So pity! KTF-Turbo which is right now testing the Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 m43 prototype lens just informed me that for now they decided to not go into mass production with the lens. He couldn’t unveil me the reason for that decision. I hope Mr. Miyazaki who is designer of the lens will rethink is decision. I like the design lens a lot and I think quite a great group of current m43 owners would have considered to purchase the lens.

Bye the way, the Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 for Q mount already did it into mass production and is in Stock on [shoplink 30286 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

As you know a couple of days ago I posted a FT3 rumor (50% chance the rumor is correct) to say that there could be a new Panasonic camcorder announcement. Panasonic advertised the event as “camcorder presentation” but in fact it turned out to be more  “a look into the future discussion” than a real product announcement. Here are the news:

1) AVC-Ultra compression scheme. Panaosnic said: “So we have AVC-Intra Class 200, AVC-Intra Class 4:4:4, up to 2K and 4K resolution, and we also have a technology called AVC-LongG, which can get down to 25 Mbps. All of these are recordable on a Panasonic P2 media card.”
2) Panasonic will introduce new cameras at NAB that can be upgraded to AVC-Ultra in 2013. There are not many details about the products that will be shown at the NABshow.

Source: Tvtechnology

This is the new RGBW pixel array of the patented Panasonic sensor.

Panasonic patented a new RGBW sensor design (Click here to see the document). It adds a White pixel on the usual Red-Green-Blue array. This should increase the dynamic range of the image. I heard from my sources that many companies are working on such an array and it is very likely that it is going to be used first in compact cameras.

Olympus also issued a new patent for 14mm, 16mm, 17mm and 22mm f/2.8 pancakes (Click here to see it). I believe the 14-16 and 22mm lenses are just modifications of of the already released 17mm f/2.8 pancake. If Olympus really plans to do such pancakes they should be at least as fast as the superb [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake[/shoplink]!

As usual with patents keep in mind that most of them are here just to protect intellectual propriety. A company may not use them at all in a real product!

P.S.: Links to the superb and very likely most sold m43 lens ever, the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 at [shopcountry 14796].

[/shoplink] Image on top: The current [shoplink 16841 ebay]AG-AF100 camcorder[/shoplink].

UPDATE: Made a big typo. The camera should arrive after tomorrow April 11th and not tomorrow the 10th.

A source told me that Panasonic should unveil new stuff tomorrow April 11th (Japan time). Very likely a new Micro Four Thirds AG-AF camcorder will be announced. The rumor hasn’t been confirmed by other sources yet that’s why it has the FT3 value only for now (See FT ranking at the bottom of this post if you don’t know what it is). I don’t expect the G5 yet (will be announced in May) or the new X zoom lenses (late June) or the GH3 (late August/early September).

The one interesting thing about the new m43 camcorder could be the rumored new Super 35mm sized sensor. But also this is juts an unconfirmed rumor for now. let’s see what happens tomorrow!

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

Panasonic confirms at Amateur Photographer that the “new 12-35mm f/2.8 lens is expected out at the end of June, priced £1,000.” Interesting that Panasonic didn’t mention the other new 35-100mm f/2.8 X lens. Don’t know if they forgot to mention it or if that lens will arrive even later! I guess the price in Euro will be 1.100 and expressed in Dollars $1,150-1,200. That’s half the price of the Olympus Four Thirds 14-35mm f/2.0 ([shoplink 25320 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink]) and also a couple of hundred dollars less than a lens like the 24-70mm L f/2.8 from Canon.

AP posted other interesting news:
1) Panasonic says Mirrorless global market share (for all system cameras) will be at $50 in 2015 (it is 22% today). Currently it is 54% in Taiwan, 51% in Japan, 28% in UK and 18% in USA.
2) Panasonic lost some market share because of the growing competition (such as Nikon’s 1 system).
3) Sykes (Panasonic manager) said that “the continued loyalty of many photographers to major camera brands such as Canon, owing to their long photographic heritage, continues to pose a ‘massive challenge’ to Panasonic, despite the firm’s success in the CSC arena.” Panasonic expects Canon to launch its first CSC in 2012.
One more little info: All m43 cameras are made in Japan, apart from the G3 which is produced in China.

Just my two cent: I wouldn’t fear the Canon competition that much. Canon always acts very conservative and I don’t expect anything revolutionary. And we already have tuff competitors like the top selling Fuji X PRO 1 (Click here) and Sony NEX-7 (Click here).

New GF5 preorders:
Black GF5 with 14-42mm or 14-42mmX lens at Amazon (Click here and choose the lens).
White GF5 with 14-42mm or 14-42mmX lens at Amazon (Click here and choose the lens).
Red GF5 with 14-42mm or 14-42mmX lens at Amazon (Click here and choose the lens).

I just got some news from trusted sources saying that Panasonic will have a second product announcement next week. I guess this means that we will see a new GF5 camera tomorrow (April 5th, between 6-8 am London time). And a new Micro Four Thirds camcorder announcement next week.

Saty tuned on 43rumors tomorrow! Let’s see if the GF5 will be something good for us!

P.S.: The Fuji X PRO 1 is in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and an absolute topseller (Click here to see the ranking). That’s again a reason to make the my personal Panasonic GL1 dream camera :)
New Fuji reviews and full in Stock status check can be found on my sister websites: MirrorlessRumors.com (Click here).

—
Links to current hackable GF cameras:
Panasonic GF3 search links: [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic GF2 search links: [shopcountry 17361].

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

A rendering inspired by the [shoplink 23692 ebay]DMC-L1 eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Tomorrow morning (April 5th) at around 6-7 am London time Panasonic will announce a new GF5 camera. There will be also a new (super 35mm?) m43 camcorder (tomorrow) and a new G5 camera in May. The GH3 is expected to be launched in September. Now you know what’s coming from Panasonic :)

The question today is, will Panasonic release some kind of surprise this year? I know from patents and from my sources that Panasonic developed a G camera prototype with built-in viewfinder on the corner. Like the fake GL1 picture you can see here on top. For some reason Panasonic doesn’t want to release such a camera yet. I also have been told that they might fear to hurt their own G3 (and the future G5) series sales. I think they are wrong and that it about time to take inspiration from the super Four Thirds [shoplink 23692 ebay]Lumix DMC-L1 camera (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink]. I wrote a list f reasons why I think it’s worthy for Panasonic to launch the GL1 :)

1) It has an attractive design. Yeah, I am influenced by the [shoplink 30167 ebay]rangefinder[/shoplink] culture and the design appeals to me.
2) I think the viewfinder in the corner is better placed than on top of the camera. You can make the camera a bit more compact and even more more important, you don’t have to push your nose and face against the back of the camera. It’s ergonomically easier to use.
3) Business. Cameras like the Sony NEX-7 (Click here) and the Fuji X PRO 1 (Click here) already proved that the concepts sells well!

By the way, I don’t fear the camera will hurt G sales. First it has a different design. Second you can still put some more advanced technology inside the GL1 (like for example a super high resolution OLED viewfinder).. Third,…wake up! Fuji and Sony are your competitors, not the G series :)

Here is an easy question for you:

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P.S.:
The [shoplink 23692 ebay]DMC-L1 eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
The [shoplink 26385 ebay]DMC-LC1 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].