The Canon EOS M has been the butt of many jokes. The company has received well deserved critiques stating that they essentially half-assed the camera. But it seems like from there, they have figured out a way to try to improve on it. We played with the camera a while back and by all means, it isn’t a bad camera per se. But the autofocus really wasn’t the best.
However, the camera received a firmware update recently that was supposed to greatly improve the autofocus capabilities–therefore giving some extra hope to the camera.
Canon Watch’s readers sent them videos showing off the differences. From what we see, it still isn’t faster than Olympus, Panasonic, Sony or Samsung. But it can be said to be a tad faster than Fujifilm’s focusing. See for yourself after the jump.
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If you took the brand new Pentax K-50 and stripped it down a bit, you’d have the new K-500. The camera is Pentax’s new entry level DSLR and for the most part is every bit the camera that its bigger brother the K-50 is. However, it only comes in black and can’t be customized to look any way that you want. Additionally, it runs on AA batteries and doesn’t have weather sealing. In many ways, Pentax is giving the entry-level customer a lot of power–but it may be just a bit too much.
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Pentax’s brand new K-50 replaces the older K-30: the winner of our mid-level DSLR Editor’s Choice award. And with this new model, not much has changed with the update. Pentax is still using the same 16MP sensor, and the camera is still weather sealed. It sports 6fps shooting, ISO settings up to 51,200 and high-precision SAFOX IXi+ autofocus with subject tracking, a 100% viewfinder, a max shutter speed of 1/6000th, a new interface with the Eye-Fi card, and loads of new colors for you to sport around.
We had some time to play with the K-50 today in NYC at a Pentax event. And so far, we’re not sure if it will be worth an Editor’s Choice again.
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The Pentax Q system has often been the butt of many jokes due to their itty bitty size and their even more minuscule sensor–even though it has gotten bigger. Today, Pentax is announcing the latest addition to their Q line with the Q7–and also stated in a press conference with us that they’re still very fully committed to the Q system. Though I’ve never personally reviewed a Pentax Q, I have to admit that they’re fun and perhaps the digital equivalent to a toy camera.
The Q system cameras are also quite well built and in many ways look like the company’s old Auto110 cameras for 110 film.
But we really have to emphasize that the cameras aren’t for everyone after playing with the pre-production unit that we handed today.
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Canon’s 28mm f2.8 IS is one of the company’s latest additions into the wide angle image stabilized market. Like the 35mm f2 IS that we also previously reviewed, the lens is a wide angle stabilized optic designed for the photographer that loves to shoot wide while stopped down and for the person that loves to shoot video and wants an affordable option. And like many of Canon’s newer lenses, it shows that the company knows that they’re on top and doesn’t want anyone to dethrone them anytime soon.
A lens like this will not only appeal to a landscape photographer, but also those that want to shoot event and weddings but can’t afford L glass. And while it is really quite good, it isn’t perfect.
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When Canon released their 35mm f2 IS lens, we questioned why the heck anyone would need IS for such a wide focal length. We thought about it: there are video users, there are people who like to shoot stopped down handheld, and there are people who love to do long exposures handheld. So why the heck not throw it in?
We compared the 35mm f2 IS to Canon’s old 35mm f1.4 and Sigma’s 35mm f1.4, and it came out in second place amongst our readers. It’s been a mainstay lens on the 5D Mk II since I’ve received our loaner unit, and it also accompanied me to a wedding that I recently shot–and there it became the lens I often stuck to.
So does Canon have a winner?
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