Ricoh announces the new Theta S Spherical Digital Camera!

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I don’t know you but I really like Ricoh’s spherical camera idea. And just now they announced a new Theta S Spherical Camera which is already on preorder at BHphoto and Adorama. Read the press text via BH:

Spherical images have increased in popularity in recent years, and Ricoh has been at the forefront of consumer innovation with its popular Theta spherical camera line. The Theta S improves upon its predecessors by adding larger image sensors, a longer video-recording time, and two fast f/2 lenses with a folded optical system. It features dual 1/2.3″ 12MP sensors that output a 14.4MP equirectangular image, and can also capture 25-minute clips of full HD 1080p video at up to 30 fps. Videos can be streamed live via USB or HDMI, and a Live View function enables easy previewing on a mobile device. Furthering the Theta S’s ability to capture images in low light are the additions of manual exposure compensation and long exposures of up to 60 seconds. Internal memory has been increased from 4GB to 8GB, so you can store twice as many images and videos as the Theta m15.

A new Theta S app for smart devices allows you to adjust camera settings and improved Wi-Fi connectivity enables data transfer up to four times faster than the previous Theta m15. Sharing of your images and videos has also been made easier by the inclusion of a Google-supported Open Spherical Camera API that is compatible with Google’s services, such as Google Maps and Street View. You can also upload your files directly to theta360.com, or social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and YouTube.

An updated user interface and physical design includes a sure-grip rubber coating and a face-mounted LED mode indicator. A clear TH-1 Hard Case, and a white or black TS-1 Soft Case is available to help protect the Theta S; the Strap Attachment is available in silver, blue, orange, green, and gray.

New LEICA X-U camera name registered in Korea

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Digicameinfo spotted a new Leica camera namer registration. The “Leica X-U” will be announced in October and details are yet unknown. And I don’t know yet if that will be the name of the new mirrorless full frame interchangeable camera. Don’t thinks so. But I hope my good Leica source can tell me more about that camera soon!

The new Panasonic GH4R is coming….to Europe only!

So what fas all that fuzz about the “GH4R”? Well really nothing as expected! The GH4R is just a GH4R made for the European market. It removes the 29min video recording limit which has been there to avoid to pay additional taxes to the EU. Yes, EU considers camera recording video more than 30min as videocameras and companies would have to pay an extra tax on it.
Furthermore the GH4R already includes the V-LOG update which increase the dynamic range from 10 to 12 stops when recording video. Quite a big step forward!
The GH4 will sell for £1199 in UK.

Panasonic announces the new V-LOG update, 25mm f/1.7 and two “updated” lenses.

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Panasonic today announced the long expected V-LOG update for the GH4. Pity they will charge you $99 for that! They also announced a new 25mm f/1.7 lens and two updated MFT lenses. Here are the links:

Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH. Lens at Amazon. BHphoto. Panasonic Store.
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. Lens at BHphoto.
45-150mm MATTE version at BHphoto.
14-140mm MATTE version at BHphoto.
Panasonic V-Log L Function Activation Code for Lumix DMC-GH4 at BHphoto, Panasonic Store.

Two new cameras coming soon: Sony A6xxx and Panasonic GH4R!

The big October PhotoPlus show is getting closer and we are getting first rumors about the next bunch of new mirrorless cameras:

1) Sony A6xxx (Sony A6100?)
That camera is rumored to feature a brand new backlit RGBW sensor. The “White” pixels are added to increase the dynamic range. The Camera also records 4k at 60fps and has the fastest autofocus system of all mirrorless system cameras.

2) Panasonic GH4R
Panasonic is going to launch a new Panasonic GH4R camera which is basiccally a GH4 with V-LG added. This isn’t good news because it means current GH4 cameras will not get the firmware update for free :(

No other rumored camera yet, not from Olympus, Samsung, Fuji, Nikon and Canon :(