The GX1 has fallen to a new low price record. You can grab it Adorama for $239 both in Black (Click here) and Silver (Click here). It’s $244 at Amazon (Click here) And the X kit sells for $499 at Amazon (Click here). This makes it the most sold mirrorless camera of the weekend (here is the ranking).
Yep, GX2 rumors are coming soon ;)
The detailed Cipa report has been published and there are some interesting news:
– Japanese companies produced 44% less cameras (50% less compact cameras and 24% less DSLR and Mirrorless).- The only segment with growth was the High End Camera and Lens market. For example +14,1% Full Frame Lenses have been produced.
This is clearly a sign that 1) the compact camera market is dying 2) The pro market is the only market still generating sales and money. For Panasonic and Olympus this means that they have to think on competing with Nikon and Canon in the high end market. But the MFT sensor size may be the major limitation. A larger Full Frame mirrorless system may be required to go into that direction!
P.S.: Current Amazon mirrorless rankings:
US ranking (Click here).
DE ranking (Click here).
UK ranking (Click here).
FR ranking (Click here).
Image courtesy: EosHD
Andrew Reid from EosHD (Click here) is the first user testing the soon to come Speed Booster for Micro Four Thirds. And soon Philip Bloom’s test will be online too. He just got the same adapter and is testing it on the BlackMagic Camera (see his pic on Instagram).
Back to EosHD, the version Andrew got is the Leica R to MFT mount adapter. Here are some key findings:
He tested it on these lenses:
ThE MFT Speed Boosters will come in late Summer and will available at Metabones Shop. You can save this search on Slidoo to get notified when they will be for sale one Bay (here is the How To if you don’t know what this is).
Photographer Giulio Sciorio shoots Miami with the Lumix G6
Let me catch up with some G6 and GF6 links:
Giuglio Sciorio also posted a Focus Peaking Lumix G6 test on youtube. Another peaking during recording test has been posted by Digitfoto on youtube. New G6 vs GH2 test made by Digitfoto on youtube. GF6 connectivity test at DSLRmagazine (google translation here).
Panasonic GF6 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Technikdirekt, Wex UK,
Panasonic G6 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and at Wex DE, Technikdirekt, Wex UK.
These are the latest US deals:
$100 off on the E-Pl5 with lens at Dell.com (Click here).
Limited stock of refurbished LX7 cameras sells for $249 at Groupon (Click here).
GX1 for $245 at Amazon (Click here).
$50 on Qualifying Olympus Digital Cameras at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 for $1199 at [shoplink 38824 ebay]electronicsvalley on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 38826 ebay]mzgamers on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
$100 off on the Demo 75mm lens at [shoplink 38861 ebay]CameraLand on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
$50 off on the Demo 60mm macro at [shoplink 38862 ebay]CameraLand on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Panasonic PZ 45-175mm lens for $299 at Amazon (Click here).
This comes as a “no surprise” for everyone here. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Olympus said it will eliminate its V series of compact cameras – the cheapest in its lineup, selling for less than $200. Its camera business posted a loss in the last fiscal year through March, because demand for compact cameras turned out to be weaker than expected, the company said.“. Olympus will focus their resources on the mirrorless system cameras and on high end compact cameras. As I told you a couple of days ago expect a new OMD and a new high end compact fixed lens camera to be announced within the next 3-4 months!
Japan Times also reports about Olympus current financial situation: “Olympus Corp. said Wednesday it returned to the black in fiscal 2012 with a group net profit of ¥8.02 billion, compared with a loss of ¥48.99 billion in the previous year, due partly to an improvement in its medical instrument business. But its imaging business, mainly consisting of digital cameras, logged an operating loss of ¥23.07 billion, posting a third straight year of red ink that weighed on the firm’s earnings. Olympus reported an operating profit of ¥35.08 billion, down 1.2 percent, on sales of ¥743.85 billion, down 12.3 percent. With the market for compact digital cameras rapidly shrinking, Olympus set its sales target for compact cameras at 2.7 million units for the current business year, compared with 5.1 million units in fiscal 2012. It will continue to focus on development and sales of mirrorless cameras, while drastically reducing its lineup of compact cameras. In its medium-term business plan through fiscal 2016, Olympus revised upward its consolidated operating profit projection to a record ¥143 billion from an earlier forecast ¥130 billion, on an expected increase in medical business sales supported by the weakening yen. For the current business year through next March, Olympus expects to post a group net profit of ¥30 billion and a consolidated operating profit of ¥71 billion, on sales of ¥700 billion.”
One more thing: The real challenge for Olympus is their 2-3 year strategy to compete in the high end digital camera market. Full Frame cameras are gettign cheaper and the competition in the mirrorles market is growing…
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UPDATE: Whatdigitalcamera posted that image of a “Mystery Olympus” you can win on a special event on July 26. This created quite a buzz for a short time but this teaser has been already posted nine months ago. And I think the July 26 event “Mystery Camera” is the E-P5. Busted :)
