The Leica Camera Blog reports that Leica will announce some new “surprise product” in 2012. And we are not talking about the pre announced mirrorless system only. Dr. Kaufmann “told us that they haven’t been discussed or discovered by Leica Rumors or the Leica Forum until now.“.

After reading that I checked back some strange rumors from unknown sources. They might be false but it’s the only rumor I got that haven’t been posted by anyone. The rumor says that Leica could use Fuji organic sensors for their next cameras (including the M10). I repeat, the rumor is from unknown sources but what’s true is that Leica will no more rely on Kodak sensors. And Fuji organic sensor technology looks very promising….

A japanese deisgner recreated that Olympus Fuji LX image on the base of the leaked images. I think it’s a very reliable reconstruction of the final cameras.

For comparison only: Below you can see the front of the [shoplink 100018]Fuji X100[/shoplink].

P.S:
There are price drops on the Fuji X100. Check at [shopcountry 100018].
And the Fuji X10 is finally in Stock in most stores: Check at [shopcountry 100018].

It is enough exciting to know that Fuji will implement the hybrid optical and electronic viewfinder technology on a camera that takes interchangeable lenses. But the even more amazing news is that the Fuji LX camera coming in February will be the first camera featuring an organic sensor! (Source: Zemes Gaoson).

As you know a month ago Fuji stated that the new camera will outperform current fullframe sensor. And the leaked images and lens info make us suppose that they will manage to squeeze that superb image quality on a small APS-C camera. That’s why It’s easy to guess that Fuji will use a completely new and revolutionary technology to archive the goal. Zemes says: “Fujifilm already said that the new sensor will have lowlight performance that rivals the current best full frame SLR sensors. And based on what I read about the Fujifilm’s revolutionary Organic CMOS, I have no reason to doubt this claim.“

Noisycamera found that research paper from Fuji (Click to download the pdf). In short this is the advantage of using the new organic sensors: “As the organic photoelectric conversion layer has a large absorption coefficient in principle, it can absorb enough light in spite of its extreme thinness. Therefore, it is free from spectral cross-talk between tiny pixels when capturing slanting rays of light and does not need any micro-lenses conventionally used for gathering incident light. The spectral sensitivity of the organic photoelectric conversion layer can be freely controlled by designing organic materials and it is possible to achieve a panchromatic property which does not have sensitivity to infrared light but only to blue, green and red light as shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a conventional infrared light cut filter and we can eliminate its problem, a change of infrared cut wavelength and color hue caused by a change of the angle of light incidence.“

And here is the specs summary of the new Fuji LX camera coming in February:
– APS-C sensor size
– Organic sensor
– New proprietary mount
– All metal body
– Hybrid viewfinder
– 1/4000 top shutter
– universal hot shoe
– 18mm/2.0 pancake, 35mm/1.4,. Probably a zoom and a 60mm prime lens coming too.

I want that camera and you? :)

The new Fuji X interchangeable mirrorless X system has been leaked at Xitek. There is no info about specs and sensor size. The design is very close to the [shoplink 100018]Fuji X100[/shoplink]! It has an OVF/EVF switch option, metal body, tops shutter 1/4000, universal hot shoe. This could be the lenses: 18mm/2.0 pancake, 35mm/1.4 and a 60mm lens. Sounds like the sensor could be APS-C.

Marketing Magazine (via Rice High via Noisycamera) interviewed the Ricoh UK marketing director said that Ricoh will “fill the gap” in 2012. Of course he didn’t unveil what Ricoh means with the word “gap”. But it’s easy to guess that we are talking about a new high end module, probably with full frame sensor? Would be nice! My dreams about a cheap Leica M9 could become true! :)

The brazilian website Ztop (Clcik here) posted a full Fuji X10 review. But it contains a small interesting info about the upcoming interchangeable X system. A Fuji powerpoint shows that the first X camera will be announced in February 2012.

Can’t wait to see that new system. Fuji promised that it would dliver a better image quality than any Fullframe system! My money is ready for you Fuji! :)

Mr. Stefan Daniel (Director Product Management at Leica Camera AG) had an interview with Leica Blog (Via Megapixel). And there are first small hints about the future Leica mirrorless system with electronic viewfinder:
1) “The experience with the very successful Leica X1 leads us to the opinion that a Leica with an interchangeable lens should have at least an APS-sized sensor.“
2) “I think that the quality of the 1.4MP finders is already very good, and sometimes even more accurate than an optical finder, think of white balance or exposure. Over time, as technology is improving, optical finders will get less and less important. The X100 finder is a very nice concept and well executed.“
3) “Offering additional functions such as video and live view would extend the usability of the M camera significantly. CMOS is a prerequisite for it, therefore it will be the technology of the future.“

Now that sounds intriguing. Stefan praises the Fuji X100 finder concept. So will they try to use a hybrid viewfinder on their cameras? Would be amazing!