My very good Samsung sources just unveiled a TERRIFIC news! It’s probably the rumor of the year and if it turns out to be true than Nikon and Canon should be worried! Since decades the pro market is in strong hand of the two giants. This could change soon thanks to Samsung. The leaked medium format camera will be announced for real! And I can already share the specs to you:
1) The camera uses a 36mm x 36mm square sensor!
2) Samsung developed three different sensors. One 18 Megapixel sensor and two different 34 Megapixel sensors.
3) The lens you can see on the picture is a manual focusing 24mm lens.
4) It has a shorter lens-sensor distance than other medium format cameras (Editor’s note: Probably because it’s mirrorless)
5) On the road… AF lenses, EVF and optional accessories like grip, flash and screen.
6) The development is under phase two (That means Protocol, Viability and Marketing). Phase three is when the final decision will be taken.
As you can see Samsung is pretty busy in developing a new system for pro Photographers. Square sensors have been pretty popular with medium format cameras like [shoplink 100117]Hassleblad (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink]. A second source told us the Samsung MF camera will be cheaper than the which is priced at $9900 and at the same level of the high end fullframe cameras from Canon and Nikon ($6.000-$8000).
I will keep you updated with all news related to the Samsung MF camera! So keep following MirrorlessRumors.com! Do not miss any of our future rumors and news:
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65 Responses
New digital medium format camera is interesting. But the one on the picture is really ugly.
If it has IQ to match the price, hell yes.
WOW :0
a 36*36mm sensor with 18 MP… what AWESOME image quality would that be? No fuss…
Read the news buddy… 34MP not 18…
Well, smart move. Given that “FF” is 36mm on the long side, I assume that this should work with legacy lenses. Best of both worlds indeed!
No, a square 36mm would not fit inside the imaging cirkle of “fullframe” lenses.
Probably yes, but with some overlap in the corners. Much like the GH2’s Multi-Aspect Sensor then: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicDMCGH2/
The 18MP was already claimed to be for the coming NX bodies if I’m right.
The fact that I could fit my OM lenses has me interested. If they could make a compact rangefinder style in that format I would start saving now (and looking at a few more OM lenses…).
now the question is…will Samsung lauch a new mirrorless format with FF sensor?
Could be awesome, as long as they give it a great screen. Samsung knows how to build such screens for mobiles, so let’s hope they don’t mess-up.
Too bad that they aren’t involved with Rollei anymore. A fixed-lens TLR would be unbelievably cool.
I was hoping for the X1 inspired camera next to it but oh well, that’s not bad either.
Am i interested ? YES! Can i ? NO!
What the hell is that rangefinder looking thing in the middle tho? That is even more interesting !
I’ve already seen that picture somewhere else. Why is this claiming to be new/exclusive?
The picture is old, but the rumor associated with it is new, hence the exclamatory yellow text modifications.
because they already broached the pic and poss. of med format on this site. the confirmation and details are the news.
http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/is-the-samsung-medium-format-mirrorless-camera-coming-for-real/
Because of the details it’s new.
And it’s great news for Samsung, this’ll get them a lot of press if it goes ahead,personally I’m waiting on the rangefinder style one.
I’ve always loved square format, 36X36 is exactly the right size- you can still build fast lenses for it, yet you’re not using such long focal lengths that depth of field becomes unmanageably shallow.
Best idea I’ve heard in the photographic world in a very long time. I would abandon my E-30 for this if the glass is good and it has things like wireless flash, sync port (obviously) and a high enough resolution LCD for critical focusing.
LCD? Did I say LCD? I meant Super AMOLED like on my EPIC.
I still don’t understand why these have to be so much more expensive.I understand the sensor is bigger, but $4,500 bigger?
A camera with that price ($6000) I don´t expect less than a Super AMOLED Plus screen…
i think the small picture format (so called full format fx) is more than enought. or a real medium format like the pentax.
nobody uses square pictures, so you will cut off all wat is bigger than 24×36.
but, has samsung any interesting camera? no, they sell cheap stuff really cheap.
If it’s mirrorless, then why is the prototype in cube shape? Middle format cameras have a cube shape because of the mirror. Without a mirror, a middle format camera could be even smaller, like the size of a GF1 (sic!).
if they could build a normal fullframe sensor in it for half the price it would be very interesting.
there would also be a lot of space for good cpu power and battery so it could also be a really good video / cinema camera like the red cameras for example.
It all comes down to image quality and price for this camera. Every other MF camera uses either Kodak or Dalsa sensors, which we all now know are very good. This Samsung sensor is an unknown. Price is a factor because Samsung has no name in medium format. It takes years to build up the infrastructure (software, lens, support) to support the MF market. Pentax, with their long tradition in MF, is just beginning the build up for digital MF. If the price is right, people will give Samsung a try. If the price is right, I will consider it. I already have a better camera than this Sammy, but it’s just too big and conspicuous to carry around with me everywhere. Something like this Samsung may fit the build.
Personally, I like the flexibility that a square sensor cam would bring to the table. If this is true, I gotta save up.
I don’t think that goes into reality. Only a proto. But Samsung chiefs are crazy, who knows!
How is 36x36mm medium format? It’s the same as full frame DSLR when cropped to the same aspect ratio.
the important aspect is lens. with canon dslr priced at 6000 i have a whole spectrum of lenses to choose, if samsung is quick to release lenses, i may be interested
Why would Canon/Nikon worry? It’s not like these kind of cameras would sell like hot cakes. Samsung should worry because their NX cameras are not selling well and need to be updated to compete with other mirrorless.
Anyways, FF and Medium Format are boring news.
First off – if this rumour comes true, it is great news. Making a new large sensor, mirorless camera is a great idea and I really think it could be a successful one to.
However, a lot of the text in the report is just absolutely ridiculous. If this camera will be built, it might be the enthusiast medium format camera many has wished for.
But what in the world make anyone belive this would be a pro system, and why would it in any way worry Canon and Nikon? 🙂
A simple fact: The total sales of medium format cameras world wide, all MF brands combined (Hassy, Phase One, Leaf, Sinar, Mamiya etc) has been around 5000 – 7000 cameras yearly for the past three or four years. Yes, globally, for all brands. It really is that bad. Now the addition of Leica S2 and Pentax 645 might bolster those numbers by a few thounsand cameras, but it is still so few it does not even make a blip on Canons or Nikons radars …
So what would Samsung need to do to really start worrying Canon and Nikon?
They need to have a camera with very good viewfinder, leaps and bounds better then the current EVF:s. They need a fast camera that is reliable day in, day out for years and several hundreds of thousands of images. They need a world class AF system, a reliable and precise exposure system, you need a whole range of in-camera functionality which pros have gotten used to.
They need a massive lens line up with wide angle lenses, portrait lenses, telephoto lenses, wide zooms, normal zooms, long zooms, macro lenses, tilt-/shift lenses – all built in quality on par or exceeding what Canon and Nikon is currently offering. They need to provide a good versatile and reliable flash system, wifi transmitters and numerous other accessories – and last but in no way least, a well organized pro grade support organization with loan cameras, repair facilities and hardest of it all – a well earned reputation for good and reliable service.
Samsung is a huge, huge company, but not even they can quickly create all the things needed for entering the pro market and pose a threat to the two giants.
I rather think this potential new large sensor Samsung could be a nice affordable enthusiast camera for the serious photographer. Something like what Mamiya, Bronica and Pentax used to be back in the film days.
But a threat to Canon and Nikon? Don’t be ridiculous 🙂
Mostly agree. Still nothing to worry Canon and Nikon. They could release themselves a mirrorless camera with 36x36mm sensor with their mounts and beat Samsung in an instant.
This is a great idea, though. What Samsung should do is make flange distance small enough so that full frame lenses from other systems could be easily mounted via adapters, make sensor competitive ( better than their APS-C ), make some native AF lenses, quick AF and good screen. Then reverse engineer camera-lens communication protocols of other brands and give those to some small company that could make adapters that enable AF and aperture control on those lenses. And market the system well enough, of course.
So, the potential is there, but there’s long long way to go. If they adopt Sony’s aggressive strategy, buy their way into the market, they may succeed.
At that price, it’s out of my league. Now, about that other one that looks like a Leica…
36*36 can hardly be called medium format. And the camera looks quite cheap for such a high price tag…
This rumour is so half baked and of dubious interest (see previous comments) that it surely didn’t justify those breathless “pre-announcements” which admin made for this. Just slap a “FT2” rating on this thing and let’s wait for information on actual products coming out of this planned sensor range.
A high price like that should make Samsung worry.
So this is basically a square FF. That is great news.
Maybe it will be sold in Rollei body and brand! That would be cool. Didn’t Samsung buy the brand?
Manual lenses!!!?? I hope not. someone should tell Samsung not to go “that” retro.
New buyers wont take it since they don’t have years of manual focus experience.
NO mf lenses, none!
There is already Pentax 645D, I’d rather pay 10k$ for it, knowing that its a great system, has autofocus and lots of lenses (from the film 645).
I also have seen this picture a couple weeks at gizmodo, and they were making laughts on the square camera on the picture, saying that it was just one of the “retro-lomo” designs, that samsung did not take seriously for their NX series
news????
http://photorumors.com/2011/05/18/samsung-working-on-a-medium-format-digital-camera-system/
The news here is that we have the specs!
Nobody interested in the rangefinder looking thing in the middle ?
Thoughts about lenses.
Some longer lenses should cover 36×36 as-is. I’m thinking of the rumoured 2.8/300 Samsung lens of course.
For lenses that don’t cover the full 36mm square format, Samsung can provide the option of in-camera crops to 24×36 vertical and horizontal. In other words, you never have to rotate the camera, and you can pick your crop in post (provided you shoot RAW).
Any crop within the traditional “full frame” 43mm image circle will work, so 28×32 or 30×30 will be available.
Let’s hope that they keep the flange focal distance short enough to attach older 35mm lenses.
Lots of possibilities with this concept. It’s not competition for medium format, or for pro-level 35, but rather for advanced amateur cameras such as the 5D and A900.
I AM!!!! 😀
It’s too much for me. If I had that kind of money, I might start looking at Leica.
36×36 would be a very small medium format and a price of 6000$ would be way too high to draw a new customer segment to the camera.
But they are totally free to create whatever sensor size above APS they want – “smaller” full format, full format, small medium format … It doesn’t matter. It is totally new concept anyway … and long awaited by many, I guess. But it has to be really, really well priced to be a hit. To target a big customer segment results in economies of scale and such a product could be priced at about 1000$ or less.
I’d wait and see what the Sigma SD1 has to offer as that is more interesting and alot of lenses are available as well and price is the sameish… and who uses 36×36 ?? these days 645 yes
let Samsung come out with a dedicated B&W camera there is a market…
This is a VERY interesting rumour, and I would love it to be true, but there do seem a few doubtful points:
1. The square format box with waist level view has its supporters, especially for landscape and some studio work, but does obviously need some way to view the image. There appears to be no LCD panel here, on top or on the back. A simple downward view to a flat screen would be easiest/cheapest, but this box shape needs an add on grip for eye level VF. And if we’re thinking modular add on viewfinders that will surely add cost.
2. Accepting that 36mm sq. would just squeeze into a definition of medium format, think of how it would crop. Printing using A size papers would mean using around 36 x 25.5mm, and 24MP out of the 34MP quoted – not really much different to Nikon D3x, or even the much cheaper Canon 5D2. And as the Samsung is a best an early prototype, both Canon and Nikon, and possibly Sony, would likely be at higher MP levels by the time of any Samsung release (Canon 5D3 rumours suggest 28-32MP).
3. With not much advantage to Samsung over FF in terms of format, the large lens systems of Nikon and Canon would surely be a big factor to someone spending this much on a system, be they wealthy enthusiast or pro.
4. The lens is said to be 24mm. This would be around 20mm equivalent for this format. Although compact lenses of this AOV are possible (e.g. Pentax M 20/4, OM 21/3.5), this lens pictured looks more like a slightly wide or standard lens. The lens bottom left looks like the forthcoming 85/1.4 (67mm filters), so a superwide taking something like 52mm filters for medium format? Seems unlikely.
5. Many landscape specialists would prefer manual focus lenses, but this would be something of a niche within the medium format niche market. Aren’t Samsung more into capturing a large market share?
– If they price is at 5d/D700 level – they may have a go
– Due to shorter – lens sensor distance it would be easy to get adapters to many MF lenses and some of MF film users will be tempted “to do digital” without selling kidneys- It does not apply to pros but to serious amateurs
As others have said, it’d be great for the 5% of shots I would shoot square. For the other 95% when I crop to 4:3 or 3:2, it’d be for all intents and purposes the same as a conventional full-frame 35mm sensor…
Fun part about this camera would be that you could use all full format (FX) lenses on it (with adapters for nikon, canon, etc) without more vignetting than you get on a FX camera.