Three days ago DClife noticed that Sharp added the new 8K MFT camera on their website. Last we heard about that camera was at the CES show where Sharp manager said the camera would be introduced by end 2020. Specs:

8K 30p
4k 60p (200Mbits/s at 10bit)
5.5 inch fully articulating touch display
Full size HDMi out (last year prototype didn’t have it)
Mini XLR input
Headphone and Audio Jack
Price under $4,000

One week after the official registration of a new lens (code “IM022”) Olympus also registered a new Micro Four Thirds camera in Russia (code “IM021”). No info yet if this is a new PEN-FII or E-M10IV.

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via Nokishita

Today Olympus registered a new Micro Four Thirds lens in Russia. It has the code “IM022”. This might be the 100-400mm lens that is on the roadmap.

Anyway, this is a good day because we now have both Panasonic and Olympus ready to announce new products:

1) Panasonic will announce the vlogger oriented G100 on June 24
2) Olympus will announce another new MFT lens within 1-2 months

MFT ain’t so dead after all ;)

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via Nokishita

UPDATE This post was corrected thanks to Mistral. I initialyl stated there would be a new camera but indeed it’s a new lens

Image on top shows current G95

At last we are going to get a new MFT camera from Panasonic! Nokishita report that Panasonic will announce “LUMIX DC-G100 (G110 in Germany)” soon. We have no specs yet…but stay tuned as I am sure we will know more about it soon!

An anonymous source sent me a rumor that I would normally NOT post. But it’s a kind of rumor I would wish to be true. So for the sake of discussion let’s read it:

Fans of Olympus Pen-F are in for a big surprise late 2020. Two versions – one premium aka Pen F mkII and one more in the line of a ordinary Pen but with viewfinder are in pipeline. Early stages but from a source high up in Olympus so very reliable.

We know from our source the PEN-F sales didn’t meat their goal. And that’s why Olympus scrapped the PEN-FII release. Still, the PEN-F camera is in my opinion the most beautiful MFT camera on market and I do hope Olympus reconsiders to make a successor. A PEN-FII with brand new sensor may sell more than they would expect! What do you think?

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The french website Photorend interviewed Yosuke Yamane, Director of Imaging Business Division at Panasonic:

2020 market forecast:
The full-size hybrid market will experience greater growth this year. Compact or SLR cameras will be on the decline.

MFT and FF:
There are two categories of users: one who appreciates mobility and the other who wants to have the best photo and video quality. These people are divided between the Micro 4/3 and the full format. The Micro 4/3 is still a very important format for us and we must continue to promote it for now.
The basic requirements of a camera for a photographer are its small size, lightness and mobility. These needs will not go away for camera users and we are trying to strengthen our advantage in the global market. For this purpose, we want to energize the Micro 4/3 as much as possible.
Regarding size, if a full-frame hybrid camera is smaller, combined with a lens, the total size remains large. On the other hand, the Micro 4/3 allows lenses and a whole much more compact than in full format. We will improve the functions and the quality of our Micro 4/3 ecosystem, please wait for future developments.

APS-C L-mount camera is not coming:
our strategy is very clear: we will strengthen the Micro 4/3 mounts and the L mount in full format. A small L-mount sensor could cause confusion on the market. We have two sizes of sensors. If we have three, this could cause confusion, so we will not develop an APS-C version of the L-mount and will focus on the full screen.

Panasonic considered making the L-mount compatible with m43 lenses:
Sony’s E-mount supports both APS-C and full frame, but we don’t expect a large number of users using large, full frame lenses to turn to small Micro 4/3 sensors. A common Micro 4/3 and full format system therefore makes little sense.
We understand this request and we seriously considered the issue when we developed our full format cameras to offer a unified format for full format and Micro 4/3 sensors, but we decided not to do it because we think it would does not bring great added value for the user.

Covid 19 effects:
we are trying to minimize the damage caused by the Covid-19 [Response dated March 5, 2020. Editor’s note]. We have a production site in China, but near the eastern coast, towards Taiwan, so the damage is not as great as in other cities; 80% of the employees have already returned to the factory, but some suppliers still have difficulties. In these circumstances, we try to minimize the damage. Camera factories in China are starting to operate again right now.

It’s interesting to read they considered to make L-mount somehow compatible with MFT (don’t know how this would have worked). But what’s more important is that we can expect new exciting MFT products to be announced sooN!