide/">buyer’s guide announcement dates</a>, there are a lot of cameras that still have some time in the lineup before they get replaced.</p>
<ul>
<li>The Canon EOS 7D Mark II was announced 1320 days ago, the previous time between the EOS 7D and EOS 7D Mark II was 1637 days.</li>
<li>The Canon EOS 80D was announced 799 days ago, the previous time between the EOS 70D and EOS 80D was was 961 days.</li>
<li>The Canon EOS 5DS/5DS R were announced 1176 days ago, since there is no previous versions of these cameras, we’ll use the EOS 5D series dates. The time between the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS 5D Mark IV was 1637 days.</li>
</ul>
<p>We suspect product lifecycles are going to continue to stay the same or increase slightly in the coming years.</p>
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Stacked sensor related patents continue to roll out from Canon. <a href="https://www.canonnews.com/canon-continues-to-work-on-stacked-bsi-sensors">Canon News has uncovered</a> the latest in a long list of stacked sensor patents.</p>
<p><strong>Canon News breaks down the patent:</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>In another patent application describing stacked BSI sensors, canon looks to solve problems with high melting point metal is moved from being on the sensor substrate to only on the peripheral circuit substrate.  They are concerned that the high melting point metal will diffuse into the photo diodes collecting image data. <a href="https://www.canonnews.com/canon-continues-to-work-on-stacked-bsi-sensors">Read the full breakdown</a></p></blockquote>
<p>It’s worth noting that this sort of technology is especially important for mirrorless camera applications as it improves performance as well an improved ability to collect light at “high incident angles” says Canon News.</p>
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The-Digital-Picture has completed their review of the Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM, a superzoom for Canon APS-C mirrorless cameras. The EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM was <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/buyers-guide/canon-ef-m-18-150mm-f3-5-6-3-is-stm/">announced on September 15, 2016</a>.</p>
<p><strong>From TDP:</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Superzoom lenses typically represent a compromise between the convenience of a single lens with a diverse array of uses and the image quality tradeoffs necessary to make the lens compact and affordable. With its small size, light weight and broad focal length range, the EF-M 18-150mm is heavy on convenience with surprisingly good image quality, making it light on compromise, and… it’s also relatively light on the wallet. <a href="https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-M-18-150mm-f-3.5-6.3-IS-STM-Lens.aspx">Read the full review</a></p></blockquote>
<p>It looks like this lens continues with the good value performance of previous EF-M lenses.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://bhpho.to/2HYnHnT">Canon EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM at B&H Photo</a></strong></p>
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Canon has released their 2018 Q1 financial results.</p>
<p><strong>Some photo gear related highlights:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Increase market share through sales expansion of new products, including mirrorless models</li>
<li>Improve product mix, and new product composition to raise profitability</li>
<li>As for interchangeable-lens cameras, we expect the market to continue to contract at a modest rate.</li>
<li>In the first quarter, although unit sales in the same period last year were at a high level, resulting from the resolution of shortages that arose following the Kumamoto earthquake in 2016, we posted 1.05 million in unit sales, limiting our decline to 3%.</li>
<li>As the market and our own sales were in line with our plan in the first quarter, we left our projection for the full year unchanged and still expect the market to decline 4% to 11 million units and our own sales to be 5.5 million units, which is in line with last year.</li>
<li>From a profit perspective, by raising the proportion of sales generated by new products and solidly expanding sales of high amateur models, we will improve product mix.</li>
<li>This is part of our full-lineup strategy to further stimulate demand for interchangeable-lens cameras and our aim to capture demand from users looking to move up in class in the future. Under this strategy, we consider the EOS M50 to be a driver of sales. It is the first of our entry-class models to feature 4K video and it incorporate the same AF functionality found in higher end models. This camera also realizes operability that makes it easy to enjoy taking pictures even for beginners. Through these kinds of new products we will stimulate demand and effect improvement in our market share.</li>
</ul>
<p>The full breakdown of Canon’s 2018 Q1 financials is after the break.</p>
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<p><strong>Presentation Material</strong></p>
<a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-1QPresentation-Material.pdf" class="pdfemb-viewer" style="" data-width="max" data-height="max"  data-toolbar="bottom" data-toolbar-fixed="off">2018-1QPresentation-Material
</a>
<p><strong>2018 Q1 Results</strong></p>
<a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-1QResults.pdf" class="pdfemb-viewer" style="" data-width="max" data-height="max"  data-toolbar="bottom" data-toolbar-fixed="off">2018-1QResults
</a>
<p><strong>Speech Summary</strong></p>
<a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/conf2018q1e-sum.pdf" class="pdfemb-viewer" style="" data-width="max" data-height="max"  data-toolbar="bottom" data-toolbar-fixed="off">conf2018q1e-sum
</a>
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We <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/the-canon-ef-70-200mm-f-4l-is-ii-is-coming-in-april-cr3/">reported in March of this year</a> that the upcoming Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II was going to be announced this month.</p>
<p>We’re now nearing the end of April and we haven’t heard anything further about this lens announcement. We have asked around, but for the moment we’re just getting silence on the matter.</p>
<p>It’s not unusual for lens announcements to move, even at the last minute. The last one to suffer this fate was the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III, which was originally to be announced in June of 2016, but was delayed until August 24, 2018. The other recently delayed product from Canon was the Speedlite 470EX-AI, which was originally going to be announced in the summer of 2017, but was held off until February of this year.</p>
<p>The lens is coming and the month isn’t over yet, but we cannot update you any further on when EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II is going to be officially announced.</p>
<p>I will say that I am pleasantly surprised about how many people seem to be looking forward to this lens.</p>
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We’ve now heard from two different people, that two different retailers are saying that the PowerShot G7 X Mark II is listed as discontinued in their computer systems.</p>
<p>The current P<a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/buyers-guide-category/powershot/">owerShot G7 X Mark II was announced February 17, 2016</a>, so it makes sense that a replacement may be coming soon. The camera is now well past 2 years old. The original PowerShot G7 X lasted for 520 days before the announcement of the PowerShot G7 X Mark II.</p>
<p>We haven’t seen any other leaks or information about a potential PowerShot G7 X Mark III, but we have been told that at least one G series PowerShot camera was coming in 2018.</p>
<p>We’ve been told by a few retailers that the PowerShot G7 X series has been the best selling of the refreshed “G” series of cameras.</p>
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The-Digital-Picture has completed their review of the brand new Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art series lens.</p>
<p>While the image quality is impressive, there did seem to be some issues with autofocus performance, so it’s important to make sure you buy the Sigma USB dock to help with future updates to that may improve performance.</p>
<p><strong>From TDP:</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>A significant number of photographers will find a wide aperture, ultra-wide angle zoom lens to be a valuable member of their kits. Is this the right one for you? While the AF consistency I’m seeing from this lens isn’t impressive and a misaligned lens is always costly to us in terms of time, I like what I see otherwise. With the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens, Sigma has delivered us a beautifully-designed lens with very impressive image quality and a reasonable price tag. <a href="https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Sigma-14-24mm-f-2.8-DG-HSM-Art-Lens.aspx">Read the full review</a></p></blockquote>
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