A newly published Olympus patent (Source: Egami) discloses the design of a new “Lens-Camera”. It works just like the [shoplink 48340 ebay]Sony QX lenscameras (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. I guess this kind of product will be announced soon as Olympus already showed a similar version with their Open Platform camera. This is Olympus answer to the dying compact camera market. But I really don’t know if that is really the right solution…

Image courtesy: ePhotozine

4K LX100 video by Panasonic Japan.

Olympus Feedback Time! Send your questions to Olympus (Jamie McDonald)
A look at the Panasonic FZ1000 (EosHD).
Panasonic GH4 setup guide by Suggestionofmotion.
How to Choose Your First Micro Four Thirds Lens for the GH4 (Suggestionofmotion).
Tamron 14-150mm f/3.5-5.8 Di III Review (Photographyblog).
Olympus E-PL7 gallery (Imaging Resource).
Chinese E-PL7 review at Fengniao.
E-PL7 und Novoflex Castbal TS90 (Pen And Tell).

Daniel: “I just wanted to share with you a short video I created using the now very cheap GH3! I sure would love to upgrade to the GH4 but I would love to share what is still possible with what you have :)
I also have a updated photo gallery all shot with micro four third cameras!. I have own a Gf1, EM-5, and a GH-3. If you find my work of interest at all feel free to share. Thank you for your time. Photo gallery http://www.danmoy.com/#!members/citr. Video links https://vimeo.com/85800597 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM1NKIde-Gw”

TriNavi: “Just wanted to let you know that the Panasonic LX100 and Leica D-lux will have only 50 euro price difference in Verkkokauppa.com, the largest retailer in Finland.  http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/search?q=lx100 The D-lux package includes Adobe Lightroom. With such small price difference, I think many will choose the Leica over the Panasonic even if they already have Lightroom.”

Nicholas: “The Olympus EM-5 never gets any love for its video quality but I think a lot of people tend to look at things from too high a vantage point. https://vimeo.com/105802470”

Elvis: I’ve recently released my first feature film that was shot on the Pansonic GH3 (and the GH2 for a few scenes). It’s available free on Vimeo just in case you might want to share it in the “A bit of everything” posts! http://projections.augustproject.org”

James: “A short film about despair, hope, and redemption which uses the GH3 and 12-35mm 2.8 lens for some key shots. http://vimeo.com/109902598“

MirrorlessLessons (Click here) posted their full Olympus 40-150mm PRO lens review:

The lens gives excellent results in terms of sharpness, bokeh and versatility. It is certainly the biggest lens for MFT but don’t be fooled by its appearance. It is actually not that big for what it delivers.

Buchan Grant (Click here) also tested the new Olympus PRO lens:

In practical use, when teamed up with the in body stabilisation found in the OMD EM1, this lens offers the sort of usability and performance that shows what a jolly good idea it was for Olympus to go down the micro four thirds design route in the first place. That decision has led directly to innovations and products which are increasingly making traditional DSLR’s look like dinosaurs.

Olympus preorders:
Silver E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus. In Europe at Wex UK.
40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus. In Europe at Wex UK, Technikdirekt and Amazon.
LH-76 lens hood at Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus.
MC-14 1.4x teleconverter at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus.
PRF-ZD62 Z protection filter at Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus.
PRF-ZD72 Z protection filter at Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus.
General links to all new Olympus stuff at Adorama.
ALL new stuff announced at Photokina at Amazon.

Panasonic preorders:
LX100 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto. Europe at WexUK.
GM5 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto. Europe at WexUK.
GM5 in red at Adorama.
35-100mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.

Panasonic managed quite quickly to get out from the financial crisis they had a couple of years ago. They did it by shifting from being consumer-oriented to focusing on businesses (Source: Bloomberg). Their investment in solar panels, car-navigation systems and other businesses are paying off. The full report can be read at Panasonic.com.

There is no info about how the camera business is going. The AVC networks segments which also contains the digital camera business only shows a 3% decrease ins ales but Panasonic said that the main reason is the decrease in sales of ruggedized PC’s and tablets. All we know is that Panasonic manager stated lately that the Gh4 and FZ1000 sales where 2,5 times higher than expected.