At least, that’s the rumor.

If there was one film DSLR that captured photographers’ imagination way back when, it was the Olympus OM-1. Olympus showed at that time not just a camera, but a whole system, with a complete stable of lenses, and all the accessories you could think of, from macro photography to astrophotography. My uncle back then who introduced me to photography, promptly sold his Nikon F system (to all his professional photographer friends’ shock) and switched to the smaller, lighter but in every way as good, OM system.

Yes, camera manufacturers have introduced compact mirrorless cameras these last few years but they have always been accompanied by a few lenses and they certainly cannot be considered a full professional system. If all Olympus does is bring out a “retro” OM-D compact mirrorless DSLR, it will have missed the legend of the OM system. On the other hand, if it brings out a whole professional system, it would be just the impetus that serious and even pro photographers need to make the switch — and the race for the top dog compact mirrorless may be over.

However, with a February 2012 announcement, the system part looks very unpromising unless Olympus has been working very hard, very secretly…

Read the rumor at: 43Rumors.

Interesting interview by Rob Galbraith of Nikon D4′s engineer Toshiaki Akagi.

The gist of the interview: D4 has much faster focus acquisition (“first frame” of a burst); sharper, more fine detail and reduced color noise at high ISOs; only Sony to make XQD cards; no comment of a mirrorless F-mount DSLR.

Read the interview at: Rob Galbraith.

Nikon Coolpix P7100

“The Nikon Coolpix P7100 is clearly a camera for serious / professional photographers.”

We’ve added a new Nikon COOLPIX P7100 [QuickPrice Check] Review to our Reviews Matrix.

LetsGoDigital has posted their review of the Nikon Coolpix P7100, a compact digital camera with 10.1MP resolution (1/1.7-in. CCD), 7.1x wide-angle optical zoom (28-200mm equiv.), optical Image Stabilization, 3.0-in. Vari-Angle LCD (921k-dot), PASM, Scene Modes, Dial controls, Electronic Virtual Horizon Display, and HD 720p Movie 1280×720 at 24fps with stereo sound.

You can read the Nikon P7100 Review @ LetsGoDigital.

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Interesting series of interviews by Imaging Resource from the camera manufacturers at CES 2012. The first three are from Olympus, Pentax and Fujifilm, with more to follow.

Olympus: Interview with Toshiyuki Terada, Manager and Group Leader of the Product and Marketing Planning Group, Product and Marketing Planning Department at Olympus Imaging Corp., and Sally Smith Clemens, Product Manager at Olympus Imaging America Inc.
Concerning Olympus’ financial problems, “Actually, for our usual business, not so big an impact, we are working usually. Nothing special.”

Pentax: Interview with John Carlson, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Pentax Ricoh Imaging Americas Corp.
Pentax is trying very hard to get the “message out there that a small camera [Pentax Q] with a combination of a high quality sensor and a high quality lens is going to give you better results than a compact camera where it’s all combined together.”

Fujifilm: Interview with Kayce M. Baker, Director of Marketing in the Electronic Imaging Division of Fujifilm North America Corp.
Fujifilm is making big claims that their new sensor in the X-Pro 1 is “equal in resolution to a full-frame sensor, and signal to noise is equal to a full-frame sensor.”

Here is this week’s (Jan 7-13, 2012) digital camera review roundup:

• This week has been CES 2012 and we got a flurry of camera updates from Canon, Samsung, Panasonic, Olympus and Fujifilm, though nothing terribly exciting. The Canon G1 X boasts a large sensor in a non-interchangeable lens camera and it’s pretty much where we see the compact prosumer cameras going. Canon however did not introduce any compact mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, the only big camera manufacturer that have not done so yet. Fujifilm introduced their mirrorless X-Pro1, though we can hardly assign the label “compact” to it. Fujifilm is also making big claims that the new sensor in the X-Pro 1 is “equal in resolution to a full-frame sensor, and signal to noise is equal to a full-frame sensor.” And even though it gives us a manual focus ring, the latter is fly-by-wire. Think of the X-Pro1 as an entry-level DSLR with its mirror removed. This is also about where we see entry-level DSLRs going: having their mirror removed since the latter is simply redundant and you should not be paying money for something that is unnecessary in a modern DSLR. Please check our Reviews Matrix for links to the appropriate press releases.
• For more camera reviews, to get a second opinion, and just to read the best reviews on the Web, visit our Reviews Matrix.

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During this week’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Lenovo announced more than 20 new products to be released later this year. The company was recognized for its product design and innovation by industry publications, experts, and associations with 16 awards and honours, many of which were for “Best in Show.” The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga and the ThinkCentre A720 were favoured among the winning products.

Awards included:

- CES Innovations Awards: Design and Engineering Showcase Award Honoree
- Lenovo LT1421
- CES Innovations Awards: Design and Engineering Showcase Award Honoree
- Lenovo Thinkpad

PRESS RELEASE

Lenovo Receives Top Industry Awards at 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show

CES 2012, Las Vegas – January 13, 2012 – Lenovo ( http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/ )today announced at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that it has received 16 awards and honours highlighting innovation, design and versatility in the PC industry. Most notably, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga won 11 awards from prominent industry publications including CNET, PCMag.com, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, LAPTOP and Tom’s Guide, all highlighting its groundbreaking hybrid functionality, distinctive design and innovative engineering. Lenovo’s other featured product at CES this year, the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 all-in-one (AIO) PC, won CNET’s Best Desktop award for its advanced ergonomics and stylish design.

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From allonewordplease

Of all the technology you’ll see coming out of CES 2012, this awesome à-la-Rube Goldberg “Page Turner” from kinetic artist Joseph Herscher won’t be there. Filmed by Erik Olsen.

via theawesomer

From crazedadman

I can’t imagine the amount of work that went into photographying and creating this stop-motion animation, but it is cool. I always like to see behind the scenes and feel exhausted just trying to picture the photographer moving the books and other objects to make the video.

via colossal

Sh** Photographers Say from Jason Groupp on Vimeo.

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek video by Jason Groupp about those words and phrases that come out of photographers’ mouths. We expect similar words and phrases are being uttered at CES 2012 this week.

via pdn