Getolympus just launhced a new teaser for a new camera you can see here: http://getolympus.com/worldsfirst/. It says “Pro image quality from a whole new perspective“. But don’t get too excited guys! After seeing the video on that website I think this may be the Olympus TG-1 iHS already leaked via Photorumors. Here is the picture:

It’s a shockproof and waterproof 12Megapixel camera with tiny 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor and a 4x zoom that starts with a fast f/2.0 aperture. All good and nice but is it worth a teaser like that?

Our friends over at Techradar (Click here) got that mysterious package from Olympus! The image on top (on courtesy of Techradar) shows the “Coming soon” message and the two nuts. I haven’t heard of any imminent product announcement yet. I know the new lenses and the [shoplink 19904 ebay]XZ-1 successor[/shoplink] will be announced around June. And than we also have the two 75mm and 60mm lenses that are coming soon. But why the heck is Olympus sending nuts? Can you imagine what this could have to do with a product announcement?

UPDATE: Also Damian Mcgillicuddy (Click here) received a mysterious package from Olympus. I now believe Olympus is sending out the two new m43 lenses (two nuts) to selected journalists and photographer!

P.S.: A couple of months ago Olympus said that it is possible to make a PEN with built-in viewfinder like the [shoplink 30663 ebay]Fuji X PRO 1[/shoplink] and [shoplink 25396 ebay]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink]. But I don’t think it this is coming now!

The Chinese company “ShenyangZhongyi” is developing a new 35mm/f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds! The picture on top shows the lens design (rendering). But some first early image samples have been posted on Xitek (Click here). Click the thumbnails below to enlarge the size of the picture.

This would become the fourth m43 lens with f/0.95 aperture. The other three are the:
[shoplink 15659 ebay]Nokton 25mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 30452 ebay]Nokton 17.5mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 25691 ebay]Noktor SLRmagic 50mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink]

Finally I am getting first info about the upcoming new Panasonic GH3. A trusted sources told me that while it is true that Panasonic is working hard on the electronic global shutter technology they will not implement it within the new GH3. When the GH3 development started they had some hopes that they might achieve that goal but this will not happen. And he also told me that:
1) the camera is weather sealed
2) the major improvement will be the new Electronic Viewfinder and Autofocus speed
3) That the GH3 will arrive in late Summer (right before the Photokina show in September).

P.S.: Reminder: The Panasonic G5 announcement should be in May!

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

Image courtesy: Giulio Scorio

After weeks of rumors, news and deals it’s time to talk about some serious stuff ;)

Our friend and reader Amos Chapple is professional photographer for Lonely Planet and his latest work has been published by The Guardian (Click here). Did he use a Canon? Or maybe the new superhot Nikon D800? No! Amos sent me this: “The UK Guardian have just published a gallery of images from Iran which are currently featuring on the front page of their website. All pictures shot with m43 kit! They will be running a two-page spread in the paper edition of the newspaper later in the week also. Pictures shot using a [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] camera body and [shoplink 23110]25mm Leica[/shoplink], [shoplink 23577]45mm Olympus[/shoplink], [shoplink 14822]7-14mm[/shoplink] and [shoplink 14796]20mm Lumix[/shoplink] lenses. Hope you’re well, congrats on the lens survey – lets hope they listen!!
Best from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Amos.”

And another pro, the award winning commercial photographer Giulio Sciorio wrote a must read article about “How to overcome fears using Micro 4/3rds cameras in a professional environment” (Click here to read it!). I agree on all his five arguments! Share this on your website! :)

Once again the real good camera is the one that helps you best in expressing your vision. The camera itself has no vision :)

P.S: If you have some great work to show comment this post with your link!

P.P.S.: 100 Tips from a Professional Photographer (Gizmodo).

A fake image of the GH3 of course :)

Take that with a grain of salt. It’s coming via a new Asian source! This is an extended GH3 spec list (some part were already posted weeks ago). As usual I would be happy if other sources can confirm or deny the spec list. Just send me a message through the anonymous contact form you see on the right or contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

And here it is the GH3 spec list (reminder, not coming from trusted sources!):
Sensor: 15.5 mega-pixel sensor
Iso: Iso 160-12800, extends to 80-51200
Speed: 6.7fps
Body: Magnesium alloy body, weather sealed, thinner and lighter than GH2, overall design evolves with improved ergonomics
LCD: 3.2″ ips, 1050k-dots, with capacitive touch screen (multi-touch depending on final setting in firmware). LCD tilt-able
EVF: new EVF with 2.06 mega-dots
Card: double SDXC slots
Flash: wireless flash trigger (pending new flagship flash gun)
Video: 1080p60, 24Mbps AVCHD, super slow-mo:480p @ 220fps (reduced FOV)
Battery: battery life >500 CIPA
GPS: in-camera GPS
Wifi: optional wifi accessory
Other features: firmware is not finalized. in-cam HDR, multi-frame night scenes will go into production units once qualified.
X kit: GH3 + 12-35X

What do you think about it?

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Meantime the hackable GH2 is becoming cheaper and cheaper. You may check for a decent deal: [shopcountry 16254].

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

Source: Wikipedia.

It’s three years now that I am working on that tiny website. During that time I saw many “marketing-blabla-battles” :) There was first the Megapixel war, than the ISO war, than the 3D war and than the camera miniaturization war. Of course 98% of these are driven by marketing departments more than real customer needs.

The 4K myth:
So what’s coming next on the Advertising front? At NABshow in Las Vegas everything was about 2K-4K-8K video recording. So I guess we will soon see massive advertising for broadcast but also consumer cameras with 4K recording. Panasonic already announced that they will implement 4K in many new consumer camcorders. At that time it’s hard to think that the nee Panasonic Gh3 will have 4K (really don’t think it’s coming) but I thought it would be interesting for you to share that article about 2K and 4K:
http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/the-truth-about-2k-4k-the-future-of-pixels.
Here John Galt writes says about 4k: “The great perpetrators of that mythology have been RED and Dalsa. That’s why I call these “marketing pixels.” It’s intentional obfuscation. Because they really do nothing to improve image quality. They may improve sales volume. But they don’t do anything to quality. But somehow the world has accepted that that’s 4K. It’s purely semantic. It’s like saying, “I don’t like my weight in pounds so I converted to kilos. It sounds better! You’d be amazed at how many non-technical people I meet, often producers and directors, but sometimes even cinematographers get fooled by that stuff.”

Global Shutter:
One of the few things I got from my sources is that Panasonic is working on global shutter sensors. That yes could be implemented in a future GH3. To learn more about that technology read that pdf document at Caspegroup (Click here to download).

Interesting or not? I hope I can get some top rumors about the GH3 soon. About time for Panasonic to steal the show from the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]! ;)

P.S.: The Panasonic m43 3D lens isn’t really a hotseller and Panasonic lowered the price from $249 down to $79!!! Check at Adorama (Click here).