Financial results from the major photography companies are out

By PR admin | Published: February 4, 2011

Hoya (Pentax):

“Net sales were up 1.5% to 108,449 million yen year-on-year, and operating income rose 4.7% to19,897 million yen. Net income was up 12.0% to 13,210 million yen, and earnings per share were 30.62 yen compared with27.24 yen in the same period last year.

The profit of the camera business also exceeded our expectations this quarter due to the channel consolidation and focused promotion of new SLR cameras; K-5 and K-r.”

Samsung:

“Samsung’s Digital Media businesses, which encompass Visual Display, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging, posted quarterly revenues of 15.97 trillion won for the October to December period, up 3 percent year-on-year. The businesses registered a loss of 0.17 trillion won despite improved performance in TV and IT products. For the full year 2010, the Digital Media businesses’ combined revenue totaled 57.26 trillion, up 12 percent from 2009, with an operating profit of 0.49 trillion won.”

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Posted in Fuji, Leica, Pentax, Samsung, Sony| 3 Comments

JVC GC-PX1 hybrid camera is a go

By PR admin | Published: February 3, 2011

Concept of the JVC GC-PX1 camera was shown at CES 2011 and now it’s official, the camera will be released in Japan later this month. The price is not yet announced. The GC-PX1 will have 10x optical zoom and 36Mbps 1920 × 1080/60p full HD video shooting. In 640 × 360 resolution at 300 fps the camera will be able to too record up to 2 hours of video which is considered to be an industry record.

Detailed specs:

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Posted in JVC| 21 Comments

Pentax NC-1 mirrorless camera

By PR admin | Published: February 3, 2011

I received multiple emails regarding the Pentax NC-1 mirrorless camera picture and they all indicated that this is the real thing. The camera will be initially available with in one lens kit and the sensor will be 1/2.33″ in.  The Pentax NC-1 will have a flash hot shoe. Announcement should be in the next 1-3 months.

Posted in Pentax| Tagged | 8 Comments

Canon 600D on February 11th?

By PR admin | Published: February 3, 2011

The above is a picture of a Canon press invitation for February 7, 2011. Coincidentally a Canon 600D certificate dated January 25th, 2011 appeared in the Korean Research Agency:

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Posted in Canon| Tagged | 4 Comments

Is this the mirrorless Pentax NC-1 camera?

By PR admin | Published: February 2, 2011

This is is suppose to be the mirrorless interchangeable lens Pentax NC-1 camera. The image is pixelated, but you can see a built-in flash. a small grip and some kind of a selection wheel on the front. I do not know at that point the authenticity of that images, so take it with a grain of salt.

Posted in Pentax| Tagged | 7 Comments

Sony patents foldable grip camera

By PR admin | Published: February 2, 2011

Sony US patent 7871206 is for a compact camera with foldable grip:

“Imaging apparatus, such as digital still cameras, have been reduced in size and thickness. Such an imaging apparatus includes an apparatus body having a flat, substantially box-like shape, an imaging lens provided on the front side of the apparatus body, and a display unit, such as a liquid crystal monitor, provided on the rear side of the apparatus body.

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Posted in Sony| Tagged | 3 Comments

Serious compact cameras compared: Samsung TL500 vs. Panasonic LX5 vs. Canon S95

By PR admin | Published: February 1, 2011

I initially started with evaluating five different compact models: Samsung TL500, Panasonic LX5, Leica D-Lux 5, Nikon Coolpix S8100 and Canon S95. The Panasonic LX5 and Leica D-Lux 5 are almost identical cameras – take a look at this post over at leicarumors.com. The Nikon S8100 doesn’t really fit in this category because it does not support RAW files – I will do a separate comparison between the Nikon S8100 and the Canon S95 over at nikonrumors.com. At the end, I was left with three serious compact cameras for my review: Samsung TL-500, Panasonic LX5 and Canon S95.

There are other compact models from different manufacturers, like the Nikon P7000 and Canon G12, but they are bigger, with an OVF and wouldn’t really fit in this compact comparison. The new Olympus ZX-1 would be relevant for that category but unfortunately it was not yet available at the time this review was written.

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Posted in Canon, Panasonic, PR reviews, Samsung| 22 Comments

The Arca Swiss d4 & d4m get an US price (world’s smallest and lightest tripod head)

By PR admin | Published: February 1, 2011

Arca-Swiss will start shipping the d4 & d4m tripod heads in February 2011. The US pricing will be $1102 for the d4 and $711 for the d4m:

ARCA-SWISS d4 & d4m

With the invention of the d4 pan tilt head ARCA-SWISS has put an end to setting levers of 3d heads that extend
in all directions and always get in the way. No more uneven swivelling out of the camera. No more oversized
dimensions, heavy loads and other all too well-known drawbacks to get in your way. We get straight to the point!
The d4 and d4m are especially suitable for efficient and precise work in digital studio photography and outdoors
for architectural photography. The d4 is the world’s smallest, most functional and lightest gearhead.

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Posted in Arca-Swiss| 10 Comments

Olympus TG-810

By PR admin | Published: February 1, 2011

Olympus will announce a new TG-810 camera at the CP+ show in Japan next week. The camera was leaked from Henry online store. The TG-810 is rumored to have a 14MP sensor, 5x zoom and a 3 in. LCD display. The second expected camera is a new 26x ultra zoom compact (24mm on the wide angle side) with back illuminated CMOS sensor.

Posted in Olympus| 1 Comment

Kenko’s interchangeable lenses digital camera (C-mount)

By PR admin | Published: February 1, 2011

In addition to the previous specs, Kenko’s interchangeable lenses C-mount digital camera will not have a built-in flash but it will be compatible with other Tokina products like lenses, flashes, and field scopes. The camera will have a SD card slot. Expected to be released in Summer of 2011. Nikon F a T mount adapters are also planned:

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Posted in Kenko Tokina| 7 Comments

Ricoh confirms the Leica mount module for GXR

By PR admin | Published: February 1, 2011

Today Ricoh Japan confirmed the upcoming Leica mount module for the GXR system:

  • 23.6mm × 15.7mm, APS-C size, 12.9MP, CMOS sensor
  • Newly developed focal plane shutter
  • No model name yet for the module
  • Expected Release Fall 2011
  • A prototype will be displayed at the CP+ show in Japan (February 9-12, 2011)

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Posted in Leica, Ricoh| 2 Comments

Ricoh to announce Leica lens cartridge for the GXR system

By PR admin | Published: January 31, 2011

image credit: DC Watch

Ricoh is about to announce a new Leica mount cartridge for the Ricoh GRX system. A prototype was already shown at the CP+ show last year. The unit will have a 12.9MP 23.6×15.7mm APS-C size CMOS sensor and a newly-developed focal plane shutter. The unit is expected to be released in autumn of 2011.

Posted in Ricoh| Tagged | 19 Comments