New Kodak MFT camera displayed at CES.

Cnet shared some pictures of the new Kodak MFT camera. And they also have the final specs:

The PixPro S-1 has decent specs, including a 16.8-megapixel sensor, 3-inch tilting 920,000-pixel display, Wi-Fi and 5fps continuous-shooting mode. It will ship with a slowish 12-45mm f3.5-6.3 collapsible lens; the collapsing mechanism looks a lot like Olympus’ original design for its 14-42mm lens, and the camera uses sensor-shift image stabilization like Olympus as well. There’s a second lens, a 42.5-160mm, as well as a spotting scope that may be part of a second bundle.

And JKImaging marketing director Austin Kazami shared some more thoughts at Amateur Photographer:

It is a CSC designed for a smartphone audience“…”In Japan, CSCs and DSLRs are treated as two totally separate markets unlike in Europe and the US“…”There will also be an 42.5-160mmmm, plus an 400mm fixed focal length lens.

ePhotozine published the official press text. This is the part concerning the new MFT camera:

Leveraging technical prowess and manufacturing excellence, the KODAK PIXPRO Camera line will introduce its first micro four thirds camera with the S-1. The S-1 is WiFi® enabled, boasts a 16MP BSI CMOS 4/3” sensor, a 3.0″ 920 articulating LCD, sensor shift OIS, 1080p 30fps H.264 FHD Video and lithium-ion battery. The S-1 is priced competitively at $499 MSRP for the entry-level single lens kit and $599 MSRP for a double lens kit and is perfect for the avid photographer looking for a high performance model in a slim and compact design.

Panasonic GH 4K will be launched in February and cost less than $2,000!

Image courtesy: Engadget

Engadget reports that the GH 4K camera will be officially launched in February and cost less than $2,000:

UHD content can be recorded at 200 Mbps, and output in a full live feed via a mini-HDMI port (thanks to ALL-I Intra mode) to display on a computer or record to a hard drive. Of course, the Micro-Four Thirds shooter can save footage straight to an SDXC card — a UHS Class 3 prototype variant tuned for such a task was on display — though space will run out fairly quickly. There’s no word how many megapixels the cam totes, but it will be able to simultaneously snap photos while recording video.

Great news!

Leica DG Nocticron 42.5 f/1.2 First Look video by WDC.

WhatDigitalcamera posted the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5 f/1.2 First Look. And LLoyd Chambers writes quite an interesting note about the OIS feature of the lens:

I’m not a fan of optical stabilization, because it does not improve imaging performance and in this case, I’d want to use it on the Olympus E-M1, which has superb in-body image stabilization. So those extra lens elements just make the lens heavier and more expensive and more complex and more prone to alignment errors. Well, it is what it is.

Sure OIS doesn’t improve the IQ on Panasonic cameras???

P.S.: I take the chance to ask our European readers if they found any preorder option in Europe! I haven’t :(

Hot! First picture of the Panasonic GH 4K camera mockup!


Image courtesy: SmallCameraBigPicture

Panasonic is now displaying the mockup of new Panasonic GH 4K camera at the CES Las Vegas show! There are no details yet about the camera price, specs and launch date. The new GH 4K will NOT replace the GH3. It will be placed above it rumored specs are:

16mp
1/8000 shutter
1mil dot OLED screen
21mm OLED viewfinder, 3,000+ dot.
Time code
200mbps mp4 All-i/100mbps IPB
4k/30p
4:2:2 10/8bit output
3G-SDI and XLR adaptor (An adaptor that the camera sits on with XLR x2, HD-SDI x4)
Price: €2799

 

This is an enlarged crop of the top of the GH 4k (it’s just like the GH3).

 

Panasonic Nocticron 45mm f/1.2 officially announced! Price $1,599 and ships in March.


Image courtesy: ePhotozine

The Panasonic Nocticron 42,5mm f/1.2 has now been officially announced! And we also got a price: $1,599 or £1,399 or 1499 Euro and shipment in March!
UPDATE: A bit weird but the preorder price a BHphoto (Click here) is $100 higher! Hope it’s just a typo from BH.

Here are some early tests and image samples:
ePhotozine posted a preview and writes: “this new lens has a superior build quality to it compared to previews Leica DG branded lenses
Camera.reviewed posted an unboxing video and image samples and writes: “This may be the best Micro Four Thirds lens currently in existence.
German press text at Photoscala. French press release at Focus Numerique. Dutch press text at Digifotopro, Spanish press text at DSLRmagazine.
Image samples at Amateur Photographer.
More samples at polish Digitalcamerapolska.
Press text at Dpreview.
Image samples at Lenstip.
More images via Smallcamerabigpicture.

This is the official Press Release:

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Panasonic is proud to introduce the new LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5mm / F1.2 ASPH. / POWER O.I.S. (H-NS043) interchangeable lens for the LUMIX G based on the Micro Four Thirds System standard. (35 mm camera equivalent: 85 mm). This incredible lens not only has a maximum aperture of F1.2, but it also incorporates optical image stabilization (POWER O.I.S.) along with full time Auto Focus. Certified by the world-renowned LEICA, exceptional high image quality is guaranteed as well as its sophisticated metal design. The name “NOCTICRON” was newly defined by Leica Camera AG for this lens that achieves a remarkably fast F1.2 aperture among Micro Four Thirds digital interchangeable lenses.

The new lens system is comprised of 14 elements in 11 groups and uses two aspherical lenses, one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and one UHR (Ultra High Refractive Index) lens. The aspherical lenses suppress spherical aberration and distortion. The ED lens enables sharp, high contrast description without color bleeding to the corners while the UHR lens enables high optical performance that renders an image with uniformed descriptiveness from center to edges as well as downsizing of the lens unit.

The popular 42.5 mm medium-telephoto focal distance (Equivalent to 85 mm on a 35 mm camera) is perfectly suited for portraits with rich stereoscopic effect. Together with the high-speed aperture, users can utilize the beautiful soft focus for more impressive, creative shots. Nine blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. It also captures landscape with an extremely natural perspective. In addition, the aperture ring on the lens barrel allows direct, intuitive control over aperture settings.

Panasonic’s Nano Surface Coating technology has been adopted to the NOCTICRON 42.5mm / F1.2 ASPH. / POWER O.I.S. Reflection is dramatically minimized at entire visual light range (380nm-780nm) by applying the extra-low refractive index coating with nano-sized structure on the surface of the lens. It results in a super clear image with dramatic reduction of ghost and flare.

Due to the shallow depth of field which is unique to the large aperture lens, even a slight handshake can potentially cause images to be out-of-focus. However, the POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) which is integrated in the LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5mm effectively compensates for not only small, fast movement but also large, slow movement, making it easy to capture super clear shots even when shooting in low-lit situations such as in night time or indoors.

It incorporates superior inner focus system, which enables excellent resolution and contrast from close-up to infinity. The inclusion of newly developed stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both still and video recording. Notably the performance of Auto Focus is far superior to the phase-difference AF when a fast lens with smaller F value is used. When mounted on LUMIX G cameras, users can take advantage of the high-speed, high-precision Contrast AF system.

The sophisticated metal design of LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5mm / F1.2 ASPH. / POWER O.I.S., including the hood, deserves to bear the prestigious LEICA name. A highly reliable metal mount is durable enough for repeated mounting of the lens.

The next (stupid) financial analysis predicts (again) that Olympus will disappear in 2014.

Screenshot of the “stupid” predition from 247wallst.

247wallst (Click here) predicts that Olympus will disappear in 2014. Now , honestly, I can’t understand why this BS is floating around the web almost every year. It’s now the fourth or fifth time I heard from analysts saying that Olympus will close the coming year. That “prediction game” is so old that it’s likely that the only thing that disappeared are some of these financial analyst guys :)

link found via TheOnlinephotographer.

Addendum: By the way, two months ago I read plenty of reports about the coming European winter being one of the coldest in history. Guess what, it’s hot as hell here and no snow anywhere (expect on higher mountains). This is just to say how much people wants to spread news just for the sake to get viral :)

 

 

a little bit of everything…

Belvilla’s Seasonal Inspiration: Summertime from Hugo Goudswaard on Vimeo.

Best 20 Pictures of 2013 and Stories Behind Them (Samudranil).
E-M1 is camera of the year at TheOnlinePhotographer.
TimeLapse-SunSet in Korea 2013″ from kooi-Park Kyoung Kyun at Dicahub.
Abstract work with the E-M1 at Sergiomuscat.com

Jon:If you like, feel free to share my E-M1 gallery, all shot with the E-M1 and the 17mm f/1.8 and 12-40mm f/2.8.   I’ve had the E-M1 for 2 weeks now and I’m extremely happy with it (I also have the D600 and X100S, just so you know where I’m coming from). Here’s the gallery: http://www.openbloom.com/CAMERAGEAR/Olympus-OMD-EM1-Gallery

Tomek:Olympus OM-D E-M1, E-M5, Live Time and… Christmas Time ;-) http://youtu.be/HAdXyQxk-j0

Martin:Not a rumor but I bet this is what all Panasonic video shooters would love to have: http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/218923/83767197.gif

Nicholas:The mounting plate of my M.Zuiko 12-40 PRO lens broke off, just as others have reported. Three of the four scores sheared. This happened while mounted on an E M-1(with Battery Holder) in a padded Lowe Pro Bag. The bag fell off a bed onto a heavily padded hotel carpet. It was such a minor fall that I didn’t even look inside the bag when it happened. I only realized the lens was damaged the next morning when I took the camera out of the bag.
I called Olympus and they acknowledged there was “an issue,” and assured me that warranty would cover the repair. Perhaps most troubling: The technician iI spoke with admitted that they do not have a fix. He encouraged me to keep checking the website for updated information.