While many photographers have been preoccupied with the Black Friday camera deals this week, there's been a whole lot of interesting stuff going down.
Sony got busy, proving the camera rumors true by launching its latest flagship camera – and remaking a lens that Canon debuted six years ago. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a hopeful punter got humbled on the Antiques Roadshow when he brought a vintage, gold, Nazi Leica camera with him.
Speaking of Leica, the company reported its best financial results ever, while SanDisk went wild by giving us the biggest SD card ever.
WIthout further ado, here are the five biggest camera news stories from the past week…
Sony launches new, yet familiar, flagship camera
Sony has just announced a new crown jewel in its lineup – the Sony A1 II. The latest flagship takes the baton from the original Sony a1 three years after its release and continues Sony’s all-embracing approach to camera design, cramming the best of every technology Sony has at its disposal into this model.
That said, this isn’t the most significant update you’re ever going to see to a flagship camera – the A1 II carries a lot over from the previous model, including the excellent 50.1MP sensor, with Sony’s global shutter seemingly solely reserved for the A9 III right now. While other improvements come from the addition of features we have seen debuted in other Sony models since the original a1’s launch – mostly last year’s Sony A9 III.
The biggest internal change comes with the addition of Sony’s BionzXR processor with its AI co-processing powers to add the very latest in subject recognition technology…
Full story: Sony’s A1 II is a new flagship powerhouse camera with powerful new autofocus
Leica reports best financial results EVER
Leica has set a new revenue record for the fiscal year 2023/2024, reporting a 14% increase to €554 million (around $577 million / £460 million / AU$888 million), up from €485 million ($505 million / £402 million / AU$777 million) in the previous year. The premium manufacturer of optical products continues its trajectory of success, building on its achievements from the previous fiscal year and sustaining growth in operating earnings.
The photography segment remains the primary driver of this growth, bolstered by an innovative product lineup including the popular Leica Q3, and an expanded global sales network. Additionally, the Mobile Imaging segment, particularly in smartphones, saw remarkable revenue growth.
Revenue increased in all regions during fiscal year 2023/2024, with Asia leading at 25% growth, followed by Europe (excluding Germany) at over 10%. Strategic market positions were further solidified through new Leica Stores in Paris, Mexico City, Amsterdam, and New York, along with four additional locations in Germany. These additions contribute to Leica’s global network of 120 monobrand stores, 12 of which are in Germany…
Full story: Leica enjoys best financial results ever, thanks to Leica Q3 and M11-P
Rare, gold, fake Nazi camera appears on Antiques Roadshow
Stumbling across a rare camera worth tens of thousands is every photographer's dream – and a bloke on the BBC's long-running Antiques Roadshow TV series thought he'd done just that when he ponied up £480 ($600) for what looked like a Leica – a very valuable camera used by the Nazis.
However, an expert on the show – a television program where members of the public bring in what they hope are treasures to be assessed and valued – had to break it to the poor guy that it was in fact a fake.
In a video shared by The Mirror expert Marc Allum got the guy's hopes up to start with, though: "Do you know, I remember many, many years ago I had the pleasure of discovering a Leica Luxus camera on the Roadshow. I cannot describe how I felt about it at the time, it was very rare. The first sight of this camera made my heart really, really flutter because this is, of course, a very beautiful Leica camera…”
Full story: "Very Rare" gold Nazi Leica turns out to be fake in Antiques Roadshow
Fancy a TWO TERABYTE SD card?
There's been talk of 2 terabyte SD cards for some time, but until now few – if any – have materialized that you can actually buy. But now your ultra-high-capacity SD card prayers have been answered, as SanDisk's 2TB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I card is on sale now, priced at $264.99 / £317.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed).
That's a lot for an SD card, but then you're getting an awful lot of storage on a single card. This marks a new capacity benchmark for SanDisk's ever-popular Extreme Pro SDXC line-up, with other capacities in the range including 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.
The 2TB variant doesn't just increase the range's capacity; it's also SanDisk's fastest UHS-I Extreme Pro SDXC card. Where lower capacities boast maximum transfer speeds of 200MB/s read and 140MB/s write (the 32GB and 64GB versions are slower), the new 2TB card is capable of 250MB/s read and 150MB/s write speeds. That's almost as fast as an entry-level UHS-II SD card…
Full story: You can now actually buy a 2 TERABYTE SD card!
Sony remakes Canon's fancy lens, but smaller
Sony has just announced its latest lens – the Sony FE 28-70 f/2 GM – which takes the standard zoom and gives it a prime lens rivaling aperture, but in a size that is actually practical for professional photographers who might otherwise choose a 24-70mm f/2.8.
Wide-aperture standard zoom lenses to rival prime lenses have long been the dream of photographers and engineers alike, and there are some compelling options out there – Sigma’s 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art achieves a prime rivaling f/1.8 but at the sacrifice of focal length, or Tamron’s 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD has a big range, but can’t quite maintain the maximum aperture.
Canon has perhaps come close a few years ago with its RF 28-70mm f/2 USM lens – although that was a monster of a lens. But the Sony 28-70mm might actually be the first lens to pull off the triple threat of focal range, large aperture, and practical size…
Full story: Sony’s just made an f/2 standard zoom lens that's actually practical to use
You might be interested in the best Sony cameras, the best Leica cameras, the best film cameras (that aren't fakes) and the best memory cards.
