Being a higher end product, and having seen this lens myself at CES 2012 where I was quite impressed, I thought this was worth a mention.  With so many mirrorless cameras and lenses being released these days, it’s nice to see a product aimed at the higher end of the market that could conceivably be used for professional work. The price is high though at about $1,500 so this is going to have to be a sharp when performer when it comes to stores in August.

Both of Panasonic's high end zooms at CES 2012

Press Release

SECAUCUS, NJ (May 21, 2012) – Today, Panasonic announced a new digital interchangeable standard zoom lens, the LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. (H-HS12035). The newest addition to the company’s premium lens brand “X,” which is compatible with the Panasonic LUMIX G Series and complies with the Micro Four Thirds™ system standard, this lens offers a versatile zoom range of 12-35mm (35mm camera equivalent: 24-70mm) and features constant F2.8 aperture brightness at entire zoom range. Suitable for professionals and enthusiasts, this new lens captures a wide range of scenes from dynamic landscapes to available light and studio-lit portraits and features superb image rendering for lifelike textures and crisp edge-to-edge contrast.

The LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. lens incorporates Panasonic’s unique Nano Surface Coating technology which minimizes reflections at entire visual range (380nm-780nm), resulting in a dramatic reduction of ghosts and flare for extremely clear picture quality. The lens’s newly integrated POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) effectively compensates for both small, fast movement and large, slow movement, making it easy to shoot extremely clear photos even in low-lit situations such as at night or indoors.

Boasting outstanding compactness, the LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. lens is approximately 73.8mm in length and 10.76oz in weight, resulting in extreme mobility. Additionally with a rubber ring on the lens mount, the new lens is designed to stand up against splash and dust making it ideal for outdoor photography enthusiasts. A highly reliable metal mount endures long time use.

The LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. lens system is comprised of 14 lenses in nine groups. The UED (Ultra Extra-Low Dispersion) lens minimizes chromatic aberration while the UHR (Ultra High Refractive) lens realizes high descriptive performance from corner to corner. Featuring high contrast and resolution from the center to corner at entire zoom range, the new LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. lens has the ability to capture the details of scenery or portrait with rich perspective.

The lens’s superior inner focus system provides for excellent resolution and contrast without changing the overall length from full life-size magnification to infinity. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth defocus effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. Adopting an inner focus system driven by a stepping motor, the lens’s superior design provides smooth and near silent focusing action which is ideal for both picture and video recording. When the lens is mounted on any LUMIX G Micro System camera body, users can take advantage of the high-speed, high-precisions Contrast AF (Autofocus) system.

The Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. (H-HS12035) lens will be available in August 2012. For more information about Panasonic LUMIX digital cameras and lenses, please visit www.panasonic.com/lumix.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Sonnet offers a range of ExpressCard adapters but as a photographer the ones that I am primarily interested in are the dual CF card reader and also the eSATA adapter that will allow me to use some of my current G-Tech eSATA drives with my Macbook Air at speeds that exceed the current option of USB 2.

Echo compared to an 11" Macbook Air

At the moment, Thunderbolt cables are only available from Apple, or at least Apple retailers and they only come in a 6ft length.  Hopefully this will change because 6ft is far too long for most applications.  The cable is almost universally $49 wherever I have seen it for sale, for a computer peripheral cable this is daylight robbery but Apple has you at gun point with no other option so make sure you purchase one if you decide that the Echo is for you.

The Sonnet Echo itself does not require any drivers or software to function, neither did the eSATA Pro 6Gb ExpressCard that I tested, but the Pro Dual Compactflash Adapter did.  In fact this caught me a bit by surprise, having hacked my way into the customary and infuriating blister packaging with a pair of scissors on the eSATA adapter and Echo, I proceeded to attack the packaging of the CF card adapter with some vigor.  Vigor enough to cut a corner off the enclosed driver software CD…….

Not to worry though, of course Sonnet have the software available for download on their website! I’m not sure the reason for needing drivers for that particular card but it’s only a small annoyance and installation passed without a hitch.  Once this was ready I set about testing the read and write speeds that were available to me with various setups.  As always I used AJA’s incredibly useful System Test tool which allows you to create files of varying sizes and records the speed at which they are written and then read.  For comparative purposes I also tested a couple of different CF cards in my USB 2 reader and also the internal drive of my Macbook Air.

Echo with eSATA 6Gb Pro card

CF Card Reader Testing Results

2011 Macbook Air internal drive baseline.

To begin with I tested the internal solid state drive on the Macbook Air which instantly proved why I love this little thing so much.  For comparison, a 7200rpm internal SATA drive might be expected to reach read/write speeds of about 70-75 MB/s.  Even greater benefits can be seen when using SSDs and repeatedly accessing lots of small files and the seek time present in physical spinning hard drives is entirely negated.

Of course whenever you are considering things like drives and readers you have to remember to consider the whole picture.  It’s not much good getting excited about the write speeds of your shiny new external drive if the information you are writing is coming from a slow moving 5400rpm SATA drive.  You always have to look for the bottleneck in your system and adjust your overall expectations accordingly.  I’m digressing slightly…… let’s get back to testing this Echo.

30MB/s Sandisk Extreme via USB 2

As I mentioned above, currently when I’m on the road with my Macbook Air, my only other option for downloading CF cards is USB 2 so I wanted to have this comparison in the as well.  This particular card was a 30MB/s Sandisk Extreme card.  As you can see, we didn’t quite reach their listed max speed but it was pretty close.

90MB/s Sandisk Extreme Pro via USB 2

In theory USB 2 is 480 mbps which is 60MB/s but even with this 90 MB/s card it would only go up to 29 MB/s.  So this is typically what I’m working with at the moment given the Macbook Air’s lack of Firewire.   Now let’s get on and see how much I can speed up my workflow on the road with the Echo.

Sonnet Echo + CF Card ExpressCard + Sandisk 90 MB/s

Hmmm.  Something not quite right here……

As you can see (and I verified this MANY times), we are getting very close to the maximum possible read speed of this 90MB/s card with an 89.6MB/s.  This is VERY good!  Essentially 3 times faster than using my USB 2 reader.  But what is happening with the write speeds ?  Lower than USB 2 ?  Very strange.

So I tried with the 30MB/s Sandisk card:

Of course upon seeing this result I immediately went to Google and had a hunt around to see if anyone else had experienced similar oddities.  I did indeed find several people reporting extremely slow write speeds with the Echo when using the previous incarnation of the eSATA ExpressCard adapter.  However there was no documented write speed issues with the CF adapter.  Possibly because it’s of little consequence in real world usage….. why would you really need to WRITE to a CF card from a laptop.

After trying this out again and again though I tried it with a card inserted into both slots of the card reader.  Lo and behold it seemed to remedy the issue.  I even ejected one of the cards on the laptop but left it physically still in the reader and even that was enough to fix the problem.  See results below.

I contacted Sonnet to get their view on this and as it turns out that it’s not entirely unexpected.  Firstly OSX writes to FAT 32 formatted drives much slower that HFS+ drives.  All (current) cameras format CF cards as FAT32. Secondly there are some complications when working with Thunderbolt and I’m going to include their response here directly because they did a very concise job of explaining it to me.

Thunderbolt technology introduces some latency that does not exist with direct PCIe bus connections (ExpressCard supports both PCIe and USB interfaces; our adapter uses the PCIe bus)—about 6 microseconds (round trip hop) to the 1st device in the Thunderbolt chain, about 4.8 microseconds per each additional device in the chain.

Read performance is rarely a problem, because a read (from the computer’s viewpoint) is the PCIe card’s DMA (Direct Memory Access) write to the computer. It goes fast, because the DMA card (CF card) does good old-fashioned posted (sent but not yet arrived) writes, and it can keep them up in succession.

Here’s a generic explanation of why some devices’ write performance suffers under Thunderbolt due to latency: A write (from the computer’s standpoint) becomes a read from the PCIe card’s viewpoint. The PCIe card has to wait for the read to complete before it can do anything with it. Most cards are smart enough to issue several pending reads, but the problem is, the latency across the bus can significantly degrade this performance if the command buffer is not kept full. An 8-command buffer, which is employed on some existing PCIe devices (for example, most eSATA cards) isn’t large enough to overcome the latency. To maintain fast transfers without waiting for latencies across the bus, there really need to be 16 or even 32 outstanding PCIe read commands! Some cards issue eight commands, and then wait for them all to complete before issuing another set of eight commands. This was never noticed when an adapter card was plugged directly into a PCIe bus—but with Thunderbolt added to the mix, this operation can kill write performance. Consequently, many cards have had to be updated to properly compensate for this issue. For example, our new Tempo SATA Pro 6Gb ExpressCard/34 cards utilize the latest chips that properly manage this issue.

Of course as I mentioned 99% of the time the reason for using a CF card reader is to do exactly that, read it.  This issue won’t have any bearing on your downloading of cards from your camera as far as I can tell so you can still download cards 3 times faster than with USB2.  If you have a firewire card reader and cards of a similar speed to my 90MB/s Sandisk card then you will see less of an improvement.  Previous testing has shown me that good FW800 readers will get you in the ballpark of 70MB/s before they max out, no matter what the card speed is.  With this Echo adapter though you will find that if you have cards that are even faster than 90MB/s then you will be able to take advantage of that and go even faster!  Lexar’s 1000x Pro cards for example are said to be in the 150MB/s range.  FW800 will top out long before that but with those cards in the Echo you would fly along well north of 100MB/s.  Despite the write speed issue though this does represent the current fastest way to download CF cards and it’s great that you can put two in there at a time to do a big download into Lightroom or Photo Mechanic after a shoot.  With cameras shooting larger and larger files and card capacities increasing to cover this, significant speed increases in card downloading can save you a lot of time. To download a 32GB card with USB 2 would take about 9 minutes at the speeds I recorded.  That would be reduced to 3 with the Echo and based on my typical usage of a couple of cards that would save me overall 12 minutes of downloading time.  After just a few shoots you’ve gained yourself a whole hour of your life back which is always a nice way to think about it!

NB.

Current Sandisk Extreme and Extreme Pro cards cannot be used in the bottom of the two CF card slots in the reader.  This is apparently due to the way Sandisk have designed the cards.  It’s unfortunate as those are the cards that I use but we must blame Sandisk for this one for not following the proper guidelines ….

Tempo SATA Pro 6GB ExrpessCard Adapter Test Results

Given the high price of the limited selection of Thunderbolt hard drives out there it’s a fair assumption that lots of people eSATA drives lying around.  I tend to use the excellent G-Tech drives, as do many other photographers and film makers.  A faster way to connect these to my laptop is what I would like, seeings as I can’t replace them with Thunderbolt drives at the moment.  Even if the price of Thunderbolt drives was a non-issue, there are connectivity problems.  So far nobody has made a Thunderbolt drive that has anything other than a Thunderbolt port (or two) on it.  This means that you are SOL if you then want to take the drive back to your office where you have a Mac Pro……. with no Thunderbolt port on it.  Don’t get me started.

Sonnet were kind enough to provide me with their brand new eSATA ExpressCard adapter, the Tempo Pro 6GB.  This brand new card uses the PCie 2.0 standard, although the Echo Pro is required to exploit this properly.  Unfortunately I wasn’t  aware of the existence of the Echo Pro until the Echo arrived for testing.  The Echo Pro is $20 than the standard Echo and in some circumstances will provide increased speeds when the adapter cards are designed around the PCIe 2.0 standard.  Sonnet tell me that with two SSD eSATA drives configured in a RAID 0 through this new Tempo Pro and the Echo Pro , they have achieved 375 MB/s.  They did however say that in many cases there is no benefit yet to stepping up to the pro model and that even with eSATA drives and this Tempo Pro 6GB card I likely would not have seen any improvements in the speeds that I captured below.

167MB/s !!  That is FAST for an off the shelf eSATA drive.  This really is a very good result, in fact when I have these same drives connected to the eSATA PCI card in my Mac Pro I was only reaching 111MB/s and 122MB/s write and read speeds respectively.  So this is actually a faster setup that I have on my main work machine!

The fast write speed also confirms without a doubt that Sonnet’s new 6GB Pro card has fixed the latency issue that people discovered with the original adapters.  If you are planning on picking up an Echo to use with eSATA drives make sure you buy this new card and NOT the old ones.  Sonnet will now only be offering two eSATA ExpressCard adapters, this one that I tested, and also a single port version.  I’m sure that resellers will have some of the older ones still in stock in places so make sure that you find this new one if you want to get the best performance.

Other Options

Of course it’s always necessary to consider the other options out there.  At the moment this is relatively simple to do as the only other product to accomplish something vaguely similar is the LaCie eSATA Thunderbolt Hub.  This LaCie hub will allow you to connect up to two eSATA devices to a Thunderbolt device, essentially achieving the same thing as the Echo does when equipped with the eSATA 6GB Pro ExpressCard adapter that I tested.  There’s a couple of key differences though.  Firstly the LaCie hub requires the use of a separate power supply, a major disadvantage if you are traveling with it.  Secondly it’s somewhat larger but it does offer two Thunderbolt ports meaning it doesn’t need to be at the end of your chain.  Of course you are also limited to just eSATA as well, there’s no option to use it with CF cards or Firewire as there is with the Echo.  In terms of speeds, well I haven’t personally tested the LaCie hub but from what I have read, with comparable drives to the G-Tech one I tested with the Sonnet Echo you would get slightly slower speeds with the LaCie hub.  Something in the 110-120MB/s read speed area.  The LaCie hub is $200 though whereas the Sonnet Echo is $150 for the Echo plus the cost of the adapter which in the case of the one I tested is a further $150.

Conclusion

The Echo chassis itself is built very nicely and it’s robust enough that I would be happy to chuck it in my laptop bag and cart it around all the time with my kit.  The only negative side to the physical design is that once the ExpressCard adapters are inserted into the Echo they are not held firmly in place.  A spring mechanism gives you feedback as to when it’s inserted correctly but you would be wrong to assume that it’s really held in there by this mechanism in any way.  The merest nudge of the adapter is enough to knock it out of connection, I wish there was a way in which it could hold the cards captive until you ejected them.  If you plan to use this setup with a Macbook when you are on the road then the fact that Echo is powered by the Thunderbolt port is a big bonus when compared with the LaCie hub.  Of course that hub can’t deal with Compact Flash cards at all though and that is really the reason that led me to try this setup out in the first place.  Getting nearly a full 90MB/s read speed from my Extreme Pro cards is a huge time saver.  If you are working a sporting event for a wire service then those extra minutes saved mean your images will be on the wire that much sooner and that could easily translate to more sales.  I’ve been in press rooms many times at the end of a long day when you are just desperate to get all your cards downloaded so you can get on your way home.  After even a modest day shooting this setup will save you a fair bit of time if your current solution is USB 2.0 based.  If you are using a Firewire 800 reader at the moment then the savings will be smaller but still present, and the added ability to plug in an eSATA drive to back up your images extremely quickly a second time once your cards are dumped is another bonus.  Even if someone does come along with a dedicated Thunderbold card reader in six months time you can still use the Echo to connect your legacy eSATA and Firewire drives to your Macbook.  Yes it’s fairly expensive solution if you just consider it a card reader, and it’s not going to be of interest to amateurs, but to the pros out there who shoot in volume then I would recommend taking a look at this option.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Interesting to see today that Fuji have unexpectedly launched both a 28mm wide angle lens adapter for the X100 and also firmware version 1.3 .  I think it’s pretty safe to say in that case that we can expect to see this camera current for at least another 6 months.  Now would be as good a time to buy one as any.  I still have my own X100 and yes I still love it!  I’ll definitely be taking a look at this adapter when it comes out.

Valhalla, N.Y., May 15, 2012 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation today announced an exciting new premium accessory for the award winning FUJIFILM X100 – a Wide Conversion Lens (WCL-X100) that will further enhance the exceptional photographic experience of using the FUJIFILM X100 digital camera. The new Wide Conversion Lens will not only maximize the FUJIFILM X100’s shooting versatility and performance, but it will also add to the stunning look and feel of the camera with its exacting design similarities.

“We are extremely pleased to offer this new Wide Conversion Lens for the FUJIFILM X100, which has been enthusiastically received from the professional and advanced amateur photographic communities for its beautiful design and outstanding image quality,” said Go Miyazaki, division president, Imaging and Electronic Imaging Divisions, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “Fujifilm is committed to giving photographers the premium tools that they need to achieve the best imaging results imaginable, and this new lens will allow the FUJIFILM X100 to exceed users’ expectations by opening up countless new shooting opportunities.”

FUJIFILM Wide Conversion lens (WCL-X100)

The FUJIFILM WCL-X100, a wide conversion lens made in Japan and designed specifically for the award winning FUJIFILM X100, attaches directly onto the camera and increases picture taking versatility by multiplying the fixed focal length by 0.8x, converting it from 23mm (35mm equivalent) fixed focal length to a 19mm wide angle (28mm equivalent). The WCL-X100 delivers superb optical quality and maximizes versatility of the FUJIFILM X100 by ensuring comparable image quality even at the f/2 wide aperture setting, all while retaining all the original optical characteristics, including the attractive bokeh effect.

The FUJIFILM WCL-X100’s optical construction uses four premium glass elements in three groups to keep aberrations minimal, and also employs the unique FUJINON Super EBC (Electron Beam Coating) for outstanding results.

Using the WCL-X100

Achieving the very best results from the WCL-X100 is simple: select the ‘Wide Conversion Lens’ option in the FUJIFILM X100’s menu system (camera must be updated to firmware version 1.30 or later) or select the function via the Function (Fn) or RAW buttons.

After selecting the ‘Wide Conversion Lens’ option, the FUJIFILM X100 automatically applies image processing to shots taken using the WCL-X100 to reduce image distortion, ensuring balanced illumination across the frame and reduced chromatic aberration which can be commonly found in wide conversion lenses.

The WCL-X100 maintains the full functionality of the FUJIFILM X100, including auto focusing speeds, the 10cm macro capability and of course, the extraordinary hybrid viewfinder. With the optical viewfinder (OVF) selected, icons showing the edge of the frame are displayed instead of the frame rim (equivalent to 80% of the frame field of view), while selecting the electronic viewfinder (EVF) gives users a 100% field of view.

The perfect match for the FUJIFILM X100
The design of the WCL-X100 has been carefully considered to ensure a seamless blend with the FUJIFILM X100. It uses the same materials, textures and colors as the existing X100, plus the optional LH-X100 lens hood and PRF-49S protective filter can be used on the conversion lens. Furthermore, the clip-on lens cap for the WCL-X100 can be attached with both the lens hood and filter in place.

FUJIFILM WCL-X100 key features

• 0.8x magnification factor to convert X100 lens to 28mm wide angle (35mm equivalent)
• All glass optical construction using four elements in three groups
• FUJINON Super EBC coating
• “Made in Japan” for optimum quality
• Available in silver and black

The FUJIFILM Wide Conversion lens (WCL-X100) will be available in silver and black in June 2012 for $349.99.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have confirmed that when the EF200mm f/2L IS USM and some units of the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM lenses are used with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera, the Lenses may emit an abnormal noise.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera does not need to be repaired as a result of this phenomenon.

The support measures for this phenomenon have been decided and they are as described below.

Phenomenon

If either of the Lenses is attached to the camera with the Image Stabilizer switch on the Lenses set to ON, the Image Stabilizer will synchronize with the autofocusing (AF) function and an abnormal noise may occur. This abnormal noise does not affect captured images.

This phenomenon only occurs when the camera is used with either of the Lenses, and does not occur when the camera is used with other lenses.

Affected Products

EF200mm f/2L IS USM Lens
EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens

*This phenomenon does not occur with cameras other than the EOS 5D Mark III.

*If the fifth and sixth digit of the six-digit alphanumeric number that is imprinted on the lens mount of the above EF lenses is of any of the following numbers, the lens is affected.

EF200mm f/2L IS USM: If the fifth and sixth digit is 00, 01, or 02.
EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM:If the fifth and sixth digit is 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, or 06.

Support

The Canon Lenses affected by this phenomenon will be inspected and repaired free of charge starting from May 21, 2012. If you own one of the affected lenses, please contact our Customer Support Center.

This information is for residents of the United States and Puerto Rico only. If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.

Thank you,
Customer Support Operations
Canon U.S.A., Inc

Contact Information for Inquiries
Canon Customer Support Center
Phone: 1-800-OK-CANON, 1-800-652-2666
TDD: 1-866-251-3752
Email: carecenter@cits.canon.com
For additional support options: www.usa.canon.com/support

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Pre-Order

B&H have the new Leica M-Monochrom up for pre-order already.

Press Release

Solms Germany (May 10, 2012) – Leica Camera AG presents the Leica M Monochrom, the world’s first digital camera exclusively for full-frame, 35 mm black-and-white photography. Featuring a sensor designed specifically for this purpose, the new addition to the Leica portfolio enables photographers to capture images in outstanding black-and-white quality, setting entirely new standards. The latest camera in the flagship Leica M-System, the Leica M Monochrom continues the successful story of the Leica rangefinder system, which has written numerous chapters in the history of innovative photography.

“Black-and-white photography is more popular than ever before. Even today, it has lost none of its fascination as an expressive medium, not even for younger generations of photographers. This is confirmed by the numerous monochrome images shown by members of the M-Community, who we are in constant contact with,” said Jesko von Oeynhausen, Product Manager for the M-System at Leica Camera AG. “For the first time ever, we are offering an opportunity to consistently and authentically explore black-and-white photography with the M Monochrom, a tool that is unique in the digital world. The camera’s exclusively black-and-white sensor brings an enormous technical benefit that is reflected in the amazing imaging quality it delivers.”

The 18 MP image sensor of the M Monochrom is perfectly matched to the unique properties of the Leica M-System and the superior performance of Leica M-Lenses. As the sensor does not ‘see’ colors, every pixel records true luminance values – as a result, it delivers ‘true’ black-and-white images that are significantly sharper than comparable exposures from a camera with a color-sensitive sensor.

To allow precise control of tonal values, the Leica M Monochrom offers a raw data histogram display to exhibit original, unprocessed and unmodified raw data. This, combined with a configurable clipping display, allows precise correction or optimization of exposures.

At the touch of a button, images captured by the M Monochrom can be converted with characteristic toning effects from black-and-white film photography (sepia, cold or selenium toning). All users need to do is save the image in JPEG format and select the desired toning effect – simply and conveniently, with no need for post-processing.

The classic, iconic design of the Leica M-cameras is carried forward by the Leica M Monochrom. The matte-black finish of the chromed top deck allows the camera to be an unobtrusive tool. Only an engraved script on the accessory shoe reveals the product name. The camera features particularly soft leather trim with ideal grip that perfectly complements the camera’s discreet character. The camera package also includes a genuine leather carrying strap in premium full-grain cowhide.

The M Monochrom is supplied complete with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, a professional digital workflow solution. The software is available to customers as an online download after product registration. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom offers a wide range of functions for the management, processing and presentation of digital images. For example, this software allows for the creation of simple print layouts, slide shows and photo books.

A full-version of Silver Efex Pro 2, the world’s leading black-and-white image processing software, is also included in the package. Silver Efex Pro 2 offers an impressive collection of unique and powerful, darkroom-inspired tools for the creation of high quality black-and-white images. Silver Efex Pro 2 emulates over 20 different types of black-and-white film to recreate the glory of classical black-and-white film photography. The emulation of each film type is based on the analysis of many rolls of the respective type and guarantees perfect reproduction of the characteristic look of many popular films from ISO 32 to ISO 3200.

For the production of high-quality black-and-white prints, Leica Camera AG also offers a unique service in collaboration with Whitewall. After registering their Leica M Monochrom on the Leica website, customers can have their digital images from the M Monochrom printed on premium-quality baryte paper. These prints can be ordered from Whitewall through a personal link.

From photojournalism and available light photography to discreet, artistically aesthetic, creative compositions – the Leica M Monochrom adapts flexibly to every application and enables the expression of personal photographic style and consciously creative composition. The enormous potential performance of the current M-Lens portfolio, with focal lengths from 16 to 135 mm, is also fully accessible. In line with Leica’s renowned commitment to extreme system compatibility, almost all lenses of the Leica M range built since 1954 can still be used on the M Monochrom.

All characteristic properties of the Leica rangefinder system are also present in the new Leica M Monochrom. This, for instance, also includes the system’s intuitive and discreet handling. Its manual focusing based on the combined viewfinder and rangefinder concept and aperture priority exposure mode is an aid to photographers rather than placing undesired limitations on their creative freedom. In combination with the monitor display on the back of the camera, the simple menu navigation needs only a few control elements to enable rapid access to the entire range of camera functions. Together with its compact construction, the camera’s almost silent shutter benefits discreet and unobtrusive photography. Photographers can even select the appropriate moment for re-cocking the shutter. When longer exposure times requiring an extremely steady camera stance are essential, a slight pressure on the shutter release button in ‘soft release’ mode is sufficient.

All functions of the Leica M Monochrom are constructed with extreme robustness and a long working life in mind. Its one-piece, full-metal housing, made from a high-strength magnesium alloy, and the top deck and bottom plate, machined from solid brass blanks, provide perfect protection for its precious inner mechanisms. The digital components and shutter assembly of the M Monochrom are similarly constructed with a view to a lifetime of endurance. For photographers, this provides absolute reliability over decades of use. The experienced hands of Leica technicians at the factory in Solms are responsible for the assembly and calibration of M Monochrom bodies and the precise testing of all mechanical and electrical components. Leica Customer Care has decades of experience in repairs and maintenance and therefore creates a solid foundation for long life and enduring value. Even today, the service department maintains and repairs all M-Cameras built since 1954.

The Leica M-System has played a significant role in the development of the company’s performance in recent years. The annual figures have been correspondingly positive since the launch of the Leica M9 in September 2009 and are now registering record revenues.

The Leica M Monochrom in black chrome will be available from Leica dealers including the Leica Store Washington DC beginning in late July 2012.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

The camera adds a new 16MP APS-C sensor but maintains the same 24mm f2.8 lens.  Now the lens on the X1 wasn’t bad at all, but with Fuji’s X100 selling by the bucket load you’d think maybe they would at least match their f2.0 lens.  Leica claim that they have also improved the AF system as well but other than that this seems to be a bit of a lackluster launch.

I did a review of the X1 a couple of years ago in Vancouver and I did like the camera overall so I doubt this will be a bad camera, it’s just disappointing to see them ignore it’s main physical deficiency.  X1 owners can be happy that there isn’t much to upgrade to though, maybe now would be a good time to grab an X1 instead!

 Pre-Order

B&H have the X2 up for pre-order now.

Press Release

Solms, Germany (May 10, 2012) – Leica Camera AG presents the X2, a new addition to the X-line of compact digital cameras. Handmade at Leica’s headquarters in Germany, the Leica X2 features a new APS-C-format professional CMOS image sensor with over 16.5 megapixels (effective 16.2 MP). In combination with the high-performance Leica Elmarit 24 mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens, a classic focal length for photojournalism, this sensor ensures maximum image quality and sparkling brilliance. With its refined styling and high-performance technical features, the Leica X2 offers unsurpassed performance in a compact package.

The Leica X2’s autofocus system has also been enhanced, allowing the camera to adapt to all shooting situations with enormous flexibility and enabling fast, extremely precise and almost silent focusing. The camera’s profile is complemented by numerous setting options from full manual control to automatic functions and an intuitive handling concept. These features make the Leica X2 the ideal premium-class compact camera for discerning photographers who wish to concentrate completely on their subjects and appreciate creative and true-to-life pictures.

The CMOS image sensor of the X2 is unusually large for a camera in the compact segment. Despite its high resolution of over 16 megapixels, each individual pixel on the sensor is very large, allowing the X2 to gather more light. The resulting benefits include low image noise, a high dynamic range and accurate color differentiation. The crop factor of the sensor is 1.5 in comparison with 35-mm film format, meaning that the Leica Elmarit 24 mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens of the Leica X2 becomes a universal reportage lens with an effective 35-mm-equivalent focal length of 36 millimeters. This is considered to be a classic focal length amongst prime lenses and has captured innumerable iconic images. The moderate wide-angle character and natural rendition of dimensions by the high-performance lens of the X2 open up a broad spectrum of different options for capturing those decisive moments in outstanding, authentic and richly detailed picture quality.

As a result of its simple operating concept, the Leica X2 offers clearly laid-out functions and intuitive handling. At the same time, it offers an impressive range of automatic and versatile manual setting options. Thanks to the ease of switching between manual and automatic control, photographers can concentrate completely on composing their subjects and choosing the decisive instant to shoot in any situation. The dials on the top deck provide grip when setting the shutter speed and aperture. Moreover, changing the plane of focus, the white balance and other imaging parameters allows photographers to consciously influence the look or mood of their images. In live view mode, the generously sized high-contrast 2.7″ monitor offers photographers complete control at all times and a bright and detailed view, even in strong light.

The features offered by the Leica X2 provide greater creative freedom and a wide range of photographic options. For instance, the Leica X2’s large sensor and fast lens make it ideal for shooting in available light. The camera also features a pop-up flash that can be activated whenever an additional light source is required. If more lighting power and flexibility are required, the accessory shoe of the X2 offers full compatibility with the Leica SF 24D and SF 58 system flash units.

The Leica X2 is characterized by clear lines and an intensely focused design concept. The linearity of its design and its compact, handy form are reminiscent of the Leica M-cameras. This, in combination with its robust, all-metal construction and premium, high-grip leather trim makes the X2 a classic Leica camera in both looks and feel. The camera is available in a discreet black or elegant silver finish.

An extensive range of accessories is also available to adapt the Leica X2 to each photographer’s individual photographic needs and style. A new offering is the Viso-Flex high-resolution electronic accessory finder with 1.4 megapixels and a 90° swivel function for shooting from unusual angles. Also available is a bright-line mirror finder that can be mounted on the accessory shoe and ensures a bright and clear view at all times, with no drain on the camera battery. An accessory handgrip increases the hold and stability of the camera and makes it easier to shoot one-handed. Leica continues to offer a comprehensive range of bags and cases: a premium-quality black leather case to match the elegance of the X2, an ergonomically designed camera protector in untreated leather, an ever-ready case in organically tanned cowhide to protect the camera during use and a system bag that offers more room for the camera and a range of accessories.

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom®, a professional digital workflow solution for Apple Mac® OS X and Microsoft Windows®, is also included in the X2 package. This digital image processing software offers a wide range of functions for the management, processing and presentation of digital images. Leica X2 customers can download the software free from the Leica website after registering their camera.

The Leica X2 is available now through Leica dealers including the Leica Store Washington DC. The optional accessories will be available after the market launch of the camera.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Price looks to be $1895

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

Head on over to B&H where they have a dedicated page to help you figure out how much you can save.

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.

The three sizes allow photographers to select the best fit for their needs.

1. Airport Accelerator accommodates two pro size DSLRs, six to eight standard zooms, a 500 f/4.0, iPad, and up to a 17” laptop. The largest of the three, this one has a padded removable waist belt.
2. Airport Commuter accommodates a pro size DSLR, four to six standard zooms, (increased depth holds a 400 f/2.8), iPad and 15” laptop .
3. Airport Essentials accommodates a standard DSLR, four to six standard zooms, iPad, and up to 13” laptop.

Features include:

• Bottom hinge opens bag completely for quick and unencumbered access.
• Cable lock and locking YKK zipper sliders for added security.
• Laptop and iPad stored in a separate locking zippered compartment.
•  Light, comfortable and contoured harness system.
• Tripod/monopod mounting system.
• Top zippered pocket for boarding pass.
• Removable waist belt for additional stability when walking, running, etc.
• Easily accessible front organizer pocket.
• Seam sealed rain cover included.

Airport Accelerator

•   Exterior Dimensions: 14” W x 20.5” H x 9” D (35.6 x 52.1 x 22.9cm)
•   Interior Dimensions: 12.5” W x 18.8” H x 6.8” D (31.6 x 47.8 x 17.3cm)
•   Laptop: 12.3” W x 17.5” H x 1.5” D (31.2 x 44.5 x 44cm)
•   Weight: 4.8-5.5 lbs (2.2-2.5 kg)
•   MSRP:  $279.95 (U.S.)

Airport Commuter

•   Exterior Dimensions: 12.5” W x 18” H x 8.5” D (31.6 x 45.7 x 21.6cm)
•   Interior Dimensions: 11.5” W x 16.3” H x 6.8” D (29.2 x 41.4 x 17.3cm)
•   Laptop: 11” W x 16” H x 1.3” D (27.9 x 40.6 x 3.3cm
•   Weight: 3.6-4.2lbs (1.7-1.9kg)
•   MSRP:  $199.75 (U.S.)

Airport Essentials

•   Exterior Dimensions: 11.5” W x 18” H x 7” D (29.2 x 45.7 x 17.8cm)
•   Interior Dimensions: 10.6” W x 16.3” H x 5” D (27 x 41.4 x 12.7cm)
•   Laptop: 10” W x 15.5” H x 1” D (25.4 x 39.4 x 2.5cm)
•   Weight: 3-3.6 lbs (1.4-1.6 kg)
•   MSRP:  $175.75 (U.S.)

Support the site

• B&H Photo
• Amazon.com
• Adorama
• Zacuto
• Outdoor Photo Gear
• ebay
• Think Tank Photo -As a friend of this site, clicking through to the Think Tank site and spending more than $50 will earn you a FREE bag when you reach the checkout. Choose from several different accessory or modular bags for FREE!
• Borrowlenses.com
• DROBO Enter coupon code DANCARRPHOTO for up to $150 off on certain models.