2012 : end of the year thoughts

 

Nokia 808 PureView, 1/160 f/2.4, ISO 50, handheld.
 

Cameras and Lenses

The 2012 has been the year of fullframe: in the APS-C area, there have not been great great advancements, and even very old cameras as the Nikon D300s or the Canon 7D have not been replaced yet. Instead, there have been many FF announcements and in this field there has been some real innovation.  
 
The Canon 1DX and the Nikon D4 are my favorite announcements between all the cameras of this year. Both offer a good resolution and extraordinary high ISO performance, they are fully usable up to ISO 12800 (and in some situations even sensitivities up to 51200 can give good results). They are very fast and they offer full HD video, other than photos. The only problem of the cameras is the price: they are around 5000-6000$, that is really a lot for a camera.  
 
The trend of high prices are reached the D700 and 5D line, too: the new D800 and 5D3 are much more expensive then their predecessors. They are great cameras and they offer many improvements in comparison with their predecessors, but I am not as enthusiast as I am for the D4 and 1DX: from the 5D3 I expected a bigger improvement at high ISO, while the D800 has been plagued by AF problems and it is not an easy camera. The files are huge (60-80 MB for a RAW file) and it requires very high quality lenses and a lot of patience to get the best from its 36 megapixels sensor.  
 
Since the 5D3 and D800 have become expensive, both Canon and Nikon have created a new line of cameras: the entry level fullframe. The 6D and the D600 offer very good image quality at a much lower price than 5D3 and D800, even though in terms of features they are obviously more limited.  
 
Next year, I expect to see mainly new APS-C cameras, in particular the D300 and 7D replacement. I hope to see a sensor with similar resolution (18 mp is more than enough for APS-C) but better high iso; other than that, support for SDXC cards and articulated LCD would be great.  
 
In terms of lenses, the 2012 has been less exciting. There have been many announcements (but I haven't seen a lot of real innovation); the common trend is image stabilization: the majority of new lenses include IS. Surprisingly, one of the few lenses that lacks of this feature is the new Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L II: instead of adding image stabilization, Canon has doubled the price of this already expensive lens; of course the new version is super sharp, but in my opinion it is really overpriced.  
 
Next year, it is likely that we will see more interesting lenses: the Canon 200-400 L IS will reach the market; a new Canon 14-24 f/2.8 may be announced, and I expect to see new macro teles from Nikon and Canon to replace the old 200mm and 180mm.
 
 

Computer and technology

Every year there are big steps forward in this area. In late 2009, I switched from an heavy, bulky desktop PC to the Dell XPS 16 laptop: i7 720 QM, 4 GB DDR2, 256 GB SSD. I have used it with great satisfaction for three years, until November 2012 when I have switched to the new Dell XPS 12. The XPS 12 has a more powerful processor (Intel i7 3517U), double the RAM (8 GB DDR3 1600 Mhz) and 256 GB solid state drive... and it weights just 1.5 kg (the XPS 12 was 3.0 kg). Moreover, the XPS 12 is an "hybrid laptop": you can even rotate the screen and use it as tablet.  
 
In only three years, the technology has advanced so much that today even a super thin and light ultrabook, as my XPS 12 or the even lighter MacBook Air 11 (top configuration), offers enough power for serious photo editing! Of course, the laptops have always the limit of screen size and accuracy, so when you are at home I recommend to use an external screen. This is my workstation:

 

At home, the XPS 12 works both as processor and as virtual keyboard, so it does not take extra space on the desk because it replaces the physical keyboard. The 12" screen becomes my keyboard and for all other applications I use a large, high quality Eizo S2433 screen. When I travel, the XPS 12 can be easily carried around thanks to its small dimensions and little weight!  
 
My guess for the future is that tablets will replace the majority of laptops, except maybe for 15" and larger laptops. In 3-4 years, I expect to see 10"-13" tablets with more power, RAM and storage than my XPS 12, with even more compact dimensions and weight under 1 kg. Add an high quality large screen when you are at home, and you have the perfect workstation!  
 
For me, this year has also marked the transition from hard drive backup to online backup. Instead of using external hard drives, now I use the online Google Drive to backup my photos. It is more expensive than physical HDD, but it has the advantage that it is much safer: in case of thefts, fires, earthquakes or other disasters at home, there is no longer the risk of losing years of work, because all files have a backup copy online.
 
 

JuzaPhoto

In one year, JuzaPhoto has more than doubled its members, now there are 20000 members and it has 250,000-300,000 pageviews/day! The most important advancement has been auto translation, that allows to interact with all members of the forum in English language. I believe that eliminating the language barrier has been a big step forward: my dream is a big community where people from all around share photos, comments, ideas. A place where different cultures and people from every country live together peacefully: a dream that is very difficult to realize in the real world, but hopefully it will be real on the JuzaPhoto community! :-)