Panasonic's new Micro Four Thirds Lenses

Panasonic launched three new Micro Four Thirds lenses at Photokina:

• The H-FT012, a 12.5mm/F12 3D lens. Photos taken or videos shot with DSLRs using the new lens can be viewed on Panasonic's Viera 3D HDTVs. The lens is priced at $249.95 (U.S.).
  
• Panasonic's tiny H-H014 4mm / F2.5 aspherical pancake lens, which the company claims is the world's lightest interchangeable lens, is priced at $399.95.
  
• Panasonic's new zoom lens, the 100-300mm/F4.0-5.6/MEGA O.I.S. H-FS100300, will sell for $599.95. (I was concerned that it was going to be about the same price as the new GH2 body itself, but it's actually quite a bit less expensive.)

All three lenses will ship in November.

Photokina starts on Tuesday--here's where to find news

Photokina, the biannual photographic business and technology conference, will start in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday, 21 September 2010. The U.S. press release services don't seem to be paying much attention to the show, but the Photokina show organizers themselves are offering a list of press releases from exhibitors, plus a database of new product announcements. As I find additional press release services covering the show, I'll add links to them to The Feldman File site.

September will be a big month for new product announcements

Stand by for a lot of new product announcements in September:

• The announcements start Wednesday, September 1st, with Apple's fall event in San Francisco. We're likely to see a new iPod touch and iPod nano; we may also see the long-rumored next-generation Apple TV, and possibly even an announcement date for iOS 4 for the iPad. 
• IFA, one of the world's largest consumer electronics conferences, begins on Friday, September 3rd in Berlin. Samsung has already previewed its new Android-based Galaxy Tab tablet, and will formally introduce it at the conference, and we're likely to hear from many other companies as well.
• IBC, the International Broadcasting Conference, begins on Thursday, September 9th in Amsterdam. We'll see production versions of products that were shown as pre-production models at NAB last April, as well as many new products. Panasonic will almost certainly show production models of its AG-AF100 4/3" and AG-3DA1 3D camcorders, and Sony is likely to formally announce its professional Alpha-lens-based camcorder.
• Photokina, the biannual photography conference, will begin in Cologne on Tuesday, September 21st. Canon, Nikon and Sony have already announced new DSLRs in advance of Photokina, but many more products are likely to be announced at the show.