Lexar announced today that they started shipping the 64 GB and 128GB SDXC memory cards that were announced during CES 2011 in January. The 128GB version will cost $279.95 and the 64GB will costs $129.
Press release and a video from the Lexar production facility:
Update: Adorama also has the LC-X100 leather case available for pre-order.
The first news is that in adition to the FinePix X100, Adorama is now taking orders also for the LH-x100 lens hood and 49mm thread adapter (you can see a picture of it here):
Today FujiFilm UK posted a press release indicating that none of the workers in the Taiwa-Cho factory were injured. There were some structural damages to the building and as a result the production of the Fuji X100 has been temporary halted:
Bloomberg reported Sony has halted production and evacuated six factories in northeastern Japan.
According to AP, Canon also halted production in some of their plants. Only 12 employees suffered minor injuries.
Nikon (factories located in Sendai) reported no injured employees, factories not significantly affected.
World’s smallest camera compared to a needle
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have created the world’s smallest camera with dimensions of 1 x 1 x 1 mm. The camera has 62,500px resolution, can take 250x250px images and is very cheap to produce.
Sigma will be releasing a series of fast prime lenses in the next 18 months. Some of the mentioned focal lengths are: 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2. Sigma already has 30mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4 prime lenses available in different mounts.
Intel announced that Canon will join other companies that support the new Thunderbolt technology. No further details were provided. Few weeks ago there were rumors that the upcoming Nikon D4 will also support Thunderbolt.
Gdgt reported a rumor that Sony is working on a digital camera with integrated 3G connection. This will not be another smart phone, but rather a Cybershot camera that will allow instant upload of images online via an integrated 3G connection. Sony already has a Cybershot phone in Japan and such camera will not require a lot of R&D:
Sigma officially confirmed to Froknowsphoto that the price of the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG APO Macro HSM AF lens was increased from to $799 to $949:
“The price increase on the 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II was due to an increase in manufacturing costs and the current poor exchange rate. However, please note that the price of the OS version was decreased based on the anticipated high sales volume and in order to remain competitive in this category. That being said, the difference in price between the two versions is now only $450.00 where in the past it was nearly $800.00.”
If you were planning on buying this lens, Amazon still has 6 left in stock at $749.
Pentax just announced the long awaited firmware update v1.03 for the K-5 DSLR model that will fix the front-focusing issues in low light. The new firmware can be downloaded here.
Pentax also release a new firmware update v1.02 for the 645D medium format camera.
Via PentaxForum
EOSHD reports that Canon is working on a new codec for the 5D Mark III based on the MPEG format:
“It will feature a 4-2-2 colour space and a variable bit rate, up to 50mbit. The move is necessary to avoid paying AVCHD / H.264 licensing fees to Panasonic and Sony.
The codec will basically be a slightly improved version of the XF codec, first developed for the XF300 and XF305 professional camcorders which are based on MPEG-2.”
