Fujifilm and Olympus have been hard at work lately bringing the beauty of film cameras to the world of digital. Perhaps sensing a new trend, Samsung wants in: the company is planning to release a “retro” mirrorless camera of its own. Sadly, it’s effort pales in comparison to what the other manufacturers are doing. Rather than imitate rangefinder cameras (e.g. Fujifilm X-Pro1 and the Leica M9) or resurrect old film SLR designs (e.g. the Olympus OM-D), Samsung has seemingly decided that retro camera designs can be boiled down to one thing: silver-colored top plates. This Saturday, Samsung will be announcing a “retro” version of the NX200 called the NX200 RS. The only thing that differs from the standard model is a silver top plate.

(via DaNaWa via Sammy Hub via Photo Rumors)

Some spec rumors for the Olympus OM-D camera that we wrote about yesterday are starting to emerge. The retro-styled, weather-sealed magnesium body will reportedly resemble classic OM series film SLR cameras, and will be available in both black and silver. Rather than have a pentaprism like an actual SLR, the 16MP camera will feature a 1.44M dot electronic viewfinder. It’ll be 121mm wide, and will weigh 425g. The release date is rumored to be sometime in late March 2012.

(via Digicame-info via Photo Rumors)

Update: The rumored announcement date is February 8th — less than a month away!

Image credit: Olympus OM-2n & Zuiko 2.8/24 – one of the greatest cameras ever made! by mr. Wood

Olympus’ stock price has been recovering quite nicely after an internal probe found no evidence of yakuza involvement (though they did slam upper management as “rotten”). However, rumors of possible takeover attempts persist. An article published by Bloomberg today reported that Fujifilm may be in the hunt for the beleaguered company:

Fujifilm, which makes equipment for medical scans, has been reported as a possible bidder for Japanese camera maker Olympus Corp. Yamamoto, who also is a board member at Fujifilm, declined to comment on a possible buyout of Olympus today.

Fujifilm Chief Executive Officer Shigetaka Komori said last month it was too early to discuss Olympus issues while the third-party panel was still probing the fraud at the camera maker.

Fujifilm has received a lot of praise lately for its sleek X series cameras, and could take another big step towards becoming a digital camera juggernaut if it somehow landed Olympus.

(via Bloomberg via Mirrorless Rumors)

Image credit: Olympus Trip XB401 by Arty Smokes (deaf mute)

Based on a recently published patent filing, Canon appears to be working on putting aperture rings on EF-mount lenses to allow the aperture to be smoothly controlled during video recording. The patent, filed by the company back in March and published late last week, talks of a “diaphragm driving unit” and shows a third ring on the lens in addition to the zoom and focus rings.

As many of you know, Canon is planning a “historic” announcement in Hollywood on November 3rd. Many people are guessing that an EF-mount camcorder will be announced, while others are hoping for a Canon 5D Mark III that’s even more geared towards filmmakers. This new patent is further proof that Canon is indeed planning big things for the filmmaking market.

(via Photography Bay)

With the success of the Fujifilm X100, camera companies are starting to realize that consumers love both the design of old school cameras and the ease of shooting digital. Samsung may be looking to join the retro party — the latest rumor to hit the Internet is that Samsung is planning a X100-style camera called the R1… with interchangeable lenses!

Earlier today, the blog 36exp published a post titled The Samsung Retro R1: DSLR Spec in Compact Body. Just hours later, the post was quietly deleted, but not before Mirrorless Rumors snagged a copy of the text:

Last night I attended a feedback session run by a research company on behalf of a major camera company. They were looking for ‘advanced camera users’ to give feedback on a new camera design.

They showed what looked like a very well progressed mock up and spec of a camera, which was about the size of a Canon G12 (Click here ot see that cam), or mirrorless camera, but had styling very similar to the Fuji X100 (Click here ot see that cam).

The spec of the camera that we were asked to give feedback on was given as:

- APS C size sensor
– 24.3 mega pixels
– Interchangeable lenses
– Mirrorless system
– Magnesium alloy body
– Retro Styling (their words) i.e. direct access buttons and dials for controls, similar look to Fuji x100, black and chrome
– 10 fps
– Max shutter speed 1/8000 sec
– Phase autofocus
– Swivel LCD screen (although this didn’t get good feedback)
– Price £616 including kit lens

They didn’t reveal it as Samsung initially, but the discussion got onto which brands we trusted and everyone mentioned Nikon, Canon, Leica etc as brands with heritage that they would trust if buying into what seemed to be a premium camera. When someone mentioned that they would be less likely to buy it if it was from Samsung a guy appeared (who been observing the session from behind one way glass) and announced that it was a Samsung camera, and asked our thoughts on this….

Couldn’t get any pictures or bring anything out unfortunately. It may be called the Retro R1 or similar as the mock up had Retro etched on it, but tape over the rest of the name.

I really liked it, seemed to have SLR spec in a smaller body, hopefully it comes to fruition.

One thing X100 fans have been clamoring for since the release of that camera — and subsequently the X10 — is a X100-style camera with interchangeable lenses (both the X100 and X10 have fixed lenses). Could Samsung actually beat Fujifilm to the punch and release a retro-styled interchangeable-lens mirrorless camera first? That would be crazy.

(via Mirrorless Rumors)

Update: The photo of Samsung prototype cameras that we shared a while back includes a retro inter-changeable lens one. Could that be the R1?

Image credit: FinePix X100 Side Front by Joe Wilcox

What you see here may be the first leaked photograph shot with the upcoming iPhone 5. The EXIF data claims it was shot with the iPhone 4, but other EXIF details indicate otherwise. Although the leaked image was cropped, the original size of the image was 3264×2448 (roughly 8MP), the rumored resolution found on the next iPhone. The lens info was recorded as “4.3mm f/2.4″, more similar to a point-and-shoot than then 3.85mm f/2.8 lens found on the iPhone 4. Finally, the geotag info in the photo shows it was taken at 37.33216667,-122.03033333 — the location of Apple’s headquarters. Check out the full-res file with EXIF intact here.

Update: Wow… Apparently a reader over at This is My Next enhanced the image to reveal a person holding what appears to be a phone (thx Mitchell!):

(via Pocketnow via TechCrunch)

Leica is reportedly working on a compact, large-sensor, interchangeable lens camera that will rival the “EVIL” cameras offered by Olympus/Panasonic (Micro Four Thirds), Sony (NEX), and Samsung (NX). In an interview today with Amateur Photographer, company boss Alfred Schopf stated that consumers “will see something at the next Photokina”, and that the camera will have at least an APS-C sized sensor. Perhaps the new camera will be how Leica finds its way again after being late to the digital game.

(via Amateur Photographer)

The pro-level mirrorless camera Nikon is rumored to be working on (the “Coolpix Pro”) may unfortunately boast a not-so-pro-sized sensor. The latest news to be sweeping across the Interwebs is that the camera will pack a 2.6x crop factor sensor, smaller than the Micro Four Thirds format sensor or the APS-C sensor found in the FujiFilm FinePix X100. It’s also likely that the mirrorless camera would have been announced already had production not been stalled by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.

(via Nikon Rumors)

Image credit: Sensor sizes diagram by Moxfyre

Looks like Nikon has a new 50mm lens primed for announcement. Earlier today a AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G product page appeared on Nikon’s website, but was quickly pulled — but not before it was already widely reported (here’s a screenshot of the page). The lens features a Silent Wave Motor for quiet focusing, and a “newly developed optical system employing an aspherical lens element”. It will be compatible with both DX and FX format cameras. No word on when this lens will become official or how much it will cost.

(via Nikon Rumors)

If you think the 5-megapixel sensor found on the iPhone 4 is good, wait till you see the camera found on the next iPhone — it’s reportedly going to be a 8-megapixel sensor made by Sony. The Street wrote back in 2010 that the next version of the iPhone to arrive in 2011 would pack an 8-megapixel Sony sensor rather than the 5-megapixel OmniVision one found in the current phone, and Sony’s CEO Howard Stringer seems to have confirmed that today in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Early on, [Stringer] raised the irony of Sony supplying camera components for Apple devices. It “always puzzles me,” he said. “Why would I make Apple the best camera?”

It is unclear what devices he was talking about as Sony isn’t known to supply key camera components, known as image sensors, to Apple; A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment and an Apple spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment. [#]

Now if only they could find a way to put some amazing glass on the phone also…

(via 9to5 Mac)

Image credit: Sony NEX-5 Mount by pabuk