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Canon interview in Japanese
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview_dcm/20160420_753251.html
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Rico/Pentax interview
DE: Skipping around, let's talk about movie capabilities. In many ways, the K-1's video recording abilities are very generous. It has manual exposure controls, an external microphone connection and a headphone connection, but two things are missing. From a consumer viewpoint, though, what's missing is full-time autofocus during video. But even for professionals who wouldn't care about full-time AF, there's not a clean HDMI output without an information overlay; giving you just the pure video signal. Professional video people want that, because then they can plug into a separate recorder. And I guess 4K is another feature that's missing, other than in the interval movie mode, but there's no regular 4K.
Ricoh: I see.
DE: We're wondering, were those features that you didn't feel that there was enough demand from your user base to justify, or was it more that you just had limited resources and so you chose to put more resources into other features that were more important, or more popular?
Ricoh: So we don't think the current video feature is enough for all the demand from every potential K-1 customer. If we hear the demand from the customers, we should listen to it. And one request is clean HDMI out. From the HDMI out, it is not possible to output in 4K format. Full HD is highest.
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Another Nikon interview
DE: OK, I'll switch to the DL cameras now, to perhaps let someone else answer and give Yamamoto-san a rest.
We find the new DL cameras very interesting. They represent an entirely new market segment for Nikon, and you've entered it with a more varied line than any of your competition. These days, my sense is that companies tend to move gradually when expanding product lines, but you jumped right in with three very different models in the same general market space. That seems like a bold move. What can you tell us about your strategy in releasing all three models at once?
Nikon: First of all, and you may have heard this in the press release, the target customer for the DL series is the DSLR user. Our intent of launching this series was that we wanted to provide cameras for DSLR users with high performance, good lenses, and also good portability, 24/7. In order to meet these various needs, we knew that we had to provide various types of lenses, in a wide assortment. So that's why we had to launch three very different cameras, to cover these various needs.
DE: At the low end, the DL 24-85 seems to be priced pretty aggressively. It's $200 less than the Sony RX100 III, and $50 less than the Canon G7X II. These are both very strong products. Currently, the original G7X and Sony RX100 III are the number two and number four cameras on our site. What was your strategy in attacking these models? What do you see as the DL 24-85's key strengths?
Nikon: We agree with you that it's very competitive in the market because of two strengths. To answer your question, one key point is the lens performance, which we feel is very good. The other is moving subjects. The DL24-85 captures them very well, with a burst capture rate of 20 frames per second, which is a spec that no other rival has.
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Nikon interview
With the ability to choose these three different cameras with their three different lenses, how is the DL series differentiated from the 1-series, or from Coolpix?
Our target with the DL series is high-end users who would use Nikon DSLRs. So the series has to be suitable for DSLR users who want a premium compact camera. Coolpix is for the mass consumer, it’s very easy to use in terms of operation. But the DL series in terms of operability and the variety of lenses is much closer to a single lens reflex camera. This makes it different to other compact cameras such as Coolpix.
As for the value that the DL series provides, it is different from DSLR cameras, although the customer may be the same. The value that is provided is different in the sense that the focal length of - say - 24-500mm doesn’t exist in DSLR. A wide range all the way from wide angle to super telephoto. These things are unique to the DL series.
http://www.dpreview.com/interviews/7694931348/cp-plus-2016-nikon-interview
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Sigma interview
DE: Turning to lenses, one comment about your f/1.8 zooms: The 18-35mm was amazing, and now the new 50-100mm is a very exciting lens for us as well. We're eager to see that, and I was briefed on its design yesterday by some of your lens designers. Can we share any information on a potential roadmap for more f/1.8 Art lenses? Are we going to be seeing some longer focal lengths, or some other types of zooms in there? I know you can't talk about specifics...
KY: Yes. But I know some customers like our f/1.8 zoom series, including some videographers. Because most of the videos use the small crop sensor, a format they call "Super 35", which is similar to APS-C.
DE: Yes, "Super 35" is very close to APS-C.
KY: So we'd like to expand this series, but it's quite challenging, so we are not sure if we can develop another lens.
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Fujifilm interview
DE: So last year when I spoke with Oishi-san, you mentioned that the current X-Trans II sensor couldn't capture 4K, due to the 16 megapixel resolution, and the slower-than-necessary readout speed. So now with the X-Pro2, you have a higher resolution of 24 megapixels, X-Trans III, but still no 4K. Are you getting closer to having the readout speed for that, and is it then...?
TI: Actually, so other capabilities of the sensor and the processor....
MO: Are fast enough and powerful enough to do 4K movie.
DE: [So the hardware is already fast enough to capture] the 4K movie.
MO: Yes. So in terms of the sensor and the processor, no problem.
DE: So does that mean it could come as a firmware update? Or is it that there's a thermal limitation?
MO: I think that there's some limitation, because with a 4K movie, for example, we need to sort out heating issues also. So I cannot say it's impossible, but very difficult to put, you know, 4K capability into the X-Pro2. If we develop 4K movie-capable cameras, we will need to change the form factor.
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Olympus interview
DE: Moving on, of course there are always questions about 4K video. When I interviewed Ogawa-san in October 2013, I asked him about 4K video and he said that basically, at that time, Olympus didn't feel that 4K was ready. There weren't enough output devices, infrastructure, etc, and so Olympus would concentrate on still image quality more so than on adding 4K. But that was a long time ago now. How does 4K fit in your current thinking about products?
TT: Yeah, compared to those days, I think the situation is changing a little bit. 4K has become more popular now.
DE: Yeah. I think it's like it's becoming a checkbox, you know for customers to look for, whether or not they actually intend to use it.
TT: Yeah, sure. Sure.
DE: People will say, you know, "Oh, I have to get 4K." Even if they may not use it, people feel like they have to have it.
MH: Yeah, yeah.
TT: Yeah. Now, here, we think we agree on the situation, and yeah, in the future we will also have these kind of features, I think.
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Canon interview, quite strange one
Some of our readers were disappointed that the 80D does not include 4K video. Why did you decide not to include this feature?
As you know, in our DSLR lineup we incorporate both video functions and traditional stills DSLR functions. Among our DSLR users we’re still seeing a strong emphasis on the stills photography function.
We’re promoting our DSLRs as providing both stills and video features - the best of both worlds, you might say. However with regard to the 80D, the main emphasis was to maximise the stills side of the camera. Then, with the aim of increasing the user base, we add movie features to this established stills shooting feature set.
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Sony Yutaka Iwatsuki interview
http://www.focus-numerique.com/cp-16-sony-entretien-yutaka-iwatsuki-news-9030.html
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Olympus - Interview de Toshiyuki Terada
http://www.focus-numerique.com/cp-2016-olympus-interview-toshiyuki-terada-news-9018.html
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Sony interviews about new lenses
‘For the G Master lenses we decided we would assess the spatial frequency at 50 lines per mm,’ says Ohtake: ‘Usually lens makers, including ourselves, evaluate lenses at 10 and 30 lpmm (or 10, 20 and 40 for Carl Zeiss-branded optics).’
‘At the start of the process we all agreed we should change the spacial frequency [to a more challenging target],’ he says: ’but which is best to get good performance? We could design for 100 lpmm but the lens would become very bulky and long - which might not be a very practical lens. A balance of the size and the optical performance was very important.’
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/4410376132/sony-engineer-interview-g-master-lens-design
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Fujifilm interview
The X-Pro2 clearly replaces the X-Pro1 but is it the new flagship? Or does it sit alongside the X-T1?
Toru Takahashi (TT): We have two flagships. The X-T1 and the X-Pro2. [Even after] the launch of the X-T1 the X-Pro1 still had a function. We have two different kinds of photographers to cater for.
Can you explain more about these different kinds of photographers as you see them?
TT: When we started the X-series with the X100 we were aiming at street photographers. And the X-Pro1 and now the X-Pro2 are extensions [of that concept]. The X-T1 is for those photographers who like to photograph sports, nature and wildlife. What they like to shoot is different, so we need to provide for two different kinds of photographers.
http://www.dpreview.com/interviews/6258617860/fujifilm-interview-jan-2016
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Sony Electronics
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Nikon interview
We would like to continue to support video -- including 4K -- because we know that for the photo-shooting world, video is now required as well. We must remember, the Nikon 1 does do phase detection on the image sensor, so that [technology] we are developing, although the part you mentioned about this current video is true. It is restricted to the contrast AF. But regardless of which direction we take, we know that the key point which becomes important is the depth of focus. So we are working on both technologies, sensor phase detection and also the contrast autofocus plus alpha.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2016/01/06/nikon-ces-2016-interview-nikon-defines-their-future
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Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki
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Quite funny interview with Apple
Graham Townsend: There's over 200 separate individual parts in this-- in that one module there.
Graham Townsend is in charge of a team of 800 engineers and other specialists dedicated solely to the camera. He showed us a micro suspension system that steadies the camera when your hand shakes.
Graham Townsend: This whole sus-- autofocus motor here is suspended on four wires. And you'll see them coming in. And here we are. Four-- These are 40-micron wires, less than half a human hair's width. And that holds that whole suspension and moves it in X and Y. So that allows us to stabilize for the hand shake.
In the camera lab, engineers calibrate the camera to perform in any type of lighting.
Graham Townsend: Go to bright bright noon. And there you go. Sunset now. There you go. So, there's very different types of quality of lighting, from a morning, bright sunshine, for instance, the noonday light. And then finally maybe--
CBS: Sunset, dinner--
Graham Townsend: We can simulate all those here. Believe it or not, to capture one image, 24 billion operations go on.
CBS: Twenty-four billion operations going on--
Graham Townsend: Just for one picture--
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-apple-tim-cook-charlie-rose/
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Interview at Sony HQ
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Sony interview in Polish
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Interview with Canon about EF35mm F1.4L II USM lens in Japanese at
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/20151001_722664.html
zebra89.jpg783 x 581 - 43K -
No interview, but book
The book Innovating out of Crisis by Fujifilm Chairman and CEO Shigetaka Komori is quote different from normal.
We wondered for a while just how it was that Fujifilm managed to survive the death of the film business. So we were interested in reading Mr. Komori's book on that basis, but honestly wasn't expecting much beyond that.
Instead, we found it packed with very practical advice, and more than its share of "Aha!" moments that will stay with me long after I've closed its pages.
As you'd expect in an executive autobiography, Mr. Komori comes off pretty well. He's clearly impressed with his own abilities and what he's accomplished, which could be off-putting to some people. Especially in American society, self-aggrandizement is frowned upon, and we tend to devalue such accounts. I have to admit, I reacted to this aspect of his narrative early on, myself.
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Canon Interview
DE: One trend that’s obviously been very apparent is the increase in resolution; actually back at Canon Expo 2010, we saw the 50-megapixel sensor, and now we see at this Expo... so the 50-megapixel sensor came to market as the Canon EOS 5D and 5DS. But now we see 120 megapixel and 250 megapixel sensors on display, and we’ve seen you reworking many of your classic lens designs over the past couple of years to improve their performance. How much more work do you think you still need to do in that process, particularly in light of seeing the 120-megapixel SLR that looked fairly close to being a product here?
MM: Regarding the EF lens series, that is already able to deal with 50 megapixels or with 8K [video capture; 33.2 megapixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio]. However, the performance of lenses is something that is very analog, and therefore there are minute differences in how the color changes or how the actual image is shown, and so I think that based on user needs, we will continue to work to improve them. Now, for example, our recent product, 35MM: F/1.4, we apply the new material to reduce color...
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