Cameras making compatibility sense for the future

Let's keep things universal


Cameras making compatibility sense for the future

by Trevor Tan
05:55 AM Mar 04, 2011


If I had charged a dollar for every piece of advice I've given on which camera to buy, I would be pretty rich by now. Unfortunately, prospective camera buyers are constantly bombarded by marketing mumbo jumbo. No wonder they're confused.

Apart from the usual questions about megapixels, image quality and pricing, consumers are also worried about weight and portability. And this is where the digital mirrorless interchangeable lens (DMIL) cameras have made inroads.

The DMIL camera genre was essentially born when Panasonic and Olympus created the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) format in 2008. Unlike conventional digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, MFT cameras do away with the mirror and pentaprism, allowing their bodies to be smaller and lighter, yet retain the ability to change lenses. Examples of hugely successful MFT cameras include Panasonic's Lumix GF1 and Olympus PEN E-P2.

Seeing the immense growth potential of this DMIL camera market, Samsung and Sony both rolled out their own line of DMIL cameras last year. Instead of joining the MFT consortium, both electronics giants opted to create their own proprietary format for their DMIL cameras.

This should not be surprising, as camera manufacturers have always designed brand-specific lens mounts for their SLR cameras so consumers are "locked" into their brand.

But it's consumers who lose out. If Sony and Samsung had released MFT cameras, consumers would have a ready pool of lenses - 19 lenses at last count - available to them. Instead, when Sony released its NEX series of DMIL cameras last year, only two E-mount lenses were on offer, with just one more lens option having been added since. (Of course, you might argue that, unlike professional photographers, the layperson doesn't really need such a myriad of lenses.)

DMIL cameras are similar to DSLR cameras, in that if you buy the new Samsung NX100, you will have to buy an NX-mount lens. And if you want to switch to another DMIL camera system, there will be lens baggage that you won't be able to port over and you'll need to let go of.

And adapters to use a certain lens on a certain camera are not available for all lens and all cameras. So some combinations just can't be used.

Thankfully, at the recent CP+ 2011 camera show in Japan, Sigma announced that it intends to make lenses for both MFT and E-mount cameras, while Sony announced it will disclose its E-mount specifications to lens makers from April. However, at the same time, famed lensmaker Carl Zeiss and Schneider Kreuznach said they were joining the MFT camp. These developments might give consumers more choice, but probably add to their confusion as well.



NOT JUST CAMERAS ...

Camera manufacturers are not the only culprits. Take the video-codec battle between Adobe and Apple over Flash and H.264. Google further added fuel to the fire by stopping support for H.264 and backing WebM plugins instead.

While it is impossible to have universal standards for everything, surely it would be in everybody's best interest to keep some standards universal.

For example, several mobile phone manufacturers (though I doubt Apple will be on the list) have banded together to come up with a "universal charger" by next year. When it happens, you'll be able to borrow your colleague's phone charger next time your mobile phone runs out of juice. It's a great, simple step to saving consumers money and creating less wastage for the environment.

Also, remember when different digital camera brands all supported a whole truckload of memory card formats such as xD, MMC, MemoryStick, SD and CF? These days, digital cameras must either support CF or SD cards or consumers just won't buy them.

Consumers have a certain degree of power in dictating standards - you can simply refuse to buy products that aren't compatible with what you have. Just make an informed choice. No, I'm not asking you to boycott non-MFT DMIL cameras. I don't really care if it is MFT or NEX. As long as it is a wide-accepted standard, I will embrace it whole-heartedly.

Still, being the pessimist, I believe a multitude of standards will be always here to stay. But could there at least be universal batteries for DSLR and DMIL cameras? One can always dream, no?

Source: www.todayonline.com