The latest E-M1 specs leaked by photorumors suggests that the upcoming High End OMD may be a slightly updated E-M5 with PDAF sensor. It has the E-P5 specs, VF-4 viewfinder (integrated) and OMD design. The major news is the on sensor PDAF which will add 100% support on Four Thirds lenses. Will that be enough to compete in the $1500 market? Doubt it…

E-M1 specs

• New DSLR type grip
• 16MP sensor
• 81 AF target points
• 10 fps
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Flash sync speed: 1/320s
• ISO range: 200-25600
• Shutter speed: 1/8000s-60s
• 3″ tiltable TFT LCD touch screen
• EVF with 2,360,000 pixels
• Micro Four Thirds mount only (not a hybrid mount)
• Weight: 430g | 0.9Ib
• Dimensions (WxHxD): 122mm × 68mm × 37mm | 4.8″ × 2.7″ × 1.5″

I cannot guarantee the info is correct. But if what I got from that anonymous sources is true than the NEX-7 successor certainly looks like a well done upgrade! Here are the specs:

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body
same with as nex7 but the lens Mount will be moved 3mm on the left
3mm taller
lens Mount 3mm deeper so lens will come out 3mm less
bigger grip. taller,deeper and wider, due to new battery and better grip feeling.increased volume by 2.9cubiccm
slimmer rear screen design.8.2cm diagonal 1,080dots.same movement as nex 7
magnesium alloy construction dust sealed. weight 23grams more
NP-FM500 battery
standard hotshoe
new popup flash unit with tilting capability
trinavi button layout, customizable rec button

evf
new unit
100% coverage
1,25x magnification
eyepoint 24mm
2560×1920 resolution + 2 stop dinamic range
consumption -12% due to new copper circuit

sensor
new aps-c unit 6000x4000px
cmos evf 15.1dr 25.1colordepht
phase detection chip 92% area 2.2 million split pixels
aa filter
iso range 100-25600. auto iso customizable 100-6400
improved iso performance by 1.24 stops over iso 3200
file size L-M-S and RAW-mRAW-sRAW
12-8-6-3 fps continuos shooting with autofocus
new for nex system 5axis steadyshot inside up to 4 stop shake reduction. bypass the oss in lens for battery saving. works with LA-EA2 and stabilizes a Mount lenses

more bits:
WIFI built in
no confirmation about the name
a bundle Zeiss lens for the launch. 16-80 f2.8-4. i don’t know much about the performance but the decision to move the lens Mount to the left is due to allow the fitting of larger but shorter lenses. i mounted personally a model of the 16-80 to the new body and i can tell you is 68mm wide x 62mm long when closed for 302gr without hood.

the first unit are now to be tested

———

Sounds great!

The current K-o1 mirrorless and K-mount APS-C camera.

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The Chinese Fengniao editors interviewed the Ricoh head (source RiceHigh). And they once again confirmed that:

“Our development team is still working on it and the project is not aborted.”

Doens’t sound really promising when you say “is not aborted” :) That said a while ago an anonymous source told us this:

“Pentax’s new fullframe “might” be a mirrorless, using a newly developed hybrid mount that accepts current K-mount lenses and adds the ability to use newer short flange lenses as well.“

Now let’s see if something will happen. It’s about time after 5-6 years of Pentax FF rumors floating around the web :)

To steal the show to the competition Sony will announce their new A-mount strategy in late September. They will introduce new APS-C and FF A-mount (!) mirrorless cameras. Sony will be the first company to switch their DSLR A-mount system to full mirrorless. And according to latest rumors we got it also looks like Olympus will finally merge the two systems (FT and MFT) in one camera. There will be no more a classic DSLR line. Olympus will launch a High End Micro Four Thirds camera with a sort of integrated Four Thirds mount adapter. This could also mark the end of the classic Olympus E DSLR line.

Are Sony and Olympus anticipating the future? Is DSLR dead or are they just trying to differentiate themselves from the almost impossible to beat Nikon-Canon DSLR dominance? only time will tell…

What a busy Summer!

We just learned that there is a new Sony announcement scheduled for August 14. There will be definitely a new NEX-5T camera although two more NEX could be announced too, the NEX-7 successor and the DSLR shaped NEX.
And Olympus will announced the new High End E-M7 the second week of September.

We still have no specs on these cameras but I think that’s only a matter of days until we can post them :)