Authored by Admin · daily · researched and written by the Kurzia AI
Thursday 5 November 2026 · Issue 20 · 5 min read
OM System ruled out full-frame; Canon's smallest shoe mic goes official; Sigma 50-120mm preorders open
What's hot
ymcinema.com · yesterday
OM System weighed full-frame and stayed with Micro Four Thirds
Takeaway: $1,999.99
In a conversation published on 29 October 2026, OM Digital Solutions COO Setsuya Kataoka and business unit head Eiji Shirota said internal proposals for APS-C and full-frame bodies came up more than once and were turned down every time. They do not dispute that a bigger sensor keeps a measurable advantage; their case is that the advantage stops mattering once a file is good enough for the photographer, and that a camera left at home wins nothing. The stated goal now is to be the top brand for outdoor shooting.
If you have been waiting to see whether OM System quietly jumps formats before you buy into or out of Micro Four Thirds, this is as close to an answer as the company has given: the money goes into stabilisation, sealing and reach, not sensor area. Kataoka says a senior colleague's challenge to exhaust the format's potential first has shaped roughly 15 years of his thinking; the flagship OM-1 Mark II is listed at $1,999.99.
“A technically superior camera offers little practical benefit if its size and weight discourage the photographer from bringing it.”
New gear
Canon DM-E10D and TC-N3 — a pair of accessories announced on 4 November. The mic is supercardioid, sits on the hotshoe and gets both power and digital audio through Canon's Multi-function Shoe, so there is no cable, battery or receiver. The TC-N3 replaces the TC-80N3 timer remote and ships in N3 and E3 plug flavours, adding a bigger backlit screen, a tripod socket and programmable start and end times. For a weekend shooter who films the odd clip, a shoe mic with nothing to charge is the cheapest real audio upgrade; the remote is the piece you want for star trails and unattended time-lapses. The mic weighs about 59g and measures 53.7mm long; both are due to begin shipping in late December 2026, with no prices given yet. canonrumors.com
Sigma 50-120mm f/2.8 DC OS — the constant-aperture APS-C telephoto zoom for Fujifilm X can now be reserved at Amazon US as well as the usual retailers, with the Amazon listing fulfilled by authorised Sigma dealer Goja. Demand has already outrun supply: Sigma has apologised in advance for shipping delays caused by the weight of preorders. This is the lens that finally gives X-mount a fast tele zoom without going third-party-adapter shopping, and the order queue is the only thing standing between you and one before winter. Goja's Amazon listing estimates shipping between November 19 and December 3, while Adorama quotes November 28. fujirumors.com
Trap Focus for the Nikon D3 — an unofficial sub-CPU firmware patch by Marcus Low, built by pointing AI coding agents at the disassembled code. Hold the shutter down, turn a manual lens's focus ring, and the camera releases the instant its phase-detect module confirms focus. Pentax has offered the same trick for years as Catch-in Focus; Nikon never shipped it. If you adapt old manual glass to a cheap used body, this removes your own reaction time from the shot — and it is a hint at how much life is left in support-dead DSLRs. He ran it on a D3 whose sub-CPU firmware A was patched to 2.05 with B left stock at 2.03, warns that a failed flash can leave a body unusable, and is looking at porting the work to the D3X and the D700. fstoppers.com
What people are saying
On L-mount, the dearest 40mm is not the obvious pick. Photographer Pav SZ shot the Lumix S 40mm f/2, TTArtisan AF 40mm f/2 and Viltrox AF 40mm f/2.5 Air side by side for Fstoppers. The Lumix is the complete package on paper — small, sealed, close-focusing — yet some of his frames came back flat, with a blue or magenta cast and awkward contrast. The metal TTArtisan felt far dearer than it is, and the plastic Viltrox was sharp enough that he never added sharpening. Cheap autofocus primes have arrived on L-mount at last, which means your choice between them is now about rendering rather than the spec sheet — worth knowing before you pay the Panasonic premium. His one real gripe with the TTArtisan is a 40 cm minimum focus distance that stops you filling the frame with small subjects. fstoppers.com
“If you're weighing two small primes, shoot both straight into a bright window or a low sun, then again against a busy background like foliage.”
Industry news
Tamron medium format patent — Designs for a 60mm f/1.8, 75mm f/1.9 and 130mm f/2.6 appear in a filing — Tamron's first glass sized for 44x33mm sensors.
Viltrox and Meike E-mount zooms — Sonyalpharumors relays an unconfirmed Weibo claim that both brands will launch their first full-frame E-mount zooms in 2027, specs undisclosed.
B&H October trending cameras — The Ricoh GR IV led and is out of stock again, the OM System PEN took two slots, and the three-year-old Nikon Z8 is back at $1,100 off.
Canon UK winter sale — Up to £500 off runs to January 27, 2027: the EOS R6 Mark II falls to £1,699.99, the RF 100-400mm to £719.99.
Nikon Z50 deal — Amazon is selling the Z50 with the 16-50mm for $749, with the model already discontinued at B&H; the Z50 II kit sits at $1,557.
Canon Cinema EOS firmware — Free updates on December 17 add flash shooting in stills mode on the EOS C50 and Multi Matrix hue and saturation control to C50, C80 and C400.
Fujifilm GFX firmware — GFX100S II 1.22 and GFX100 II 2.51 clear minor bugs, while GFX100RF 1.13 fixes an XApp reconnection fault specific to Fragment Edition cameras.
One takeaway
Shortlist a last-generation body now, buy it in the sale window. Three things in this issue point the same way: the cameras people are actually buying are a year or three old, the makers are discounting them before Black Friday, and the sale windows now stretch into the new year rather than closing on one Friday. Pick the body you want, note its price today, and let the window do the work instead of chasing launch-day stock. digitalcameraworld.com