Panasonic: “Digital camera business can be profitable. We are selling more 2.5 times more 4K cameras than expected!”

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After a couple of years of troubles it really looks like Panasonic is on the right path to finally make $$$ with the digital camera business. Nikkei interviewed Mr. Takuya Sugita from Panasonic and there are a couple of interesting info:

– The “luxury compact” and  interchangeable lens “mirror-less” market is growing.
– Despite the previous crisis Panasonic decided to continue the digital camera business because they believe to be able to fight in the “new arena” (luxury compact and mirrorless).
– We will continue to evolve on lens and image sensor technology. And we will add technology that can not be realized on a smartphone.
– The sales of the Panasonic 4K cameras is strong. The exact number will not let obvious, but Panasonic says they are selling about 2.5 times more than expected!
– CM1 product planning has begun 1-2 years ago. It has been realized in conjunction with the digital camera and Panasonic Mobile Communication team.

Can’t wait to see their next financial report. Hopefully we will start to see first Black Numbers written on the Digital Camera financial report!

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Double E-PL7 review at Photographyblog and ThePhoblographer.

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We almost forgot there is a new PEN :) Here are two new reviews of the Olympus E-PL7:

Photographyblog writes:

In truth though there may be little that is truly revolutionary compared to previous recent iterations of the Pen series, this is another solid entry that looks the part and performs well. So, if you are seeking a lighter alternative to a DSLR that is still capable of taking some stunning pictures on occasion, then the 16.1 effective megapixel Olympus E-PL7 will be worthy of a place on your wish list.

ThePhoBlographer writes:

Most people coming to this camera as newcomers to Olympus will get a great machine. However, for those who have been following the Micro Four Thirds world closely, there’s nothing terribly exciting about the E-PL7 other than some reshuffled technology. Personally, I would hold out for Olympus to introduce a camera with an all new sensor after so many years.

E-PL7 specs and price links:
Silver E-PL7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Black E-PL7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Silver E-PL7 with lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Black E-PL7 with lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
White E-PL7 at Wex UK.

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Dpreview tests the GH4 and says it’s “the king of accessible stills/movie hybrids”.

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Better late than never! We finally have the GH4 tested at Dpreview (Click here). The camera earned the Gold Award with a very high 85% score:

Despite the increased competition, the GH4 remains the king of accessible stills/movie hybrids. The enhanced movie capabilities are well integrated such that both types of shooting work well, without impeding the other. The result is a remarkably capable all-in-one package that lets you capture good quality footage and excellent stills from a sensibly-sized standalone camera.

The Gh4 does almost everything right. It will be hard for Panasonic to make a much better GH5 next time!

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GH4 North American store links:
GH4 camera at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Ritz Camera and Panasonic. Price: $1,698. In Canada at Vistek.
GH4 camera with interface unit at Adorama and BHphoto. Price: $3,298
Interface unit only at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic. Price: $1,998

GH4 Europen store links:
Germany: Wexcameras, Marcotec-shop.de.
UK at Wexphotographic, CameraWorld, UKdigital, CVP, TipTop.
Holland at Fotohanskeuzekamp.
Belgium at Fotokonijnenberg.
Norway at Fotovideo.
Sweden at Cyberphoto, Skandinavianphoto.
Finland at Telefoto, Topshot, Verkkoauppa.
France at Photocineshop.
Spain: Fotoboom.

Asian store links:
Digitalrev and Digidirect Australia.

4K cards
Kingston 16-32-64 GB SDHC UHS-I Speed Class 3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sandisk 16-32-64 GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Transcend 64-128 GB High Speed 10 UHS-3 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Panasonic 16-32-64 GB SDHC-UHS-I U3 Card (90MB/s) at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

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New LX100 and Oly 40-150mm tests (CameraLabs, TPB, Imaging Resources and more)

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Image courtesy: Quesabesde

The Spanish magazine Quesabesde (google translation here) tested the Panasonic LX100. The LX100 convinces “in terms of performance, design, management and philosophy”. But Quesabesde also feels the JPG quality is the weak point of the package because RAW images are so much better. You can download the original RAW files on their site!

ThePhoBlographer tested the Olympus 40-150mm lens and wirtes:

Among any of the Olympus zoom lens offerings that we’ve tested, the 40-150mm f2.8 PRO is the one that I loved the absolute most and almost didn’t want to send back. It’s lightweight, fairly small for what it is, fast to focus, offers crisp image quality, is weather sealed, and won’t fail you when working. For the wedding, sports, portrait, or journalism photographer that needs to work with zooms, you should know that Olympus now has the best zoom lens lineup of any manufacturer in the mirrorless camera world.

And here are more LX100 and Olympus 40-150mm news:
Hands-on with the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro (Imaging Resource).
Canon PowerShot G7 X and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 added to studio comparison (Dpreview).
LX100 gallery at CameraLabs.

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.

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.

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Panasonic patent discloses an Olympus “Open Platform” alike camera with three RGB sensors.

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A new Panasonic US patent filed on June 4 discloses that Micro Four Thirds camera with “cube” form just like the recently introduced Olympus Open Platform camera prototype (article and images here). But the Panasonic patent is more detailed about the camera details than the Olympus prototype. The Panasonic version uses a color separation prism and three sensor each sensible to different colors (Red-Green-Blue).

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Such a camera may be suited for professional video recording. But if that patented idea will ever make it into a real mass product is yet unclear.

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New Olympus US deals list (on lenses and cameras).

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This is the updated MFT deals list from GetOlympus US (Click here):

Up to $100 Off Portrait Prime Lenses for PEN & OM-D
Save $50 on the M.75-300mm f4.8-6.7 II
$800 Off Lenses with OM-D or PEN Purchase
VF-4: Only $99.99 with E-P5 Body Purchase
PEN E-P5: Over $479 in Savings!
PEN E-PL5: $100 Off + FREE Wi-Fi Card

Do not forget: E-M1 for $1,079 sold by [shoplink 48867 ebay]eBay Canadian Store (Click here)[/shoplink]. CameraLand US sells the E-M10 with $100 off and free lens: [shoplink 48766 ebay]Black E-M10 kit (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 48767 ebay]Silver E-M10 kit (Click here)[/shoplink].

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