Fuji confirms they are about to launch an interchangeable lens mirrorless camera!

Takeshi Higuchi, head of the company’s camera division, said in an interview with Reuters on Monday that “The launch of a mirrorless camera, which has an electronic viewfinder, making it lighter and more compact than a professional-style single-lens reflex camera, would be an extension of Fujifilm’s effort to move upmarket and would put it in direct competition with Sony.”

And: “in digital still camera unit sales, Fujifilm says it is currently in fifth position behind Canon, Sony, Nikon and Samsung, but adds it is confident that its plan to boost sales 25 percent to 14 million units this financial year will gain it the No. 4 spot.“

Will Samsung announce an ultrsmall NX camera? NX1000 coming?

Within one month the new minaturization war “produced” the the (pictured on top) and the . And according to a new source Samsung will join the competition! Take it with a grain of salt until our trusted sources can confirm or deny the specs.

The source saw a poster of a new Samsung NX1000 camera. The poster had the script: “Small, thin and light… technology with a smart touch“. The camera that was described is a small NX DualView with a 4″ AMOLED touch screen and front 1.8” LCD, WiFi and UI SmartMotion.

A wonder if a camera can be small if it uses a 4 inch(!) screen. Unless it has no buttons at all on the back of the camera!

P.S.:
Sony NEX-C3 images, specs and price at .
Panasonic GF3 images, specs and price at .
Olympus E-PM1 images, specs and price at (not availale yet for preorder!).

Breaking news! Ricoh buys Pentax!!!

What a news! Hoya finally sold Pentax to…Ricoh! That’s a huge surprise! Hee is the full press release (Source: Hoya .pdf):

“HOYA Corporation (“HOYA”) and Ricoh Company, Ltd. (“Ricoh”) hereby announce that pursuant to decisions by the President and CEO of HOYA and Representative Director of Ricoh, respectively, HOYA and Ricoh have executed an agreement as of today to transfer HOYA’s PENTAX Imaging Systems Business (the business of developing, manufacturing and selling optical instruments such as digital cameras and replacement lenses, digital camera accessories, security camera-related products, and binoculars) (the “PENTAX Imaging Systems Business”) to Ricoh.    HOYA will effectuate this transfer by incorporating a new corporation (“NewCo”), cause NewCo to succeed the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business by way of a corporate split (kyushu bunkatsu) (the “Corporate Split”), and transfer all shares of NewCo to Ricoh (such split and transfer shall be referred to as the “Split/Transfer”) as of October 1, 2011 (Estimated).
Prior to the Split/Transfer, HOYA intends to transfer its interests in PENTAX VN CO., Ltd., an overseas subsidiary of HOYA in relation to the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business, to NewCo.
Please note, that since the Corporate Split is a simplified corporate split (kan-i kyushu bunkatsu), disclosure items/content have been partially abbreviated.
Further, HOYA will continue to develop its businesses assigned from PENTAX Corporation which was merged (kyushu gappei) into HOYA on March 31, 2008 other than the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business, such as its businesses regarding digital camera modules, DVD pickup lenses, endoscopes, artificial bones, and voice synthesis.
1.    Background of the Split/Transfer
HOYA merged (kyushu gappei) with PENTAX Corporation on March 31, 2008, and has developed the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business assigned from PENTAX Corporation until now.    As part
of selecting and focusing its management resources, HOYA has decided to cause NewCo to succeed the PENTAX Imaging Systems Business via the Corporate Split, transfer the business and shares, etc. of HOYA’s Imaging Systems business subsidiary to NewCo via a business transfer and share/interests transfer, and thereafter, transfer all shares of NewCo to Ricoh.
Ricoh’s core business is office solutions focusing on MFPs, Ricoh has also introduced many cameras to the market since its inception in 1936. Ricoh was one of the first manufacturers to launch digital cameras in 1995 and Ricoh’s current high-end compact digital cameras are well regarded in the industry.
Now Ricoh aims to establish a consumer business. As a first step to achieve this goal, Ricoh strengthens its camera businesses. Ricoh takes it as an indispensable initiative to obtain the small and lightweight interchangeable lens camera technology, lens technology and sales channels held by the Pentax Imaging Systems Division to pave the way for further advancement and innovations in the digital camera market.
Through this acquisition, Ricoh plans to 1) enhance its digital camera businesses (especially the interchangeable lens camera market which is expected to grow), 2) create value-added businesses for taken photographs (creation and development of value-added services that encourage seeing, storing and refinishing photographs and utilize photographs as communication tools), and 3) expand to other fields (study of entry into the image archiving business using medium-format digital cameras and enhancement of security-related products)“

Olympus cameras and lenses announcement. Samsung is next!

I am sure you didn’t miss any rumors and news I posted on 43rumors. You can read a list of all news and reviews go here: http://www.43rumors.com/continually-updated-olympus-new-pen-and-lenses-announced/.

So can we finally enjoy a free time without rumors and announcements? No! Samsung will announce the new NX20 and NX200 cameras in July. I still don’t knwo when but I will knwo it soon for sure! Stay tuned!

Mirrorless market share analysis in Japan (Olympus does well!)

The Japanese website BCNranking displayed the latest data about the Japanese camera market. 31% of all sold interchangeable cameras in May were Mirrorless! And those are the detailed results

Most sold cameras with interchangeable lenses:
The first two position are held by the two entry level cameras from Nikon and Canon. But on position three you can already find the first mirrorless camera the E-PL2 with 6.4% of the whole volume share. The Panasonic GF2 is on Position 5 with 6.2%. The is on Pos. 7 with 5.3%. And on position 9 you can find the in Japan only available E-PL1s.

Mirrorless Market Share (January to May 2011):
Olympus volume share is 37.95% of the whole mirrorless camera. Right behind you find Sony (32.02%) and than Panasonic (30.03%). The year 2010 ended with following shares Panasonic (38.7%), Sony (32.2%), Olympus (29.1%). As you see Olympus made a huge step forward.

Market share for all interchangeable cameras:
If you count the all interchangeable cameras (Mirrorless and DSLR) than Canon leads with 29.3%, followed by Nikon (27.4%), Sony (15.0%), Olympus (12.7%) and Panasonic (9.7%). Canon and Nikon both loosed market share during the last months.
P.S.: Those are the links to the Amazon TOP 20 cameras:
Amazon US rankings (Click here)
Amazon DE rankings (Click here)
Amazon UK rankings (Click here)
Amazon FR rankings (Click here)
Amazon IT rankings (Click here)