Focoro beta

Two years ago, a group of product managers must have gathered at Sony's headquarters to discuss a fixed-lens camera in the vein of the Leica X1. That conversation, lead by a former English privateer, must have contained countless mentions of the phrase "arr, X1, arrrr!", a phrase now honoured by the latest Sony camera, the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R which has removed the low-pass filter but is otherwise unchanged from the DSC-RX1 released last year.

Fujifilm has released their third XF-mount camera, and now have an offering for the high-end user (X-Pro1), mid-range user (X-E1), and entry/upgrader (X-M1) interested in their line. All three cameras are based around the same sensor, and while the first two offer similar controls, the X-M1 has made a more mainstream design decision by forgoing the direct dials for shutter and aperture, and instead replacing them with the all-to-familiar mode dial. The previously announced XF 27mm F2.8 lens will also be available around the same time, offering a popular slightly-wide normal 40mm equivalent. A new XC 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OIS will be available with the X-M1 as well, offering image stabilization and a 24-75mm zoom range. Unlike the XF series of lenses, the XC lens is a down-market consumer lens and lacks the manual aperture ring of the XF lenses (new firmware for X-Pro1 and X-E1 will allow them to use the new XC lenses).

We return with our latest rugged muster, last seen in 2011. New to the market since then is Nikon; the others are all familiar faces. The new buzz is GPS, where all but two cameras feature an in-built receiver and geotagging functionality (great for recording where that wonderful cove is you found…

Samsung has brought the Android OS to its NX system with the Galaxy NX. It is unclear if this is a move to extend its Android experience into more of its cameras (which seems exciting) or just dipping its toes into the Android-on-interchangeable-lens-camera pool which is otherwise empty. The Galaxy NX feels like, as a concept, it has room to grow and it would be interesting to see what a more traditional NX camera with physical buttons and tight integration could do.

You could be forgiven if you forgot that Canon added an EF-M mirrorless system as there has been little noise since it was released last year. This year, Canon is releasing a wide-angle lens (not dissimilar from its EF-S offering) with a 11-22mm focal length and f/4-5.6 aperture, as well as image stabilization and the standard STM stepping motor found on its existing two lenses.