I received a confirmation on the Canon and Sony press events scheduled for this month:
“Our source claims that Zeiss is working on a digital rangefinder with a Sony sensor, he goes further saying that unlike all the current dRFs the Zeiss dRF will use a CMOS sensor”. (source: ZR)
This is what Zeiss had to say on this topic few years ago (September, 2006):
Q: There are rumors that Zeiss will eventually have its own digital rangefinder camera body that will accept the M mount lenses. True or false? Will it be Cosina-made? Full 24 x 36mm sensor?
A: At Carl Zeiss, we can imagine such a camera. But we feel that is not the right time to introduce such a camera now. Today digital technology is still developing fast and the initial value of a digital camera is lost in quite a short time. (source : PopPhoto)
So, is now the right time? Right before Leica launches the full frame M9?
Zeiss currently does have a film rangefinder product – Zeiss Ikon (product page):
Zeiss Ikon rangefinder (source: zeiss.com)
Is this some kind of a sick joke? Now we have even more new Sony DSLR leaks: α750, α850 and α950 – this screenshot was taken from the Sony Asia Pacific support site (source):
Sony A750, A850 and A950
and the rumor that goes with the picture:
Similar leaks from the past few weeks:
Sony A500, A550 and A850 leaks
Sony A500 & A550 (click for larger image)
What is it going to be Sony?
Based on a “credible source” from dpreview, the launch date of the Sony α850 DSLR camera will be August 27th, 2009.
Two sets of specs are currently circulating the net:
and
The next Canon announcement is expected to be on August 19th. New PowerShot models are expected as well.
According to Sony: “… and a DSLR models featuring the Exmor R CMOS sensor…”
FIY: Sony triples DSLR sales this year. Nikon and Canon, be afraid.
The highly anticipated Sony Exmor R sensor made its debut in the point & shoot camera world today: Sony WX1 and Sony TX1 (the sensor is already available in the latest Sony Handycam line). The next logical step for Sony is to release the Exmor R sensor in a DSLR camera.
This Panasonic GF1 (Micro Four Thirds) pictures were found on a Chinese forum and the poster claimed that they are from an internal Panasonic PDF document (click on image for larger view):
Panasonic GF1 (Micro Four Thirds)
Panasonic GF1 main parts and controls (click to enlarge)
Specs:
Chasseur d’Images magazine wrote in its latest issue (#316) that an Olympus spokesman revealed that Olympus EP-2 was in the works and was going to be released before the end of the year and it will have a viewfinder. The same issue also covered the full frame Leica M9 and the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj.
Pentax K20D is now officially discontinued. See the official Pentax Japan website.
