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Mirrorless digital camera

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Fujifilm Corp will release on Feb 18 the X-Pro1, the company's first digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera.

With a brand new, custom developed 16MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS sensor, incorporating a newly developed filter array and Fujifilm’s proprietary EXR Processor technology, the X-Pro1 is poised to deliver superlative image quality that will rival currently available mid and high-end DSLR models. The X-Pro1 features a new 2nd Generation Hybrid Multi Viewfinder and three prime interchangeable lenses.

The new color filter array paves the way for an ideal sensor that does not need an optical low-pass filter. While the optical low-pass filter is indispensable for the reduction of moiré and false color generated by conventional sensors, it also degrades resolution. Fujifilm has developed a new color filter array that is inspired by the random arrangement of fine film grain, removing the need for an optical low-pass filter to solve moiré and false color issues.

In the array, RGB pixels are arranged in 6x6 pixel sets with high aperiodicity (randomness). Increasing the degree of randomness eliminates the fundamental cause of moiré and false colors – a problem that occurs in conventional arrays when shooting stripes and other repeating patterns. The presence of an R, G and B pixel in every vertical and horizontal pixel series minimizes the generation of false colors and delivers higher color reproduction.

As a result of using a film-inspired array, a more powerful processor is required to process the image signal data. So Fujifilm has developed the EXR Processor Pro. This technology will maximize the full potential of the X-Trans CMOSTM sensor, delivering high speed and high precision image processing.

Price to be announced.

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14 Comments
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Canon and Nikon don't want you to know this, but DSLRs with bulky mirrors are on their way out, so don't invest to much into high-price lenses but buy used ones, 'cause they will be useless with "mirrorless" cameras.Those lenses are high-margin products for Cakon, so they will do anything to keep development of their own models secret up till the product is ready for sale.

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if price is reasonable and quality is good, it could be a viable alternative to the Leica M8/M9 system...

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I'm also interested to see how this performs up against the Leica M9... Both on price and image quality.

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I do not think that lens' will become obsolete at all. They just screw in and have nothing to do with the mirror being there or not.

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Mabo

actually YES they do when the lenses are designed for cameras with MIRRORS! There is this little issue about distance between the sensor & rear element of lenses that comes into play.

So when a mirror isnt there they can shorten that distance between rear lens element & sensor SO lenses designed to work with mirrors WONT work on a camera without a mirror because that distance is shortened!

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So when a mirror isnt there they can shorten that distance between rear lens element & sensor SO lenses designed to work with mirrors WONT work on a camera without a mirror because that distance is shortened!

GW, just the opposite is true. But the question is whether you want to use big clumsy lenses designed for SLR type cameras when you can have much smaller and lighter ones.

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How so, are you saying without a mirror makers wud lengthen the distance between sensor & last rear lens element........................surely you jest as that wud make cameras BIGGER not smaller, think about it

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Nikon users have been able to use their lenses on virtually every Nikon SLR/DSLR ever made. That will not change any time soon, and is the main reason they are used so widely by professionals. The mirror gone will not account for the brief latency that comes from every digital shot. Nice, but I have thousands of shots where the mirror was not even a factor...

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Chris,

true mirror lockup is a great thing! but in order to make cameras SMALLER without the use of a mirror makers then shorten the lens/sensor distance, once thats done lenses designed for a different distance wont work on the newer camera.

I dont see DSLRs going away anytime soon there are so many shooting situations where they simply are better for the task at hand than say a smaller camera without a mirror, think like the classic SLR/Rangefinder type discussion to figure which is best for what task, imo they BOTH excel at certain tasks, but not others!

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chris,

While I dont see DSLRs going away, I dont think yr graspng the concept here, losing the mirror allows for a smaller camera to be made due to the shorter distance between rear lens element & sensor.

What these new cameras are doing is like the great old rangefinder cameras did, their design allowed for much smaller camer and lenses, and while yr average shooter cud likely pick one or the other a pro or shutter bug wud likley have both systems as they each excel at different types of shooting, think discrete street shooting VS say sports or wildlife photography. This new Fuji wud be TERRIBLE for the later but pretty cool option for the former!

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How so, are you saying without a mirror makers wud lengthen the distance between sensor & last rear lens element

No, I don't say that. Of course makers will explore the potential of a smaller flange back distance to build smaller cameras and lenses. But contrary to what you wrote before, that means you can always use lenses designed for SLR type cameras on mirrorless cameras, because they have a longer flange back distance due to the mirror. All you need is an adapter between the lens and the camera which makes up the difference in flange back distances. In simple cases they are just a kind of metal tube, in more sophisticated cases they contain some electronics which allow to make use of all the electronically controlled features of modern lenses like aperture control, autofocus or image stabilization.

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Um kids...the mirror is not needed. Have you ever heard of software?

It will be adjusted to compensate for the shorter distance, just like on cell phones. You will not need an adapter. That would be annoying, and you would lose millions of customers and follow in Kodaks steps.

I teach digital photography. Write to the people at <www.photoshopuser.com> I have been a member for many years.

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mabo,

really depends on the type of photography, I wudnt want to shoot sports or fast moving action without a mirror, the hybrid, digital viewers just aint up to the task, future will tell if it ever will be

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MaboDofuIsSpicy, I can't make any sense of your comment.

The mirror is needed for phase detection autofocus, which has the advantages of higher speed and use of an optical viewfinder (both increasingly offset by technical progress) as well as the capability of focus tracking. Especially sports and nature photographers will therefore continue to use SLR types of camera while for consumer cameras the future will be mostly mirrorless cameras.

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