Like Olympus also Panasonic will announce the new Micro Four Thirds stuff right before the CP+ show in Yokohama. The event starts on February 9 so we really don’t have to wait a lot to see the new products for real. This means:

1) For the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas (start on January 10) Olympus and Panasonic will now announce compact cameras only.

2) Panasonic will display the new 12-35mm and 35-100mm X lenses at the CES show in Las Vegas but unveil final complete specs and price before the Tokyo show in early February. I have been told that it’s highly unlikely that those lenses will be as fast as the super Zuiko [shoplink 25320 ebay]14-35mm f/2.0 (here on ebay)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25119 ebay]35-100mm f/2.0 (here on ebay)[/shoplink] lenses.

3) There is no GH3 coming now. I am still not sure if it will be announced for the Tokyo show.

4) The Olympus m43 camera with integrated viewfinder is not an FT5 rumor….but FT6 or FT7 or whatever :)  I am getting first rumors about the camera form trusted sources. Will post them soon!

Maybe the reason why Olympus and Panasonic will focus their announcements on the CP+ show is because of Nikon and Fuji. Both will announce two super cameras within the next days. The Nikon D4 and D800 and Fuji will announce their Fuji LX10 (or Fuji X PRo 1) with super organic sensor. You can follow the Fuji news on MirrorlessRumors.

Th picture on top shows a “portion” of the upcoming Fuji mirrorless. It’s not a Micro Four Thirds camera but I hope the new Olympus will look at least as sexy as that one. The Fuji is going to be announced soon and you should follow my other website MirrorlessRumors.com (Click here). I will post there everything I can find about the Fuji. Damn does it look nice.

An imaginary Micro Four Thirds camera with build-in viewfinder created by Livedoor.

Finally I have a FT5 rumor (FT5=from top source) about the new Olympus camera! Other sources already told me weeks ago that the camera was coming very soon. I thought (and hoped) that Olympus would unveil the camera at the CES show in Las Vegas which starts on January the 10th. No way! Olympus will “skip” that event and instead announce the new camera in February in the week between the 6th and 11th. All I know for certain is that the camera is weather sealed and that it has an integrated viewfinder.

P.S: Obviously the camera will be sold with the 12-50mm as kit lens. The lens itself is already in Stock in some stores: [shopcountry 27977].

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

What’s 100% sure is that the new Panasonic high end X lenses are coming soon (Janaury-February). Those will be lenses with constant aperture (f/2.8 or faster). I am still crossing my fingers to have them as fast as the [shoplink 25320 ebay]14-35mm f/2.0 (here on ebay)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25119 ebay]35-100mm f/2.0 (here on ebay)[/shoplink] Zuiko lenses. And I know these lenses are weather sealed so like Olympus also Panasonic has to release a weather sealed camera. Time for the GH3??? :)

P.S.: At least in USA the price dropped considerably in December. Check the price in those stores: [shopcountry 16254].

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

That’s just my guess guys but look at what’s going on. Amazon itself is no more selling the Olympus E-P3 (Click here to check). There are only a couple of cameras sold by third party resellers. And in other stores like Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here), the other white and silver kits are out of Stock. USA stores are usually very quick in selling out their camera stocks before the new announcements. So this might be a sign that the new Olympus camera with integrated viewfinder will replace the E-P3? I repeat I am still not 100% sure this is Olympus real plan. In my opinion Olympus should reduce and simplify the product strategy. E-P1, E-P2, E-P3, E-PL1, E-PL2, E-PL3, E-PM1. Olympus those are to many cameras with most of the times to small differences between each other. I would do something like that. An entry level m43 camera (like the [shoplink 23565]E-Pm1[/shoplink] but smaller), a more advanced PEN (Sort of [shoplink 23568]E-P3[/shoplink] with the tilting screen from [shoplink 23567]E-PL3[/shoplink]) and a semi pro model with integrated viewfinder. What do you think?