Interview in Japanese about 12-100mm lens

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/1053285.html

Panasonic interview

‘After we introduced the GH4, which was the world’s first 4K mirrorless camera, this 4K technology has been applied in models like G7, G8 and LX100. For the development roadmap, the new technology will first appear in the flagship and then, looking at price and value for money, we will expand the range.’

‘Towards the year 2020, 4K will evolve to 8K. Panasonic has supported the Olympic Games for a long time and in 2020, when the games are in Tokyo, the era of 8K will start, [and] we will develop the hardware to develop the 8K picture.’

As far as for the customer category, we don’t know if we will be able to record all of the output from 8K video. So the question is how we utilize 8K information and create a new photographic culture’

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/9493665945/panasonic-s-head-of-cameras-talks-gh5-restructuring-and-future-ambitions

Sony and APS-C

In a panel discussion between the four press members and an all-star executive and engineering panel from Sony, we were all a little surprised by how shocked they seemed to be when we said that there was a widespread perception in the US that Sony was backing away from APS-C. While we felt we saw a lot of evidence of this, and in fact had heard Sony themselves talking about how they felt full-frame was the future and a major focus of theirs, the execs seemed genuinely shocked that anyone might have been thinking this.

After some back and forth in the conversation, we received a very direct statement from Kenji Tanaka, Senior General Manager, Business Unit 1, Digital Imaging Group. (That's a typical Japanese business title, but the bottom line is that Tanaka-san is the person in charge of all of Sony's interchangeable-lens camera development.)

Tanaka-san was very emphatic. Paraphrasing slightly, he said "APS-C is an important category for us. We'll never quit APS-C!"

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2017/08/10/sony-says-clearly-aps-c-forever

Nikon interview mostly about DF and such

High MP has limits due to high ISO and dynamic range. Why the D4 sensor has resolution it has? Because its low MP allows excellent high ISO performance. If we were to increase MP to, say 24 to 30MP, I think it’s boring. If we use D5 sensor its high ISO is very good. Otherwise we may go for D850 sensor. There could be two versions, a D5 version and a D850 version to satisfy more users. However, fast shooting rate such as 10 fps won’t be there and I wouldn’t put video in there too. If we put all the features in the market today to DF successor, how does it differentiate from cameras in the market? When we designed Df back then we didn’t consider every potential user, only a few niche customers. So we throw away some unnecessary features.

D5 is designed by Nikon and made by other company obviously. Nikon customer base is very broad, from novice to enthusiasts to prosumer to professional, that’s Nikon’s advantage. Olympus, Sony and Fujifilm can only cover a small part of that. So far there is no professional using their products. So when they develop products, even like retro style, they only try to meet these people and that’s only what they can do. Their customer base is limited anyway so they have limited view in developing products. If we were to take everyone’s features to integrate to Nikon products like you suggested, Nikon would never do that. Of course we would consider good stuff, mostly things behind the back. Nikon would absolutely not consider overall view, design style, and function from others. Because Nikon has almost 60 year history of making cameras and we have been communicate with all kind of customers and listen to them. With such experience we are a level not those companies can be compared. If we were to introduce a mirrorless camera, we would not be like them, such as pushing out a lot of models. We will lock in customer’s main requirement to introduce a new product. If fact before A9 was introduced, Sony went through a lot failure internally. Nikon has a lot more failure experience than Sony.

http://info.xitek.com/Interviews/201709/13-232034.html

Interview with Sony managers

https://www.focus-numerique.com/news/a-shinagawa-nous-avons-fait-le-siege-social-de-sony-21073.html

Interview with Nikon Image Business Division about D850

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/1085159.html

Sony Interview about G master Lenses

Q So, whole concept of the G Master series is to be high image quality and beautiful bokeh lens?

Nagata: Yes. It is message easy for our customers to understand, it was our primal thought - "to achieve best resolution and blur". When I first asked Kanai (Mr. Masami, director of optical image design) at the beginning of development, I immediately heard that "resolution and blur are optically contradictory properties and it is difficult to make them compatible". I asked him to do the ultimate anyway though it was there. In conclusion, I believe that this really difficult task was truly achieved at the ultimate level.

In addition, not only optical performance, but also development of the current α 7 R III and α 9 was also known during development, so it is necessary to support high-speed AF focusing speed and AF operation for video tasks also. We are also focused on concept to firmly make the best things in every aspect, such as durability and robustness.

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/1094352.html

Interview with Sony G Master lenses developers

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/1098822.html

Pentax/Ricoh interview

Canon Interview

The move from FD to EF in 1987 was bold but also controversial given the legacy of FD lenses and the lack of compatibility between the two platforms. Do you think that situation will happen again?

That’s a difficult question to answer. There was a lot of discussion and debate about that shift, in 1987, and we’re going through the same thing now. We want to nurture and support our [existing] EF customers and we’re in discussion about that at the moment.

In 1987, the shift was from a mechanical interface to an electronic interface. That [precluded cross-compatibility]. Despite that shift, the change provided significantly more value for our customers, which is why we went ahead. If it turns out that [the introduction of mirrorless] will create a similar situation, this might be a decision that we would take [again]. But we’re not sure yet.

Because we’re already using an electronic interface, the shift will be more gradual [than it was in 1987] so [we would better able to] maintain compatibility.

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/1807023531/canon-interview-increased-competition-allows-us-to-level-up

Nikon interview

Nikon currently only uses optical stabilization. One of the problems of sensor stabilization, the sensor may no longer be exactly on the image plane of the camera and the image can lose precision. As we explained, we are not deploying new technology without being certain of its reliability and usefulness. Please wait, because we are developing this technology that will be used in the years to come.

It will be possible to make 100mpix sensor! Diffraction is governed by physical laws and this phenomenon can not be eliminated only with optical technologies. We consider that on this point, a numerical correction is effective. What is very important for Nikon is that the use of digital corrections is not governed by technical constraints on a goal, but only to mitigate phenomena that we can not optically avoid.

https://www.focus-numerique.com/news/rencontre-avec-satoshi-yamazaki-ingenieur-optique-nikon-21987.html

Fujifilm interview

How well has the GFX 50S performed since it was released?

We’ve shipped more than we expected and planned for. Even more impressive is the lens attachment rate, as we’ve sold so many lenses as well. Overall, GFX sales have exceeded our predictions.

As far as customer feedback, we heard mostly good things concerning the image quality – especially for users that shoot landscapes that need more dynamic range compared to APS-C cameras. Something that we didn’t expect was the number of high-end amateurs buying the GFX system. According to our survey, 80% of users are non-professional, and 20% are professional. That was a surprise.

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/2745997071/fujifilm-interview-we-will-work-hard-to-keep-our-uniqueness

Olympus interview

You’re relatively new in your role as head of the imaging business unit. How will your leadership change the company?

We’ve gone through a painful period, in the past. We had to shrink the size of the business, and that was reflected in our product lineup - especially the compact cameras. But now it’s time to enhance [and grow] the imaging business and catch up in terms of market share. Part of this will be enhancing our lineup.

How long have you been with Olympus?

I joined Olympus 32 years ago, initially in the accounting department. I’ve been with the imaging division for ten years. In 1997-2002 I worked in Hong Kong, where I established our factory in China.

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/2809335911/cp-olympus-interview