43 Rumors – Page 1617 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

Panasonic interview at DC.watch: Confesses the 4K GH is likely to come :)

December 11, 2013
Rumors
76 Comments

Also Panasonic Manager Ichiro Kitao has been interviewed at DC.watch (google translation here). Here are some key info:

– One of the key are of that needs improvement is connectivity with smartphones.
– Yes, the compact camera market is shrinking but High magnification zoom compact cameras are still selling fine (read Panasonic FZ series).
– What’s changing now in the mirrorless interchangeable market is that we see a shift towards more pro products (read Sony A7-A7r). Initially mirrorless cameras were not sees as “professional” tools. Now that perception is changing.
– The key development areas to make better mirroless cameras are : Imaging processor, sensor and EVF.
– The GH3 is particularly popular among people who shoots videos.
– A GH with 4K is likely to come within 2014

In Summary: Guys, start saving your money for the GH 4K camera :)

GF3 sells for 99 and kit sells for 199 Euro in France.

December 11, 2013
deals
29 Comments

As you know well it doesn’t happen often to see great deals like that:
You can grab the Panasonic GF3 body for 99 Euro directly at Panasonic France store (Click here).
Panasonic GF3 body with 14-42mm lens for 199 Euro directly at Panasonic France store (Click here).
Don’t know if also non French residents can buy them!

Update: Blitzangebot on the E-PM2 kit at Amazon Germany.

Olympus E-PL3 kit sells for $199 at Newegg.

December 10, 2013
deals
41 Comments

There is the next great deal running today in USA: You can grab the Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens for $199 at Newegg (Click here). Note that the lens alone sells for $299 at Amazon. So make your calc :)

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Reminder: Up to $800 off on Olympus cameras+lens bundles at Amazon deal page (Click here) or at BHphoto (Click on Buy Together & Save link).

Olympus interview at DC.watch: Focus on OMD and more professional market.

December 10, 2013
news
116 Comments

Mr. Yukihiko of Olympus Imaging Development Division has been interviewed by DC.watch (google translation here). I highlighted the key info in the hope google translation tool didn’t fool me as it happens sometimes:

1) Worldwide DSLR+Mirrorless Camera Sales went down by 15%. But Mirrorless alone is till on expansion (Sales are growing for both lens and cameras).
2) The PEN series is not selling as expected in USA and Europe, but the E-M5 sold very well in Europe. (PEN and OMD are selling well in Asian countries).
3) The manager is confident that the E-M1 will sell better in EU and US than previous MFT cameras.
4) Future focus is on premium products (New OMD camera and lenses, and so on).

Note, there was a lot of talk about OMD and absolute zero talk about PEN. Probably Olympus marketing is betting on OMD cameras (and less on PEN’s) to increase their sales in 2014.

North America doesn’t like Mirrorless cameras, rest of the world…does like them!

December 10, 2013
news
231 Comments

CIPA data of cameras shipped by Japanese companies (October 2013)

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It wasn’t really a secret but now you can see it on a nice graph (Thanks to Personal-View). As you see Asian countries are rapidly switching from DSLR to Mirrorless cameras. Europe’s mirrorless market is also slowly growing. But it’s in North America where Mirrorless cameras still cannot come closer to DSLR sales. Hard to say for me why it is so. Wrong marketing, different culture., or something else…you guess :)

US deal of the day: Panasonic Lumix ZS20 (20X) gets 50% off.

December 9, 2013
deals
3 Comments

It’s not a MFT camera but the deal is great anyway on a 20x zoom camera that really fits in your pocket: $50 off on the Panasonic ZS20 at Amazon US (Today only!).
Reminder: Up to $800 off on Olympus cameras+lens bundles at Amazon deal page (Click here) or at BHphoto (Click on Buy Together & Save link).

(FT5) Short updated: New GH 4K is coming first half of 2014. And so the new OMD.

December 9, 2013
Rumors
146 Comments

gh4
The last two weeks I got more feedback from trusted sources about the next (very soon to come) new MFT camera announcements:

Panasonic GH 4K
Two more sources confirmed a new GH 4K camera announcement for the first half of 2014. They also said that the specs we posted here on 43rumors are very close to the final camera specs. Here they are:
16mp
1/8000 shutter
1mil dot OLED screen
21mm OLED viewfinder, 3,000+ dot.
Time code
200mbps mp4 All-i/100mbps IPB
4k/30p
4:2:2 10/8bit output
3G-SDI and XLR adaptor (An adaptor that the camera sits on with XLR x2, HD-SDI x4)
Price: €2799

Olympus OMD
And other sources also confirmed the entry level OMD will be announced in February. No specs yet although we can expect the camera to have minor differences only (compared with the EM5).

In short:
Both cameras are coming for sure! I didn’t get any info yet about new PEN and other G or GF cameras.

Leica and Sigma Suprises:
I am currently working to see if Sigma will make a new MFT camera. What’s 100% sure is that Leica will NOT launch an MFT camera.

P.S.: More rumors about the new lenses will be posted soon!

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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