Ming Thein's Mystery Camera

[Mike Farley]

Ming Thein writes about a new camera which he has been given to review, few details of which he is allowed to reveal as yet. It seems to come with numerous significant drawbacks and Thein says the user has to know what they are doing to get the best out of it. What distinguishes it from anything else is impressive resolution, which Thein estimates to be 300 l/pm in the centre. There are many parallels with the cameras based on Sigma's Foveon sensor, such as poor battery life, poor high ISO performance and slow AF, but Thein says there is no connection. Neither is it from Lytro. All Thein will say is that it is made by a mainstream Japanese manufacturer. Were the date 1 April, I would not give this much credence, but Thein appears to be serious. We'll see when all is eventually revealed.

http://blog.mingthein.com/2015/02/18/re ... ry-camera/

[Mike Farley]

I do not know whether Ming Thein's mystery camera is genuinely a fresh design, imaginary or an old Nikon L25 as some have suggested. It seems a strange paradigm for a new invention, where everything else is sacrificed to image quality and it requires skill, yes actual expertise, to get the best from it. That's not the modern way at all for a consumer product. For me, image quality is the most important aspect of any camera, but we long ago passed the point where most cameras were good enough in that regard. That means form and usability also play a significant role when choosing a new camera* and I wonder whether that is the point Thein is actually making?

* Lens mount lock in is also a factor, of course. Switching systems is a really huge decision.

[Mike Farley]

Thein has now posted the reveal. It turns out that I was not quite on the money when speculating on the points he was making.

http://blog.mingthein.com/2015/02/26/th ... -revealed/

[davidc]

Cheap clickbait article.