With all that “excitement” for the Zeiss and Schneider press releases we didn’t discuss two more “hidden” info that have been given to us.

1) The Zeiss-Olympus press release contains the following Olympus statement: “Olympus Imaging Corp. will continue to develop and enhance the product lineup for both standards to meet the diverse needs of our customers.“. So once again Olympus underlines that they will continue to develop both the Micro- and the Four Thirds system!

2) We didn’t talk a lot about it but also Komamura joined m43! Komamura is a “Japanese camera manufacturer / imaging company founded in 1933 as Komamura Brothers & Co. It develops multiple imaging-associated products including battery systems, color management systems and filters as well as professional-oriented cameras and lenses.” I confess that I didn’t know the company. But once you check their website (Click here) you quickly get the impression that they are a very professional company. I didn’t know they make the famous [shoplink 19679]Horseman[/shoplink] cameras! A wonder what kind of M43 products they will make! Can you think on any interesting “thing” they could do? That’s a very intriguing question!

Links:
– The supporting companies at four-thirds.org
– Horseman cameras on [shoplink 19679 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

[shoplink 15756][/shoplink]The [shoplink 14826]Panasonic GH1[/shoplink] with [shoplink 15756 ebay]Zeiss Cp+ lenses[/shoplink] shown at Photokina 2010 (Thanks Terry!)
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After Schneider Kreuznach also Carl Zeiss AG joins the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group! This is not a surprise, Zeiss already announced months ago that they would add an exchangeable m43 mount for the compact Prime CP.2 lenses (Click here to read our article). Those lenses are very expensive $3.900 each at [shoplink 15756 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Two anonymous sources also told us that Zeiss is taking into consideration to make a Micro Four Thirds version of the current 15.5-45mm f/2.6 Zoom lens. The lens could be available by mid 2011 (But keep in mind that those are rumors from unknown sources!).

PRESS RELEASE:
“Announced jointly by Olympus Imaging Corp. (President : Masaharu Okubo) and Panasonic Corporation in 2008, the Micro Four Thirds System standard has rapidly grown in popularity. Now, support for the standard is expanding with the decision of Carl Zeiss AG to join the Micro Four Thirds System standard, and the company is releasing lenses compliant with the standard.
For more than 160 years, the lenses of Carl Zeiss AG have been defining the state-of-the-art in optical technology. Now, as Carl Zeiss AG joins the Micro Four Thirds System group, ZEISS HD Video lenses will be available to users of Micro Four Thirds cameras, contributing to a vastly expanded product line and enhancing the joys of digital imaging with the Micro Four Thirds System.
As the originator of the Four Thirds System and Micro Four Thirds System standards, Olympus Imaging Corp. will continue to develop and enhance the product lineup for both standards to meet the diverse needs of our customers.”

As you see the press release clearly mentions “ZEISS HD Video lenses“. It doesn’t sound like they are going to make “normal” m43 lenses (would love to see some [shoplink 19666]zm-lenses[/shoplink] for m43!).

Links to:
– Press release: http://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2011a/nr110207zeisse.html
– CP+ lenses at BHphoto
– ZM lenses at [shopcountry 19666 ebay]

P.S: All good things come in three, so after Schneider and Zeiss…who is next?

Short break from Panasonic/Olympus news. It really looks like Canon will be the last company the join the new mirrorless market. Today they announced new Rebels. The Canon QL-D1 mirrorless camera rumor was abviousely fake (read the rumor at mirrorlessrumors.com). Sum the Canon news with Schneider Kreuznach and Zeiss joining the m43 group and with Pentax making a tiny small sensor mirrorless system. What do you see? A bright future for Micro Four Thirds :)

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Panasonic GH2 Indian Vacation

A little bit of Fuji X100 camera porn at DC.watch. And a first impression review at Photoradar. Reminder: Sign up at Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) or Amazon (Click here) to be notified when the camera will be in Stock.

Panasonic GH2 Baseball Auto Focus Test (Youtube)

Panasonic GF2 review at 01net.

GXR vs GF2 vs DP1x at DC.watch.

Olympus E-PL2 test at Ascii.jp and DC.watch.

Olympus XZ-1 review at DC.watch.

Which camera do you think looks the best? (E-PL1.net)

What a surprise!!! Schneider Kreuznach officially announced that they joined the Micro Four Thirds group! They will soon announce their first lenses! That’s great news for us! I don’t know yet if SK will make complete new lenses or simply adapt some of their [shoplink 19616 ebay]current C-mount lenses (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink]. Like the [shoplink 15432]Schneider 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink]. I have to find new source within Schneider Kreuznach….somebody out there that knows what kind of lens is coming?

UPDATE1: A wonder what Samsung is thinking right now. Will Schneider also make lenses for the Samsung NX system or not?

UPDATE2: Our reader “Shutterwill” found that interesting statement made by Mr. Jos.Schneider from Schneider optic back in June. When asked about the future of their 28mm 135 PC lense, he replied: “We had lots of legendary lenses for 135 system cameras before, but to put a manual focus lenses on a digital body is not the way to exploit the full potential of a digital system camera. Moreover, the number of photographers willing to use a manual focus lens is few. Therefore we have no plan for more DSLR lenses at this moment.” Ergo: Does it mean the future m43 lenses will have autofocus?

UPDATE3: This is the official english press release (Source: Thanks Steve!).
“SCHNEIDER KREUZNACH now a member of the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group
BAD KREUZNACH, 4 February 2011. Schneider-Kreuznach has joined the “Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group” – a consortium of companies with the objective of improving the possibilities and quality of compact digital cameras. Developed by Olympus and Panasonic, “Micro Four Thirds” is a standard for lens mounts that is tailored to digital system cameras. “This standard has great potential. It simplifies and improves the options for compact digital cameras and offers an excellent opportunity for the industry as a whole, as well as for us as a lens manufacturer. We are working intensively on a corresponding series of lenses,” says Dr. Josef Staub, CEO of the Schneider Group.
The standard defines the sensor size, the lens mount together with the communication protocol, the aspect ratio and the flange back distance, as well as the optical requirements for production and construction. The industry standard has been developed deliberately without taking into account conventional lenses, cameras or sensor sizes. In this way, compatibility problems with older components are avoided as is the need to compromise when designing new components.
The forum standard policy means that any member company can make and distribute accessories for the system that meet the standard. It is therefore possible to combine components from different manufacturers.”
Download the press release from Schneider (.pdf)