Sigma has announced the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill. Those cameras are mirrorless but not interchangeable system cameras and I thought it would be interesting to talk about one of the very few companies that is actually “trying” to develop a complete different sensor technology. Both cameras use the Foveon 15×3 Megapixel APS-C sensor. The DP1M has a fixed 19mm f/2.8 lens and the DP2M incorporates the 30mm f/2.8 lens. I found many “foveon-like” patents from Fuji, Panasonic and only but Sigma is currently the only camera manufacturer offering the technology on mass production cameras.

I really like the Foveon concept but the price of Sigma cameras are still too high. They didn’t unveil the DP1M and DP2M price yet but I expect it to be over $1000? Image samples and availability aren’t available too. So it’s quite a poor announcement with no other things to read that the press release :)

News roundup:
Photographyblog
Techradar
Electronista
Focus Numerique (french)

Finally the over-leaked Olympus E-M5 camera has been announced (Click here to read all you need to know on 43rumors). Its time for a short comparison with the other top quality mirorrless camera, the Fuji X PRO 1:
Sensor – Image quality
The Olympus E-M5 uses the same GX1 16 Megapixel sensor with some sort of tweaks like faster readout system and improved TruePic VI engine. It also uses a weak AA filter. Anyway, the X PRO 1 can deliver a slightly higher resolution because of the no Anti Aliasing filter.
Fuji wins!
Video quality:
Easy,Fuji didn’t care a lot about the video :)
Olympus wins!
Viewfinder:
The Olympus E-M5 has a 1.44 million dot pure electronic viewfinder. Due the fast sensor readout (240fps) this will reduce lagging and rolling shutter. The Fuji has that amazing hybrid viewfinder.
Fuji wins!
Autofocus:
Easy game for Olympus. They claim to have the fastest AF system of all current interchangeable camera systems. And Fuji is known for not having a super fast AF.
Olympus wins!
Body quality:
Olympus and Fuji both deliver an excellent body quality. But Olympus camera is weather sealed.
Olympus wins!
Price:
Yep the Olympus is $600 cheaper but the Fuji has a terrific image quality. So it’s difficult to find a winner here!

That is just a very basic first impression and there are many other factors to consider before to judge the new products. But let me know…

Amy from Techradar (Click here) first interviewed MR. James Loader, product manager for the Nikon Coolpix range. And here are his thoughts about the Canon G1X: “I was a little bit surprised. I thought we’d see the compact system camera first. A lot of people seem to think that the sensor inside that is what they will eventually use in a possible future CSC camera. The G1 X, at that price point, is a super kind of niche market, just for Canon fanboys if I’m completely honest. It’s not something that I anticipated from them.” But he also thinks a real interchangeable mirrorless system from Canon is coming: “I don’t think they would be happy to let Nikon and Panasonic and all the other competitors take the lead on this.“

And than she interviewed Mr. David Parry from Canon UK (Click here), “I think they (mirrorless) are a great idea. What I like about them so much is that it’s brought more people into photography and the more people shooting, the better, as far an imaging company is concerned – that’s what we’re all about. Obviously, people were expecting to see CSC (mirrorless) having an effect on DSLR sales, but actually they’re still growing.” And talking about the G1X: “It’s a similar kind of price to compact system cameras with a similar size sensor inside them, and once they’ve purchased that they might look at our DSLRs.“

P.S.: There is a Canon G1x full test at Focus Numerique (Click here). Preorders are available at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

The video on tops shows the AF speed of the new K-01 camera paired with the new 40mm super pancake lens. Not a bad performance but also not extremely good :)

Pentax also unveiled the new lens roadmap (via PB and PR):

• 50mm DA standard lens (2012)
• 18-200 DA high magnification zoom lens (2012)
• 12-28mm DA wide zoom (2013)
• 24-38mm DA zoom limited lens (2013)
• 120-380mm DA tele zoom (2013)
• 18-85mm DA zoom lens (2013)
• DA AF RC 1.4x teleconverter (2013)

Here is the image of the lens roadmap (Click on it to enlarge):

And here are some more K-01 news:

Pixiq (Click here) shared some thoughts about the K-01: “Design-led? Actually, I think the Pentax K-01 means business“
And some more thougths by Admiringlight (Click here).
Hands on review at Techradar (Click here).

Preorders and price info:

Black K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here)
Silver K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
Yellow K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
K-01 with all different possible kit lenses at BHphoto (Click here).
K-01 body +40mm pancake preorder at Adorama (Click here)
K-01 body +18-55mm and 50-200mm preorder at Adorama (Click here)
40mm pancake at BHphoto (Click here)

Guess which camera is on top of the mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon (Click here to see the ranking)? Despite the high price the Fuji X PRO 1 (click to preorder now) sells like hotcakes! A wonder how sales will be in Europe were preorders didn’t start yet. I guess Fuji was serious when they told us months ago that they want to become the number three of the digital camera market!

All preorder links (all USA):
Body: Amazon (Click here!!!), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
18mm f/2.0 lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
35mm f/1.4 lens Amazon (Click here), Adorama too (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
60mm f/2.4 macro at Amazon (Click here), Adorama too (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here)

Important: I am continually updating this post with new links. Reload this page every couple of minutes….not every second please, it would crash my server :)

Preorders and price info:

Black K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here)
Silver K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
Yellow K-01 body at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
K-01 with all different possible kit lenses at BHphoto (Click here).
K-01 body +40mm pancake preorder at Adorama (Click here)
K-01 body +18-55mm and 50-200mm preorder at Adorama (Click here)
40mm pancake at BHphoto (Click here)

Previews and image samples:

Hands-on preview at Imaging Resource
Hands-on preview at ePhotozine
Hands-on photos at Photographyblog

New lens roadmap:

Photographyblog saw the new K lens roadmap: “the roadmap predicts that 3 new lenses will be released in 2012 – a DA Standard lens, DA High Magnification Zoom lens, and a DA Telephoto lens. In 2013 4 new lenses will make an appearance – the DA Zoom Limited, DA Tele Zoom, DA Wide Zoom and DA Zoom, with a new DA AF RC 1.4x teleconvertor too.“

Press release links:

ThePhoBlographer
Amateur Photographer
Dpreview
Techradar
Photoscala (german)
Focus Numerique (french)
Pentaxforums
Quesabesde (spanish)
Prweb
Nexthardware (italian)

Hands-on videos:

Interview with the K-01 stardesigner:

Poll:

Take your time to read all previews and specs carefully. Only after that answer:

Camera pictures (Click on it to enlarge):

It’s a big Pentax-Ricoh day! The Pentax K-01 hasn’t been announced yet (coming in a few hours) but the new 40mm pancake is already visible at BHphoto (Click here). And Ricoh announced the new A16 module. You can read the full specs and see image samples here: http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/gxr/unit6.html.

Stay tuned to see the full K-01 press release soon!