Canon EOS-M Announced

Canon today announced its long awaited debut into the Mirrorless Interchangeable lens market with their Canon EOS-M camera.

We’ve seen all the other major players in this market for some time with manufacturers like Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony not only having released numerous camera bodies but also growing numbers of lenses (see the best selling cameras in this class among our readers).
The Canon EOS-M is built around an 18 megapixel APS-C sensor (the same one that is in the T4i/650D) and a new lens mount (EF-M is the mount name). They also announced two EF-M lenses today – a f2.0 20mm pancake lens and a F3.5-5.6 18-55mm IS lens. In addition to these two lenses they’ll release an adapter that will allow those buying the EOS-M to use any of their EF and EF-S lenses.
The big complaint though that many people have is that there is no EVF (electronic view finder) which is something many other cameras have in this segment of the market.

The EOS-M also features a touch screen LCD, hybrid Autofocus, full HD video and ISO of up to 25,600. Also announced today is a new compact EX Speedlite flash – the 90EX.
The Canon EOS-M will retail for $799.99 USD when bundled with the 22mm lens or $849 when bundled with the 18-55m lens, $1049 when bundled with both lenses or $979 with the 22mm lens plus the EF adapter.

It comes in Black, White, Silver or Red.
We’ll get a first impression review and fuller review of the Canon EOS-M if and when Canon return our calls

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Samsung NX20 Review

Here we go again: Samsung hits the market with another compact, interchangeable lens, mirrorless camera. Brave I call it!

Now that Canon is about to enter the market with its EOS-M the majors are all out there, braving the winds with their wares. In Samsung’s case it’s a tough game for a brand that’s possibly better known for its TVs, domestic white goods (fridges etc), smart phones etc but one that has not yet established its creds in the photo industry.
Sony has done it. As has Panasonic. But in both their cases they have relied on a major Euro lens maker to gold-plate their camera bodies: Zeiss with the former, Leica with the latter. As many have found out, the camera brand kit lenses usually sold at attractive prices really don’t cut the mustard.
So here we have a major Korean company out there pushing its photographic wares with both body and lenses branded ‘Samsung’.
But don’t take your eyes off the Koreans! They have frightened the pants off the Japanese and the Americans with Hyundai and Kia autos and some pretty smart electronics products. Think Samsung!

Handling

The review camera was fitted with the f3.5/18-55mm kit lens.
For me, it was immediate attraction: the camera looks like a full DSLR, but scaled down. The speed grip at right is ideally proportioned, with nearly all the controls grouped near right thumb and forefinger; the mode dial supports access to PASM, plus scene modes, WiFi to connect to a WLAN, movie shooting, custom and lens priority modes.

The latter is interesting and continues a feature seen in earlier NX models. With this you toggle between shutter speed, aperture, EV, WB and ISO rapidly by depressing the i-Function button and rolling a ring on the lens. Just be careful: it’s all too easy to dial in exposure compensation without realising it. At rear is the jog dial, replay buttons etc. The only button that sits on the top deck at left is the onboard flash switch.
For what it’s worth the screen menu is accurate and colourful.

Samsung NX20 Features

The camera captures 20.3 megapixels on an APS-C sized CMOS sensor, with a maximum image size of 5472×3648 pixels and a print potential of 46x31cm.


Movies are treated better than some earlier NX models: Full HD MPEG4 at 1920×1080 pixels. In all modes (Program AE, shutter or aperture priority and manual) exposure can be adjusted. You can even opt for a fade in or fade out to/from a scene as you shoot.
I found the AF to work smoothly if not rapidly while shooting movies. The stabiliser did its job well.
It was possible to shoot stills while shooting video but the latter was interrupted at that time. Note: AF and zoom noise may be recorded as you shoot.
The 7.6cm OLED screen swings laterally and upwards; there is an eye sensor so the view switches from eye level to rear screen when your eyebrow approaches.
A useful feature seen increasingly on many budget cameras is a level indicator; the NX20 has this terrific feature. Until you use it you won’t realise how useful it is!

Samsung NX20 ISO Tests

Matters sail along quite well until ISO 3200. At ISO 6400 noise is noticeable. By ISO 12800 noise and artefacts work against you.

Samsung NX20 Verdict

Quality: fully saturated colour, excellent definition.
Why you’d buy the Samsung NX20: small, light.
Why you wouldn’t: suspicious of Samsung lenses; the plinky plonky sounds of the camera functions.
Available in white or black.

Just one note: the instruction manual PDF is terrific, especially if you are a beginner; it has pages and pages of useful info and diagrams on photographic basics. Perversely, this is also a pointer as to the intended market for the camera.

Samsung NX20 Specifications

Image Sensor: 20.3 million effective pixels.
Metering: Multi segment, centre-weighted, spot.
Lens Mount: Samsung NX.
Exposure Modes: Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Effective Sensor Size: 23.5×15.6mm HD CMOS.
35 SLR Lens Factor: 1.5x.
Shutter Speed (stills): 30 to 1/8000 second and Bulb.
Continuous Shooting: 3-8fps.
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.
Image Sizes (pixels): Stills: 5472×3648 to 1024×1024.
Movies: 1920×1080, 1280×720, 640×480, 320×240.
Viewfinder: Turret (480.000); 7.6cm AMOLED screen (614,000 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, RAW (SRW), JPEG+RAW, MPO (3D), MPEG4.
Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 12,800.
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI mini, WiFi.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
Dimensions: 122×89.6×39.5 WHDmm.
Weight: 341 g (ex battery and card).
Price: Get a price on the Samsung NX20

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Popular Digital Cameras

It’s that time again where I reveal what digital cameras, lenses, accessories, books and other gear you, the DPS community, have been buying over the last couple of months!

Here at DPS we’re able to get a sneak peak into what our readers buy when they click on one of our links to the Amazon online store. We don’t get specific info on what individuals buy – but the collective information is interesting and gives a good indication of what’s hot at any given point of time.

By the way – when you make a purchase at Amazon after clicking on one of these links we get a small commission that helps us to improve DPS (design improvements, running competitions and even paying or giving a gift to the occasional guest author). We appreciate your support in this way.
DSLRs

One camera sold significantly more than any other this last quarter – the Canon EOS 40D. In there were more 40D’s bought than all other DSLRs added together.

1.     Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP
2.     Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP
3.     Nikon D40x 10.2MP
4.     Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP
5.     Nikon D200 10.2MP
6.     Nikon D80 10.2MP
7.     Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP
8.     Nikon D40 6.1MP
9.     Olympus Evolt E500 8MP
10.     Pentax K100D 6.1MP
11.     Sony Alpha A100 10.2MP
12.     Nikon D300 DX 12.3MP
13.     Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP
14.     Pentax K10D 10.2MP

Point and Shoot Cameras

The Canon point and shoot camera range sold out all others quite easily this quarter – with the SD850IS and S3 and S5 convincingly out selling the rest:

1.     Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP 4x Zoom
2.     Canon PowerShot Pro Series S3 IS 6MP with 12x Zoom
3.     Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS 8.0MP 12x Zoom
4.     Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Zoom
5.     Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP 4x Zoom
6.     Nikon Coolpix S50c 7.2 MP 3x Zoom
7.     Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP 6x Zoom
8.     Fujifilm Finepix F40fd 8.3MP 3x Zoom
9.     Sony Cybershot S650 7.2MP 3x Zoom
10.     Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP 4x Zoom
11.     Canon PowerShot G9 12.1MP 6x Zoom
12.     Fujifilm Finepix F31fd 6.3MP 3x Zoom
13.     Kodak EasyShare C653 6.1MP 3x Zoom
14.     Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS 7.1MP 12x Zoom
15.     Panasonic DMC-FZ50S 10.1MP 12x Zoom

Prime Lenses

As usual – the 50mm lens featured heavily in both Nikon and Canon Prime lens sales.

1.     Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens” (Canon)
2.     Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens + Accessory Kit w/ 2 Year Extended Warranty” (Nikon)
3.     Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras” (Canon)
4.     Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras” (Canon)
5.     Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras” (Nikon)
6.     Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras” (Canon)
7.     Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras” (Canon)
8.     Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Digital SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR Cameras” (Canon)
9.     Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Autofocus Lens
10.     Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye Lens

Zoom Lenses

A real range of zoom lenses were purchased this last quarter with a Nikon outselling other models:

1.     Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Len
2.     Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Lens
3.     Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens
4.     Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens
5.     Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
6.     Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens
7.     Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
8.     Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens
9.     Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens
10.     Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens

Accessories

This is just a taste of the hundreds of accessories that the DPS community buys each quarter with loads of memory cards, bags, tripods and flashes featuring in the full list:

1.     Kingston 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card (SD/2GB)
2.     Tiffen 52mm 81B Filter
3.     Canon 200EG Deluxe Digital Photo Backpack
4.     Joby GP3-01EN Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Flexible Tripod
5.     The POD Camera Platform (Bean Bag)
6.     Canon BG-E3 Battery Grip for EOS Digital Rebel XT Camera” (Canon)
7.     Nikon Lens Pen Cleaning System” (Nikon)
8.     Bogen-Manfrotto 3021BPRO Professional Tripod without Head (Black)” (Bogen)
9.     Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash for Canon Pro1, Pro 90, G Series and all EOS SLR Cameras” (Canon)
10.     Canon EF 2X II Extender Telephoto Accessory” (Canon)

Post Production Software

As usual – Adobe dominates the best selling software list.

1.     Adobe Photoshop CS3 [Mac]
2.     Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 Win/Mac
3.     Adobe Photoshop CS3
4.     Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (Mac)
5.     Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
6.     Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Premiere Elements 3.0 Bundle
7.     Adobe Photoshop CS2

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