Olympus counterattack: Super built OM camera coming on February 8!

You want let the glory to Fuji alone? Olympus is also going to make a super quality old-styled body but unlike Fuji they will take the inspiration form their own OM camera history (). I will give you all the specs and than you can start to discuss if that camera is really going to be the first “serious” or “pro” Micro Four Thirds camera.

Olympus OM-D specs:
16 Megapixel m43 sensor optimized for High Dynamic Range
ISO 200-25.800
Built-in 1.44 Million dot electronic viewfinder (placed in the middle of the body)
Five-axis image stabilizer in body.
packed with an GN10 flash.
FAST AF and 3D tracking
610.000 dots 3 inch OLED swivel screen
Weather sealed magnesium body in classic
two kinds of leather style. black ones is more artificial, and silver ones is more natural.
Two dial button left and right beside central penta part,and another dial button side at release button.there have other one small button in left of release button.
Grip curve looks like Olympus E-P3,but this one continues to the bottom of camera,paste with leather.Leather has also paste at both side of lens mount.
Width 121mm, weighs 425g
Price: $1100
Worldwide shipment in late March

At a first glance it looks like the Olympus OM advantage over the X PRO 1 lies in: Built-in IS, weather sealed body, cheaper price, swivel screen, probably faster AF.
Fuji X PRO 1 advantages: Image quality, hybrid viewfinder.

Hot times!

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Fuji X PRO 1 preorders: Expansys USA (Click here), Expansys Canada (Click here), Henrys Canda (Click here) and Expansys UK (Click here). You can get notification at Amazon US (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Fuji X PRO 1 news roundup (X100 ALL black preorders and price drops)

That nice ALL BLACK Fuji X100 is now available for preorder at Adorama (Click here). I am wondering how many will buy that camera when you know that you can get the FUji X PRO 1 body for the same price! Maybe more tempting is the classic Silver Fuji X100 which price keeps droppign week by week at Amazon (Click here).  -> via NoisyC.
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X PRO 1 news roundup (via Fujirumors).
Cameralabs (Click here) X PRO 1 preview: “The Fujifilm X-Pro1 takes mirror-less ILCs to a higher ground than any company other than Leica has done to date. It unashamedly targets enthusiasts with an innovative sensor and viewfinder packed into a retro-styled body with nostalgic analogue controls and a choice of three high quality prime lenses at launch.”
Brian Lam from TheAtlantic (Click here) CES report: “This is the only gadget at the show that melts my heart every time I think about it. I want this more than anything else I’ve seen at the show, and I think I might get one over the also amazing Sony NEX-7 Camera, which is technically astounding but has a mediocre lens selection that is not worthy of a $1300 camera.“
Detailed report at Photorumors (Click here) and hands-on pics at Alinpopescu (Click here).
The X PRO 1 already won four prices! The CNET “Best of CES 2012” Best Camera; Popular Science “CES 2012 Product of the Future”; Popular Mechanics “CES 2012 Editor’s Choice Award”; Tom’s Guide “Best of CES 2012” (Source: Imaging Resource).

Canon G1 X news roundup!

EosHD (Click here) isn’t impressed by the Canon G1 X video quality: “It seems Canon haven’t progressed video on DSLRs at all since they stumbled upon it 3 years ago, which is somewhat depressing.“

Also Cameralabs (Click here) posted a short preview: “Ultimately for all the pros and the cons, Canon has delivered what many people were asking for: G-series design and features with a DSLR-class sensor under the hood.“

Hands-on at Photographybay (Click here). Image samples at Focus Numerique (Click here) and Dpreview (Click here). Image+video smaples at Lenstip (Click here / via Noisyc).

Preorders are available at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Interview with Pentax at ePhotozine (New mirrorless coming at CP+ show? K-mount module too?)

Jonathan Martin from Pentax has been interviewed by ePhotozine (Click here). When asked about the how well the Pentax Q has been received he simply answers that is it a great camera. I guess this means that it isn’t exactly a hotseller :)

What’s really important are the following two statements: When asked about a possible new mirrorless product from Pentax he said: “2012 is going to be a very exciting year, and that news is already out there, although we can’t go into details.“. This sounds like a clear “YES” to me.

And here comes the news I got from one of my trusted sources. He said that Pentax will launch a new mirrorless camera system at the CP+ show in Japan (mid February). He also heard that it will be launched with one pancake lens. I hope more sources can soon give me more details about the system. Stay tuned!

And Amateur Photographer (Click here /via Ricehigh, via Noisycamera) reports that Ricoh is considering the release of a K-mount module.

P.S.: Also Sony, Panasonic and Olympus will launch new cameras and lenses right before the CP+ show!

Fuji France sets the final X PRO 1 price!

Zone Numérique (Click here) got the final X PRO 1 price info via Fujifilm France:
– body only: €1,590
– 18mm and 35mm lenses: €579
– 60mm macro lens: €629
First kit (body + 35mm f/1.4) available in 2 months.

The only thing we miss now is more preorder options! Right now I only found Expansys USA (Click here), Expansys Canada (Click here), Henrys Canda (Click here) and Expansys UK (Click here). You can get notification at Amazon US (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

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(Thanks Mistral)

First real Fuji X PRO 1 ISO test and comparison with Nikon D700.

Finally you can see a first ISO and sharpness test at vladdodan.ro (Click here / via Fujirumors). The image-crop you see on top (Click on it to enlarge) compares the Fuji X PRO 1 (35mm @ f/1.4) sharpness with the Nikon D700 (AF-S @ f/1.4) sharpness. At a first glance the Fuji looks a tack sharper. But please keep in mind that we need more tests to be sure of that. The sharpness also depends from other factors like lens and image processor. But it’s so great to see an APS-C sensor beat the quality of a Full Frame sensor! Really makes me wonder what a Full Frame Fuji could do!

Here are the direct links to the images:
X PRO 1 versus D700 (Nikon on the right)
X PRO 1 ISO table (ISO 100 up to 25.800)
35mm lens center sharpness (at different apertures)
35mm lens corner sharpness (at different apertures)

I want to thank Vlad for the great test! He did what big websites didn’t do! Will bookmark your website now :)

P.S.: You can preordet the Fuji X PRO 1 at Expansys USA (Click here), Expansys Canada (Click here) and Expansys UK (Click here). You can get notification at Amazon US (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

 

Sigma interview: Wants to focus on lenses for M43 and NEX systems.

There is a new interview at Imaging Resource (Click here) with Kazuto Yamaki, Chief Operating Officer of Sigma Corp. The few interesting points are:

1) People are interested in high quality lenses, so primes are becoming more popular everywhere in the world.
2) for compact system cameras, we think the Sony system and Micro Four Thirds are the categories that we should support.

The most important point is that it looks like Sigma wants to develop lenses that will work on booths systems, NEX and m43. This will save them some money but in my opinion that is not the right approach. For three reasons:

1) Lenses designed for m43 could be considerable smaller.
2) Focal lengths are different. If you design a 16mm lens, this will become a 24mm on the NEX and a 32mm on the m43.
3) Every systems needs different lenses. There is a different need for lenses for m43 than for NEX.

Don’t know what you think guys :)