Canon interested in medium format?

By PR admin | Published: August 7, 2010

Canon may be looking to acquire a medium format camera manufacturer. It is not clear which company is the target of this acquisition. Few months ago, rumors were floating around that Canon (and Sony) were interested in purchasing Pentax, which has a medium format camera (the Pentax 645D).

Posted in Canon| 29 Comments

Sony announcement on September 13th, 2010?

By PR admin | Published: August 6, 2010

Sony sent out press invitations in Europe for a product announcement on September 13th, 2010. This seems to be DSLR related, probably the expected four new camera bodies.

Posted in Sony| 2 Comments

First picture of Pentax K-5?

By PR admin | Published: August 6, 2010

Update: as a reader already noted, somebody on the PF claimed the fakery.

PentaxForums has an ongoing discussion about this picture of a Pentax K-5:

Same as above, but processed in PS:

And for comparison, a picture of the Pentax k- 7. Both cameras look identical. Maybe they will be:

Posted in Pentax| Tagged | 6 Comments

Pentax K-5, K-r and EVIL cameras at Photokina

By PR admin | Published: August 5, 2010

A rather bizarre rumor showed up on dpreview yesterday – somebody who claims to work for Pentax Spain as a “sales promoter”:

  • Pentax K-5 will be a model above K-7.
  • Pentax K-r will use both a lithium battery and standard AAs and will cost 699€.
  • Pentax EVIL will likely be APSC.

The poster claims to work for the company that created Pentax.es website.

Posted in Pentax| Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Rumored Panasonic Lumix GH2 specs

By PR admin | Published: August 4, 2010

Some rumored specs for Panasonic GH2:

  • 14 Megapixels sensor 1400 LiveMOS (new design)
  • 1080/60p (up to 24Mbps)
  • AVCHD video
  • EVF is 360Hz (RGB × 120Gz) / SXGA / LCD monitor can tilt back and forth movable / 960 × RGB × 540 / HD Hitachi Display
  • AF is slightly faster than ever
  • SDXC support
  • Real-time Output HDMI
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • Body colors – graphite and titanium
  • kit lens: 14-140mm F4.0-5.6 HD OIS , 12-75mm F2.5-3.3 HD OIS
  • Announcement on August 19th

Source

Posted in Panasonic| Tagged | 6 Comments

Pentax to release a mirrorless camera according to… CitiGroup

By PR admin | Published: August 3, 2010

On page 2 of this CitiGroup report about Hoya (the owner of Pentax), you will see the following sentence:

“Hoya plans to release a mirrorless camera under Pentax brand that is distinct from models already on the market.”

No further information is provided. It is really weird that a financial corporation like CitiGroup would report rumors on their official report… unless they know something about this project.

Rumors of a new mirrorless camera from Pentax have been floating around for a while. Here are some of the recent quotes on this topic:

“Pentax engineers are continuing to pursue the possibility of launching a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, as the firm points to an ‘exciting’ few months ahead.”

“It’s quite clear that we don’t want to be seen as the same as everyone else. We would go down a different route. We are looking to grow. We want to grow. It’s going to be an exciting year. I think everybody will see a change in Pentax.”

Posted in Pentax| Tagged | 20 Comments

Sony patents honeycomb image sensor

By PR admin | Published: August 3, 2010

Sony filed a patent for a honeycomb type image sensor. The sensor’s photodiodes are shaped like hexagons (regular sensors have square photodiodes) which should improve the sensor’s performance. Few years ago Fuji worked on a honeycomb type “Super CCD” sensor.

The Google translation is sufficient to get a basic idea about this patent:

  • Patent Publication No. 2010-161200
  • published 2010/07/22. Filled 2009/01/08
  • Distance of the pixel is equal with all courses in the case of a honeycomb
  • Less number of transistors used
  • Low cost
  • It can increase the number of the pixels
  • Good sensitivity
  • It assumes seven pixels one unit
Posted in Sony| Tagged | 25 Comments

The rumored white Samsung NX100 again

By PR admin | Published: August 2, 2010

The previously rumored white Samsung NX100 appeared again on dpreview. This time the image is full size. The picture was reportedly taken during a commercial shoot for the already rumored Samsung NX100. The camera on the photo is definitely different than the previously released Samsung NX10 white limited edition.

Posted in Samsung| Tagged | 3 Comments

Interesting links

By PR admin | Published: August 2, 2010
  • Research: Microsoft algorithm uses six-axis motion sensors to fix blurry snapshots.
  • Report: Canon 1Ds Mark IV currently being tested.
  • Patents: Olympus files patents for a Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 and Zuiko Digital ED 30-150mm f/3.3-4.2 lenses.
Posted in Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony| Leave a comment

Zeiss Distagon ZF 1.4/35 ZF.2 to be official in few weeks

By PR admin | Published: August 2, 2010

Rumors for a new Zeiss Distagon ZF 1.4/35 ZF.2 (Nikon mount) have been floating around since last year. The official Zeiss distributor in Switzerland included the new 35mm f/1.4 lens in their catalog. A FredMiranda forum member got a confirmation directly from the distributor:

“The Distagon T 1.4f 35mm ZF.2 for Nikon is still delayed and should be available in the next few weeks.”

The listed model number is ZE 1771-843 and the price is CHF2,419 (around US$2300) – screenshot after the break:

Read More »

Posted in Zeiss| 1 Comment