Is the Olympus OM-D coming soon?

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Rumours are intensifying that Olympus is poised to launch a new compact system camera called the OM-D, styled after the classic OM-1 film camera.

Over the past few days, rumours about a new model from Olympus have increased, especially after an advertisement by the company was reproduced across the world. The advert features the words "Oh My Goodness", with the O and the M highlighted in bold.

The trademark "OM-D" was also registered at the beginning of December, suggesting that the new camera will bear this name.

The OM-1 is a 35mm SLR film camera harking back to 1972. It's likely that the new camera would directly compete with the Fujifilm X Pro1, which was announced at CES, and also features retro styling and interchangeable lenses.

Rumoured specs for the OM-D include a 16 million pixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, a built in electronic viewfinder, a weather sealed magnesium body and a new AF system. It would make sense for the body to be weatherproof, as the 12-50mm "powerzoom" zoom lens that was introduced back in December also featured dust and splash proof sealing.

There has been no information about whether a new camera would be in addition to the Olympus PEN range, or whether it would replace any of the models already in the line-up. Given that it has a completely different style of name though, it's likely that it would be an entirely new line.

Focus debut?

Mark Thackara, National Marketing Manager for Olympus UK, told TechRadar, "We don't like to comment on rumours, but we hope to see everyone at Focus [on Imaging]". Focus is a photographic trade show that takes place in the NEC during 4-7th March.

Thackara also confirmed that the "Oh My Goodness" advert will be running in several more locations.

Rumours suggest that the OM-D will be unveiled on February 8th, during the CP+ photography show, taking place in Japan, the home of Olympus.

Keep following for more Olympus OM-D updates as and when they happen.

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Panasonic announces GX1 firmware update

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Panasonic has announced an update for its GX1 advanced compact system camera which improves a number of functions.

A firmware upgrade for the Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 lens is also available which improves the performances of the O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabiliser).

The updates to the Panasonic GX1 include enhancements to auto white balance, the performance of autofocus and improved stability when using SD memory cards to comply with high-speed UHS-I cards.

Display

Also added is the ability to add step zoom and zoom speed to the settings accessed via the function (Fn) button and Q Menu button. Changes have also been made to the display of the camera, particularly the menu and the ability to flip between menus with the Display button.

The GX1 is Panasonic's latest compact system camera, and is aimed at professional or enthusiast photographers looking for an advanced CSC. It features Full HD video recording, a 3-inch touchscreen and a robust all-metal body. The 16 million pixel sensor, micro four thirds camera was also designed to fill the void left by the popular Lumix GF1 which included a greater degree of manual functionality than subsequent models in the GF series.

New firmware for the GX1 will be available at the end of January as a free download from the Panasonic website.

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Canon EOS C300 cheaper than expected

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Canon's new EOS C300 cinema camcorder, which aims to give users the functionality of a video camera with the large sensor of a DSLR, is on pre-order for less than expected.

When Canon announced the C300 in November, it quoted a likely price of US$20,000 (around £13,000). In the UK it's now available for pre-order at £11,760, over £1,200 cheaper than expected.

Choose your weapon

Canon's cinema camcorder comes in two versions – the C300 which uses Canon's own EF mount DSLR lenses, and the C300PL which uses PL mount cinema lenses from the likes of Zeiss and Arri.

The C300 uses a Super 35mm equivalent 8.29 megapixel CMOS sensor that Canon claims is better in low light than conventional professional camcorders, producing a brighter image with less noise.

Promising to bring the ease-of-use of conventional camcorders together with the cinematic effect that DSLRs can produce with their interchangeable lens system, the C300 is certainly getting a lot of attention.

While the form of the camera itself is brand new, the resolution it uses is not. The C300 shoots at 1080p (1920x1080 pixels), which is a resolution that most pocket camcorders can now achieve, though with huge difference in quality. By comparison, the recently updated RED Scarlet-X shoots at a staggering 4K (4096x2160 pixels) and doesn't cost as much.

We wait to see what the reception of the C300 will be like when it comes out in March.

To see what the EOS C300 is capable of, Jonathan Yi's video entitled Canon EOS C300 = Awesome should give you a pretty good idea.

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Lomo to open Birmingham pop-up store

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Birmingham has been chosen as the next location for a pop-up Lomography UK store, following on from its permanent shops in London and Manchester.

Several other pop-up shops are planned for the UK throughout 2012, with the first appearing at the Selfridges Store at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham.

There will be the wide-range of analogue cameras currently manufactured by Lomo at the shop. Workshops which will be suitable for photographers new to analogue photography and those who are more experienced will also be available.

New cameras?

Lomo is also promising that it will be releasing some new products from the Selfridges pop-up shop, so hopefully that means we can expect some new launches imminently.

The makers of retro plastic analogue cameras, Lomography has a worldwide cult following and already has several stores across the globe. Boasting two stores in London, it recently opened up to the North with the launch of its Lomo Manchester store back in December. It also has a dedicated LomoLab for processing prints taken by "Lomographers."

The Lomography Birmingham Pop-Up Shop will open at Selfridges from the 23rd January and will be subject to the usual Bullring opening hours.

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Sandisk, Lexar, Kingston not making new XQD cards

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Several memory card manufacturers are yet to join the new XQD memory card, leaving only Sony manufacturing cards at the moment.

The XQD format was announced at the end of 2011 and so far there is one compatible digital camera, the newly announced Nikon D4.

Promising extremely fast read/write speeds of up to 125MB/second, the physical size of the card is a little bigger than current SD cards, but a lot smaller than CF cards which are usually found in professional level cameras.

Sony was the first manufacturer to confirm it will be bringing cards to the market, and has announced 16GB and 32GB versions at the same time as the D4 announcement.

SanDisk on the other hand, has neglected to join the new card format, according to a spokesperson from the company. This is perhaps particularly unusual considering that it helped to develop the XQD format.

Non-committal

Other memory card makers have also declined to join, including Lexar, which is said to be "evaluating the technology", while a Kingston representative told us that they weren't aware of any plans to make cards at present.

It seems likely that any new top-end camera from Sony will also include an XQD slot, but, other professional and prosumer level cameras from Canon and Nikon are expected to arrive imminently, including a successor to the 5D Mark II, possibly the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, and an update for the D700, most likely thought to be the Nikon D800.

Keep following for any further updates on how the new memory card format progresses.

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