Posts under ‘Rumors’

Those crazy Swedes are at it again. After last year’s H4D/60 intro, what other bits of fun can they have in store for us? Central (leaf)/Focal Plane shutters? New DSLR shaped body? New MFD rangefinder? What’s your guess?

In anticipation of the 09/09/09 launch (does Tim Burton own a Leica?), someone cracked and posted images of the new cameras. The new cameras are the Leica M9 and the Leica X1. Specs (courtesy of Leicarumors.com) The Leica X1 is real (not sure about the Leica M9 picture). Here are some of [...]

Freshly minted rumor site ZeissRumors has some information pertaining to the long awaited (desired)  digital version of the Zeiss Ikon rangefinder system. When Leica launched it’s M8 digital rangefinder in 2006, many users (myself included) wondered if Zeiss would be far behind in producing a digital version of its M-mount based rangefinder. The folks at [...]

Leicarumors and other sites are reporting that Leica is planning to announce a new digital M camera on 09-09-09 at 9:09 AM. The timing is serendipitous, that’s for sure. Many Leica owners are unloading their M8’s and M8.2’s in anticipation of the new M which is rumored to be full-frame.
Here are some mock-ups that have [...]

The Olympus E-P1, their long-awaited entry into the Micro Four-Thirds arena announced last year, is going to be formally announced tomorrow. Many images have surfaced including a tiny version of this:

I should have full press releases on the 16th and hopefully a review sample some time thereafter. I just hope they offer it in black…

Olympus’ highly anticipated entry into the micro four-thirds arena, the direct descendant of the classic Olympus PEN, is scheduled to be revealed on June 16, 2009. … Here is the image in question: Based on this top-down view, we can assume the following: No built-in flash (popup or otherwise) No optical/electronic viewfinder (possible shoe-mounted accessory as was previously speculated) In-camera image stabilization/dust removal (SSWF = Supersonic Wave Filter) Full/semi-auto + manual operation and movie mode (HD?)

LCD display ▪ Pop-up flash ▪ Flash sync (1/500) ▪ Camera level ▪ 23 AF sensors ▪ Quick Live View ▪ Video Full HD ▪ Dust/splashes sealed ▪ Aluminum-magnesium alloy body ▪ Released early September, 2009 Similarly, the rumor mills are now abuzz with a tidbit that states that Nikon will not repeat the successful formula of stuffing their top-end pro sensor into a more compact semi-pro body (Nikon D3 –> Nikon D700) and instead will introduce another pro level body (even money says it will be the D3H). Now seeing as the Nikon D3X and Sony Alpha 900 share the same base sensor (the surrounding electronics and image processing engines are vastly different), it is not too large a stretch of the imagination that the D3H and any semi-pro offspring will sport a similar sensor.

Photorumors.com (great site, I highly recommend it) posted a shot from a movie posted on the Olympus website ostensibly celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Olympus PEN camera. However, since previous statements by Olympus bigwigs indicate that their long-awaited μ4/3 camera will honor the PEN design (and the prototype which I have seen with my own eyes is very PEN-ish) could this be a teaser for said camera?

In discussions with other photographers (especially those who can read/translate japanese) the announcement states that: the Olympus micro-4/3rds camera(s) have been designed to carry on the philosophy of the “silver-halide” era PEN half-frame cameras; about a third of compact camera users are considering moving up to a DSLR but don’t because those cameras are too big, heavy, expensive, and complex — these users are seen as the target for the micro-4/3rds models; this is the strategy by which Olympus can “revive their imaging business”. [translation provided here ] So Olympus, like Panasonic, is targeting the “soccer mom” looking to move up from P&S cameras to something more sophisticated but still maintain ease of use and small size. … The design is such a hit that Panasonic & Leica are rumored to be hard at work designing a μ4/3 system similar to it which will likely be sold as the Lumix LX-5/D-Lux 5 respectively.

When Nikon introduced it’s flagship D3 many (including myself) wondered when the other shoe was going to drop. Historically, Nikon would introduce a pro body at a resolution that was comparable to other devices in the class and later bring out an “X” model that ups the ante without having to introduce a whole new [...]