There is no time for rest on the rumor front!

Olympus will announce new PEN cameras in September along the black version of the current 12mm and 45mm lenses (surprise, no black version of the new 75mm lens).

Samsung meantime keeps working and changing the lens roadmap. Instead of the planed 55mm f/1.8 we will very likely get a iFn 45mm f/1.8 pancake. That lens and the new iFn 30mm f/2 version II and the 12-24mm f/4 could be announced in Photokina and they would be available on Q4/2012. All lenses will be announced along the new NX camera.

In a double press release (Photoscala 1 and Photoscala 2) Schneider announced their future plan to make lenses for mirrorless camera system. The first lens will be the 14mm f/2.0 for Micro Four Thirds but more lenses (also for other systems) will arrive in 2013. They didn’t specify what kind of lens oand for what system we should expect in 2013.

Samyang just sent me the press release to announce the new 8mm for the NEX and NX system. Samyang is a highly regarded company and makes some amazing lenses and I am sure this fisheye is a great lens, but they would have probably sold tons of lenses if that would have been a f/1.4 prime lens instead of this. Is there really a bog need of fisheyes?

Here is the press release and some more images of the lens:
“Samyang 8mm 1:2.8 UMC Fish-eye is currently the smallest and the brightest Fish-eye lens compatible with compact cameras featuring APS-C sensor. It perfectly combines high optical value, impressive lens speed and exceptionally compact sizes.
Its sophisticated optical construction relies on the system of 10 lenses arranged in 8 groups. They include, among others, one aspherical (AS) lens and two lenses made of extra low dispersion glass (ED). This provides perfect sharpness for the entire field of view and maximum aperture of f/2.8. Obviously all surfaces of the lenses were covered with multi-layered UMC anti-reflective coatings adding to the high contrast and splendid light transmission.
Samyang 8mm 1:2.8 UMC Fish-eye will be marketed with Sony E (NEX) and Samsung NX mount. In both cases its maximum angle of view will amount to 180 degree, with the minimum focusing distance of 0.3 meters.
Release date and the expected price will be separately announced on a later date.“

Fuji (Click here) just released the new X PRO 1 firmware updated. It brings the following nw features/fixes:

• New function for “FUJIFILM M mount adapter” is added to the shooting menu.
• 2.The MENU name “FOCAL LENGTH SETTING” is changed into “MOUNT ADAPTER SETTING”, and new correction menu is added.
  DISTORTION CORRECTION,
  COLOR SHADING CORRECTION
  PERIPHERAL ILLUMINATION CORRECTION
• 3.Even if “LENS 5” or “LENS 6” (adjustable focal length) is set, the Bright Frame can be displayed on OVF in accordance with focal length.
  (Recommended lens focal length for OVF to check the Bright Frame: from 18mm to 60mm)
• 4.In MF (manual focus) mode, sharpness of live image at 10x magnified operation (by pressing the command dial) is set to high and focusing point can be much easily confirmed.
• 5.When FUJIFILM M mount adapter is connected to the camera body, the following issues are effective.

  • (1)By pressing the function button of M mount adapter”, “MOUNT ADAPTER SETTING” menu is displayed quickly.
  • (2)”SHOOT WITHOUT LENS” is automatically set to “ON”
  • (3)”Distance indicator (Manual focus indicator)” in “Standard display” mode on EVF/OVF is automatically set to “OFF”
  • (4)3 types of correction menu (DISTORTION / COLOR SHADING / PERIPHERAL ILLUMINATION) are activated.

And we also have two new 35mm lens tests:

SLRgear (Click here) tested the Fuji 35mm f/1.4 X lens: “Very good performance, even when used wide open, and excellent performance when stopped down just a little. If you’re an X-Pro 1 user, this lens definitely deserves a place in your bag.“

Photoheadonline (Click here) compared the lens with the Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 lens: “The Fujinon however, is made so well that it is the winner of this test. It gets a High Value to Cost Ratio for its performance at a wide open aperture, as well as price, weight, compactness, and versatility. The Fujinon 35mm edges out the Zeiss 35mm lens in each of those categories, but by just a little.“

It is not a interchangeable lens system camera but it could be a nice alternative of some mirrorless camera. The Sony RX100 has been officially announced and can be preordered now at Amazon US (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

First preview and image sample can be seen here at Dpreview. Another preview is available at Imaging Resource. Some thoughts by Carl Garrard. Press release at ThePhoBlographer.

UPDATE: There is a first full RX100 review at Techradar and rates it with 4.5 of 5 points: “If we were assessing the camera based solely on what it is capable of outputting, it would be easy to say that this camera is near-on perfect for the target market.“

UPDATED_2: Another Full review at Imaging Resource: “As with the low-contrast crops, the high-contrast crops show the Sony RX100 besting the S100 and Nikon J1“

Ikea had the nice idea to create a “mirrorless” camera made of cardboard. Watch the video on top to see how it works! And the first camera is now for sale on .
I think its apretty genious idea! Want that :)

The prestigious German journal “Frankfurter Allgemeine” posted a full interview with Fuji president Komori. I translated the most important parts of the Interview for you:
1) We were considering the acquisition of Leica but it didn’t fit within our strategy.
2) We were ready to buy Olympus (yes he uses the past “were” and not the present “are”!). We made an offer to Olympus but I think Olympus is trying to remain independent.
3) Only 1% of our company earnings are made through classic film sales.
4) Komori also talks a lot about the med business: “we are developing a new drug against Alzheimer”. And the film knowledge they have is very useful for the cosmetics industry. The antioxidants we use on films do also work on the human skin!

The overall impression I got from the interview is that Fuji is one of the few Japanese companies that is not in a deep crisis (like Sony, Panasonic or Olympus for example). They are heavily investing in research and at the same time they are enlarging their business on more profitable areas like medicine and cosmetics. That’s why they are more interested in an Olympus partnership than a Leica acquisition. And I think that is indeed an intelligent way of thinking business. There wasn’t a lot of talk about the digital camera strategy but I have a positive feeling about the company and their digital camera future!

via Systemkameraforum.