Last week rumors summary (one post to cover them all)

Last week we published some rumors and this is the short summary.

Rumors classification reminder: (FT 1) Only a dream (FT 2) Sounds a little more real (FT 3) Could be (FT 4) Possible, from trusted sources (FT 5) It’s done! FT= Four Thirds

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(FT3) Thom Hogan predictions for 2010!

• Olympus. Olympus has already announced the E-P2, but it’s not much of a change (a tux for the body and an optional EVF). We’ll get another m4/3 camera before the end of the year, and it’s likely to be a much higher specified one. Lenses have already been announced so will be no surprise (the 9-18mm and 14-150mm coming next, probably followed by another prime or two and a long zoom). Meanwhile, Olympus needs to get the 4/3 cameras down in size, too, if they want that line to live on. The APS crop cameras are now up to 18mp and still doing well with noise, so Olympus’s recent “12mp is enough” won’t hold, I think. We’ll see a >12mp Olympus announced before the end of the year.
• Panasonic. A GH2 and a GF2 seem pretty likely, in that order. The tricky part is that to keep ahead of the pack the real advances are going to need to start coming at the sensor. Just adding features or gimmicks is not going to send a strong message. So, like Olympus, I think we’ll see >12mp cameras out of Panasonic sometime during the year. Like Olympus, Panasonic has telegraphed its lens lineup for the year, so no real surprises there. I do find it interesting, however, that every poll of m4/3 users and seriously considering m4/3 buyers shows that a 12mm prime is the number one lens request, yet we still haven’t seem either company decide to produce one. I’m betting that Panasonic picks up on this and makes such an announcement before the end of the year (that doesn’t mean we’ll see such a lens in 2010, though).

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(FT2) Again new chinese rumors (E30 discontinued?)

A new chinese rumors has been posted inside the four-thirds.cn forum:

“E30 has been discontinued
Occasionally heard yesterday, the boss, and a one dealer said that this camera has been discontinued … …
Overall, the design of E30 is still good, five major deficiencies:
1, 2.7-inch LCD screen is relatively small, it is best replaced by 3-inch 920,000 pixels
Second, the viewfinder can be made 100 percent coverage in the case of only 98% of the
3, auto white balance is not precise enough to be measured to improve white balance to increase the correction procedure
4, there is no dedicated AF fill light,
5, there is no high-definition video capabilities”

Only two days ago we posted another rumor from a chinese forum:

“Olympus Sale Rep at a Detroit camera store said that Olympus is currently focusing on m43 and the entry 43. Around mid next year, there will be a replacement for E620. And the replacement for E3 will possible come out next year, likely the second half of the year.”

This are very unreliable sources and I do not trust them.

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(FT5) new Panasonic 2.2/3-inch CMOS Image Sensor Based on Dual Resolution and Exposure Technique!

ISSCC published the Advance 2010 Program which contains some interesting new sensor developments news:

There is a description of the new Panasonic sensor with “2.2/3-Inch 4K2K dual resolution and exposure CMOS imager uses motion information to improve the sensitivity by 4 times in comparison to a conventional sensor. The green pixels are read out once every four frames for high sensitivity. Both the red and blue pixels are read out each frame, binned for 2×2 and used for motion compensation.”
Sounds like an amazing tecnology! I expect the new sensor to find his way in future Panasonic videocameras.

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(FT2) Panasonic LX4

Just recieved a new rumor about the LX3 successor. The source is unknwon.
Take it with a grain of salt, this rumor has not been confirmed by our trusted sources!

“Panasonic is going to announce the LX4 in February with the following specs. I am 90% sure of these:

– New backlit 12.1mp sensor
– Built-in epson evf
– Lumix lens (not leica; not sure about specs, but I am hearing 1.7/20mm)
– 1:1, 3:2, 16:9, 2.39:1, 1.85:1 aspect ratios
– new B&W high-sensitivity mode (almost no-noise in iso 3200)
– priced at under $600 USD at launch
– not sure about the specs on the screen
– manual focus/selector ring, similar to canon S90
– lighter magnesium alloy body
– black, red, gray, and white colors will be available at launch
– built-in lens cap

and yes “lx4″ will be the official name, im 100% on that.

happy thanksgiving,

a friend“

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The partner website SonyAlphaRumors.com had also one interesting rumor:
(SR4) UPDATED ->The Sony A-700 has been discontinued in Holland. The Alpha 800 is coming!