Dpreview posted an interview with Masaya Maeda Managing Director at Canon. And he just said two interesting things about the EOS-M system

1) The Canon EOS-M didn’t sell as expected, but has good market shares in Japan and South-East Asia
2) Nevertheless there will be new lenses for the EOS-M system within 2013.

And one more prediction comes from MR-Maeda: There will be “an increase in the number of full-frame models”. Sure about it Mr. Maeda??? Micro Four Thirds shows us how successful the exact other direction is.

Sony just posted that image of the E-mount roadmap and promises to release more than five new high quality E-mount lenses within 2013! That includes a new Zeiss and a new G lens! And they also say that from now on you can expect a minimum of five new E-mount lenses to be launched every year. Sounds great!

And there is an important Fuji news too. They just released the new firmware for both X cameras:
Fuji X-E1 firmware 1.04 (Click here to visit the download page).
Fuji X-PRO1 firmware 2.03 (Click here to visit the download page).

Finally a tiny bit of excitement at the CP+ show in Japan :)
First, Olympus showed that “hidden” Olympus E-P3 camera successor. This is actually the only new camera announced at CP+ show this year. Of course, there is a small detail that we actually don’t know any detail about it :)

The only real serious complete announcement comes from Cosina-Voigtlander. They just displayd the new 42.5mm f/0.95 lens. What a nice lens!

Pentax just “copied” Olympus idea and announce a new body cap lens for the Pentax Q system (Source: Dpreview). And the press text contains absolutely no info about the lens aperture and other useful details like price. We only know it will be released in March. Oh by the way, the Olympus body cap lens got DxOmarked and guess how good or lens ranked in the lens database? It’s the on 2872nd place :)

And let’s keep that boring level of new products announcement very low with the next official announcement….the Olympus 75-30mm II lens (Source: Dpreview).

God, what’s going on? CES and CP+ shows have almost been completely ignored by the companies and no new really exciting camera and lens has been announced. It’s the first time I see this and I am trying to figure out if that is just casual or if the economic crisis may have slowed down the product release cycle. You may know more than me???

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Damn what a day! We have a total of five new lenses for the Micro Four Thirds lenses and three new E-mount lenses. Here is the list:

Here is the official press release from Panasonic:

Panasonic is pleased to announce a new compact standard zoom lens LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 II ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. for LUMIX G based on the Micro Four Thirds System standard. LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 II ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. offers a versatile zoom range of 14-42 mm (35 mm camera equivalent: 28-84 mm) suitable for a wide range of situations from landscape to portrait. Comprising of 9 elements in 8 groups, the lens system adopts 2 aspherical lenses to achieve further reduction of both size and weight yet maintaining its high optical performance at entire zoom range. The inner focus system driven by a stepping motor assures astonishing comfort to take maximum advantage of high speed contrast AF system and in video recording.

Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) makes it easy to shoot super clear shots even at tele end or in low-lit situations by suppressing the blur caused by a hand shake.

With its minimum focus distance of 0.2 m (14-20 mm) / 0.3 m (21-42 mm) even at full zoom, the new lens provides a maximum photographic magnification of 0.17x (35 mm camera equivalent: 0.34x). 7 aperture blades consists a circular aperture diaphragm and produces an attractive smoothness in out-of-focus areas even shooting at large aperture.

The new LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 II ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. for LUMIX G is refined in its external design to offer metallic color options of black and silver to offer stylish look on the digital single lens mirrorless (DSLM) cameras of LUMIX G in shooting creative snapshots.

via Dpreview.

Tamron just announced a new Micro Four Thirds lens. it is the 14-150mm F/3.5-5.8 Di III VC zoom. But sadly they didn’t unveil neither the release date nor the price. Source: DC.watch and Photoscala.

But the even bigger news comes from Sigma. They just announced the new 60mm f/2.8 lenses for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX! And there is also a new updated version of the current 19mm and 30mm f/2.8 primes! Here are the images (CLick on them to see large size) and full press release:

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Jan. 29, 2013 — Sigma Corporation of America a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world’s most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, today announced the release of four new lenses for the ART product line, including three lenses for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and one lens for DSLR cameras with APS-C size sensors. This announcement comes at the start of the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013 this week in Yokohama, Japan.

The new and updated Sigma lenses include the 30mm F1.4 DC HSM, which will be available in Sigma, Canon and Nikon mounts, and the 30mm F2.8 DN, 19mm F2.8 DN and 60mm F2.8 DN lenses, which are available for both Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-Mount camera systems. Pricing and availability on all of these lenses has yet to be announced.

The 60mm F2.8 DN lens is entirely new to the Sigma lineup, while the 30mm F1.4 DC HSM and the 30mm F2.8 DN and 19mm F2.8 DN lenses are existing focal lengths that have been redesigned with enhanced optical performance and included as part of Sigma’s new Global Visioncategory restructuring. All three DN lenses incorporate telecentric optical designs and a linear, auto focusing motor that ensures accurate and quiet focusing for video recording. They also boast metal exteriors and a simply shaped focus ring, with varying textures to distinguish each part of the lens. In addition, DN users can choose between a black or silver finish to match their favorite equipment.

“We’re really proud of the super sharp lenses we’ve produced in the past year and these new Art lenses will continue to impress our fans and critics alike. They’re ideal for the landscape, portrait, still-life, close-up and casual photographer who values creative, dramatic outcomes above compactness and multifunction,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “The lenses are entirely made in Japan and they boast the new product line’s sleek design and enhanced quality control. We’re quite proud of these changes – and additions – to our lens lineup; they’re further evidence of Sigma’s forethought in this fast-moving industry.”Here are more details on these new lenses from Sigma:

• 60mm F2.8 DN – Featuring the natural perspective of mid-range telephoto lenses, together with a shallow depth of field, this lens allows the photographer to capture a single part of a subject with great bokeh effects. It has an angle of view equivalent to 120mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 90mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). The minimum focusing distance is 19.7 inches; the maximum magnification is 1:7.2. This lens also contains Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass, which helps minimize axial and transverse chromatic aberration.
• Sigma 19mm F2.8 DN – This high-performance, wide-angle telephoto lens has an angle of view equivalent to 38mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 28.5mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). As a wide-angle lens with excellent mobility, it is ideal for studio photography, architecture and starry skies. Its minimum focusing distance is 7.9 inches and its maximum magnification is 1:7.4.
• Sigma 30mm F2.8 DN – This high-performance, standard telephoto lens has an angle of view equivalent to 60mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 45mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). This lens, which is perfect for casual and formal portraiture, documentary photography, travelogues and everyday shooting, includes a double-sided aspherical lens that enhances its optical performance. Its minimum focusing distance of 11.8 inches and its maximum magnification is 1:8.1.

For information about Sigma Corporation of America, visit www.sigmaphoto.com. For the full press releases for each of these new lenses, visit Sigma’s news section at www.sigmaphoto.com/sigma-news.

via Dpreview.

I always liked Pentax because they have the necessary guts to think out of the box. And sometimes they go so far that there is no box at all :)

Pentax Japan just announced that limited edition of “Evangelion” Q10 cameras. There will be only 1,500 of them and they will be sold in Japan only too. At least in Japan the Q series proved to be a good seller. Can’t wait to see what Pentax will show us with their next APS-C mirrorless camera announcements! You have some ideas?

via Engadget via Pentax Japan.

Image of the 20mm pancake

Sony announced the new stuff for the CP+ show and it’s rather unspectacular. First we have the new 20mm f/2.8 pancake. Than we have the 18-200mm Powerzoom lens that will be sold as lens only too (it was available as kit lens for NEX camcorder only). Both are already available for preorder at BHphoto (Click here for 20mm pancake) and for the powerzoom (Click here).

And Olympus will also announce something unspectacular this week. An updated version of the current 75-300mm lens :)