One of the things that motivated me to take the jump to Micro Four Thirds was hearing the rumors from fairly plausable sources that Nikon was making a mirrorless camera with a sensor smaller than the 4/3rds sensor.... because I think that the 4/3rds sensor is about as small as you really want to go.

So it's interesting, in that it will probably cause the other players to improve, but I think Nikon is working too hard to make a SLR that deliberately doesn't compete with their dSLR lineup. It kinda reminds me of the Nikon Pronea SLR series, actually.

A few random links: Fuji cuts film from their lineup, Micro 4/3rds adapters, and two new serious compacts.

I don't think it requires supernatural powers to predict that many of you will be buying a mirrorless camera in the not-too-distant-future. After all, quite a few of you purchased G-series Canons after I got my G7 and your G-series Canon will eventually wear out.

There's still room for differentiation in the compact camera marketplace. The Fuji X100 has been selling quite well. The X10 should also sell quite well.

I like it. A lot. It fits very well into a 'sweet spot' intersection of size and image quality.

This is why I've kinda hitched myself to the Micro 4/3rds bandwagon. Of all the mounts, Panasonic and Olympus have the best commitment to making unique and useful lenses.

Sure, there are optical compromises, but having a tiny pancake zoom to make a pocketable camera and then switching to a more substantial lens the rest of the time has its merits.

Had I thought this through, I would have probably paid for faster shipping...

If you are wondering why I have a micro four-thirds camera on the way instead of a NEX, this is a big part of it. For me, it's about compactness, lenses, and then megapixels I probably don't need to worry about. (My standard refrain is that if I need megapixels, I'll grab my RB67)

Well, that, and because Sony's overall corporate interest in delivering quality seems to have gone way down from what it used to be.

I find the Pentax Q interesting from a historical perspective. See, a long long time ago, Pentax made a really nice SLR system oriented towards the 110 film format. If you don't remember 110 film, it was one of the many attempts from Kodak to market more consumer-friendly film formats that just looked silly compared to any of the perfectly good 35mm cameras ranging from point-and-shoot to decent sized SLR....

Most folks have been aware of Lytro since the papers their technology is based upon have come out. Lytro is not magic. By capturing a complete 'light field' with multiple sensors per image pixel, a photographer can selectively re-focus images.

I hate most of the Cokin filters, being too oriented towards special effects or too inconsistent and uncoated for proper artistic use.

I do, on the other hand, like their filter holders to put other higher-quality filters in. I was wondering why I was having problems finding filters lately and I guess this explains why.

I think we're nearing the point at which I start to actively think about buying something like this to replace my now-ancient G7 instead of figuring that if my G7 actually dies, that's what I'd get.

*yawn*. It's going to be the most expensive tiny-sensor camera since the days of the Canon Pro90 IS. It's pretty much like the new version of the Pentax Auto 110 system.

And this time, it may not actually sell that poorly because it's sexy, retro, better than a cameraphone, and everybody's used to small sensor cameras. But I'm pretty sure that I'm not the intended audience.

Another dedicated photographer's musings on compact cameras...

The day at which I replace my G7 with a fancy big-sensor compact draws ever nearer.... here's the latest Micro 4/3rds camera.