The new Polaroid iM1836 camera is now available for preorder at Amazon US (Click here to read full specs) and BHphoto (Click here). UPDATE: They market the camera as a Four Thirds camera but it is not!!! They just use the term “Four Thirds”  for marketing reasons. Here is the official Polaroid site and camera description:

Built into a compact 4/3 body with a sleek matte white finish, the iM1836 features a brilliant 3.5″ touch screen LCD display to help capture the perfect image every time.

And at Amazon you can read that it’s a “Compact micro 4/3 body“. This is a real mess and likely will have legal consequences.

Here is a video presentation fo the new camera:

Imaging Resource (Click here) published a full Question and Answer article with Olympus President Haruo Ogawa and Planning Manager Eiji Shirota. It’s a very interesting interview and here are some of the most important info:

– 2012 worldwide system camera sales: out of 20 million units, four million units were mirrorless or CSC.
– Olympus will not focus on sports photography but more on “field photography”. Ogawa says: “You can use our camera in any type of shooting circumstances.”
– Ogawa: “with the Olympus PEN launch, Olympus was able to capture the young and female demographics”
– Ogawa: “It’s true that we have been focusing upon the still image“. But in future Olympus will focus on video too: “Now we’re working on the next generation engine as well. For that next generation engine, we are expecting that movie sharing will be the new demand coming.” (with 4K support)
– Ogawa: “We need to have a solution for a smartphone user to smoothly use a mirrorless camera. So now we’re working on that.”
– Next products will have an even deeper buffer.
– Shirota explains that having on Sensor PDAf (instead of a separate AF sensor module) makes the PDAF more accurate.

Read the full interview at Imaging Resource!

Preorder Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.

[shoplink 42542 ebay][/shoplink]

Metabones announced the availability of a new Speed Booster Canon FD to MFT adapter! And I guess quite many readers here will be happy to read this! There is a very large set of [shoplink 42542 ebay]Canon FD lenses on eBay[/shoplink]. And usually these are very good quality lenses for a low price.

You can preorder the adapter now at Metabones (Click here).