When Apple jumps on a hype train, it does so with the full weight of a tech giant and the same amount of noise. This was also the case this week, when the company presented its “Apple Intelligence”. How much the company can change established industries – and this brings us to cameras – was demonstrated by the other major innovation at the WWDC developer conference. Because the VR system Apple Vision Pro is not just a trial balloon for the domestic market, but is also offered in other countries. In Germany it should be ready at the end of June from 4000 euros.
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Since Apple clearly wants to pursue the concept of “spatial computing” in the long term, it needs content. The apple company is now collaborating with Canon, which had already developed solutions for stereoscopic video for VR headsets from other manufacturers. Two new lenses will soon arrive specifically for the Vision Pro. Here’s what Apple showed in its WWDC video RF-S7.8mm F4 STM Dualwhich isn’t scheduled to hit the market until fall 2024. It also looks a lot nicer than the new one RF-S 3.9mm f/3.5 STM The dual fisheye, which, like the previous VR lenses, has a structure that extends from the tube.
Canon collaborates extensively with Apple
What Apple did not say explicitly at its event: both lenses, although made for the RF mount, only work with the EOS R7 at the moment, and only if it receives a firmware update. That should come soon. And then you also need a workflow for stereoscopic video. After all, Canon itself offers the EOS VR utility free of charge. And Apple is also relying on the upper middle class for the camera; the R7 is an APS-C body at around 1,400 euros. On the other hand, the dual lenses are quite expensive: the fisheye is said to cost 1,300 euros, and there is no price information yet for the more compact 7.8 mm lens. Due to the less complex construction, it should be significantly cheaper.
And when Apple comes calling, other manufacturers are not far behind. For serious filming including professional accessories – i.e. significantly more connections than a DSLM – Blackmagic has announced the URSA Cine Immersive. We are talking twice as much as 8160 x 7200 pixels, i.e. more than 8K resolution for each eye. The Vision Pro cannot display it natively, but – if you refer to it only as a target system – it leaves plenty of room for post-processing of the material. And, as Apple itself said, this must be done in Blackmagic RAW codecs via DaVinci.
Small camera for POV
Maybe with new software you can even get recordings from the new Insta360 Go 3S into Apple’s headset. It’s really designed for POV videos, but these first-person perspectives would be particularly appealing for the Vision Pro for action content. Our detailed report shows what the new tiny camera can do despite its size.
30 seconds for Z 6 III
There have been plenty of pure announcements so far, and at least for a few days that applies to Nikon’s Z 6 III as well. With the switch to the mirrorless Z system, the arch-competitor adopted the principle of “Marks” from Canon to designate completely new cameras in existing segments. And since the numbers 5 to 9 are already included in the single-digit naming scheme, there is now a need for a “Z 6 Mark III”. And soon, because the Z 6 II has been on the market for three and a half years. And there have been plenty of rumors about Nikon’s version III in the last few months a quick teaser video Had to publish. The camera will be presented in detail next Monday, June 17, 2024.
So let’s just stick to the three points that Nikon hinted at in its 30-second clip: recording before the shutter button is pressed, a bright viewfinder and, literally, the promised “beautiful colors in the camera.” The latter could happily be interpreted as LUTs, but that’s a far-fetched idea. And the first two points are absolutely standard for modern system cameras. So we won’t speculate any more about AI autofocus, which is still mandatory today, or other functions, but rather allow ourselves to be surprised.
The price has to be mentioned in this column, as Nikon itself has created some expectations here, especially with the Z 8, which is really cheap for its performance. The Z 6 II came on the market at the end of 2020 with an RRP of 2,150 euros, but quickly dropped below 2000 euros and was available for around 1500 euros with frequent discount campaigns last year. And since the Z 7 II, the next larger model, is now available for around 2,800 euros, Nikon is unlikely to charge more than 2,000 euros for the Z 6 III. However, since cameras generally get more expensive rather than cheaper, you are not safe from surprises.
Nikon is temporarily making it easier to do your own repairs
On the other hand, the positive and unexpected news is that Nikon has started a do-it-yourself repair program, at least for the United States. Self-service repair website However, so far only service manuals for two rangefinders and the Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens have been found. Not a single Request from PetaPixel Questions about the further development of the initiative remain unanswered so far. It is also unclear whether Nikon is preparing for the new European right to repair, as spare parts and special equipment can currently only be ordered from the USA.
all about sensors
You might almost think that Nikon took seriously our recommendation for a long watch as the disastrous mess of the D70 last week. But we don’t want to be so presumptuous and this time we’ll recommend a domestic product. Our original article on camera sensors provides ten pages of everything you need to know about the path from photon to pixel. And, before we have to read it in the forums: no, we don’t recommend any articles from heise+ because the publisher is now sponsoring Hannover 96 and urgently needs to make more money. The sensor story is really so good that you have to read it.
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