New X PRO 1 leather case and New X 100 wide angle lens!

Here are two new sexy accessories for two sexy Fuji cameras :)
The Korean company Gariz announced the new X PRO 1 leather case you can right now found them on eBay (Click here). You can have it in three different colors!
And Fuji also announced the WCl-X100 0.8 wide angle converter that will ship in June for $350. It converts the 35mm lens in a 28mm lens.

Nice!

Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Canon mirrorless announcement all in 30 days?

Rumors are getting stronger and stronger and it looks like we are now getting into very busy weeks! This Thursday (on May 17th) Sony will announce the new NEX-F3 and 18-200mm Black NEX lens. Right after Panasonic will announce the new G5 and very likely release that long awaited 12-35mm and 35-100mm X lens. And it is not finished! Also Olympus will launch the two new m43 lenses (60mm macro and the 75mm f/1.8). What else? The real suprise could come from Canon. Australian rumors said that the biggest and last non mirrorless company will launch two new cameras and three new lenses in June. Is it true? We shall see!

P.S: I expect Nikon to release a “high end” one camera as next, but I am not sure when they will announce it.

Samsung will slowly abandon compact camera development in favour of mirrorless!

The Wall Street Journal (via Engadget) reports: “Myoung Sup Han, Senior Vice President and Head of the Digital Imaging Business at Samsung Electronics, and uncovered an interesting fact: the company is in the process of converting production lines at its main camera plant in China. Lines that once produced fixed-lens cameras will instead turn out compact system cameras, as the company aims to expand its presence in the more profitable mirrorless market.“

I guess this is a good move from Samsung because the smartphone market is eating up the compact camera sales. I hope Samsung can release some great stuff at Photokina. Unlike Canon/Sony/Nikon they have nothing to loose by releasing super featured cameras for a decent price!

M10 with video recording?

The British Journal Of Photography (Click here) talked with Mr. Kaufmann (the Leica Boss):

“When asked if such a new camera could include high-definition video recording features, Kaufmann said that “theoretically, yes,” adding that there are some issues with introducing video in a camera – “the data rate, the heat, and the battery lifecycle, but I think we solved that. No comment until we show it on existing and new models.”He added: “HD video is interesting, and a lot of photographers would love to have it [in an M body].”

Leica already said in the past that they are working on mirrorless cameras with electornic viewfinders. Could also be that they will include the video recording future in such a camera and not in the M10!

First M Monochrome video review (and preorders at Adorama)

Leica forum posted the video you see here on top and actually also the first review (Click here): “This sensor definitely has an fantastic detail resolution. Up to ISO 3,200 almost no noise is visible, even at ISO 8,000 the results are still very good.“

Preorders are also up
Leica M Monochrome is available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Leica X2 and accessories are available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and listed at BHphoto (Click here).
Leica 50mm Summicron is available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Leica M Monochrome and X 2 cameras announced. Crazy specs and even more crazy price!

Preorders
Leica M Monochrome is available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Leica X2 and accessories are available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and listed at BHphoto (Click here).
Leica 50mm Summicron is available for preorder at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Previews
M monochrome at Dpreview
X2 at Dpreview
Image samples of the Monochrome on Leicas website.

Interesting notes
Dpreview writes: “There are drawbacks, of course – the ‘headroom’ found in Raw files comes mainly from the fact that bright regions have usually only over-exposed one of the three color channels, with usable data still available for the other two channels. With a true mono sensor, any overexposure is absolute – once the channel has clipped to white, there’s no chance of recovery.“

Press releases
Leica M Monochrome at Dpreview, Photoscala (german), Focus Numerique (french).
Leica X2 at Dpreview, Photoscala (german), Focus Numerique (french).