Well, Here's Another Mirrorless Option for Your Canon Glass

[Canoneer]

But why you would go to the trouble of those two things above and only put a m43 sensor behind it is nuts. Is there some Speedbooster upside to this that I am not seeing, because otherwise Yongnuo is asking you to sign up for a pricey (EF) ticket on the HMS Queen of Horrendous Ergonomics and Voluntary Crop Factors. You are getting all the downsides of FF physics/size/weight and virtually none of the FF IQ upsides.

Who would buy this?

Given that it's a smartphone attachment, the M43 sensor makes a lot of sense. Smartphone users lack telephoto reach, and by throwing an $80 Canon 75-300mm F4-5.6 III USM lens on it, you end up with a 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens on your phone that's extremely light weight.

I doubt anyone would go through the hassle of putting high quality glass on this. It would probably snap like a twig under the weight. Even though it sports an EF mount, this was pretty much designed to be exclusively used by light and cheap kit lenses.

 

[jolyonralph]

Also don't forget they do a cheap 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/1.8 lens, either of which on this would end up being a pretty reasonable portrait lens on this for the instagramming crowd.

 

[LDS]

No its okay they have a right to bear arms so the Olympus Air would be fine

The problem could be the AH-64 Apache sent to terminate you because you look like a terrorist. Bonus points is your skin is brownish and you have a beard...

Jokes aside journalists have been killed because their tele looked like a portable missile launcher from afar. I would really be very careful about what that setup could look like in these days.

 

[Talys]

Cool. Perfect for all the people who always wanted to strap a camera to their arm and use it like a comic book hero's blaster.

Now that I've stopped laughing, it's a month late for April fools!

 

[photonius]

to me this is not a normal photographers tool i.e. camera. If cheap, and software expandable, I see lots of possible uses for surveillance, automation, drones, matrix (movie) style effects, etc.

 

[Don Haines]

I doubt anyone would go through the hassle of putting high quality glass on this. It would probably snap like a twig under the weight.

You don't mount a lens on this..... you mount it on a lens....

 

[applecider]

Looking at this yongnuo thing a little technically there does not appear to be a physical connection to the phone. So it is either using BT or wifi to connect, and presumably to transfer images to the phone. Maybe it is this transfer speed that limits this to a 4/3 sensor, and begs the question if the gadget needs to be physically connected to the phone.

The image posted on the DIY site has a 14mm yongnuo lens which I have to admit is the first I've heard of a yongnuo 14mm. It is priced on BH photo at 549, rather high I'd think, the image there reminds me of a Rokinon, coma anyone?

 

[AlanF]

There is a school of digiscopers who attach iPhones etc to telescopes. This Yongnuo device is a much better concept which can be utilised to have an ultra-high density sensor combined with a superb Canon EF telephoto. It's not stupid, far from it.

 

[Don Haines]

There is a school of digiscopers who attach iPhones etc to telescopes. This Yongnuo device is a much better concept which can be utilised to have an ultra-high density sensor combined with a superb Canon EF telephoto. It's not stupid, far from it.

I tried the Olympus Air when it came out..... ergonomics were the worst imaginable and the software link between phone and camera was not up to the usual standards of Olympus... The Yongnuo device seems to have a better software interface, and unlike the Air, IT HOLDS THE PHONE!!!!!!!

I wonder if it would work with a T-mount adaptor? That would certainly make it an interesting device to hook up onto a telescope . I might have to give this a try...….

 

[magarity]

That's a really great picture of a foggy London morning in the sample phone app.

 

[masterpix]

This will "kill" the mirror-less cameras...

it makes the mirror-less body unnecessary, you have the lens (any EF, EF-S, EF-M) and the sensor connected directly to the phone from from there to whatever you want to show the world. Such solution is smaller than having a mirror-less body, and soon there will be lots of handy editing features that will turn this solution into something most people will buy. if they can make the "body" a bit shorter (and wider) than it will become a phone accessory. And if it will come with the right price, it will "kill" the mirror-less cameras. 8), Attach a pancake lens to it, 40mm? crop ratio of 3-5? you have a quality camera for the phone, this might even lead to 5mm, 10mm, 20mm pancake lenses, EF-P (for the phone?)

 

[mb66energy]

A strange being - from the viewpoint of a photgrapher.

Strange now, but get used to it -- it's the future. Items like this represent the essential elements of a digital camera: lens and sensor. Everything else -- body, controls, viewfinder -- are just ergonomic add-ons. I won't attempt to predict when, but at some point the "body" will just be a framework (with controls) to which you attach your lens and sensor, and maybe also your personal screen, if we haven't moved to direct retinal projection by then.

Hey, thanks for the reply - a very interesting point of view.

Just dreaming about physical controls you can buy piece for piece and connect via I2C bus to a Wifi enabled ESP32 uControler which communicates with the "essential camera" (lens+sensor). LEGO principle. Then you print your own camera body where the physical controls are where you want them after scanning your hand for the grip shape.
And if there is a new "essential camera" you just swap it out for the old one and the body stays the same.

Yes, there is a chance for a very bright future

 

[photonius]

A strange being - from the viewpoint of a photgrapher.

Strange now, but get used to it -- it's the future. Items like this represent the essential elements of a digital camera: lens and sensor. Everything else -- body, controls, viewfinder -- are just ergonomic add-ons. I won't attempt to predict when, but at some point the "body" will just be a framework (with controls) to which you attach your lens and sensor, and maybe also your personal screen, if we haven't moved to direct retinal projection by then.

Hey, thanks for the reply - a very interesting point of view.

Just dreaming about physical controls you can buy piece for piece and connect via I2C bus to a Wifi enabled ESP32 uControler which communicates with the "essential camera" (lens+sensor). LEGO principle. Then you print your own camera body where the physical controls are where you want them after scanning your hand for the grip shape.
And if there is a new "essential camera" you just swap it out for the old one and the body stays the same.

Yes, there is a chance for a very bright future

Oh dear, Canon is doomed....

... ah not, Canon will shine, since it has one of the best and largest lens systems...

 

[MrFotoFool]

If this was on or near April 1st, I would think it is an April Fool's Day joke. Since it is not, I will just think it is possibly the stupidest idea in the history of camera manufacturing.

 

[Talys]

A strange being - from the viewpoint of a photgrapher.

Strange now, but get used to it -- it's the future. Items like this represent the essential elements of a digital camera: lens and sensor. Everything else -- body, controls, viewfinder -- are just ergonomic add-ons. I won't attempt to predict when, but at some point the "body" will just be a framework (with controls) to which you attach your lens and sensor, and maybe also your personal screen, if we haven't moved to direct retinal projection by then.

Hey, thanks for the reply - a very interesting point of view.

Just dreaming about physical controls you can buy piece for piece and connect via I2C bus to a Wifi enabled ESP32 uControler which communicates with the "essential camera" (lens+sensor). LEGO principle. Then you print your own camera body where the physical controls are where you want them after scanning your hand for the grip shape.
And if there is a new "essential camera" you just swap it out for the old one and the body stays the same.

Yes, there is a chance for a very bright future

Being able to "print" your own camera body will be possible around the same time that you won't need one, because you'll just be able to pick up a handheld tricorder that can simply record 3D realtime images through 99.5% of solid objects on Earth at a sextillion megapixels per microsecond and re-render them in a holodeck.

 

[Shellbo6901]

the sony/olympus kind of disappeared into thin AIR. haha

id only pay around $50 for one of these unless they were like the best thing ever. but only bc that is like a 2 nice splurging dinners

 

[Talys]

the sony/olympus kind of disappeared into thin AIR. haha

id only pay around $50 for one of these unless they were like the best thing ever. but only bc that is like a 2 nice splurging dinners

I've spent way more than that on a lot of useless stuff, so I guess I'd peg it at slightly more. But, only oh-so-slightly, mostly because it connects to a cell phone; on every camera I've done remote shooting from phone with, using the native camera interfaces for wifi or Bluetooth, the performance is just terrible, and lots of things (like phone calls) will wreak havoc on the connection.

If it worked smoothly and without a lot of lag and with a framerate that didn't look like stop motion photography, I'd pay maybe $150-$200 for it. If it worked like the current (Canon) phone app, it'd be worth nothing to me.

 

[ahsanford]

So I'll say it -- [wince] -- why not get the DXO One over this?

Pros:

• (In really broad strokes) Turn your iPhone into an RX100
• Direct connection for data is better than having to couple and manage disconnects / "forgetting" the camera is on, etc.
• Far better ergonomic implementation, etc. than the Air or this Yongnuo idea
• You don't have to trust Yongnuo to not drop your lenses

Cons:

• It has the letters DXO on it.
• Can't change lenses
• iPhone Lightning connection or bust (I don't believe there's an Android version)
• I've never used it, so manual focusing may be a screen-driven + FBW hot mess
• Their advert on multi-shot mode looking like an FF SLR is radioactively irresponsible and misleading

Positive read of the DXO One here (if curious).

I am formally no fan of the DXO One for more reasons than I can count, but of all the bad options to upgrade your cell phone photography experience, this would appear to be a better one than this Yongnuo idea. Talk me down, please.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

And yeah, I threw up in my mouth repping DXO One just now.

It's not a compliment to the DXO One nearly so much as it is a burn to the Yongnuo idea.

- A

 

[mbuzz]

I'd suggest this is the sort of innovation Canon should be looking at. We all have a smartphone with a far superior display than the one in the camera body, why not use it for your screen and controls. Put a medium format sensor in the controller/body and now were talking.