A deep insight into the tele lineup!

Filming and photographing the elusive Capercaillie using the OM-1 and 150-400mm lens.

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
3 Different Cameras: Micro Four Thirds, Leica M, and Canon Powershot G15 (Gary W).
Is PANASONIC LUMIX GH7 “WOW” Enough? Let’s Talk (Robin Wong).
How is a Rim Light Used in Cinema and Photography? (42West).
Thypoch Enters Mirrorless Market with Simera 28mm & 35mm f/1.4 Lenses (Explora).

Plenty of news on the facebook OMD group, Panasonic FF and the GH5 group.
I kindly invite you all to follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Threads for more broader camera talk.

Press text:

London, UK – June, 2024 – After three years of dedicated development, Photogram is thrilled to announce that the Alice Camera, a novel AI-powered Micro Four Thirds camera that attaches to iOS and Android smartphones, will begin shipping to pre-order customers from 15th July 2024 (see proposed delivery dates below). Designed to streamline high-quality social media content creation for creators, businesses and everyday users, Alice Camera aims to bridge the gap between mirrorless cameras and smartphones. Users will be able to capture content with interchangeable lenses, a smartphone-like user experience and on-camera AI-driven computational photography.

As an official Micro Four Thirds system partner, Photogram has built the Alice Camera to meet the standard’s specifications and requirements. Alice Camera utilises the Micro Four Thirds lens mount and a Sony 4/3″ HDR, dual-native ISO CMOS sensor. However, what sets Alice Camera apart from other mirrorless cameras is its use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon and Google Edge TPU chips as its primary processing units. These processors accelerate the calculations necessary for running Photogram’s proprietary AI-driven computational photography algorithms and software-based image signal processing (ISP) pipeline directly on the camera. Unlike hardware-based ISPs in traditional mirrorless cameras, Photogram’s AI-driven software-based ISP is an innovative approach as it enables additional AI features and improvements to be brought to their existing cameras over time. In 2023, Photogram joined Google Cloud’s program for AI startups in London, where they received credits and mentorship to further train and develop their pipeline, which automates essential functions like white balance, exposure and colour grading.

Alice Camera’s smartphone app offers an intuitive design for camera control, file management, and content sharing. Alice Camera OS, a Linux-based camera-specific operating system, allows for over-the-air software updates and open-access development, opening up new creative possibilities. Developers and businesses interested in building their own AI algorithms and custom apps on the Alice Camera platform are encouraged to contact the team.

“We’re incredibly excited to finally bring the Alice Camera to the world,” said Vishal Kumar, CEO at Photogram.
“We set out to build the Alice Camera because we wanted to offer our customers a new type of mirrorless camera built specifically for a new era of content. We’ve developed a fundamentally new engineering paradigm for mirrorless cameras, with significantly novel implementations on hardware, software and with AI algorithms. Alice Camera represents an innovative step forward in how mirrorless cameras are designed and how our users will process, capture and share their experiences. We can’t wait to see the amazing content created with the Alice Camera.”

The journey to launch was not without its challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and global lockdowns in 2021 and 2022 caused severe chip shortages impacting Alice Camera’s manufacturing. Further delays arose in 2023 as the product underwent rigorous consumer electronics regulatory testing. Despite these hurdles, Photogram persevered, thanks to the support of its backers and investors. “We are deeply grateful for the belief and patience our community has shown throughout this journey,” added Vishal Kumar. “As a new entrant in the camera industry, we hope to bring fresh perspectives. All the difficult development work over the last three years is now done. Now, we’re ready to deliver and start to scale manufacturing. Our journey begins from today… We’re just getting started.”

PROPOSED DELIVERY DATES

• Cameras for the UK will begin shipping from 15th July 2024.
• Cameras for US, Japan, EU, Australia are scheduled to start shipping from 15th August 2024.
• Cameras for Canada, France and Rest of the World are scheduled to start shipping from Sept 2024.

About Photogram

Founded in London by a team of data scientists, engineers, content creators and camera enthusiasts, Photogram is a London-based computational photography startup with a mission to empower creators, business and everyday users with a camera more suited for a new era of content. By combining Micro Four Thirds optics with AI-accelerated hardware and computational photography algorithms driven by AI the team is offering a device more suited to a fast-paced content lifestyle. Alice Camera’s USP is to leverage a proprietary AI pipeline on-device; instead of doing post-processing on a laptop, editing can be done in real-time on the camera, drastically streamlining workflows.

In 2021 the team raised a $235,000 grant from Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation agency, and $200,000 from backers on Indiegogo to develop Alice Camera. Then, in 2022 the team secured $1,300,000 in venture capital funding from Ascension Ventures, Cur8 Capital and 7pc ventures. In March 2023 the team was selected to pitch on stage at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, and was recently selected by the British Government to display at the inaugural CogX, Festival of AI, in Los Angeles in May 2024. Alice Camera is one of the first mirrorless cameras to be designed and released from London and/or the United Kingdom in the last two decades. Read more about the company, its co-founders and their story.

You can find the firmware update here: av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index.html

1. Added feature with an upgrade software key DMW-SFU3A
   – An “Activation” function has been added to enable the extended feature using the optional upgrade software key, DMW-SFU3A sold separately.
   The following function is added by activation.
   · [ARRI LogC3] is added to [Photo Style].
2. Support for DMW-XLR2
   – XLR microphone adaptor, DMW-XLR2 has now been supported.
   * 32bit float recording function is not available.
3. Other improvements
   – Improved operational stability.

Panasonic also updated the software for three lenses:

• Improved AF performance during zooming.
  Compatible cameras: DC-G9M2, DC-GH7 (as of June 18, 2024)
• Improved operational stability.

BCNretail had a chat with Panasonic manager Tsumura Toshiyuki.

Why did they choose a large full-size sensor for the Lumix S9? The reason is to clearly differentiate it from smartphones. That’s what Toshiyuki Tsumura said:

Obviously, full-size sensor cameras are easier to understand because they are easier to blur and have less noise. I would like you to first experience a full-size sensor that you can’t get with a smartphone. It is people who are knowledgeable about cameras who will be able to understand the advantages of Micro Four Thirds. For people with low camera literacy, Micro Four Thirds is difficult to use. If it’s a full-size sensor that blurs and has less noise, even those people can get on board.

What they are probably missing is that the younger generation doesn’t care so much about sensor size. Esthetics, Compact size, affordable price, usability, connectivity, film styles are more important for them. I can see a cool looking compact MFT camera selling good among that target group.

10 Things I Noticed about the Lumix G9ii

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
Infrared micro four thirds and Soviet glass might be my new favorite combination (Reddit).
Panasonic Lumix S9 Is Great, But… (Thoughts and Reactions) by Gary W
Panasonic Lumix Releases the S9 Full Frame Camera and S 26mm F8 Pancake Lens (42West).
Panasonic Announces Ultra-Compact LUMIX S9 and 26mm Lens (Explora).

Plenty of news on the facebook OMD group, Panasonic FF and the GH5 group.
I kindly invite you all to follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Threads for more broader camera talk.