A fake Full Frame K11 designed by Ron Hendriks.

I know of quite a many readers here patiently waiting for a Full Frame mirrorless camera that doesn’t cost $8,000 like a Leica M9/MP/Monchrome camera. A real mirrorless without rangefinder system and Electronic Viewfinder. There is maybe some (crazy) hope!

According to a DChome rumor picked up and translated by RiceHigh Pentax will launch the most compact Full Frame body ever made by March 2013. It will use the 24 Megapixel Sony FF sensor we will first see in use for the upcoming Sony A99 and Nikon D600.

It may be crazy but Pentax is one of the few companies capable of launching completely “different” products. I certainly hope the rumor is true!

The screenshot from the original Fotomagazine text

Yesterday Fotomagazine (Click here to see the google cached site) wrote that Schneider and Sony are talking about a possible NEX partnership. Today Fotomagazine removed (or was forced to remove) that part of the text. So it sounds like the deal is still not signed and we have to cross the fingers that it will end with a good news for the Sony NEX folks!

We got some new info thanks to the German Fotomagazin and Photoscala websites. Schneider is considering to make an E-mount version of the just announced 14mm f/2.0 Micro Four Thirds lens. Meantime we have more news about that lens. Price will be less than 1.500 Euro ($1900), it has autofocus and nano coating. It will be in Stock by early 2013. Two more m43 lenses will be unveiled 2013.

For Sony NEX owners this is good news because the system desperately needs new lenses. Although a 28mm focal length (m43 has a 2x conversion rate) is (too?) close to the other stellar Zeiss 24mm lens.

There is now a second Pentax lens patent that describes another zoom lens for an APS-C mirrorless camera. The lens is the 18-70mm f/3.5-7.1 and a variation of it (19-75mm f/3.5-7.1). I guess that system could be announced at Photokina although I don’t know why Ricoh will maintain two different APS-C mirrorless system (Ricoh GXR and the Pentax).

Source: Egami.

One thing Samsung proved to do very well is…lenses. And this is the rumored list of new lenses coming in 2012-2013:

• Samsung iFn 12-24mm f/4 OIS ED VCM
• Samsung iFn 55mm f/1.8 pancake
• Samsung iFn 30mm f/2 pancake (version II)
• Samsung iFn 16-50mm f/2.8 OIS SSA
• Samsung iFn 70-400mm f/4-5.6 OIS ED VCM

The premium prime NX lenses will be announced in 2013.

Via PR.

What you see here on top is a new patent from Pentax describing a zoom lens for a mirrorless APS-C camera. The interesting thing is that this doesn’t seem to be a lens for the K-01 but rather for a new (real) mirrorless system with short lens to sensor distance. This may confirm the long time rumor saying that a new APS-C mirrorless series will be announced this year by Pentax!

Source: Egami.

The same source sent Photorumors and me an update about the NX system. There will be new NX cameras and new EX-2 substitute (no surprise) but the pre announced 16-80mm has been cancelled and there will be another advanced zoom lens instead. In total at least two (and maybe three) lenses will be announced at Photokina.

Samsung remains a bit of a mystery for me. They keep saying they want to become the number one in the mirrorless system. But they really have to invent some kind of magical products in order to archive that. To be technologically on par with the others isn’t enough. Jusy a weird idea, they should buy Leica and create a Samsung-Leice mirrorless EVF system :)