(FT5) HOT: New Panasonic GF7 camera within the next 3-4 months!

Good news folks. I now got the product codes of the next Panasonic camera! It will be the Panasonic GF7! As you know this is a more pro version of the current [shoplink 23109]Panasonic GF3[/shoplink].

As you see I got the REAL product codes:

DMC-GF7k: This is the GF7 with 14-42mm kit lens
DMC-GF7x: This is the GF7 with [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink]!

This usually means that the camera will be announced within the next 3-4 months!!! I am sure that Panasonic will announce new products between August26 and September 1. But I don’t know if the GF7 will be one of them. Anyway, I am working to give you some more details as soon as I can. And I still don’t know yet if the GF7 will have a built-in viewfinder like the [shoplink 23692 ebay]Panasonic DMC-L1[/shoplink] to compete against the upcoming Sony NEX-7 (Check SonyAlphaRumors to get more news about that cam).

Feel free to help me if you heard something about the GF7. Contact me by using the contact form you can find on the right sidebar. You already know that it work anonymously :)  Thanks!

 

(FT5) There will be a major Panasonic announcement for the IFA show in Berlin.

According to two of my trusted sources there will be a major Panasonic product announcement between August 26 and September 1. The new products will be displayed at the IFA in Berlin (the global trade show for consumer electronics). I am not sure yet about the products that will be announced but I am sure that there is at least a new Micro Four Thirds lens. I got some info from new sources but I do hope my trusted sources can tell me more soon. Just a reminder: Panasonic officially told that they would release at least two new m43 lenses this year. And they also told that the next two cameras they would release are the GF PRO and GH3.

If you heard something about the upcoming Panasonic (or Olympus) products feel free to send me an anonymous message using the contact form you see here on the right sidebar. As you know name and email address are NOT required and no hidden data like the IP-address gets stored. Would be nice if you could send me a sort of nickname so that I can recognize the source in future! Thanks!

 

Reminder -> 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

Sony counterattack with three new NEX cameras and three new lenses (+ two accessories)

How do we always say? Competition is good! And now there is plenty of serious new competition coming from Sony. The image on top shows two of the three new cameras (the third is the VG-20 NEX camcorder) and two of the three new NEX lenses (the third will be the 50mm 1.8 lens) that will be announced in late August. The NEX-7 could be the first camera that will make serious competition to the popular [shoplink 19929]Fuji X100[/shoplink]. Otherwise the lenses are nice, but very big! As you see the Zeiss is certainly NOT a pancake! And the worst news is that the new OLED external viewfinder will not work on the current NEX cameras. P.S: There is also an adapter with built.in translucent mirror. Something similar could come from Olympus next yea (with built-in classic mirror and prism).

What do you think about those products?

Source: SonyAlphaRumors.com

(FT4) GH3 with AVCHD 2.0!

According to a trusted source the GH3 will support the just announced new AVCHD 2.0 codec with 1080p60/50 and maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s. As you know the current GH2 uses a native 60p sensor but file gets stored in 24i or 30i only (50i at 720 lines).  Below you can read the specs of the new AVCHD 2.0:

P.S:
Links to the current GH2 at [shopcountry 16254].
Links to the first GH1 camera at [shopcountry 14826].

14-42mm Micro Four Thirds version one and version two test at ePhotozine

[shoplink 14816][/shoplink]

There is a curious new review at ePhotozine! They tested both kit lenses, the first generation 14-42mm for Micro Four Thirds (Click here to read the review) and the second generation 14-42mm lens for Micro Four Thirds (Click here to read the review). And guess what? There is indeed a small image quality difference! ePhotozine writes: “The MkI version of this lens may provide better sharpness from edge to edge, but the enhanced design and faster focusing make the lower sharpness towards the edges penalty worth paying.

Those are the search links to all version of the 14-42mm lens (as you know there are now three different versions!): [shopcountry 14816].

Panasonic slips into the red zone (financial report). Olympus and Casio to develop together compact cameras?

The German website Photoscala (Click here) analyzed the first quarter results from Panasonic. The company had a net loss of 30.4 billion yen (approximately € 273.3 million) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011/12. This is of course also the result of the Tsunami/Fukushima disaster.
The digital camera sales can be increased with 44.4 billion yen (about € 400 million) over the fourth quarter of last fiscal year by almost 34%. But it’s still 13% below the fiscal first quarter from last year.

There is a small rumor running in Japan (Source: etnews.com) saying that Olympus and Casio are ready for a partnership in the compact camera segment. It sounds like Olympus will develop future compact cameras together with Casio. Those compacts will use Olympus lenses and Sony sensors. I know it’s not a Micro Four Thirds related news but the most interesting bit of info is that Olympus would drop Panasonic sensors in favour of Sony sensors. At that point I want to remind you that trusted sources said that Samsung offered to make Four Thirds sensors for Oly. If we should give some credit to those rumors than Olympus is trying to become more independent from Panasonic sensors.

Rumors from others: Nikon sensor versus m43 sensor, NEX-7 specs, NX200 rumors.


Image source: Jorginho (Dpreview forum user)

There are a couple of new interesting “mirrorless” rumors:

1) Nikon could announce their new mirrorless system on August 24. As you see from the image on top the sensor is smaller than the Micro Four Thirds sensor. How will the image quality be compared to m43 cameras? Thom Hogan says: “What if–and please, this is a what if, not a will–but what if Nikon was able to put a 10mp+ sensor into a Coolpix P7000-sized body ([shoplink 24280 ebay]Click here to see that camera[/shoplink]) that had an m4/3 level of image capability? I believe that’s in the realm of possibilities.

2) Sony will announce a NEX-7 with built-in viewfinder by end of August. It should have an ISO range of 100 up to 25.600 (Source: SonyAlphaRumors).

3) There are also new NX200 rumors coming from Russia. No built-in EVF, no touch-screen, no tilt-lcd. Sounds boring! (Source: MirrorlessRumors)