UPDATE: I added the image from the Olympus presentation

UPDATE_2: You can download the full pdf (Click here).

This rumor and antirumor game is never ending! Reuters now reports that “Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp has no plan to invest in Olympus Corp , President Fumio Ohtsubo told Reuters on Thursday“. Also Olympus denied the deal rumor. We can no more trust Reuters :)

Anyway, Olympus released an official press release describing their plans (Source: Bloomberg). Bloomberg reprts: “2,700 jobs are to be eliminated by March 2014. Most of the jobs being cut are in overseas manufacturing, Sasa told reporters in Tokyo today. The company will close a plant in the Philippines this year and will reorganize others”

The good news is that “The company plans to restructure its imaging business and increase the focus on mirrorless cameras and high-end compact models, it said in the statement.” That is what I needed to hear! Compact camera and Four Thirds camera business is not where Olympus can earn the money in future. It’s an obvious step to focus on the strengths of the m43 business!

According to a couple of our sources Olympus will introduce new PEN cameras in September. And according to them the line up will be “revolutionized“. Currently there are three categories, the E-PM, the E-PL and the E-P series. I have been told the line up will be simplified and the differences will be more “obvious“. Olympus evaluated the PEN sales and user satisfaction. All I can share with you now is that Olympus were surprised by the huge [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3 (Click here)[/shoplink] sales. I am double checking the rumors I am getting about the new Olympus cameras to avoid posting wrong rumors. During the last weeks I got some very intriguing rumor about the next Olympus and Panasonic announcements. Stay tuned guys! I am doing my best to share with you all I know as soon as I can!

UPDATE: The term “revolution” has been used to say that Olympus will change the PEN strategy…not that the camera itslef will have some revolutionary features (at least not that I know of).

To all sources: As usual I try to double check carefully the rumors I get to avoid bigger mistakes. I ask my sources and you reader to share me some info if you have some by contacting me anonymously at 43rumors@gmail.com or via contact form on the right sidebar. If you can use some kind of fake name so that I can recognize you in future. Better if you create a fake gmail account so that we can chat directly. Sources should know that it may pass some time before I post something and that I will rewrite the text in order to hide your style.

P.S.: Links to the current three PEN cameras:
Olympus E-P3 at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus E-PL3 at [shopcountry 23567].
Olympus E-PM1 at [shopcountry 23565].

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

Image on top: The 1 inch compact camera from Sony.

It’s always nice to see how the high end compact cameras (with fixed lens) are evolving. They sometimes offer a great alternative to our Micro Four Thirds cameras because of the ulterior size advantage. My sources told me that Olympus/Panasonic will release the new LX5 and [shoplink 19904]XZ-1[/shoplink] successor within the next 2-3 months (probably July). One rumor I heard many times is that they will both use a larger sensors. This is not a big secret. A couple of months ago Techradar (Click here) interviewed Yoshiyuki Inoue (Panasonic Senior Engineering Planner) who said “one aspect that is being given serious consideration for the camera that replaces the LX5 is increasing the size of the sensor, Panasonic’s Mr Uematsu even joked that it could have a 1in sensor like the new Nikon V1.”. Today Sony unveiled exactly an one inch RX100 camera -> Price and specs at Amazon US (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). So it’s possible that this is the kind of high end camera we will see soon coming from Olympus and Panasonic too! I think it would be a great solution for all of you looking for an extremely compact camera with zoom lens. Don’t you think?

P.S.:
LX5 at [shopcountry 21136].
XZ-2 at [shopcountry 19904].