October 31st (Olympus)

olympus-logoThe big Olympus news on October 31st was about a new ambassadors for Olympus in Holland – I just learned that today. The announcement of the E-P2 is still expected in the next few days – latest by next week. There is also a possibility for a new tele zoom (40-150) and a macro lens.

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Olympus E-P2 scpecs (in Japanese)

Update: a reader did a quick translation – differences between the EP-1 and EP-2:

  • Optional Electrical Viewfinder w/ 1,440,000 dots.
  • HyperCrystal LCD 460,000 dots
  • Continuous Drive 3.5 to 4 fps
  • Flash Sync 1/180 sec or below 1/250 sec.
  • Upgraded iAUTO and Additional Art Filters.

Translation please? Anyone?

e-p2-specs

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Olympus E-p2 event in Hong Kong

This is the translated version of a press invitation in Hong Kong:

10/11 Olympus release new pen

“” Olympus Hong Kong China Limited will be held 11 Yue 10 Ri (Xingqi Er) at the Hong Kong Eaton Hotel Pearl Hall MICRO 4 / 3 OLYMPUS PEN single lens DC conference.

OLYMPUS PEN Single-lens DC broken through the traditional design concepts, in order to replace the reflective panels, electronic equipment, and five prism, so compact and like DC, but it has DSLR image quality. Body response and focus even more the performance of faster and more accurately, and completely out of the old film camera’s frame, combined with 100% digital, digital camera development has brought a new revolution!

By then, more professional models model OLYMPUS PEN single lens DC, and are available for Friends from the media take photographs.

You are invited to send reporters / photographers come to attend. Details of the events are as follows:

Dated this 11 Yue 10 Ri (Xingqi Er)
Time: 2:30 pm to 5 pm Location: 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Eaton Hotel 2nd Floor, Pearl Hall

for press only

The announcement should happened any day now. The tip I received few months ago was for October 31st announcement, the latest info I have is for announcement this Friday, November 6th.

Source

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Pentax K-m discontinued

pentax-K-m-discontinuedPentax K-m is now discontinued according to Pentax Japan (Google translation) and so is the DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED lens.

The new Pentax K-x is considered to be the replacement of the K-m model. Pentax USA website also doesn’t list the K-m as an available model.

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Ricoh’s mirrorless camera: with a “slide-in” interchangeable lens mount system

RICOH R8 LOGO This rumor is coming form a Chinese forum: the expected Ricoh’s EVIL €œ(Electronic Viewfinder with Interchangeable Lens)€ camera may have a “slide-in” interchangeable lens mount system and not a k-mount like previous speculated. This idea is not new and has been discussed before on dpreview.

There is also a patent granted to Ricoh a while back “where lenses were split into two parts – basically the lens elements in one and the iris part in another. The iris part was then built on the camera body as a fixed part. The interchangeable bit was only the lens and presumably the focus mechanism only” (source).

Two weeks ago, during the Paris’s Photography Show, Ricoh representative said (source): “We are going to issue a small interchangeable lens system instead. It will have a APS-C sized type sensor…. It will be as small as the GX.”

Image source

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Samsung NX-10 specs and release date

The latest rumor is that Samsung NX will be announced on December 10th, 2009 (the previous rumors pointed to an early 2010 release). Those are the expected Samsung NX specs:
  • Mount: Samsung NX
  • Sensor: 23.4 x 15.6mm APS-C CMOS 14.6 mega pixels (1.5x)
  • Body: polycarbonate sealed against dust and moisture
  • Image stabilization: Optical Image Stabilization system (OIS)
  • Processor: DRIM image processor
  • Format image: JPEG, DNG, JPEG-DNG
  • Video: FullHD 1080p/30fps
  • Recording format: H.264 HD
  • Recording quality: SF, F, N
  • Audio: Built-in real stereo
  • Audio format: AAC
  • Focus system: Contrast Autofocus with 16 AF areas, face detection and tracking mode, manual focus (focus by wire)
  • Shutter: mechanical shutter, bulb, 30s-1/6000, 4.5fps
  • Sensitivity: ISO 100-3200 (50-6400)
  • Viewfinder: Electronic Viewfinder 1080p/260Hz, 100% coverage, 1X magnification
  • Main screen: AMOLED 3″, 921.000 dots, 120Hz
  • Flash: Pop-up, GN12
  • Connectivity: HDMI, USB 2.0, Video/Audio out, BlueTooth, WiFi
  • Storage media: SD/SDHC
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RED drops a bomb

red-epic-dslr-1

Red announced some detailed specs for two of their “Digital Stills and Motion Cameras”. The first one is the high-end EPIC-X which will sell for $28,000. Pre-production version will be available this year and full production in 2010:

  • New MYSTERIUM-X 5K sensor
  • 5K (2:1) at 1-100fps
  • 4K (2:1) at 1-125fps
  • Quad HD at 1-120fps
  • 3K (2:1) at 1-160fps
  • 2K (2:1) at 1-250fps
  • 1080P (scaled from full frame) at 1-60fps
  • Increased Dynamic Range, reduced noise
  • Time Lapse, Frame Ramping
  • REDCODE 250
  • ISO 200-8000
  • New FLUT Color Science
  • Completely Modular System, each Module individually upgradeable
  • Independent Stills and Motion Modes (both record full resolution REDCODE RAW)
  • 5 Axis Adjustable Sensor Plate
  • Multiple Recording Media Options (Compact Flash, 1.8″ SSD, RED Drives, RED RAM)
  • Wireless REDMOTE control
  • Touchscreen LCD control option
  • Bomb-EVF, RED-EVF and RED-LCD compatible
  • Multiple User Control Buttons
  • Interchangeable Lens mounts including focus and iris control of electronic RED, Canon and Nikon lenses (along with Zoom data)
  • “Touch Focus Tracking” with electronic lens mounts and RED Touchscreen LCDs
  • LDS and /i Data enabled PL Mount
  • Rollover Battery Power
  • Independent LUTs on Monitor Outputs
  • Independent Frame Guides and Menu overlays on Monitor Outputs
  • Monitor Ports support both LCD and EVF
  • True Shutter Sync In/Out and Strobe Sync Out
  • 720P, 1080P and 2K monitoring support
  • Gigagbit Network interface and 802.11 Wireless interface
  • 3 Axis internal motion sensor, built in GPS receiver
  • Enhanced Metadata
  • Full size connectors on Pro I/O Module. AES Digital Audio input, single and dual link HD-SDI
  • Support for RED, most Arri 19mm, Studio 15mm, 15mm Lite, Panavision and NATO accessories
  • Dimensions- Approx. 4″x4″x5.5″
  • Weight (Brain only)- Approx. 6 lbs (2.72kg)

Those are the specs of the Scarlet 2/3 inch camera which will be Red’s entry level model (no price announced for now):

  • Increased REDCODE data rates
  • New FLUT Color, Gamma and Sensitivity Science. Now same as EPIC.
  • More extensive modular system integration.
  • Interchangeable Lens mounts including focus and iris control of electronic RED, Canon and Nikon lenses, along with Zoom data (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable)
  • “Touch Focus Tracking” with electronic lens mounts and RED touchscreen LCD’s (Scarlet 2/3″ Interchangeable and 8x Fixed)
  • Two independent microphone level channels, balanced input circuits, 48V Phantom Power, digitized at 24-bit 48KHz.
  • GigaBit Ethernet port
  • Scaled 1080P at 60fps

Reduser via Engadget

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Pentax rebates/cashback coming soon

According to www.pentax-cashback.com:

pentax-rebate

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Olympus E-P2 to be announced on November 6th

I just received another announcement date: November 6th, which is Friday (a week from now). Friday is a weird day to release a new product because the weekend kills the momentum of the announcement and people tend to get distracted. I would say expect the announcement in the next 7 days, the actual date may vary based on your time zones.

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Sony Alpha A750 leaked

Sony a750 leaks on Sony Style website. No detailed specs are available at that time but a 14.6 MP full-frame sensor is expected. Based on previous Sony Style leaks, expect announcement in the next 30 days:

sony-alpha-a750

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