The nice team from CamerastorTV made that new Leica Monochrome video review I embedded here on top. These guys are so nice I am going to link to their store a couple of times: www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com,  …and I am not going paid for this joke :)

That said I heard first preorders have now been shipped by BHphoto (Click here). But I really don’t know how few of my readers had the money to preorder this jewel. We may better wait for Sony to launch their NEX-FF hybrid system. On SonyAlphaRumors we just learned that this system works in a different way then we thought (Click here ot read the newest rumor on SAR).

We now have the next mirrorless related announcement. Sony now unveiled the fifth new NEX camcorder, the NEX-EA50. And it comes along a new 18-200mm Power zoom lens. This is the third version of the 18-200mm lens :)

More info at HDwarrior and Urbanfox.

The European EISA agency released the name of the winners of the 2012 awards. There are thee categories of mirrorless cameras and those are the winners:
European Compact System Camera (Winner: Olympus OM-D E-M5)
European Advanced Compact System Camera (Winner: Samsung NX20)
European Professional Compact System Camera (Winner: Fujifilm X-Pro1)

For the record, EISA uses the deifnition “Compact System Camera” instead of our more popular definition “Mirrorless”. And as it happens every year…everybody wins a price…Nikon, Canon, olympus, Panasonic, Samsung and so on :)

By the way, the best mirrorless lens is the Panasonic 12-35mm X zoom.

Vitaly Kiselev announced the new NEX and Alpha hack project in collaboration with the hacker called “Someone1.00”. The official forum can be seen here: www.nex-hack.info. Great news for all NEX owners! And we are also curious to see how Sony will allow programmers to work on the new NEX-5R and NEX-6 cameras that are “rumored” to have Application support.

Meantime Olympus will have a new announcement next week. No big deal, we expect the 60mm macro to be released (this lens was already shown in May).

Egami (machine translated) found a Canon patent for an improved phase-detection AF. Higher accuracy is obtained by better propagation of light. The patent text also suggests, the method should improve accuracy when light is falling in with a low-angle incident. Another fact is very interesting: the patent refers to smaller pixel size, i.e. you can pack more pixel on the sensor. So, given that a phase-detection AF is particularly useful on a mirrorless camera, could that indicate that Canon is working on a higher resolutions sensor (with an improved AF) for its more pro-oriented mirrorless camera that we expect to be announced later this year? I think that’s plausible. If Canon is working on a mirrorless camera that is more pro-oriented than the EOS M, this cam will most probably have a higher resolution.

• Patent Publication No. 2012-151215

  • 2012.8.9 Release Date
  • 2011.1.18 filing date

• Existing techniques

  • JP 2002-314062
  • Conventional techniques beam separation is insufficient, Ranging Accuracy is poor

    • Scattering effects due to wiring
    • The smaller the angle of incidence, it is difficult to detect
    • Smaller pixel size, the value of F becomes larger microlenses (dark), they spread the light next to almost the same in the size of the image pixel size and pixel diffraction

• And waveguide

  • The waveguide, depending on the angle of incidence of the light flux, there is a characteristic (waveguide mode) is different states of light propagation in the waveguide

• Canon ‘s patented

  • Consisting of waveguide waveguide and vice

    • Guiding light of two different incident direction: waveguide
    • Vice waveguide: one for each waveguide comprises a waveguide two sub-

  • Can be detected by the photoelectric conversion unit specific, the incident light at a particular angle
  • Impact of wiring

    • The incident light to propagate the core portion of the waveguide, reducing the impact of wiring

  • Low-angle incident light, by using the corresponding waveguide mode depends on the incident direction
  • Small pixel size, support by limiting the distribution of the emitted light

    • Achieved by suppressing the spatial width confinement in the waveguide propagation of light sub-

Image courtesy: DC.watch.

DC.watch (Translation here) interviewed the Canon team that developed the EOS-M mirrorless camera. Here are some interesting bits from the interview:

1) From the beginning the goal was to make the EOS-M as good as other EOS DSLR cameras. And to make ir small and light.
2) First goal is to reach a 15% of the mirrorless market share in Japan (by October).
3) Shutter from the EOS DSLR series has been minaturzized to fit into the EOS-M
4) GX1 sales are still strong (production is 30.000 units per month).
5) A Four Thirds sensor would bring an even further advantage in miniaturization but Canon wanted to make it fully EOS compatible.
6) We chosed to have Phase detection pixel on sensor because that technology works better than COntrast AF on moving objects.
7) EOS-M mount can NOT accomodate a FULL FRAME sensor. And there is no plan for a FF mirrorless.
8) No plan for now to make an adpater for FD lenses.

Interesting. They also said the main target are women :)

Canon EOS-M preorder links:
Full presentation page on Amazon.
EOS-M Black at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto. In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK.
EOS-M White at BHphoto. In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK.
EOS-M 22mm pancake at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
EOS-M 15-55mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
EOS-M adapter at Amazon and BHphoto.
EOS-M Flash at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.