A short deal reminder (click on shop names to visit the product page):
1) Both Panasonic GF1 kits have the lowest price ever on Amazon
2) The Olympus 9-18mm has a $100 instante rebate on Amazon
3) The Olympus E-P2 +14-42mm lens and EVF price now dropped to $899 on Amazon
The post about the Quesabesde article created a lot of buzz on 43rumors, dpreview and many other forums.
I wanted to share with you a small summary of facts and a personal opinion about the future of FourThirds.
A little bit of history:
We can say that all began with the interview on Amateur Photographer where a Olympus US manager said that “The Olympus E system of FourThirds cameras is likely to be completely mirrorless in two years time, according to Olympus America’s DSLR product manager.“. After that statement Olympus released official notes saying that FourThirds will continue to exist.
But since then rumors and speculation about a possible FourThirds “dead” have been floating around the web and never stopped. We received many mails from people saying that 43 will not have any future.
Curiousely we noticed that soon after the Amateur Photographer article we started to receive many rumors about Olympus hybrid or modular concepts. Those are really vague descriptions but such rumors came from different and sometimes also very known sources.
My two cent about the FourThirds future:
I do fully trust Olympus when they say that they will continue to develop the FourThirds line. But to me the question is not so much “if” they will continue but “how” they will continue. Olympus needs to invent something special to make FourThirds interesting for (semi-)professionals.
Today Zone-10 posted a new article where they predict the merging of the technologies using modular construction and adaptors: http://zone-10.com/cmsm/. Read it, it may gives you some hint on what could happen with FourThirds!
Anyway, Photokina is getting closer and the E-3 successor will give us the asnwer we need (I hope)!
A.
Panasonic will launch new compact cameras on July 21. The most advanced compact camera will be the Panasonic LX5.
For those of you interested in FourThirds and MicroFourThirds only: Panasonic made a very advanced new sensor for the LX5. It is very likely that some of those new features will be inside the new FourThirds sensor.
Bye the way, the same korean website that leaked the FZ100 also leaked the LX5:
Say bye bye to the gloriuos Panasonic LX3!
Last minute update -> Panasonic also registered the FX700:
Sony just announced their new NEX-VG10 camcorder. And it will come with no surprise that latest rumors we received said that Panasonic will unveil a new “revolutionary” camcorder on July 28.
UPDATE: It is not the AG-AF100 and not the GH2!
Below the first image of the Sony NEX camcorder
Quesabesde is a very serious and very well known photographic website. So what we are publishing here is not just a simple “cheap” rumor. And honestly 43rumors received very similar rumors from other sources in the past months.
What’s the news? Olympus will definitely abandon (or change?) the “classic” FourThirds line. The [shoplink 15032]Olympus E-3[/shoplink] FourThirds camera and there will be no more new FourThirds lenses. And I believe that most of the 43rumors readers will not be surprised to hear that.
We already reported on 43rumors months ago that Olympus deleted the launch of the new entry and medium level camera (a very last minute cancel !). MicroFourThirds and maybe the modular system that could be launched in 2011 will be the future.
Source: Quesabesde
UPDATE: A very important 43rumors note: Olympus officially said that they will not abandon FourThirds. Maybe Quesabesde and Olympus are both telling the truth and FourThirds will find a new way to get further (modular?). I for myself do trust in Olympus and I do not believe they are misleading us! I guess Photokina will give us the real and definitive answer!
Look what Panasonic Germany is showing us! A reference to the new Pansonic GF2!
UPDATE: It’s a mistake. It should be the Panasonic G2!
Few days ago Panasonic UK leaked the new LX5 (and removed the leak after few hours).
We all Thank “Robot” for the nice catch ;)
I confess that I received rumors about the GF2 from a reliable source, but we have learned no source is reliable enough, we have to get some more details also from different sources before to post something about it. But I expect an official presentation by late August/early September.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why the Panasonic GF1 price is falling (click here)
Panasonic GF1 price is falling (click here)
:)
An example? Amazon sells the Panasonic GF1 + 20mm Lens for $779.99 only (that’s the lowest amazon price ever)
Livedoor is very well known for their very cool renderings of future camera. Those are NOT the real cameras but I like their designs!
See more of those pictures on: http://blog.livedoor.jp/e_p1/archives/51464445.html
They also say that the LX5 and the FZ100 will be released on July 29th. Other two cameras will be announced on July 25th.
But one of our sources already told us that they are not correct. The cameras will be annoucned a little bit earlier…
P.S.: If the guys from Livedoor are reading me…one suggestion: Remove the “HD” mark form the GH2 and the FZ100 and add “FullHD” ;)
