Less than 3 days left to preorder the SPINN adhesive camera gear wrap

Less than 3 days left to get the world’s first adhesive camera gear wrap on Kickstarter (Click here). it’s made by the well known German company Spinn:

In orthopedics, similar materials have been around for a long time. Spinn has translated this principle together with a well-reputed manufacturer into a soft, firm and protective material. If you like it preorder it now on Kickstarter (Click here).

Sony says it has NOT stopped developing new fixed lens compact cameras

Nikkei has talked to most camera manufacturers to see if the compact camera and entry level camera market still has a future. That’s what they write about Sony:

Sony Group has not offered any new compact models under its Cyber-shot brand since 2019, although a spokesperson said that “it’s not that we’ll stop developing new products.” Casio Computer halted production of Exilim cameras in 2018.

And this is what Nikkei reports about the other companies:

  • Japanese camera manufacturers are bidding farewell to a once-major component of their operations, with Panasonic Holdings and Nikon suspending development of entry-level point-and-shoot cameras under their flagship brands.
    The companies will instead focus resources on pricier mirrorless models going forward, aiming to navigate a market upended by smartphones.
  • Fujifilm has discontinued production of its FinePix compact cameras and will develop only the X100V series and other pricier models.
  • Canon has not released any new Ixy cameras since 2017. But the company acknowledges that “entry-level models continue to enjoy persistent support, so we’ll continue development and production as long as there is demand.”

Nikkei explained why the fixed lens camera market is disappearing:

Camera makers had long competed with one another by increasing the number of pixels and by shrinking the size of their devices. But then smartphones came along, offering apps for editing pictures and allowing photos to be easily shared with family and friends. This changed the way people took photos.

Smartphone makers are racing to offer advanced photography features in their devices. “It’d be a challenge for camera makers to be successful with keeping their compact digital camera businesses,” said analyst Ichiro Michikoshi of research firm BCN.

Compact digital models accounted for 36% of global digital camera shipments in 2021, according to CIPA. The broader camera market will likely shrink even faster with Japanese companies, many of them big players, scaling back operations in compact digital models.

The bright spot is the mirrorless segment, with global shipments jumping 31% on the year to 324.5 billion yen in 2021. Mirrorless single-lens models offer fat margins, and users replacing lenses and other parts will keep contributing to the manufacturers’ bottom lines.

Retailers are focusing on this segment as well. “These days we recommend mirrorless cameras even to novice photographers,” said a salesperson at electronics and appliance retailer Joshin Denki.

You can now preorder the world’s fastest CFexpress Type A card made by Lexar

The Lexar 160GB card at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama. In EU at Amazon DE, Amazon UK.
The Lexar Professional Dual-Slot USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Card Reader at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama. In EU at Amazon DE, Amazon UK.

PetaPixel tested those cards and wrote:

To get a sense of how fast read and write speeds performed at peak individually, the Lexar CFexpress Type A card was run through Blackmagic Disk Speed test, which returned 719 MB/s write speed average and 729.7 MB/s read speed average.
For comparison, in previous tests the Sony TOUGH CFexpress Type A memory card averaged about 651 MB/s write speeds and 731 MB/s read speeds while the ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type A card averaged 679 MB/s write speeds and 784 MB/s read speeds. The new Lexar shows faster write speeds but slower read speeds.
In HD Tune, the Sony TOUGH card scored a minimum transfer speed of 431.9 MB/s and a maximum of 559.4 MB/s, for an average of 532.4 MB/s. ProGrade Digital’s card scored a minimum transfer speed of 416 MB/s and a maximum of 548.8 MB/s, for an average of 516 MB/s. Both were tested using their own company’s memory card readers and both are behind Lexar’s sustained read and write performance by a significant margin.

Just announced: New Techart LM-EA9 autofocus adapter….You can win one!

The new adapter has been announced and is available at techartpro.com/?product=lmea9. Moreover I have an exclusive cool giveaway for SAR readers: Like and Comment on my Instagram page (doedn’t matter what you write) and on August 15th I will draw a winner that will get the LM-EA9 adapter for free!

Press Release

Techart Launches the 2nd Generation of Leica M to Sony E Autofocus Adapter for Manual Lenses (LM-EA9)

After 7 years of research & development, Techart has come together with a new Leica M to Sony E autofocus adapter (LM-EA9). It features a more powerful motor, sleeker design and better autofocus performance. The world’s first bulge-less design creates no obstructions with tripods and other accessories. The LM-EA9 is compatible with all Sony’s latest camera models like ZVE10, A7s(III), A1 and A7(IV). Four radically positioned, small and light servo motors offers a much stronger support and faster autofocus operation. LM-EA9 is offering a completely new experience with all legendary manual lenses.
What is Techart LM-EA9?
Techart LM-EA9 is the 2nd generation of the Leica M – Sony E Autofocus Adapter launched 6 years ago. It is a motor-driven adapter which turns Manual Focus lenses into Autofocus. The adapter replaces the focusing mechanism of the lens and through communicating with the Sony cameras, the extendable bayonet will move back and forth to achieve focus. Although it has a Leica M mount taking bayonet, lenses with other mounts can also be converted into Autofocus. Simply stack additional adapter to conver the mount into Leica M, and pair them up with the Techart adapter to achieve the autofocus experience.

New Motors Design and Position

Instead of a big bulk motor being placed at the bottom of the adapter like other similar products, Techart Leica M – Sony E Autofocus Adapter Gen II (LM-EA9) has advanced the mechanical design to be 4 light and small servo motors radially positioned around the adapter. The 4-axis design provides a much stronger support without wobbling and better motion efficiency. The new Uni-case machining technology also helped significantly reduced the number of parts used and allowed for further compression of the adapter’s size.
Sleek Design
The world’s first bulge-less design (among all motor-driven adapters) creates no obstructions to tripod accessories or bigger lenses.

Not just M-mount, but manual lenses with ANY mount.

Thanks to the short flange distance of the Leica M-mount, Users can stack additional adapters to enjoy literally ANY lens with autofocus with LM-EA9. The manual lenses could be but not limited to the following mounts: Canon FD, Leica R, L39, Nikon F, Canon EF, Pentax K, C/Y, Minolta MD, M42, Olympus OM, Exakta, Konica AR, Contarex CR, QBM, ARRI, ALPA, DKL.

Support Latest Sony Camera Models

The LM-EA9 is now compatible with all and the latest Sony E-mount cameras, including but not limited to α6000, α6100, α6300, α6500, α6400, α6600, α7c, α1, α7, α9, α9 II, α7 II, α7 III, α7 IV, α7R, α7R II, α7R III, α7R IV, α7S, α7S II, α7S III.

Effortless Firmware Update
The Firmware update process has never been easier and more reliable. Users simply need to connect the adapter via its USB dock on the adapter’s back cap, run the updated software in their computers, click the software and the button “update”. Both Mac and Window OS are supported.

Comparison between LM-EA7 and LM-EA9