Hi all,

My username on mirrorlessrumors.com is sneye (that will have to do). I have been a keen amateur photographer in the last 25 years or so, shooting mostly people in what is nowadays referred to as ‘street photography’. Of course I have been engaged in other genres over the years, occasionally picking up a paid job. I have always been interested in camera gear, but not as much as in the more expressive aspects of photography. Photography and cameras are two, unrelated, hobbies of mine. Some of my recent work can be seen on my Flickr stream.

After many months of work and lot of issues to solve our first beta of the new MirrorlessRumor theme is online.

The first thing you have to know is that this isn’t just a redesign. We completely rethinked the way a rumor site should work!

What I learned from these years on MirrorlessRumors is that:

1) There are many mirrorless camera owners that have the knowledge and passion to share interesting news. They can finally do that directly without having to contact the administrators!

2) For me (the admin) it is impossible to be online 24h per day. And with your help I can avoid to miss important news or rumors. This will keep the site always up to date.

That’s why:

From now on this becomes a community where everyone can post directly news and rumors! To do so you are kindly invited to become a member of this site. Check out what you can do by clicking on the Member Panel you see on top right of the site (it shows only after your registration and login).

How it works and what you can do:

1) You can submit articles that will be reviewed by our admins (for now this is just…me). If approved they will get online.

2) You can comment articles

3) You will get votes for approved posts (100 points) and 1 point for every like on your posts or comments (or -1 point if someone dislikes)

4) If you want and I can trust you…than you can ask to become an admin. As admin you can write posts without my moderation and review other members articles.

What do you gain by joining the community?

1) You can promote your work, your sites and let the community know who you are! You are free to write post and link back to your Blog and Portfolios. Use MR to get known!

2) Less trolls. Now only approved members can comment and heavy trolls will be first warned and eventually kicked out if they don’t follow the very basic rules of respect.

…and many more “reasons” to join will be online soon!

Remember:

This is just a very early beta. We need to launch the site as it is to check out if everything works fine before we do keep adding features. So please, join the site, try the features and I hope you will like what we have done so far!

Thanks a lot!

Peter, Andrea, Ale, Doug, Patrick, Stefan

P.S.: today there will be problems with signup from facebook and twitter until the domain propagates well.

Today Pentax announced the release of a new Q-mount wide anle zoom. It’s the smallest and lightest ultra-wide angle zoom of any mirrorless system. It’s 17.5mm-27mm (FF equivalent) and has a f/3.7-4 aperture.

Press text:

RICOH IMAGING U.K LTD. is pleased to announce the launch of the PENTAX-08 WIDE ZOOM ultra-wide-angle zoom lens, designed exclusively for use with super-compact Q-mount digital lens-interchangeable cameras.

The latest model in the high-performance Q-mount lens series, the PENTAX-08 WIDE ZOOM is the world’s smallest, and lightest ultra-wide-angle zoom lens on the market.* When mounted on the PENTAX Q7 camera body, it provides focal-length coverage from 17.5mm to 27mm (in 35mm format), making it suitable for a wide variety of subjects including snapshots, architecture and sweeping landscapes.

* The world’s smallest, and lightest ultra-wide-angle zoom lens with a focal length of 20mm (in 35mm format) or shorter at its wide-angle end, as of November 1, 2013 (based on RICOH IMAGING research).

Major Features

1. Super-compact, ultra-lightweight design

The incorporation of three molded-glass aspherical elements in its optics, means that this zoom lens has the shortest overall length (approximately 38mm) in the Q-mount zoom lens range and features a super-compact body weighing a mere 75g. With its pocket size and unique focal-length coverage from 17.5mm to 27mm in 35mm format (with a Q7 camera body), it can be used for a wide range of subjects and applications — especially for  shooting in confined spaces where the subject is close to the camera, and for scenic photography with exaggerated perspectives. Its machined-aluminium barrel cam assures a smooth, comfortable zooming operation.

2. Exceptional visual description

The incorporation of a moulded-glass DSA (Dual Super Aspherical) element in the first optical group means this lens reduces distortion to a minimum. By incorporating two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and one super-low-dispersion glass element in its optics, it delivers clear, high-resolution images with edge-to-edge sharpness, while effectively compensating for chromatic aberration over the entire zoom range.

3. Other features

• Inner-focus mechanism for high-speed, low-noise AF operation
• Quick-Shift Focus system for instant switching to manual-focus operation after the subject is captured in focus by the camera’s AF system
• SP (Super Protect) coating to keep the front surface free of dust and stains
• Built-in lens shutter equipped with an ND (neutral density) filter and an iris diaphragm

RRP: £429.99
Availability: TBA