Miquel Àngel Garcia, manager of Olympus Spain (Image courtesy Quesabesde).

Panasonic already did it silently…drop the FT development. And today Olympus manager Miguel Àngel Garcia from Olympus Spain described Olympus exit strategy from the Four Thirds world. He “confessed” that in late 2013 Olympus will announce a Miro Four Thirds camera that will integrate 100% full support on Four Thirds lenses. There will be no classic E-7 FT camera, the “hybrid” camera will be the real E-5 replacement. It will have a DSLR feeling while having the MFT size advantage. The camera is something completely new and Olympus is developing it since 2009.

I guess no one here is really surprised to hear that. And I suspect Sony and other manufacturers will soon do the same, drop the classic DSLR development in favour of a full mirrorless system.

I had to rely on google translation tool to decipher the Japanese content form the latest Impress Japan magazine issue. It contains a “prediction” about the upcoming Sigma products. According to them we can expect:
1) a new APS-C Foveon sensor (note: current sensor are slightly smaller than APS-C).
2) the release of a new mirrorless system from Sigma
3) the improvement of Monochrome RAW information.

I would be glad to see a new system camera from Sigma!

Our friend Peter at Photorumors just spotted a surprising Nikon J1 clone, the new Polaroid mirrorless camera! It almost looks like Polaroid has a partnership with Nikon to realize a copy of the J1 based on Android OS. As I said of the lens are the same of the Nikon. Announcement will likely be made in early January at the CES show in Las Vegas.

Fujirumors spotted the screenshot you see on top on the on this German Forum. There is no info yet about when the update will be released nor do we have any clue about the possible new features. But it looks like Fuji plans to play a big part on the CES with the new X200 release with X trans sensor and the new X-E1 update.

Egami (translated) spotted a new Canon lens patent describing a 50mm f/2.0 lens. Egami “speculates” that this may be a lens for a Full Frame mirrorless system. Yep, as far as I understand there is no evidence this lens may be designed for a mirrorless system. May Japanese readers can help me to understand why Egami is making such speculation. That said I believe it’s inevitable that sooner or later Canon, Nikon, Fuji and Sony will launch a FF mirrorless system.

By the way, Canon already launched a similar lens for the FD system! It is the [shoplink ’55mm 1.2′ ebay]55mm f/1.2 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

Just a short update on the X200 rumor. I just have been told that it uses the same 16 Megapixel X trans sensor of the X-E1 X PRO 1. Also certainly not a Full Frame camera nor a RX1 competitor is coming :)