{"id":12048,"date":"2026-11-02T04:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T03:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/11\/02\/pulling-focus-a-few-new-video-features-dont-mean-camera-makers-gave-up-on-photography\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T04:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T03:04:21","slug":"pulling-focus-a-few-new-video-features-dont-mean-camera-makers-gave-up-on-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/11\/02\/pulling-focus-a-few-new-video-features-dont-mean-camera-makers-gave-up-on-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulling focus: a few new video features don\u2019t mean camera makers gave up on photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tVideo is key to some of the niches camera makers are looking to expand into, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re solely focused on video, now.<\/p>\n

\"Close-upRichard Butler<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n
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I keep reading comments, across various platforms, that \u201c[cameramaker x] is only interested in video, now.\u201d What I\u2019ve found really interesting is that you can substitute almost any company name into that sentence and find someone convinced that \u2018their\u2019 camera maker has lost interest in photography entirely. And I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Every camera company has become interested in video in addition to<\/em> photography, but that\u2019s not the same thing as instead<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n

Yet it\u2019s got to the point where some people react as if any little improvement in video is a rejection of photography. Or sometimes just changes that they personally interpret as favoring video.<\/p>\n

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Every camera company has become interested in video in addition to<\/em> photography, but that\u2019s not the same thing as instead<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

For instance, the provision of a flip-out screen is not proof that camera companies don\u2019t care about photography. We\u2019re told by most manufacturers that there are as many photographers that like fully articulated screens as that don\u2019t. And this is supported, anecdotally at least, by the comments we\u2019ve read on our articles and forums over the years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Panasonic<\/a>
A fully articulating rear screen isn\u2019t evidence of a manufacturer\u2019s focus on video, just because the style isn\u2019t to your taste. Plenty of stills-centric and stills-only models have had them. And have done so for decades. The Panasonic G1 shown here didn\u2019t even shoot video.<\/figcaption>DPReview<\/span><\/figure>\n

Canon has been including fully-articulating screens on its enthusiast cameras for as long as this site has existed: the first camera we ever reviewed had one. Likewise its PowerShot G series, aimed at dedicated photographers long before stills\/video hybrids became feasible, tended to have them. And it\u2019s not just Canon that adopted fully-articulating screens (though I think I remember reading that it held a key patent, at one point) on its photo-focused models. Panasonic\u2019s first Micro Four Thirds camera, the G1, had a fully articulating screen. But no video capability at all.<\/p>\n

A question of optics<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Black<\/a>
Yes, Nikon has bought the Red cinema camera company to further enhance its video credentials and, like its rivals, has introduced some explicitly video-focused models\u2026<\/figcaption>Mitchell Clark<\/span><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not necessarily a question of manufacturers\u2019 priorities that have led to video advances seeming more prevalent in recent releases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Photographic features are relatively mature: sensors have been photographically excellent (and hard to improve on) for some time now, single-image processing is almost universally good and ergonomics, in many cases, are the culmination of decades of iterative improvements. It\u2019s quite difficult to look at modern cameras and say \u201cthis camera lacks this important photo feature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>
\u2026but it\u2019s also the company that produces the Zf, a statement of commitment to its photo heritage in a language that even those of us born in the last century can understand.<\/figcaption>Richard Butler<\/span><\/figure>\n

Autofocus is probably the biggest area in which photographic improvements are being made, as all the major companies look to refine the relatively modern on-sensor phase detection-based focusing systems and expand the capabilities of the subject recognition systems they\u2019ve been developing.<\/p>\n

By comparison, there\u2019s been much work to be done on the video side of things: 10-bit video to make Log more usable, the addition of features such as waveforms and false color and, more recently, the ability to capture 32-bit float audio (though it\u2019s notable only the explicitly video-focused Nikon ZR that has all the hardware for this included in the cost of the camera body, so far).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Panasonic<\/a>
The existence of video-specific models, and the absence of the more photo-focused models we wanted them to be, isn\u2019t proof that camera makers aren\u2019t interested in photography, too<\/em>.<\/figcaption>DPReview<\/span><\/figure>\n

So it shouldn\u2019t be surprising that each new model has more additional video features than its predecessor but not many radical advances on the photography side. It\u2019s not that camera makers have lost interest in photography or photographers, it\u2019s just that there\u2019s more obvious room for improvement on the video site.<\/p>\n

Also, a great many of the more photo-focused mainstream camera models have been updated relatively recently, so it\u2019s the more niche products and varied attempts to address the vlogging\/enthusiast video\/cinema markets that are currently being released. Pause your focus on video for a moment and you\u2019ll also see the likes of the Sony RX1R III, Ricoh GR IV, Sigma BF and Fujifilm X half being launched: none of which is particularly video focused.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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A question of optics<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s also true that every new lens announcement talks about minimized focus breathing, to make it work well for video. But this is usually mentioned in addition to all the exciting features that make it the best thing ever for photographers. Personally, I don\u2019t give this any more credence than the ubiquitous press release claims that the number and shape of the aperture blades deliver attractive bokeh (at best they can help one aspect of bokeh quality).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only when a lens has a smooth-rotating aperture ring or, worse still, a powered zoom, that I worry about video considerations having any real impact on its use for photography.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rarely a zero-sum game<\/h2>\n

Adding video features to cameras rarely comes at the expense of photo capabilities. Or at cost to the users. Expanding the audience to include video users (and photographers that like to shoot video) subsidizes camera development. Omitting those features risks making a product uncompetitive or making it a niche proposition that then has to be sold at a higher price.<\/p>\n

\"Fujifilm<\/a>
Oh no! Fujifilm has clearly given up on enthusiast cameras and will never make another APS-C model.<\/figcaption>Richard Butler<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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As someone who primarily thinks of themselves as a photographer but who has enjoyed dabbling in video when I\u2019ve had the chance, I don\u2019t understand why there\u2019s so much angst about the addition of video features. Indeed it\u2019s just as often I see requests for video features such as zebras, waveforms or support for LUTs to be expanded across to the photo side of the camera: features most of us wouldn\u2019t have encountered, were it not for the expansion of video capabilities.<\/p>\n

To me, the main thing worth complaining about is the recent trend for making the stills\/video switch part of the \u2018On\u2019 switch. And that\u2019s mainly because I\u2019ve just spent a week shooting with the EOS R7 during which I repeatedly tried to grab a photo and found myself thinking \u201cwhy is it 16:9?\u201d just as the red frame appeared to tell me I hadn\u2019t taken a photo but instead had just started recording a video clip.<\/p>\n

If you want to protest that<\/em> decision, you\u2019ll find me at the barricades.<\/p>\n

About the Author: <\/span>Richard graduated as a scientist but had a lot more fun writing and shooting for his university magazine. A number of years spent variously as a reporter, writer and editor on science and engineering titles combined his knowledge of science with his interest in images and words. But it was spotting the connections between emission spectra, white balance and all the nonsense he\u2019d taught himself playing around in Photoshop that helped kindle an interest in digital photography. Searching for a camera led to him discovering DPReview and Richard was recruited by Phil Askey in 2007. He\u2019s been combining his love of photography, communication and attention to detail (pedantry?) ever since.<\/p>\n

He has unusually strong opinions about lenses for the APS-C format.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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