Bloomberg reported Sony has halted production and evacuated six factories in northeastern Japan.
According to AP, Canon also halted production in some of their plants. Only 12 employees suffered minor injuries.
Nikon (factories located in Sendai) reported no injured employees, factories not significantly affected.
World’s smallest camera compared to a needle
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have created the world’s smallest camera with dimensions of 1 x 1 x 1 mm. The camera has 62,500px resolution, can take 250x250px images and is very cheap to produce.
Sigma will be releasing a series of fast prime lenses in the next 18 months. Some of the mentioned focal lengths are: 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2. Sigma already has 30mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4 prime lenses available in different mounts.
Intel announced that Canon will join other companies that support the new Thunderbolt technology. No further details were provided. Few weeks ago there were rumors that the upcoming Nikon D4 will also support Thunderbolt.
Gdgt reported a rumor that Sony is working on a digital camera with integrated 3G connection. This will not be another smart phone, but rather a Cybershot camera that will allow instant upload of images online via an integrated 3G connection. Sony already has a Cybershot phone in Japan and such camera will not require a lot of R&D:
Sigma officially confirmed to Froknowsphoto that the price of the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG APO Macro HSM AF lens was increased from to $799 to $949:
“The price increase on the 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II was due to an increase in manufacturing costs and the current poor exchange rate. However, please note that the price of the OS version was decreased based on the anticipated high sales volume and in order to remain competitive in this category. That being said, the difference in price between the two versions is now only $450.00 where in the past it was nearly $800.00.”
If you were planning on buying this lens, Amazon still has 6 left in stock at $749.
Pentax just announced the long awaited firmware update v1.03 for the K-5 DSLR model that will fix the front-focusing issues in low light. The new firmware can be downloaded here.
Pentax also release a new firmware update v1.02 for the 645D medium format camera.
Via PentaxForum
EOSHD reports that Canon is working on a new codec for the 5D Mark III based on the MPEG format:
“It will feature a 4-2-2 colour space and a variable bit rate, up to 50mbit. The move is necessary to avoid paying AVCHD / H.264 licensing fees to Panasonic and Sony.
The codec will basically be a slightly improved version of the XF codec, first developed for the XF300 and XF305 professional camcorders which are based on MPEG-2.”
Today is the last day of the Focus on Imaging show in the UK. The only major new product announcement came from Samyang. A new prototype of a portable flash system from MagneFlash also caught my attention: it has a built-in rechargeable batteries in the flash head, the unit is sealed and can be used outdoors without cables.
As expected, the Fuji X100 was the most covered camera of the show. Here are two Fuji X100 videos:
Back in January of 2011 PhotoRumors reported about a possibility that Sony will release a new mirrorless camera (A-mount) with 3 sensors and ISO up to 819 200:
“Three – 1/4″ ClearVID™ CMOS Sensors with 1,120K (effective) pixels provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 1080 lines of resolution – HD) and still image performance. The Megapixel technology enhances your digital videos and digital still (1037K – 16:9 mode) photography performance.”
Today several websites picked that news again and it seems that a similar camera could be announced in the next few weeks.
This is the drawing of the rumored Pentax RZ-18 Optio compact camera that was used either in a recent patent or a Trade Mark/Design office filing (I do not have any details on the origin of this image). I was expecting this camera to be announced at the CP+ show in Japan last month, but it seems that the new date will be around June 2011.
In addition to the RZ-18 Optio, Pentax is expected to release its new mirrorless NC-1 camera in May 2011.
In an interview with AP, Panasonic representative today confirmed the release of a new 25mm f/1.4 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The announcement is scheduled for this summer.
This lens was listed on the Panasonic’s roadmap from last year as “under consideration”:
credit: dc.watch
