Similar to Fujifilm, Panasonic also filed a patent 2011-258729 in Japan for an organic sensor that can change the thickness of the organic film by changing the wavelength. Here is a machine generated translation of the patent description taken from the Japanese Patent Office:
Sigma has a banner on their website promising new products being unveiled on January 10th, 2012, which is also the first day of the PMA/CES 2012 show in Las Vegas.
The last Canon Powershot G12 was announced in 2010
Valentin Sama of DSLR Magazine wrote on his blog that Canon is working on a new “Super G” compact camera that will probably be announced at the CES (January, 2012) or CP+ (February, 2012) show:
Canon is working on developing a digital compact camera, far superior to anything that might now be in its catalog of more than compact. The new camera can hold the letter “G” in its name, but in reality would not be a successor to the G12 , but a sort of “Super G”
Olympus filed a patent in Japan (2011-259166) for a vari-angle LCD screen that can be flipped to pretty much any camera side/angle:
In addition to the US patent for an organic sensor, Fujifilm filed a similar patent in Japan (2011-253861). Here are some more details from the Japanese patent application (Google translation):
Nauticam announced the NA-NEX7 housing for Sony’s top of the line mirror-less interchangeable lens camera, the Sony Alpha NEX-7 ($1,199.99). Nauticam’s leadership in the Alpha NEX arena continues as it brings the first NEX-7 underwater housing to market. With DSLR quality imaging and performance packed into a housing that is small enough to take anywhere, NEX-7 is now ready to explore the depths.
The Sony Alpha NEX-7 expands the Alpha NEX lineup by adding features and performance worthy of enthusiasts and professionals alike. Specification-wise, the NEX-7 might be closer to Sony’s flagship DSLR, the A77, but the body size is only slightly larger than the NEX-5N.
With a new 24 Megapixel CMOS APS-C sized sensor, ultra fast performance, new three dial user interface, built-in flash, magnesium alloy body, 190K dot LCD and stunning 2.4M dot electronic OLED viewfinder (EVF), NEX-7 is a photographic dynamo. Of course the basics are there as well, including RAW shooting, manual exposure, and automatic flash exposure compensation (TTL), even in manual shooting mode.
Phottix Aion wireless timer and shutter release is now shipping. Here are the specs:
Here is a better translation of the key points from the interviews with several camera manufacturers about their future plans (thanks Erik):
Olympus
Canon
Sigma
Sony
Reuters reported that Olympus is going to issue new shares worth $1.28 billion (100 billion yen) in order to stabilize its finances after the recent reports of massive fraud inside the company. Panasonic, Sony and Fujifilm were listed as the companies interested to acquire portions of the shares:
Back in June I mentioned about the upcoming SLR Magic digital scoping solution with ED optics for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The product was delayed because of some changes in the design (adding a tripod collar). The spotting scope is now officially announced and available for sale on eBay.
