CNET Asia talked with a spokesperson from General Electrics who said that “GE is looking to introduce its first Micro Four Thirds-like camera before the end of 2011“. Interesting that they said “Micro Four Thirds like” and not “mirrorless” or “CSC” or “ILC”. General Electrics is already producing digital cameras (the GE cameras). There are no details about the future mirrorless cameras.

We were told by our sources that Pentax will announce their “Pentax NC” mirrorless system in May/June. We got our hands on the first picture of the camera and lenses. As you can see from the image it really looks like the digital version of the popular and very tiny . Pentax goal was to create the smallest mirrorless system of the world. That’s why the sensors has a 1/2,33? size (that’s the size of the sensor in most compacts). It’s a 14 Megapixel 5.6x crop sensor. It can also record HD h.264 movies. Two lenses will be released along the NC-1. There will be a prime 8.5mm f/1.9 (almost 47mm equivalent) and a zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 (28-80mm equivalent)! As you see from the pictures above those are very small lenses.  We don’t have the exact size measures yet. The new Kenko mirrorless system also uses a 14 Megapixel 1/2,33? (crop factor 5,6). And we were told that Kenko worked very close with Pentax to create the system.

But here comes the even bigger news. Pentax will create two different mirrorless systems! The second system will feature a much larger APS-C sensor (Sony?) and be compatible with current K-mount lenses. That system should be introduced this summer. So if you want an incredible small mirrorles ssystem you can get the NC-1, if you want a mirrorless system with high image quality you can get the large sensor camera. Easy or not?

P.S: Check out images and lenses of the Pentax Auto 110 on

Feel free to share the news and image, but it would be nice if you could link us back at Mirrorlessrumors.com. Thanks!

Image courtesy: Quesabesde

Richard Trestain (left) and Richard Shepherd from Canon Europe had a one hour talk with Iker Moran from Quesabesde (Click here to read the google english translation).

Those are the key points of the INterview:

– “We do not need CSC (Compact System Cameras ) because our current range covers all fields. In the future we’ll see.“
–  “It is not just in size, but of balance between performance and ergonomics. I dare not say that the is the smallest that we can build.“
– And regarding the [shoplink 100018]X100[/shoplink] Canon said: “$ 1,000 is a lot of money for a compact,”

That’s probably a coincidence only but according to sources from Nikonrumors and SonyAlphaRumors both companies will announce their new mirrorless cameras on April 4th. Channelnews reported that “Nikon is set to re-launch their brand in Australia, with a major multimillion dollar marketing campaign, featuring Robbie Williams. The Japanese Company is also introducing several new digital cameras’ ranging in price from $99 to $2,000.” The first ad will air in the UK on April 11th, 2011.

According to our sources the system should be named “Nikon Coolpix PRO“.

Sony will announce the new NEX-C3 mirrorless camera. It should be a minor update of the current NEX-3 with small design changes and same NEX-5 sensor. There is also a good chance that Sigma and Zeiss will announce the new NEX lenses. The Zeiss E-mount lens should be a 24mm f/1.7 lens.

What about the other companies?

Panasonic should have a press release on late April and Pentax will announce their NC mirrorless system in May. If all those rumors are correct by the end of May Canon will be the only company not having a mirrorless system. Let’s see when they are coming…

The latest Nikon patent shows us how Nikon wants to protect the sensor from “dust contamination”. The mount itself will have a shutter that is closed while changing lenses. Smart idea or not?
Publication number: Patent 2011-13399 (P2011-13399A)

Source: Egami

Image of the Canon mirrorless patent found by Egami

Amateur Photographer just posted the text of an interview made with Rainer Fuehres from Canon: “The idea of the compact system camera is nothing to do with whether the camera has a mirror or not, but about creating a small and more portable system. If Canon does take part I hope we won’t introduce just a me-too product, but we’ll use the opportunity to do something different.”… “For Canon it would be about connectivity and providing high image quality in a small form. The manufacturers that have introduced micro Four Thirds and mirrorless systems have been those that have failed to make a success of their mainstream digital SLR offerings“.

But via Photorumors we found a Canon patent that discloses a possible future Canon mirrorless camera (Click here to see the patent at Egami). So Canon, what are you trying to hide?

Image from a Nikon patent (Source: Nikonrumors.com)

A month ago we told you that Nikon would announce their new mirrorless system in April. Now Nikonrumors got new confirmation from their sources: “Today I received some information from a reliable source that Nikon indeed will be targeting professional users with their mirrorless solution rather than the consumer market. I was told that the announcement will be in the next few weeks.“

We from Mirrorlessrumors do believe that Nikon’s “PRO” system will not be a full frame nor an APS-C sensor based system. They will more likely use a smaller 2.5 crop sensor (Micro Four Thirds has a larger 2.0 crop sensor). It sounds like PRO is more a marketing suffix :)