Leica SL3-S Digital Camera

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leica sl3 s digital camera

The Leica SL3-S Digital Camera is going to be announced on January 16, 2025.

The current Leica SL3 sells for $7000 (USD) and features a 60 megapixel sensor.

What has been rumored is:

  • Contains the 24.6MP sensor of the current Leica SL2-S
  • Tweaked/slightly improved ISO performance
  • C2PA support (a technical standard for certifying the source and history of media content)

The Leica SL2-S currently sells for $3000 which is a price reduction from its launch.  We’re guessing that the SL3-S will be around $5000 but we’ll be happy if it’s lower in price.

This camera will really only be of interest to those already in the Leica ecosystem.  Sadly, it’s not that exciting of an addition and we really wish companies would innovate more.

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The New iPhone 17 Air

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This new iPhone appears to be a replacement for what was previously the iPhone Plus model and its main selling point will be how thin and light it is.  The iPhone equivalent of what the iPad Air aimed to be.

  • ultra thin 5-6mm’s thin
  • likely to contain some titanium for weight reduction
  • 6.5-6.7 inch screen (in between iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max screen sizes)
  • OLED 120hz display
  • Premium price
  • Single camera on rear
  • 24mp front camera sensor
  • A19 chip (but not A19 Pro chip and less performant than the Pro)
  • Minimum 8gb of Ram
  • Battery life should be enough to get you through a day
  • Likely to come in September of 2025

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iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus

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Today Apple announced the $799 6.1-inch iPhone 16 and the $899 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus.  Both start with 128gb of storage.  The main new feature, besides an allegedly 30% faster processor, is the Camera Control capability on the side of the devices.  Also featured is improved AI and Wi-Fi 7 support.  Well we’re not wowed by these phones, they are a solid incremental upgrade from Apple and as is often the case, you shouldn’t be disappointed by either.

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Sigma 28-105mm F2.8 Lens

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Sigma released an interesting lens that’s not much heavier than some 24-105mm F4 lenses, the Sigma 28-105mm F2.8.  This lens costs $1500 and we’re happy to have this option.  This lens extends when zooming and does not have optical image stabilization but these were likely necessary sacrifices to keep the weight, size, and price down.  There are some concerns about the manual focusing of this lens.  This lens launches available for Sony E mount and L mount.

Key specifications:

  • Full Frame
  • F2.8 to F22
  • HLA Autofocus
  • 15.8″ Minimum Focus Distance
  • Aperture Ring with Click & Lock Switches
  • FLD, SLD & Aspherical Elements
  • Water and Oil-Repellant Coating
  • Dust and Splash-Resistant Construction
  • Minimal Focus Breathing
  • 82mm Front Filter
  • 18 Elements in 13 Groups
  • 12 Bladed Iris
  • 2.2 lb / 990 g
  • $1500

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Canon C80 Cinema Camera

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Canon C80 Cinema Camera

The long awaited successor to the Canon C70 is here, the Canon C80 Cinema Camera.  The only disappointment to us is that it doesn’t have DGO (dual-gain) sensor like the C70.  However, it does make a few quality of life improvements, a full frame sensor, and provides some additional outputs, all at $5500, so we aren’t really complaining.

Some of the main features include:

  • 6K FF Back-Illuminated CMOS Sensor
  • 6K30, DCI 4K/2K, UHD 4K120 S35 Recording
  • Full Frame and Super35 Modes
  • 12G-SDI and HDMI Simultaneous Output
  • Triple-Base ISO: 800, 3200, 12,800
  • Cinema Raw Light LT, HEVC, AVC Codecs
  • 16+ Stops of Total Dynamic Range
  • Dual-Pixel CMOS AF II
  • Built-In NDs up to 10 stops
  • 1 x BNC Timecode
  • 2 x Mini-XLR Audio In
  • 2 x SD Card Slots
  • $5500

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Ryzen 9 9950X, R9 9900X, R7 9700X, and R5 9600X Delayed

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amd_ryzen_9_9000_series

We are sad to hear that AMD is delaying the launch of its 9000 series processors due to quality expectation issues.  Maybe they’re paranoid after the defect recently found in Intel processors? Either way, not the news we were hoping for.  It’s not clear how much of a delay this will bring.

Ninja Phone from Atomos

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Atomos has released a $399 device that lets you record video from your camera to your phone.  But not any phone.  Right now it’s just the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max and in the future the Samsung S24 will be supported.  We’re not sure this device makes more sense than a dedicated recording device that includes the screen.  But if you’re going very minimalist and you’re willing to have your phone tied up, then the 94 gram weight of this device may be enticing.  But once you add the battery on it does get heavier.  It does record 10-bit in a variety of codecs, but it seems to only handle up to 1080p 60fps so it’s really not clear who exactly this device is for.  Maybe it’s targeted at people operating ultra-mobile, with a quick turn around time, who will be editing and uploading the video on their phone?

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Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm F1.4 Lens

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Nikon Z 35mm F1.4

Props to Nikon for releasing an interesting and affordable F1.4 lens.  And at a desirable focal length at that.  You cannot expect this lens to be optically great at its price but it turns out it’s more than good enough (and stopped down does turn great).  Also, it has nice bokeh and video features.  So this lens is a hit.  We wish more camera companies would give us affordable options and elite performance options so we could choose for ourselves.

Key specifications:

  • $600
  • 415g (14.7 oz.) which is pretty close to the Z 35mm f1.8 S which weighs 364g
  • 62mm filter thread
  • 11 elements in 9 groups (2 aspherical elements)

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Leica D-Lux 8 Digital Camera

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The Leica D-Lux 8 Digital Camera is a quite unexpected camera. But we welcome any camera manufacturer trying something different or novel. This has a 4/3″ sensor and a built-in zoom lens. Panasonic has put out this kind of camera in the past and we always hoped they would continue in this direction.

The price is one element that may create some problems as at $1600 you are competing with a lot of other viable options. But for a Leica branded camera this is cheap.

Key specifications:

  • 17MP Four Thirds CMOS Sensor
  • Leica 10.9-34mm f/1.7-2.8 Lens
  • 24-75mm Full-Frame Equivalent
  • 2.36MP OLED Electronic Viewfinder
  • 3.0″ 1.84m-Dot TFT LCD
  • DNG Format Support
  • Built-in Flash
  • Wireless Connectivity
  • USB-C Port, SD Card Slot

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Panasonic Lumix FZ80D Digital Ultrazoom Camera

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There is not much of a market or use case for small sensor cameras anymore (like this 1/2.3″ sensor camera), but ultrazooms is one of the places that they make sense. It has a 20-1200mm zoom range which gives you both a wide angle and an incredible telephoto. Image quality won’t compare to larger sensor cameras but if it’s good enough for your purposes then great. If you just want to photo document everything and want a single camera to compliment your phone without breaking the bank then this camera is worth considering. Nikon is the other company making some pretty interesting small sensor zoom cameras (albeit with somewhat larger bodies than we would like).

We are happy to see cameras coming out in this segment because they are fun and may be a better fit for certain demographic of camera user.

Key specifications:

  • 18.1MP 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor
  • 60x Optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization and 20-1200mm
  • Aperture of f/2.8-5.9 to f/8
  • 2.36m-Dot OLED viewfinder
  • 3.0″ 1.84m-Dot LCD screen
  • Full HD 4K30
  • ISO 80-3200
  • Up to 10 fps
  • $480
  • Shipping early August of 2024

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