Kodak is loosing his value on Wall Street (Source: Yahoo)

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A few days ago we posted a rumor we received from sources saying that Leica will drop Kodak sensors in favour of the new Sony fullframe sensors. And it’s today news that Kodak fourth-quarter profit dropped by 95%!!! Source: Marketwatch.

Is that news another good reason why Leica should rely on Sony sensors for the development of their new mirrorless system? I certainly hope Kodak will keep staying in the snesor business!

Finally trhere is a bunch of new mirrorless cameras we can talk about! Samsung just announced the new NX11 which is basically a NX10 with iFunction and new handgrip (More at X-rumors). Than there is the new Olympus E-PL2 which should be announced early January. Also in that case the difference between the older E-Pl1 and E-Pl2 are almost negligible. New updated kit-lens, new ISO 6.200 feature and a new design which is the only major change (More at 43rumors).

Meanwhile for the X time there are new Nikon mirrorless patents floating around the web. At least there is a new interesting concept. A mirrorless camera with interchangeable sensor! (More at Egami).

Nothing really worldshaking for now but I guess the next bunch of REAL new cameras will be announced soon (February?).

Source: Megapixel

In this interview Canon minimizes the success of mirrorless cameras saying that their are not really gaining a lot of market share (at least not in Europe and US). But you should take a look on that:
MichaelKJ collected all japanese mirrorless sales data from January to September 2010. It gives you a clear idea about the growing market share!

Single Mirrorless camera share:
Jan: MFT= 13.2%: GF1=8.0%, G1=5.2%
Feb: MFT= 13.9%: GF1=9.1%, G1=4.8%
March: MFT= 16.7%: GF1=7.8%, E-PL1=6.9%
April: MFT= 13.6%: GF1=5.0%, G1=2.2%, E-PL1=6.4%
May: MFT= 13.7%: GF1=3.6%, G2=3.5%, E-PL1=6.5%
June: MFT= 10.0%: GF1=4.1%, E-PL1=5.9% (NEX-5=11.1%, NEX-3=5.3%)
July: MFT= 12.6%: GF1=5.4%, E-PL1=7.2% (NEX-5= 9.0%, NEX-3=5.9%)
August: MFT= 10.6%: GF1=3.6%, E-PL1=7.0% (NEX-5= 9.7%, NEX-3=4.3%)
Sept: MFT= 8.3%: GF1=3.6%, E-PL1=4.7% (NEX-5= 8.9%, NEX-3=4.1%)

Company share:
Jan: Panny=13.2%; Oly=0%; Canon=29.1%; Nikon=27.5%; Sony=0%; Pentax=11.3%
Feb: Panny=13.9%; Oly=0%; Canon=26.3%; Nikon=30.3%; Sony=2.3%;Pentax=8.0%
March: Panny=7.8%; Oly=6.9%; Canon=31.9%; Nikon=28.6%; Sony=0%;Pentax=6.5%
April: Panny=7.2%; Oly=6.4%; Canon=27.4%; Nikon=34.4%; Sony=0%;Pentax=5.9%
May: Panny=7.1%; Oly=6.5%; Canon=25.2%; Nikon=36.5%; Sony=0%;Pentax=5.8%
June: Panny=4.1%; Oly=5.9%; Canon=19.0%; Nikon=29.0%; Sony=16.4%;Pentax=4.4%
July: Pany=5.4%; Oly=7.2%; Canon=24.8%; Nikon=23.3%; Sony=14.9%;Pentax=4.9%
August: Pany=3.6%; Oly=7.0%; Canon=25.3%; Nikon=26.0%; Sony=14.0%;Pentax=4.4%
Sept: Pany=3.6%; Oly=4.7%; Canon=29.3%; Nikon=17.9%; Sony=17.9%;Pentax=4.0%

DSLR vs Mirrorless
Jan: Mirrorless=13.2%; DSLR=67.9%
Feb: Mirrorless=13.9%; DSLR=66.9%
March: Mirrorless=16.7%; DSLR=67.0%
April: Mirrorless=13.6%; DSLR=67.5%
May: Mirrorless=13.7%; DSLR=67.5%
June: Mirrorless=26.4%; DSLR=52.4%
July: Mirrorless=27.5%; DSLR=53.0%
Aug: Mirrorless=24.6%; DSLR=55.7%
Sept: Mirrorless=26.2%; DSLR=51.2%

Ricoh firmware update for the GXR system (Ricoh.com). The firmware adds Spot and Macro AF area selection options, faster AF, auto noise reduction, Exif 2.3 support and 3 magnification ratios to check focus.
And Samsung posted the new firmware upgrade (version 1.01) for the new NX100. This update improves the accuracy of autofocus in the Night mode. You can download the firmware at samsungimaging.com. There is also a pdf file with a How-to at downloadcenter.samsung.com.

We used google trends to see which is the most searched mirrorless camera. The winner is the Sony NEX-5. But if we compare any mirrorless camera with a DSLR oyu easily see that Canon and Nikon still dominate the world (look the graph below).

Amazon recently added a new bestseller category for mirrrorless cameras! That’s one more proof for the success of such cameras. But there is one BIG mistake. Amazon US names the category “Micro Four Thirds cameras” unlike other Amazon Europe stores where they call it “Compact System Cameras”. Is that a mistake or a Panasonic/Olympus marketing action?

Check out the current rankings:
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon US (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon Deutschland (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon UK (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon France (Click here)

Amazon Canada and Amazon Japan do not offer the new ranking system.

What can we learn from those rankings? Generally spoken Micro Four Thirds is winning the game against Sony and Samsung. In UK and Germany, Samsung is doing surprisingly well and in France the NEX cameras are on top of the list. And the most popular camera is (as usual) the .

Sony-alpha.saloon.jp found a scheduled press release from Sony at SankeiBiz that says that on October 12 at 13:00 Sony will “Unveil a new SLR mirror-less product“. Probably they will show the colored NEX cameras or some new mirrorless accessories. A NEX7 seems very unlikely to be announced after Photokina!

According to X-rumors.om Samsung will launch two new NX camera in March 2011. One of the cameras is the new Samsung compact camera, the NX200. Compared to the new NX100 it will have new advanced features (like better video and high-ISO quality) and very likely a new built-in flash and swivel display. It will use the same 14 Megapixel sensor (but with a new better processor engine). The other NX camera will replace the current .