I received a few rumors about non Micro Four Thirds related products from Olympus and Panasonic. I choose to post them because might some of you is interested in reading those.

As you know the CES show starts on January 6th. According to our sources there will be plenty of new compact cameras from Olympus and Panasonic.

1) Olympus will unveil new ompact cameras and the very interesting high-end compact camera (see the picture on top). It’s called XZ-1, it features the same [shoplink 17288]Panasonic LX5[/shoplink] sensor (10 Megapixel and 1:1.63 size). That camera will feature an amazing 28-112mm f/1.8-2.5 Lens!!!! That’s a lens I would love to have for Micro Four Thirds also instead of my old and cheap [shoplink 17922 ebay]C-mount lens zoom[/shoplink] :(
2) Panasonic will launch a new “S” compact series. There will be a DMC-S1 and DMC-S3. But there will be more new compact cameras like the Panasonic DMC-TS3, Panasonic DMC-FH2 and the Panasonic FH5.

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The SLRmagic company sent me a new email to say they will soon release more new Micro Four Thirds lenses. The next lens should be a fast 12mm prime.They didn’t told me how fast but I hope that it will come as close as possible to the [shoplink 18651 ebay]Avenir CCTV Lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink] which has a f/1.2 aperture. Reminder: All those SLRmagic lenses are cheap-quality non-professional manual lenses. But they are cheap and do have a Micro Four Thirds mount (there is no need for adapter). If you are looking for a professional wide angle lens you should go for the new [shoplink 16258]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 pancake[/shoplink] or wait for the next Olympus wide-pancake lens which will be announced during the next few months!

P.S.: Currently there are two SLRmagic lenses on eBay (Sold by the producer)
[shoplink 14881 ebay]35mm f/1.7 (Click here)[/shoplink] [shoplink 18603 ebay]26mm f/1.4 “Toy” Lens (Click here)[/shoplink]

Dear readers, and here we are with the new Olympus E-PL2! That camera should be announced at CES which starts the January 6th. The camera features the same [shoplink 14832]Olympus E-PL1[/shoplink] sensor but has a completely new design and some new features:

1) The E-PL2 comes along the new  14-42mm f3.5/5.6 MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) kit lens
2) It has a direct movie button
3) A new High resolution 3.0″ LCD (460K Dots)
4) A new Art filter ->Dramatic Tone
5) And it takes pictures up to ISO 6400
6) UPDATED -> It also has a new external Bluetooth module called “PENPAL”. You can attach it on the hot-shoe to instantly send pictures to your Android or Windows mobile phone and share pictures on Flickr, Facebook and other social networks!

The camera will be in Store by February. There is no price indication yet but you should keep following 43rumors and we hope to tell you more soon! Join us on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe our RSS feed.

P.S.: There is a Voigtländer lens in Stock on [shoplink 15659]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and the Panasonic GH2 is in Stock at Adorama (CLick here)!

According to our sources Olympus will announce one new Micro Four Thirds camera in February. The camera will replace one of the current PEN cameras. Don’t expect major changes, it uses the same 12 Megapixel sensor but at least it features a new sensor engine. Along with that camera Olympus will announce three new lenses. One of those will be the new kit lens of the new PEN (it’s a pancake). I received a few more details about that camera but I want to double check them with my trusted sources. If you have some news to share feel free to contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right sidebar. Thanks!

Reminder: The high-end MFT camera will be announced a short time after the new PEN (and yes it has a built-in viewfinder).