Didn’t know that you can get an Emmy Award also for Technology achievement! And this years prize goes to Panasonic for their in camera chromatic aberration tool! Here is the press text:

Panasonic Corporation will be presented with a Technology and Engineering Emmy® Award for 2013 by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The honor is being conferred upon Panasonic in recognition of the company’s development of In-Camera Electronic Compensation for Lateral Chromatic Aberrations in External Lenses. The Emmy Award will be presented on Thursday, January 9, 2014 as part of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Lateral chromatic aberrations are inherent to all optics and must be compensated for in the optical design. The trend to smaller imager formats and less-expensive optics had meant compromises in image performance without an alternative solution to this problem. The concept of modeling the aberrations of a lens and applying real-time electronic correction provides a very significant increase in image quality and permits lower cost-cameras and optics to create better images. Panasonic has incorporated this technology into its HD handheld cameras from the    AG-HVX200 to the AG-HPX255 and in shoulder mount camcorders, through a feature it calls Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), in its high-end P2 HD production cameras, including the new AJ-PX5000G (with AVC-ULTRA recording), the AG-HPX600, AJ-HPX3100 and the VariCam™ shoulder-mount series.

“Panasonic is honored to receive the coveted technical Emmy for its pioneering efforts in the development of Chromatic Aberration Compensation,” said Michael Bergeron, Business Development Manager, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America (PSCNA). “This technology has helped us maintain high-quality imaging while making improvements in size, weight and affordability, and now combined with master-quality AVC-ULTRA recording and native 1920 x 1080 imagers, CAC has contributed to new benchmarks for HD acquisition, getting around inherent limitations of optics.”

Source: Panasonic.com.

Light & Magic – SLR MAGIC ANAMORPHIC PROTOTYPE from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.

The video on top has been taken by Andrew (EosHD) withe the SLR Magic anamorphic prototype. This prototype is still uncoated. The final version will have less crazy flares!

Test complet Panasonic Test Lumix X Vario 12-35 mm f/2,8 ASPH (Focus Numerique).
Comparison at 140mm (M43photo).
Olympus PEN Mini E-PM2 Camera Giveaway (ePhotozine).
Sony Alpha A3000 Sample Photos (ePhotozine).
Why I choose a Panasonic GH3 over an Olympus E-M1 (Soundimagesplus).
Official music video for Tricky shot on GH3. vimeo.com/75948094

Dino: “I ended up writing a long term review of the Olympus 12-50 lens. With rumors and reviews coming out on the 12-40 and em-1, I wanted to give others perspective that you don’t need to spend a couple grand to take decent photos. If you feel inclined to share, I would greatly appreciate it: http://13thfloorphotography.blogspot.com/2013/09/ballin-on-budget-olympus-12-50mm-kit.html”

Brian: “you might like to include a new article I wrote a couple of days ago called “A Gripping Tale of Two OM-D E-M5 Grips”, which can be found at http://byrdphoto.com/blog_article.php?ID=278”

Heather: “I just wanted to share a blog post I came across this evening. It is written by Tracy of Ashfield Images Photography who won Damian McGillicuddy’s “Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush!” competition. She shares her experience at the Olympus launch of the E-M1, along with a few nice photos as well. I’m actually surprised this post didn’t make the rounds earlier! http://ashfieldimagesphotography.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/dont-forget-your-toothbrush/”

Anonymous: “The hotly contested expose to the right (ETTR) issue, noise, sensor size, pixel pitch, and where do all the tonal levels for the right side of the histogram go if ETTR is wrong, in one place. Scientific and sometimes a bit hard to follow unless you delve into the calculus, but backed up with photographic proof, unlike LL’s all text no proof assays. It also further answers the question why Olympus state higher ISO than what he sensor is actually using. http://theory.uchicago.edu/~ejm/pix/20d/tests/noise/noise-p3.html#bitdepth”

Atmtx: “I was also lucky enough to get a pre production OM-D E-M1 and the 12-40mm f2.8 lens to test for a week. I’ve done a couple of posts and photo essays about it in case your readers will be interested.
http://blog.atmtxphoto.com/2013/09/21/the-olympus-om-d-e-m1-goes-to-drink-and-click/
http://blog.atmtxphoto.com/2013/09/22/olympus-om-d-e-m1-downtown-monochromes/“

Heather & Mat: “Here is our latest article about the AF/C-AF of the E-M1 with 4/3s and Lumix lenses. http://www.bestmirrorlesscamerareviews.com/2013/09/22/hands-on-with-the-olympus-om-d-e-m1-autofocus-with-four-thirds-lumix-lenses/”

The factory in Xiamen.

The Japanese site Asahi (via Digicameinfo) reports that Panasonic is seriously considering to completely step out from the low-end compact camera business. Panasonic’s Chinese factory in Xiamen that produces Panasonic’s compact cameras will be converted to produce cameras for other manufacturers too.

This is part of Panasonic’s strategy tofocus on the more advanced mirrorless camera market. New High End models are expected to be alunched in 2014.

Image courtesy Namen Color (Spain).

Readers from US, Canada and Europe sent me messages to confirm that they already got their preordered E-M1 camera. On top you see an image of a Spain Store (Namen Color). Please let me know when a store shows them as in Stock so that I can share this with all 43rumors readers. Thanks!

P.S.: Submit the info by commenting this post or by submitting the store link via DealsRunner.com.

Mr. Terada from Olympus. Image courtesy: Focus Numerique

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Focus Numerique (google translated) and Onfoto (google translated) posted interviews with Mr. Terada from Olympus. I rely on google translation tool to understand the text so please correct me if there is some error here:

Focus Numerique:
– Development TruePic VII for OM-D E-M1 took more than 3 years.
– It is not possible to add 14bit encoding via firmware upgrade. The encoded 14-bit files require more computing power and thus more expensive processor.
– touch screen on the E-M1 will be improved via fw update. But we need more time for it. We also need to work on the work directly connected to a PC mode. But then again, we did not have time to develop all the applications. There are many applications to integrate and soon.

Onfoto:
– FT lens production will continue until there is a demand for it
– Support of FT cameras and lenses will continue
– There will be no silver E-M1
– There is no plan yet to add phase autofocus on future low end MFT models
– We don’t exclude to go Full Frame one day

So, how does it sound for you?

Preorder Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.

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As you know Fuji and Panasonic are working together on a new generation of organic sensors. Fujifilm just issued a press release to say that they developed a new photoresist technology for organic semiconductors enabling submicron patterns. Image sensor world writes that “Generally, patterning of organic semiconductor materials degrades the property of converting light into electricity, but the OPD developed in this case were patterned without degradation”

I don’t expect organic sensors to be used on production cameras before 2015.