Egami spotted a new Olympus patent describing a 25mm f/2.8 macro pancake lens. It’s also collapsible, when you use the macro function the lens gets larger. As you may remember last week there was a rumor about a possible 25mm f/1.8 lens.

At 25mm focal length we can chose between the [shoplink 23110]$599 Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 15659 ebay]$900 Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink]. Both options, a pancake 25mm and a cheap and fast f/1.8 variation would be a welcome addition to the m43 lens system.

I finally got the final release date of the new Panasonic G5, 45-150mm m43 lens, LX7 high end compact camera (and other cheap compact cameras). All that stuff is going to be announced on July 18th (Tokyo time). It will be July 17th in USA.
As you know the G5 will feature the same [shoplink 22077 ebay]G3[/shoplink] 16 Megapixel sensor but there will be lots of minor improvements (and small design changes). I still don’t know if the 45-150mm lens is a pancake lens. And as I told you before the LX7 (although not a m43 camera) may be the major interesting news here. It should get a larger sensor like the Sony RX100. This is a very profitable market and the Sony camera is the most sold digital camera of the moment at Amazon (here is the overall ranking).

[/shoplink] WIll the new 45-150mm lens be a pancake like the current [shoplink 25104]14-42mm X lens[/shoplink]?

And yet we will see the light of another zoom lens! Along the G5 (to be announced within 1-2 weeks) expect the release of a new 45-150mm lens. Now, we already have a 45-200mm and a [shoplink 25103]45-175mm[/shoplink] lens so I really hope this lens has something special that makes it worth to be released. I am not sure but this could be a pancake zoom. If it is I will happy, if it is not than I can’t figure out why Panasonic is doing this. Bye the way, the lens is not fast (I have been told so).

Stay tuned on 43rumors! There might be a Panasonic announcement within this week!

UPDATE: Curious…the 45-175mm X lens had a $70 price drop via Samys at Amazon (Click here).

A website I know very well for posting false rumors started a buzz around a possible Sigma 12-35mm X lens. Many other websites picked it up. I am writing this post just to say that there is a 99% chance the rumor is fake. I say this based on the past fake stuff I saw on that website I don’t wanna link to it :)

Meantime the first user review of the real Panasonic 12-35mm X lens is up at Amazon (Click here). This is really a great lens. Can’t wait to see what’s coming next week from Panasonic!

P.S.: The Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 is back in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and is on top of the Mirrorless ranking (Click here).

I am not sure yet, and still sekeing some backup from trusted sources but the Panasonic announcement could take place next week on July 5th (Thursday). As usual keep in mind that the date may not be exact depending on where on eart you live :)

Stay tuned on 43rumors! And some more “likes” on facebook are welcome :)

P.S.: The GH2 with 14-140mm lens has now reached the lowest price ever at Amazon (Click here). The 12-35mm X lens is in Stock at Digitalrev (Click here).

We are getting closer to the Panasonic event and I am getting daily updated about the new stuff that is coming. We will certainly get a new Panasonic G5 cameras and with a bit of surprise I can also announce that there will be a new Micro Four Thirds lens! I have been told it’s not the 35-100mm X lens but a new lens. I hope to get the specs soon. There will be also new compact cameras and very likely the new LX7.

P.S:: I got a bit confused about the LX7 release because a source told me it would arrive in September. Maybe he was referring to the in Stock status and not the announcement?

Anyway, this is a major announcement and I am particularly intrigued by the LX7. I hope it is better than the Sony RX100 which in my opinion is a great camera (although I miss a wider lens). The current LX5 sells for $329 at Amazon (Click here) and it may a good deal because I expect the LX7 to be at least $200-$250 more expensive..but it will also be a major upgrade with a larger sensor?

[shoplink 23681 ebay][/shoplink] Image on top: The popular [shoplink 23681 ebay]Four Thirds 12-60mm[/shoplink] lens which so many wish to see in a native m43 version.

Mu-43 reports that Olympus may introduce a new 25mm f/1.8 and 12-60mm zoom lens.
The 25mm f/1.8 lens is a bit larger than the [shoplink 14798 ebay]17mm pancake[/shoplink] and built like the [shoplink 23577]45mm lens[/shoplink]. Price is very low and between $200 and $250 like the Four Thirds 25mm lens (here at Amazon).
The 12-60mm f/2.8.4.0 lens is weather sealed and a bit larger than the [shoplink 27977]12-50mm lens[/shoplink]. Price will be around $800-$900. A bit less than the popular [shoplink 23681 ebay]Four Thirds version[/shoplink].

The rumor hasn’t been confirmed by my trusted sources yet and even mu-43 doesn’t know the source. I hope it’s not a wishful thinking of someone so I posted it with a low FT2 rating (and probably I was too generous). Anyway, let’s imagine for a moment that this is a real thing:

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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