Interesting: Chinese store JD.com shared the February camera and lens sales info and Sony leads the pack

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The Chinese E-commerce platform JD.com released its report on brand sales in the camera and lens category in the past year:

UPDATE: The grey subtitle on the top left says “unit: million yuan”. So if we take Sony as an example, it means Sony sold 4269 million yuan, which is roughly 590 million USD.

Found via Weibo (Thanks to the messenger for the translation!)

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Sony says the RX1 is their most important camera ever launched!

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Dpreview had a chat with all major manufacturers and asked them about their most important products in the past 25 years. I do agree with Sony when they say the RX1 is their most important camera. I hope Sony will one day also realize that we need a new fixed lens FF camera :)

Here are the answers from all manufacturers:

Sony:
Sony RX1: The RX1 is the beginning of our photography culture. Before that, we had launched RX100 series but still inside the world of Cyber-shot, kind of. RX1 is definitely a different world compared with our previous circumstances. That was a very memorable development period.”
Sony G Master lenses: From these G Master lenses, our technology improvement accelerated and our customers also changed. Customers rated our product highly and that’s become a very big motivation for our designers and our engineers. This generated a very positive momentum from this point onward.

Nikon:
Nikon Z9: Because it’s a landmark in technology, pointing to the capabilities made possible by its parallel readout sensor.

Fujifilm:
Finepix X100: That was the first camera when we stepped up from selling point-and-shoot, entry-level compact cameras. This was our first attempt to do that, using the APS-C-sized sensor. X100 was a huge success, which gave us confidence. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the X100,” he says Fujifilm’s “If that failed, we would have been in a very difficult position.”

Tamron:
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD: That was a new concept because it was a fast lens, but we changed the focal length from 24mm to 28mm, and users accepted this concept. We knew that if we had a unique concept and we could let users know what that concept was, then people would understand. After that, we started to change, and we started developing unique lenses.”

Sigma:
Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art: If we’d failed with the launch of the 35mm F1.4, Sigma may not have survived until today. It was very fortunate that the customer received it very well and we could survive in the industry.
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art: After we launched the lens, we realized that videographers and cinematographers really loved that lens. So with the introduction of this lens, we started getting interested in joining the cine lens business, so I love these two lenses.

OM System:
Olympus Camedia C-2000 Zoom: The change from film to digital left a big impression for me.

Canon:
Canon EOS Digital Rebel: It played a very important role in shifting [the market] from film to the digital DSLR,” says Go Tokura: “Since 2003, Canon has sold more than 1 million of them.

Panasonic:
Lumix DMC-G1: It was the first camera of its kind. Fifteen years ago, no professional photographer used mirrorless, but now almost all professional photographers use mirrorless.

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New Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 II zoom lens coming in mid May!

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Two trusted sources confirmed the following info:

  • New Sigma announcement in mid May
  • We will get the redesigned 24-70mm f/2.8 II Full Frame lens for Sony E and Leica L
  • The new lens is more compact, optically sharper, has better color rendition, improved AF performance than it’s predecessor

I have been told that the reason why Sigma is launching a new version is because they want to be able to compete with the excellent Sony 24-70mm GMII. And they also gave me another interesting tidbit: The Sigma 24-70mm is their most popular lens. Sigma wants to keep it that way!

I am working to get some additional details on the pricing and exact release date. Stay tuned!

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New Alpha Remote Controller

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Our reader Vladimir Belohradsky developed this new New Alpha Remote Controller you can get on the iOS App store. He was kind enough to send me a video to quickly show how it works on your Apple Watch. Well done Vladimir!

Description:

Quick and reliable wireless remote trigger for supported cameras. This application use bluetooth connection instead of both bluetooth and wifi like many other apps. That approach allows really quick reconnection and very low power consumption. This app doesn’t provide live view or full control over camera. Please read full feature list and list of supported cameras down bellow.

Features:
– Connect and control one or multiple cameras simultaneously.
– Easily operate the Record, C1, and AF-ON buttons by pressing, holding, or locking the hold function.
– Capture photos by pressing the shutter button or, if enabled in settings, use one finger for half-press and two fingers for full-press functionality.
– Monitor signal strength for a stable connection.
– View the current camera state, whether it is Disconnected, Connected, Recording, or Exposing.
– Stay informed about the recording/exposing time and access a countdown for the second noise reduction exposure.
– Zoom in or out with power zoom lenses. Adjust the speed of zooming according to your preference in settings.
– Manually focus with any lens by adjusting it in the positive or negative direction. Modify the speed of focusing in settings.
– Experience experimental focus stacking with any camera supported by this app.
– Enjoy the convenience of a quick access widget for the lock screen or watch face.
– Theme App with your favorite color. Theme can be synchronized with Apple Watch app.
– Use different control scheme during operating multiple cameras.
– Access all features of the iOS app on your Apple Watch.

Supported cameras:
ZV-1F, ZV-1, DSC-RX100M7, DSC-RX0M2, ZV-E1, ZV-E10
ILCE-1, ILCE-9, ILCE-9M2, ILCE-9M3, ILCE-7SM3, ILCE-7RM5, ILCE-7RM4A, ILCE-7RM4, ILCE-7RM3A, ILCE-7RM3, ILCE-7C, ILCE-7CM2, ILCE-7CR, ILCE-7M4, ILCE-7M3
ILCE-6700, ILCE-6600, ILCE-6400, ILCE-6100

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