FujiFilm officially published a slightly different roadmap for the X-Pro1 camera line. The initial roadmap had all zoom lenses with fixed f/4 aperture – now two of the upcoming zoom lenses will have variable aperture. In 2012 you can expect two new lenses:
The rest of the lenses for 2013 are:
Samsung EX2
The new Samsung EX2/EX2F are rumored to be announced on June 26th, 2012. The cameras are expected to have f/1.4 aperture (the previous TL500/EX1 model had f/1.8 aperture).
Update: The EX2 will be using the same AMOLED screen from the NX20 model, Samsung calls it Clear AMOLED.
Also, the previously reported 55mm f/1.8 lens is really going to be a 45mm f/1.8. Samsung reduced the focal length in order to create “a real” pancake lens.
After the 18-70mm f/3.5-7.1 and 18-55mm f/3.5-6.7 lens patents, Pentax filed another patent in Japan for a 16-55mm f/3.5-5.6 APS-C mirrorless lens:
In addition to the Canon Speedlight 580EXII, it seems that the Canon 1D MARK IV DSLR camera is also discontinued. Its replacement, the Canon EOS-1D X, was announced in October 2011 and is now shipping in limited quantities.
Panasonic filed a patent in Japan (2012114524) for selective exposure compensation: the exposure can be adjusted for every single line of pixels depending on the subject.
Canon’s mirrorless camera will most likely be announced on July 24th, 2012. There is a good chance that the new camera system will use the same G1X sensor and will probably launch with three new lenses. The mount is still unknown. The first camera is expected to be a “consumer” level with potential “prosumer” and “professional” models coming up later.
The Canon Speedlight 580EXII ($469) is probably discontinued – dealers in the US can no longer place orders for that product.
A reader sent me those Wi-Fi certificates for the upcoming Samsung NX-R and EX2F cameras. The applications were filed in the past two months. Here is a full list of the Samsung Wi-Fi certified cameras:
Scientists at Duke University spent $25 million to develop the Aware-2 – a 50 gigapixel camera that consists of 100 microcameras, each with a 14MP sensor :
“The new camera collects more than 30 times as much picture data as today’s best consumer digital devices. While existing cameras can take photographs that have pixel counts in the tens of millions, the Duke device produces a still or video image with a billion pixels—five times as much detail as can be seen by a person with 20/20 vision.”
Watch this video for more details and samples taken with the camera:
