Mirrorless Camera News

The new Olympus PEN E-PL7 is a stylish, lightweight and compact interchangeable-lens camera that features much of the same technology as the award-winning OM-D models. Featuring the new 180˚ downward flip touch LCD screen, a Selfie-dedicated mode and built-in WiFi. The TruePic VII image processor works with a 16.05 megapixel Live MOS sensor and M.ZUIKO lenses to provide high resolution, superior color reproduction and high sensitivity. 

Photographers who like shooting in black-and-white have a newly styled option to choose from. A silver chrome version of the black-and-white-only Leica M Monochrom rangefinder camera has finally gone on sale.

Pentax's parent company Ricoh Imaging just announced some product news big and small: a whopping 28-45mm F/4.5 lens for its 645Z medium format camera system; and a tiny, retro-style Q-S1 mirrorless compact system camera.

Starting with the 2014 CES trade show, held at the turn of the year, and continuing through press time for this issue, we’ve seen a goodly number of new products come to the fore. All this is only the start—this being a photokina year we’ll see a whole new round of products, including CMOS-sensor medium formats, with prices to match, coming our way. I trust that this report will give you a good sense of what’s here and what’s coming down the pike. So, here are my quick picks of those products that caught my eye, plus a snapshot of some of the trends.

The CES 2014 convention, held last week, was a vast mélange of all things gadget-wise with a smattering of photographic gear thrown into the mix.

When creating their mirrorless camera system, Panasonic wisely, I think, chose the Micro Four Thirds format rather than designing an all-new proprietary lens mount. The system includes two dozen or so Lumix lenses, including conversion lenses, along with adapters for Leica R and M mount lenses, Four Thirds digital SLRs, plus the ability to use lenses from Olympus, Sigma, and Tamron. The Micro Four Thirds system is here to stay and the Lumix DMC-G5 seems a perfect way to jump on board.

The Pentax K-01 belongs to a class of cameras generally known as “mirrorless”—Pentax calls it a hybrid—that combine large LCD screens with interchangeable lenses and more often than not a retro look. Marc Newson, the Australian industrial designer who crafted the Pentax K-01, works in a style called biomorphism that uses smooth flowing lines, translucency, and an absence of sharp edges. The camera is available in black, white, or Newson’s signature yellow with the designer’s logo on the bottom.