The first Pentax 645D camera to arrive in the US this Friday

By PR admin | Published: December 7, 2010

The first batch of Pentax 645D cameras will be available in stores in the US on Friday, December 10th, 2010. The medium format camera will be sold only in four stores: Acephoto, B&H, Adorama and Samys.

Posted in Pentax| Tagged | 17 Comments

Pimp your Ricoh GRD

By PR admin | Published: December 7, 2010

Ricoh GRIII (above) is a “regular” camera that looks like many others. No more – the Japanese company HLC Club sells custom made parts for Ricoh GRD cameras. You can even buy a new magnesium alloy body for ¥247,800 (around $3000):

Read More »

Posted in Ricoh| Tagged | 3 Comments

Micro Four Thirds module for Ricoh GXR

By PR admin | Published: December 6, 2010

The first rumors about a Micro Four Thirds module for Ricoh GXR system camera surfaced back in June. In the past, Ricoh has shown several prototypes of different cartridges, but have never hinted for a possible Micro Four Thirds solution. Ricoh’s GXR roadmap vaguely mentions that other “expansion units” will be available in 2011 without providing more details.

Posted in Ricoh| Tagged | 6 Comments

Samyang 14mm f/2,8 ED AS IF UMC lens for Samsung NX mount is now available

By PR admin | Published: December 4, 2010

Samyang is now shipping the 14 mm f/2,8 ED AS IF UMC which is the third Samyang lens for Samsung NX cameras (NX100, NX10 and NX5). The retail price is €329 (around $430). The other two lenses with NX mount are the 8mm fish-eye and the 85mm f/1.4. In the US, Samyang lenses can be purchased from eBay or Amazon.

Posted in Samsung, Samyang| Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Fly’s eye camera a.k.a. panoptic camera

By PR admin | Published: December 3, 2010

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland created a panoptic camera that resembles a fly’s eye – it has 100 cameras and the combined image is rendered on a computer providing a 360° view in 3D. The camera is also able to measure the distance to an objects and can potentially be used in the car, movies and video games industries:

Via Gizmodo

Posted in Future of Photo Equipment| 4 Comments

Sigma MIL camera to be announced in few hours? *updated*

By PR admin | Published: December 3, 2010

This dpreview forum member claims that Sigma will announce their mirrorless interchangeable lens camera in few hours. Sigma has made a statement in the past that they are developing a mirrorless camera with a Foveon sensor. Based on the pictures, the new Sigma EVIL camera will have a M mount (Leica) unless there is an adapter. This could also be a DIY project, based on the existing Sigma DP1 camera.

Update: the original source of those pictures – this indeed is a DIY project initially posted on xitek.com. More information on this E-mount conversions can be found here:

sigma-merrill-camera-with-sony-e-mount-4

sigma-merrill-camera-with-sony-e-mount-3 sigma-merrill-camera-with-sony-e-mount-2 sigma-merrill-camera-with-sony-e-mount-1

Posted in Sigma| Tagged , | 15 Comments

Zeiss is doing very well: they just had the most successful year ever in the company’s history

By PR admin | Published: December 2, 2010

Zeiss released their financial results for the fiscal year 2009/10 and they are doing pretty good:

  • Revenues increase 42 percent to just under three billion euros
  • Key figures above level of record year 2007/08
  • Fiscal year 2009/10 was the most successful year ever in the company’s history
  • Revenues total 2.98 billion euros
  • Incoming orders hit 3.2 billion euro mark for first time
  • EbIT at 423 million euros
  • Carl Zeiss invested EUR 291 million into its research and development activities during the past fiscal year (compared to EUR 284 million from last year)
  • 12,971 employees (compared to 12,872 from last year)
  • The camera and lens group generated revenues of EUR 312 million (compared to EUR 304 million from last year)

Full press release after the break:

Read More »

Posted in Zeiss| 2 Comments

Polaroid to reveal the next generation of instant cameras at CES 2011

By PR admin | Published: December 2, 2010

Engadget posted those teasers from Polaroid and it looks like the instant camera maker will be unveiling a new product at CES 2011 (in Las Vegas between January 6-9th, 2011):

Posted in Polaroid| 2 Comments

Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens patent

By PR admin | Published: December 2, 2010

Sigma filed a patent in Japan for a Sigma Macro 50mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens with image stabilization:

For comparison, this is the lens diagram of the current 50mm F2.8 EX DG Macro lens:

Read More »

Posted in Sigma| Tagged | 2 Comments

Sony’s 4K video roadmap

By PR admin | Published: December 2, 2010

This is Hugo Gaggion’s (Sony Broadcast & Professional Solutions CTO) presentation “4K/2K End-to-End – The Sony 4K Roadmap” from the 2010 HD World show in New York. The presentation is rather technical, but if you are interesting in videography and the latest pro video cameras from Sony, you will find it interesting:

Via Image-sensors-world

Posted in Sony| Tagged | 1 Comment