2016 Hits and Misses

CameraQuest

CameraQuest

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What are your picks as the biggest camera Hits and Misses of 2016?

To me the biggest camera announcement of 2016 was the new medium format Fuji GFX 50s, available 2017. With lenses designed for future 100MP sensors, I think it will redefine the medium format market.

To me the most important new lens of 2016 is the Voigtlander 10mm/5.6 in Leica M or Sony E mount. Full frame 35mm cameras have been sold over 100 years since the Multi-Exposure Simplex was first sold over the counter in 1914.

In all of that time and millions of full frame cameras and lenses, there has never been a full frame rectilinear 10mm lens until NOW. Mr. K continues to impress.

To me the biggest misses are what we did not see at Photokina ..
- a high end Nikon mirrorless camera
- a high end Canon mirrorless camera
- updated Nikon 810
- updated Leica M240.

Hopefully we will see solutions to all of those misses in 2017.

What are your hits and misses of 2016?

Stephen
 
Hit: The new SP-445 developing tank that came out this year. A rare Kickstarter project that came out on time and was as advertised. A easy-to-load 4X5 developing tank that can process four 4X5 sheets in only 475ml of chemistry. Makes processing sheet film a real joy.

Misses: Let me think on that.

Jim B.
 
Shanghai 100 and Fujifilm FP-100C come to the end.

FujinoFilm X-A3/10 sounds promising for point-finger-shoot with normal size of the sensor and low price.
 
I think whether the Fuji GFX50s will be a hit or a miss depends on its pricing which is yet to be announced. It remains to be seen whether it will significantly undercut the price of the Hasselblad X1D.
 
Hit: the Summaron f5.6, not only that particular lens but the whole idea behind it.

Miss: no digital Leica II emulation.
 
Maybe not THE hit, but certainly noteworthy was Fuji's release of 35 and 23mm F2 lenses with 43mm filter size. That's the same as the ZM 35 C-Biogon. What a great step. And at remarkable pricing.

Miss? Today's amazing gear choices leave so little cause to complain.

John
 
Hit: Fuji's smaller f2 lenses (23 & 35-hoping for a 50mm f/2 for 2017...)
Miss:production stop of the Fuji FP-100C / no Nikon DX wide angle primes /
 
Hits are:
1) The continued march towards larger (MF) sensors by several companies. Still early in product life cycles, but very interesting.

2) RFF still continues to grow and attract interesting new members! Hats off to you big guy!

Miss, the Nikon 1. Nice bodies without glass that excite people. Seems like Nikon is asleep at the switch. It feels like Nikon would rather continue to try and breath life into the coolpix line (that smart phones continue to decimate) rather than develop something unique (fast accurate AF) that works. Wake up Nikon, you are much better than this.

B2 (;->
 
faberryman said:
I think whether the Fuji GFX50s will be a hit or a miss depends on its pricing which is yet to be announced. It remains to be seen whether it will significantly undercut the price of the Hasselblad X1D.
Click to expand...
This. How can one say that an announced camera is the hit of 2016 when we know so little about it? I feel the hype is all about brand recognition, it has nothing to do with the actual product as the Hasselblad X1D is very similar.

2016 was a slow year, the most hits were probably in the lens department (Nikon 300mm f/4E PF ED VR and Sony 24-70GM and 85GM lenses).

The most amazing camera which most of you never will look at is the Sony A99ii, but the hit in cameras in 2016 was probably the Nikon D500. Without touching either, I think the A99ii is the better camera, but Nikon will sell more D500's.

The Canon 5D4 is decent upgrade but lacks the wow-factor, but I wouldn't call it a miss. Both the Nikon D5 and Canon 1Dx II suffer in the video department, but that also doesn't make them a miss. To me the miss is the lack of APS-C lenses Sony gives us, they gave us those amazing A6300 and A6500 cameras but no lenses to go with them. The lenses that are available are older or big full-frame lenses. Why not a fast wide angle prime, or a better travellens then the 18-105, or a smallish high quality tele lens? So, to me, the miss goes to Sony.
 
There were no great hits in 2016.

The misses: legion.

Best represented by Fuji's myopic foray into medium format, when they do not offer a good small mirrorless FF. Obviously they want to milk their APS-C market to the last drop before that so obvious step.

Watching the industry leave the FF mirrorless market to Leica and Sony another year is jaw-dropping.

Such a huge miss is rivaled by the inability of Sony and Fuji to design a camera with which you can leave the house safely forgetting an extra battery. This is so stupid and inconsiderate of users it beggars belief.
 
Hits:

The Q, The GFX and X1D, the RX1RII, the Nikon 105/1.4E.

Misses:

The TL, the SL system, the big sensor shortage affecting Sony and others.
 
See post #4 for my hits.

As for misses, for me, the dedicated camera industry which continues its free fall, with no apparent bottom in sight. How low will the industry go?

Jim B.
 
Addy101 said:
This. How can one say that an announced camera is the hit of 2016 when we know so little about it? I feel the hype is all about brand recognition, it has nothing to do with the actual product as the Hasselblad X1D is very similar.
Click to expand...
Both the Fuji GFX50s and the Hasselblad HD1 were announced in 2016 and should be delivered in Q1 2017. There has been lots of coverage of both, both initial impressions based on specs and handling at Photokina, and by photographers given an opportunity to shoot with pre-production versions. I think the hype is that we have a couple of new entries in the 50MP MF sensor lineup that aren't in the stratosphere price-wise.
 
faberryman said:
Both the Fuji GFX50s and the Hasselblad HD1 were announced in 2016 and should be delivered in Q1 2017. There has been lots of coverage of both, both initial impressions based on specs and handling at Photokina, and by photographers given an opportunity to shoot with pre-production versions. I think the hype is that we have a couple of new entries in the 50MP MF sensor lineup that aren't in the stratosphere price-wise.
Click to expand...

In addition to this, it shows what's possible for digital cameras moving forward. The hegemony of 3:2 ratio FF & APS-C cameras should end sooner rather than later. If Fuji can make a 33x44 "4:3" camera, who's to say whether we'll see a 44x44 camera some day! At the same time, Sony and Leica showed us that mirrorless is pretty much pointless when you consider that good fast primes are as large, or larger than those available for Canikon. Why would I sell my D750 for an SL or A7RII when the Nikon is basically the same size and performance at least as well if not better in nearly every metric (save the A7RII's sensor which is the best I've ever used in the format).
 
I must be getting old and cranky. Nothing digital interests me, some times seems like a desert out there. A little excitement in backing the Mercury modular camera on Kickstarter although I'm well aware that KS projects can often end in failure so I'm not getting my hopes up. Well, plenty to do with my own home made cameras, pinhole and otherwise. Very glad Ilford is still alive after being bought by an investment firm. Looking forward to getting out more in the lengthening daylight to tryout some of my contraptions.
 
Biggest Hits - GFX*, small f/2 Fuji lenses, X1D**, Nikon 105/1.4, M262

Biggest Misses - Leica TL, Trump, X1D delays, Fuji killing more film stocks, Leica 28/5.6***

* The announcement and initial looks look great
** The announcement was awesome, the delays were a big fumble
*** Great idea, terrible pricing
 
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