Image on top: The 16 Megapixel APS-C sensor from Aptina.

The only thing we now about the new Olympus OM-D sensor is that it has 16 megapixel, an increased dynamic range compared to the previous cameras and superb video quality. But the big question is …who made the sensor? I am having hard times to think that this is a Panasonic sensor. Panasonic wouldn’t give the newest sensor to Olympus before to use it on their own cameras. It could be Fuji but I don’t know if they want to cannibalize their newly launch X PRO 1. It could be a Sony, but again why ship sensors to a direct competitor? It could be Samsung that we know proposed their sensor tech to Oly. And it could be Aptina that is already selling their sensors for Nikon. Just for fun, I want you to place your bet:

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My bet goes to Aptina. It’s just my “feeling”, not a rumor :(

The 4K camera from Astrodesign with the [shoplink 14802]Panasonic 14-140mm lens[/shoplink].

Olympus Global (Click here) announced that Astrodesign, Kenko and Tamron joined the Micro Four Thirds group! Here is the company description:

ASTRODESIGN, Inc.

A Japanese company established in 1977 that designs and develops professional video equipment and measurement/analysis-related equipment. Well known for developing the world’s first programmable signal generator and the Ultra HDTV image processor devices used at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan.
ASTRODESIGN, Inc. Website
http://www.astrodesign.co.jp/english/
Editor’s note: It’s the very first time I hear about that company. And I am really wondering what kind of m43 related product they could release!!!

Kenko Tokina Co., Ltd.

A Japanese company established in 1957 that designs and develops a wide variety of photographic supplies and optical products. It is Japan’s largest manufacturer/seller of lens filters.
Kenko Tokina Co., Ltd. Website
http://www.kenkoglobal.com/
Editor’s note: Kenko has experience in camera and lens manufacturing. They made the [shoplink 28545 ebay]KF-1N (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink] which is F-mount camera. And they make well known [shoplink 28546 ebay]adapters and extensions tube[/shoplink] (mostly for Canon and Nikon).

Tamron Co., Ltd.

A Japanese company established in 1950 that designs and develops interchangeable SLR camera lenses, lens units for surveillance, as well as ultra-precision optical components based on the integration of advanced optical, electronic and precision machinery engineering technologies.
Tamron Co., Ltd. Website
http://www.tamron.co.jp/en/
Editor’s note: That’s certainly the biggest new entry. And it’s interesting to notice that they already did lenses for the OM system in the past ([shoplink 28547 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).

Plenty of good news for Olympus! First we have that nice OM announcement. Second Olympus is (slowly) getting out of the financial troubles. And today we have a third good news!

BCNawards (Click here) reports that Olympus had a mirrorless camera share of 36,6% in 2012. That’s a 7,5% gain over the last year (see screenshot on top). Panasonic lost around 9%. I don’t have the data of the overall digital camera market share but as you know in Japan mirrorless cameras are now selling almost as good as DSLR cameras. You can see the full ranking list for each category here at BCN. A reason for the Olympus success could be the triple PEN introduction back in June while Panasonic did wait until November to announce the nice [shoplink 26836]Panasonic GX1[/shoplink]. I am surprised to see that Sony felt back despite the NEX-5n and NEX-7 camera release! Of course they got hit by the Thai flood but my guess is that their unappealing and lacking lens offering could be a reason for the share drop.

There is no such nice ranking in other countries. As you know I rely on the very imprecise Amazon ranking listing to check if a camera is popular or not. But we know that in Europe and USA the mirrorless market isn’t growing as fast as in Asia. But I guess it’s only a matter of time until Mirrorless will surpass the DSLR market.

Watch:
Amazon ranking in USA (Click here)
Amazon ranking in UK (Click here)
Amazon ranking in Germany (Click here)
Amazon ranking in France (Click here)