We saw this before from Sony and now there is a new patent from Nikon that seems to describe the very same thing: A curved image sensor! The advantages of such a sensor would be:

• You can design more compact lenses
• The Sony patent said there is a 1 stop advantage in making such lens designs
• No artifacts or image quality deterioration on corners

My guess is that if that patent will ever be implemented ina real products this will happen on a fixed lens camera.

The day may not be far away when lenses will become as thin as hair!

Ricoh Japan confirmed that they also got affected by the Kumamoto earthquake. Because of supply (aka Sony) issues there will be some shortage of Ricoh/Pentax cameras.

AnalogRev: Contax G2

iFixit looks inside the Fujifilm X-M1 (Dpreview).
Lens Test: Rokinon 21mm F/1.4 ED AS UMC (Popular Photography).
10 Best Cameras for Travel Photography (Wexphotographic).
New Veydra Featured Artist Section is live
“Science” Says Photography is Sexier Than Being a Comedian, Less Sexy Than Being in a Band (Popphoto).
2016 Roundups: Fixed Prime Lens Cameras (Dpreview).
High Speed Sync Studio Portraits: The Breakdown With Miguel Quiles

Surprise! The well known [shoplink 302294 ebay]battery grip maker[/shoplink] Meike announced four new lenses for the Sony E, MFT, Fuji X, Nikon 1 and Canon EF-M system!

Meike 25mm f/0.95 (info here).
Meike 28mm f/1.8 (info here).
Meike 35mm f/1.7 (info here).
Meike 50mm f/2.0 (info here).

ePhotozine reviewed the 50mm f/2.0 Meike lens and writes:

From a purist point of view, the Meike 50mm f/2 gives total freedom from automation. This may well appeal to some photographers who will enjoy the process of using it and live with the soft edges, even using its shortcomings to create distinctive images. For most, there are inexpensive marque lenses that are sharper and much easier to use, for not very much more money.

Yasuhara a Japanese lens maker, just launched their MoMo Soft Focus Pancake Lens for digital cameras on Kickstarter. The MoMo Lens is based on the single meniscus lens used in the Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera from 100 years ago. It is designed to achieve the same dreamy, soft focus pictures with the convenience of today’s digital cameras.
The soft focus on the MoMo Lens is set at F6.4, but users can adjust the aperture through F22 to control the power of its effect. MoMo Lenses will work with mirrorless and DSLR cameras. It will be available with mounts for Micro Four Thirds, Sony NEX, Canon-EF or Nikon F-Series, and eventually Canon EOS-M as well as Fuji X cameras. Further specifications provided below: