Today another Olympus board member quit. It’s Makoto Nakatsuka that was named one of the key players of the accounting cover-up. And Amateur Photographer reports that it will take at least two months to organize an extraordinary shareholder meeting. This means the current board will be operational at least until February-March.

But let’s take a look at some other news. Who is playing a big role behind the Olympus fee scandal? Reuters reports: Goldmann Sachs bought a near 7% Olympus stake in November. Woodford said that he spoke with whom bought the stock for Goldman and he doesn’t believe they were trying to turn a quick profit on the company’s misfortunes: “I don’t forsee Olympus being sold or anything like that happening. Those interested in taking a stake see a company that will have a renaissance — and support a new strong management with me and others.”

But the real big news is coming via Market experts: They say that more than 50 percent of Olympus’s stock is now likely to be held outside Japan!!! And Mr. Woodford said: “I think overwhelmingly those outside Japan support me.”

So while the japanese board is getting decimated western investors are playing more and more a big role behind the scene. The Olympus crisis could end with a reinstatement of MR.Woodfrod as CEO and with the majority of shareholders being western banks and investment fonds.

The new Panasonic GH2 firmware 1.1 has been released. You can download it here: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/dl/gh2.html. (The Installation How-to is available here: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/index.html). The real HIghlight is the new 1080p25 24Mbp recording feature.

These are alle the new features and improvements:

1. Added a video mode [HIGH BIT RATE] which is suitable for editing video recorded at high bit rate(24Mbps).
2. Added a function [POWER ZOOM LENS] when using power zoom lens.
   ([DISP FOCAL LENGTH], [STEP ZOOM], [ZOOM RESUME], [ZOOM SPEED], [ZOOM RING]*)
3. Full area enlargement of AF area setting.
4. Improved in the speed of consecutive shooting when shot with auto bracket.
5. Increased number of recordable images in consecutive shooting.
6. [EX.TELE CONV. (Extra Tele Conversion)] can be set ON/OFF separately in photo or video recording.
7. More accurate light adjustment of built-in flash.
8. Improved in the AF performance in video recording.
9. Synchronization of alarm volume for low battery with [BEEP VOLUME].
10. Added a function [HALF PRESS RELEASE].
11. Improved NR (Noise Reduction) in high sensitivity shooting.
12. Added a function [TOUCH SCREEN] which is ON/OFF control of touch-screen.

The Panasonic GH2 got some discounts in USA and Europe. So if you don’t want to wait for the GH3 here are the direct search links to check the current price and deals: [shopcountry 16254].

Here is a list of works done by our 43rumors readers:

Farrukh: “I also visited a Michelin star restaurant today where I created this video clip and this photo set: implausibleblog.com Photos: flickr.com Really liking this lens!”

RS: “Mirrorless, but not a system: flickr.com shots taken with pre-production sample of Lumix 3D1, original MPO-files splitted/converted with shareware GraficConverter 7.5 by Lemkesoft (http://www.lemkesoft.com). GraphicConverter handles other .MPO-files from photos taken with Lumix 3D-lens at G-models (and Fuji), too flickr.com. You can recommend GraficConverter to all Mac-users, which don’t want see their 3D photos only on TV. And you can recommend  in general – It’s a real swiss army knife for photo editing, not only 3D. I use GraphicConverter as main browsing instrument and fast everyday-editing, when I dont need some special Photoshop features. As long as you don’t register and pay the little share, you only have to wait a few seconds after starting the program, that’s all, no other limitations.”

Russ: “Thought you’d be interested.  I’m gearing up for a 3 month bicycle trip to New Zealand and have switched to PENs for stills and video. Some samples here! Travel Video shot with PEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kYncfBywPw Review of 3 mics for PEN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcqaCbE2Dj8 CycloCross http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNdvcyk8HDw”.

Daniel: “I am currently living in New Zealand at the moment and working for Peter Jackson’s company Weta Digital.  We are all camera geeks there and I find your site very informative.
I made this little timelapse video with my Panasonic GF1 and wanted to share it with you.  My friend at worked built a motorized timelapse dolly for this short.  I thought it was fitting for you site so I wanted to share.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing about updates.   I am waiting for that pro camera with a view finder from Panasonic still. ;)  I think my next camera may be the GH3 or that new Fuji you just showed!
vimeo
http://vimeo.com/32377031
youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ym1fKs6nA&feature=youtu.be&hd=1”

Taz: “This is not a rumor but your site shared my SLR magic lens video a while back, so I was thinking it would be nice for people to see the Rokinon (Samyang) 7.5mm f3.5 lens as well. I did a quick unboxing with shooting video through the fisheye lens in the same video. Hope this helps! Here is the link: http://youtu.be/rcuBdqvlI-M”

Melvin: “Would like to share my new short film with 4/3rumors readers. Dolphins, killer whales, gannets, seals and puffins, all filmed on locations in the North Sea over 7 months time. Equipment used: GH2 with olympus zuiko lenses 9-18, 12-60, 35-100/2.0 150/2.0 and 300/2.8 and both zuiko converters. The close ups of the gannet were made with 300/2.8 and ec20. http://youtu.be/zSRpC3MfiM8 The gopro was used to film under water. A water proof housing for the GH2 could be an interesting option in future. GH2 and the zuiko lenses have proven to be a reliable setup for me. Great system!”

As usual keep sending me your best videos and pictures! Thanks!

The investigative panel published their Olympus report (Source: Reuters). UPDATE: You can download the pdf here.

Summary: Olympus had a huge speculation loss in the nineties. To cover the losses (and save Olympus?) Hideo Yamada and Hisashi Mori elaborated a “loss separation scheme” to hide the losses ($1.7 Million $) in acquisitions and fees. The report states that part of the management was aware of that (“rotten”), but that there is no link to the organised crime. That damaged the shareholders and the report clearly says that “fraudulent accounting” has been done. The report clearly advice the responsible managers to resign. In short, a revolution is needed.

The reaction of the market has been positive. Olympus shares had jumped as much 9% percent today (Source: Bloomberg). The main reasons for the jump is the chance that Olympus will not be delisted at the Tokyo exchange and that part of the board will probably have to resign.

But here is the “bad” question to you: What if they tried to hide the losses to keep the Olympus business alive? Wondering if Olympus would have survived if they wouldn’t have done that “loss separation scheme”.

Teaser on a project about Sevillanos universe shot by Steph on GH2 with Voigtländer 0.95 and Noktor 12mm.

An Olympus camera sculpture at Henry Road.

OLYMPUS SH-21 12.5x optical zoom, High-sensitivity shooting, Touch shot (Olympus Global).

GF2 with Olympus 45mm lens samples at Google Plus.

Will Canon buy Olympus? (Zone-10).

The Panasonic GF1 – A Landmark Camera by KJ Vogelius (SteveHuff).

New aluminium grips for the E-P3 (DC.watch).

Mitmachen: Lumix Festival für jungen Fotojournalismus 2012 (Photoscala).