At last! Panasonic S1-S1R cameras will be officially launched on January 31!!!

The long wait will be over soon! Next week and more precisely on January 31 Panasonic will announce the full S1-S1R specs! Preorders will open on the same day. Here is a roundup of the confirmed and rumored specs via L-rumors.com:

Panasonic S1
24MP
L-mount
4k60p
Dual IS (in body stabilization and in lens stabilization)
Contrast AF (DFD technology)
Industry highest resolution EVF (Rumor: Could be 5.6 milion dot)
Deep learning AI
1 XQD and 1 SD slot
3-axis tiltable LCD
100% weather sealing
High Resolution mode (eight consecutive images are captured while shifting the sensor)
HLG Photo
Ships in March
Rumor: Price around $2,000
L-rumors.com

Panasonic S1R
47MP
L-mount
4k60p
Dual IS (in body stabilization and in lens stabilization)
Contrast AF (DFD technology)
Industry highest resolution EVF (Rumor: Could be 5.6 milion dot)
Deep learning AI
1 XQD and 1 SD slot
3-axis tiltable LCD
100% weather sealing
High Resolution mode (eight consecutive images are captured while shifting the sensor)
HLG Photo
Ships in March
Rumor: Price around $4,000

Panasonic S lenses:
50mm f/1.4
24-105mm (Rumor: f/4.0)
70-200mm (Rumor: f/2.8)

You can join the new L Full Frame Facebook group if you plan to buy this camera. There you can discuss all features and tests once it’s released!

To readers: While I am working to get some early specs I kindly invite you to stay tuned on L-rumors by subscribing here:
RSS feed: http://www.L-rumors.com/feed/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/L-rumors-266550040642592/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lrumors1

Pentax says the “Q development is not discontinued” and that there will be a major (mirrorless?) surprise in 2019

The new Nippon Camera magazine contains an interview with Pentax. The translation has been provided by Pentaxforums:

About their direction for 2019
They’re not the kind of company that can come out with large numbers of cameras. They plan to continue prioritizing cameras and the photographic process with customers in mind. The first topic for 2019 will be the all new GR III.

Quite a lot of the interview was about the GR III, and I’ll just refer you to the thread in the GR III, where I already posted about this. Post #499 of the following thread.
Ricoh GR III – Page 34 – PentaxForums.com

Pentax centenary
– It’s actually the centenary of the optical company that was the precursor to Pentax that celebrates it’s centenary this year.
– The actual date is in November
– They are considering how to celebrate the event, but cannot share details yet.
– They don’t think that merely putting a 100-year logo on products is what their customers are hoping for. (The implication is they will do something more)

About Q and 645
– Q has been highly valued for it’s compact size by core users. They are looking at the situation with the Q, and it is not accurate to say development in discontinued. (I think this should be taken with a pinch of salt, because in Japan, Q bodies are only available from Ricoh direct, some shops list the lenses as “production ended”, and that macro disappeared from the roadmap)
– Regarding 645, the next model is currently being considered. 645 is a very important product to the company and they are not stopping the line. (Resolute answer)

Lenses
– The interviewer mentioned that 645 users are worried about the lack of new lenses. They have not stopped development. However, for now their priority is for FF K-mount lenses.
– They have a lot of demands from full frame users, especially for lightweight tele zooms.
– They 85mm on the roadmap has been put back, but it is still coming (the strong implication is that prioritizing the tele zooms pushed back the 85mm).
– The DA* 11-18 is in the final stages of development. They expect to make an announcement before CP+.
– They are also planning a “surprise” for next year. (I take this to mean a lens not on the roadmap, because of the context of the comment)

About FF/MF mirrorless
– They expressed respect for the competing FF mirrorless systems, saying that they have many good points.
– However, they are more interested in serving their customers than following trends. They will listen to user requirements, not be swayed. (This was difficult to understand, but I think this means they are going to stick to their judgement, rather than caving in to peer pressure)
– They seem positive about Fuji’s entry into the MF market, because they think it will draw more attention to the MF market.

The K-1 upgrade
– They are proud of their achievement in clearing the logistical hurdles to making this possible.
– The reaction has been positive.
– (I can’t understand what they say about noise reduction, but it seems that they are aware that opinion is divided on the approach to noise reduction in the K-1 mark II)

The SDK
– They haven’t seen much development yet, but the reaction was greater than expected. They are currently gathering information. and looking forward to what users do with it.

Olympus E-M1X announced and Jared Polin destroyed it :(

E-M1X Preorders:
Olympus E-M1X in USA at Amazon, GetOlympus, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus E-M1X in Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras, Jessops, WexUK.

Olympus announced the new E-M1X, 150-400mm lens, a new roadmap and a new Silver edition E-M1II. All news can be found at 43rumors.com.

A remarkable news related to this is the very hars review from Jared Polin:

I rarely saw such a direct destructive attack on a camera :)

A probably more balanced review can be seen here:

 

Reviews and previews:
Robin Wong’s hands-on. Hands-on by Explora. Preview by CameraLabs. Review in progress at Dpreview. Review by ThePhoBlographer. First look at LCEgroup. Shooting experience at Dpreview. Preview at Photographyblog. E-M1X vs E-M1II by Mirrorlesscomparison. Spanish hands-on from Photolari. E-M1X vs E-M1II by Techradar.

There will be no Fuji X-H2 this year…

There is one thing we all love about the X-H1: It is the only Fuji camera with in body stabilization.
And now to the bad news: If you hoped to get a new X-H2 in 2019 well…sorry folks…according to Fujirumors you will not geat the X-H2 this year.

I do hope Fuji has the plan to add on sensor stabilization on all their future cameras tough!

The soon to be announced Panasonic 70-200mm L-mount lens has 77mm front filter,0.92m close focus and f/2.8 aperture

L-rumors spotted this new image posted on Digitalcameraworld. This new updated prototype lens unveiled some more new details:

From its size and 77mm front filter thread, it look almost certainly to be a 70-200mm f/2.8. You can also clearly see that the closest focusing distance of the lens is 0.92m (3.02 ft).

Panasonic is rumored to announce the full specs and pricing of the S1-S1R cameras and S lenses in 1-2 weeks!