This article is bound to stir up a little controversy. Still, I believe there is some clarity to be had on the issue of professional photographers and the eye autofocus (Eye AF) technology craze found in the current generation of mirrorless cameras. The truth about who eye autofocus is really for and why many professionals are somewhat ambivalent about it might surprise a few people.
Sony claims the a9 is an autofocus tracking monster—its 693-point AF system performing 60 AF/AE calculations every second. But that's not limited to regular subject tracking; as this demo video shows, the eye-tracking AF has been significantly improved as well.
One of the big gripes people have with the idea of taking pictures with Google Glass camera glasses is that the device requires you to say "ok, glass, take a picture" in order to snap a shot. While this is great for situations when you need hands-free photography and don't mind saying a voice command, it would be highly inconvenient in situations in which you would rather not (or can't) talk.
It looks like Google has been one step ahead of us the whole time: it appears that the company has built "wink to snap" functionality into Google Glass' camera.
Want to focus your camera simply by looking at a particular area of the viewfinder? If you're a Sony shooter, you might be enjoying that feature as early as next year. The company is reportedly working on building Eye Tracking autofocus into its cameras, with the initial version arriving in a flagship camera sometime in 2014.
Canon may have revealed its plans for the Wonder Camera yesterday, but Olympus also quietly released something of its own to marvel at.
According to a newly published Olympus patent, originally filed in 2004, a new camera may be in development that is designed to make consumer point-and-shoots even more intuitive for casual photographers.