43 Rumors – Page 2241 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

Panasonic GF2 in Stock at Amazon and J&R (+ new Panasonic lens discount)

March 4, 2011
deals
6 Comments

[shoplink 17361]

[/shoplink]The new all black Panasonic GF2 is in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and J&R (Click here). The Silver GF2+14mm camera is in Stock at Adorama (Click here).

There are also two price drop on the newest Panasonic lenses:
– Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 had a $20 price drop at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
– Panasonic 100-300mm is in Stock for $529 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Reminder: Worldwide shipment of the Fuji X100 will start tomorrow. Preorders at Adorama (Click here).

(FT3) A few new technologies Olympus is testing for the future PRO cameras.

March 4, 2011
Rumors
62 Comments

Sometimes sources do send me info about camera prototypes and future technologies. As you can imagine it is very difficult to check if those info are correct or not.
Last week a new Olympus patent (Click here to read the article) confirmed that one of our source were right when he told me that Olympus had a prototype camera with semi-transparent mirror. The same sources also gave us a list of other technologies Olympus is working on:

– Sensor Shift with Rotation
– Larger Multi-Format Sensor (think [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink])
– New Battery Grip with Audio & Video I/O
– Single Shot HDR Capability
– Same Video Ability as [shoplink 14826]GH1[/shoplink]

The most amaizng feature is certainly the “Single Shot HDR Capability“. We already saw a few Olympus patents about this. But as we all know, we are talking about technologies we might see in a few years only!

New Olympus E-PL2 and XZ-1 reviews!

March 4, 2011
reviews
5 Comments

[shoplink 19904]

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DCresource (Click here) posted their Olympus XZ-1 review: “The XZ-1 is Olympus’ best compact camera in many years. It offers a good design, super-fast lens, beautiful OLED display, manual controls, and plenty of point-and-shoot toys. It does have its share of annoyances — perhaps more so than its competition (at least those cameras that I’ve used) — though I have to cut Olympus some slack, as this is their first generation model. The XZ-1 is absolutely worth your consideration — just be sure to check out the other models in its class before you buy.”
Click those links to visit the XZ-1 product page: [shopcountry 19904].

Trustedreviews (Click here) posted their Olympus E-PL2 review: “Taking everything into account, we’d still be hard pressed to choose between this and the GF2, which only falls down in comparison because unlike the E-PL2 it doesn’t feature body integral anti shake, but is otherwise we feel more streamlined and slightly easier to use. The Olympus counters with its impressive and fun Art Filters, so ultimately a personal hands on is going to be the best way for you to make this particular purchase decision.”
Click those links to visit the E-PL2 product page: [shopcountry 18844].

Reminder:
The new Olympus E-PL2 accessories are on auction at eBay and in Stock in some stores:
– MAL-1 Led Light at [shoplink 20217 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.
– PenPal bluetooth module at [shoplink 20218 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.

(FT5) After the G3 there will be one more Panasonic m43 camera in August!

March 3, 2011
Rumors
52 Comments

I am still waiting to get more news about the upcoming Panasonic G3 camera that should be announced in one month. But my sources already gave me some hints about the next Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera that is going to be announced after the G3! We have no specs yet but the camera will be announced in late August. It will not be a GH camera and not be a new GS model (which we suppose to be the Micro Four Thirds version of the [shoplink 19791 ebay]DMC-L1[/shoplink]). This should be also the last Panasonic m43 camera that will be announced within 2011!

P.S.: The G3 has a new sensor, new design and can take FullHD videos (but not at 24mbit/s like the new [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink]).
Link: DMC-L1 at Amazon and [shoplink 19791 ebay]eBay[/shoplink] Reminder: “FT5” stays for 80-99% reliable info!

Next good news from Amazon about the GH2 and GF2!

March 3, 2011
deals
6 Comments

[shoplink 16254]

[/shoplink]

GH2

Steve Jobs presented the new iPad? Guys, there is an even more impressive news coming from Panasonic :)
Yetserday one 43rumors reader ordered the GH2+14-140mm and got that mail shortly after from Amazon:
“We have good news! We’re able to get this part of your order to you faster than we originally promised:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 16.05 MP Live MOS Interchangeable Lens Camera with 3-inch Free-Angle Touch Screen LCD and 14-140mm HD Hybrid Lens (Black)”
Previous estimated arrival date: March 11 2011
New estimated arrival date: March 07 2011″
Son you might order the GH2 now at Amazon (Click here)! That time you should get the camera within a reasonable time!

UPDATE: They are not accepting preorders anymore :(

GF2

And the second good news is that also the new Panasonic GF2 will be in Stock on March 9 at Amazon (Click here).

Sounds like Panasonic is finally shipping their stuff…right before the new GF3 and GH3 camera announcements…LOL!

Triple new Olympus firmware for the E-5, E-PL2 and XZ-1

March 3, 2011
news
10 Comments

[shoplink 18844]

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Olympus just released the new firmware 1.1 for three cameras! Thise are the chnages for each camera:

E-5: Resolved issue of the LCD monitor color compensation being reset.
E-PL2: Changed default setting of Image Stabilizer (IS) to “On” when converter lens scene mode ([FISHEYE EFFECT], [ WIDE-ANGLE], and [ MACRO]) are selected.
XZ-1: Version 1.1 Resolved issue that occurred when the POWER button of the dedicated flash units was operated.

Click here to visit the Olympus firmware download page.

E-5 links to [shopcountry 17163].
E-PL2 links to [shopcountry 18844].
XZ-1 links to [shopcountry 19904].

Take a look at the original Panasonic GF1 patent

March 3, 2011
news
11 Comments

Companies do not only patent specific technologies but also camera designs. Take a look at the following Panasonic patent that explains the Panasonic GF1 design (Source: freepatentsonline). That’s the description:

“In one aspect, a mirrorless type imaging apparatus is provided. The imaging apparatus includes a mount to which a lens unit is mountable, an imager operable to produce an image signal from light incident through the lens unit, a light-emitter operable to emit light, and an electric storage device operable to supply electric power to the light-emitter, wherein the electric storage device is disposed behind the mount and below the imager.
According to, in the imaging apparatus of the aspect, the electric storage device is disposed below the imager, so that imaging apparatus can be miniaturized. Additionally, the electric storage device is disposed below the imager, so that an influence of heat generation of the imager on the electric storage device can be reduced.”

You might want to read the rest of the patent to see what’s so special on the GF1 ;)

Reminder: The Panasonic GF2 is in Stock almost everywhere (as usual US is the latest country in the world to get stocks of Panasonic cameras!). Check out price and availability clicking on those direct GF2 links: [shopcountry 17361].