Panasonic plans to launch new Micro Four Thirds camera

At the Panasonic Asia Seminar held in Singapore today, the Japanese electronics maker revealed that it will be launching a new G-series Micro Four Thirds camera later this year. While no futher details were shared, it is likely the company will at least showcase a prototype at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow in Las Vegas next month. We'll know soon enough.

Panasonic first G-series offering, the G1 (as shown in picture), was announced in August last year. It is the world's first shooter to use the new Micro Four Thirds platform and has since received rave reviews for its small camera body and image quality. The Micro Four Thirds System is the latest digital imaging format championed by Panasonic and Olympus that's built on the older Four Thirds System. Cameras based on the Micro Four Thirds System are not referred to as dSLRs but rather as "interchangeable lens camera systems".

SD cards could soon replace HDD in camcorders

This could happen in the next few years as flash memory costs match hard drive's pricing in terms of dollar per gigabyte, Panasonic believes. The company made this prediction at its Asia Seminar held in Singapore today.

Panasonic estimates that SD cards are used in about 70 percent of flash memory devices worldwide. The current SDHC format, which maxes out at 32GB, will be succeeded by the SDXC standard that's capable of storing up to 2TB of data. The new media format was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year and is scheduled for a late 2009/early 2010 launch.

Panasonic unveils 2009 Lumix lineup

Even with the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow almost a month away and the global economy flailing, the digital imaging industry is already firing up the pistons, with big guns like Panasonic today showcasing an extensive 2009 camera lineup at its Asia Seminar held in Singapore.

A collection of 11 new Lumix shooters were unveiled, among them six models that had been announced earlier (see the coverage here) with updated models names for the region. Of those six new offerings, the flagship TZ7 offers a compact 12x zoom design, AVCHD Lite video recording and 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens. The FT1 is Pansonic's first rugged outing aimed directly at Olympus' TOUGH series, while the FX48 and touchscreen FX580 add 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens with a new face recognition function.
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Entry-level duo from Fujifilm

Besides the FinePix F200EXR which is aimed at enthusiasts, Fujifilm has also announced a pair of A-series shooters for beginners. Although this family of compact cameras has limited shooting options, they are generally user-friendly and easy on the pocket, too.

The 10-megapixel FinePix A150 is operated by two AA-sized batteries which can be purchased from just about anywhere. It boasts a 3x optical zoom (35.5mm to 106.5mm) lens, 3-inch LCD and 14 scene modes to help beginners tackle different shooting situations. Given that it is a budget model, there isn't any optical or sensor-shift image stabilization. Instead, the Picture Stabilization mode ramps up the ISO sensitivity to compensate for a higher shutter speed. The A150 isn't the most stylish point-and-shoot on the market, but its simplistic design should go down well with those who want a fuss-free shooter.

The FinePix A100 has similar specifications as the A150, except for a smaller 2.7-inch display size.

Fujifilm wasn't able to confirm the pricing and availability of these two shooters in Asia at press time.

Have US$35,000 to spare for some Leicas?

On February 6, there is a Lunar New Year lottery draw in Singapore with the top prize at S$10 million. If I am lucky enough to win even a portion of it, I might seriously consider bidding for this set of vintage Leica shooters and lenses which include the very old Leica IIIf rangefinder and Summicron 40mm F1.2 lens.

Seller fduque9936 has posted 30 camera bodies and 43 lenses for sale on eBay. The price? A whopping US$35,000. The tab may seem exorbitant, but on average each item costs less than US$480. A quick search on the auction site showed that most of fduque9936's snappers are cheaper than other sellers'. However, it wasn't mentioned in his post whether or not the cameras are in operating conditions. So if you are interested in these cameras, it's best to contact fduque9936 before proceeding with any transactions.

Shutterbugs who have deep pockets and a penchant for collecting antique cameras can consider this sale. For me, it's back to the lottery board first.

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