Rumors

Last week we reported that HTC is preparing to launch a new camera sensor technology called Ultrapixels, which aims to improve image quality using a Foveon-style stack of three sensor layers. The smartphone imaging war is heating up, after all, an rivals like Nokia are investing heavily in photography technologies of their own (e.g. PureView).

We're reportedly just days away from seeing the official launch of the new HTC phone (which may be named the M7 or the HTC One), and leaks are beginning to spring. There's a good chance we now have the first product shot of the phone and the first published shot captured with the phone.

Look what we have here -- it's the first leaked photograph of the upcoming Sony NEX-3N mirrorless camera. The leaked photo, first published by sonyalpharumors, shows a camera that may be arriving sometime over the next couple of months alongside an (also rumored) Playstation 4.

The camera will reportedly feature the same 16-megapixel sensor as the current Sony NEX-F3, but with one major difference: an electronic zoom dial.

Mobile photo sharing has become one of the big photography trends over the past couple of years, and smartphone makers are now working hard to win the affections of smartphoneographer by developing better cameras and sleeker features. Two of the big players in the game, HTC and Nokia, are both generating some buzz this week through reports that they have some big photo-related plans in store for their upcoming phones.

The two (proprietary) technologies that are making headlines are: HTC's "Ultrapixels" and Nokia's "PureView."

Wondering about the camera gear announcements Canon has planned for the rest of this year? Rumors floating around on the Internet could provide a glimpse into the company's roadmap.

The "flash units" found on the backs of smartphones may be getting more powerful, but the general idea has largely remained the same: use a powerful LED light that can illuminate a scene when you need a little extra light. The power output doesn't really stack up to the flashes found on compact cameras, but Google has one solution for making the flash a bit brighter.

In a recently published patent, the company outlines the idea of placing multiple LED flashes on smartphones, perhaps in a ring around the camera unit.

A couple of new photographs of the Olympus XZ-10 high-end compact camera have leaked, revealing that the camera will look pretty similar to the current XZ-2.

Here's a sneak peek at Olympus' upcoming high-end compact camera, the XZ-10. It will likely succeed or be sold alongside the Olympus XZ-2, which features a 1/1.7-inch sensor and competes directly against the semi-large-sensor compacts of other manufacturers (e.g. Nikon P7700, Canon G15).

There's some new activity in the world of Sony NEX mirrorless cameras and E-mount lenses -- both new product launches and rumors of soon-to-arrive gear.

Earlier this week, the company announced two new E-mount lenses: a 20mm f/2.8 pancake lens and a 18-200mm f/3.5-f/6.3 "Power Zoom" lens that has features designed for video recording.

It may not be the most popular series of compact cameras, but the Ricoh GR Digital line has attracted a sizable cult following of photographers around the world -- particularly street shooters. From the time the original GRD was announced at Photokina 2004 until the most recent GRD IV, the cameras have offered smaller 1/1.77-inch CCD sensors. That will soon change: a trusted source tells us that the Ricoh GR Digital V will feature a larger APS-C sensor.

Want to focus your camera simply by looking at a particular area of the viewfinder? If you're a Sony shooter, you might be enjoying that feature as early as next year. The company is reportedly working on building Eye Tracking autofocus into its cameras, with the initial version arriving in a flagship camera sometime in 2014.

A week ago, we reported that Kodak had entered into a multi-year agreement with American camera supplier …

Earlier today, pictures and specs for Sigma's soon-to-be-announced DP3 Merrill leaked in an article that has since gone missing on the Spanish camera site DSLR Magazine. Of course that wasn't before all of the info contained in that article was copied and pasted on several rumor sites, bless them.

Earlier today, we shared a couple of leaked photographs of the soon-to-arrive Fujifilm X20, which replaces the X10 but looks virtually identical in appearance (except for the fact that it comes in silver in addition to black).

Not to be outdone, the X100s has gotten itself leaked as well. Photos and specs for that camera have emerged, and reveal that, like the X20, the camera is nearly identical in form to its predecessor.

Over the last year, almost every time we've heard the word "acquisition" it's been preceded by the word, or rather company, Shutterfly. That's because Shutterfly has been very busy buying up companies and galleries and, fortunately for users, putting them to work in real ways.

It was less than two weeks ago that the new Shutterfly Mobile app was announced, a result of its Penguin Digital acquisition. And now, in time to steal a little bit of thunder from all of the CES rumors, sources claim that the photo storage and sharing site is acquiring yet another start-up.

Yesterday we wrote that multiple sources were confirming that Fujifilm will be launching an X10 successor called the X20 at CES 2013 next week. Now, less than 24 hours later, we now know what it looks like.

Rumors are heating up regarding Fujifilm's camera announcements at CES 2013 next week. Mirrorless Rumors writes that while Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony won't have anything major to show in the way of mirrorless cameras, Fujifilm has a number of unveilings that will have some photographers salivating.

Canon Singapore has published a first photograph of the long-awaited Canon …

In the latest issue of Japanese magazine Impress, there's a two-page section that predicts the new DSLRs that Canon and Nikon will be unleashing in this upcoming year. Alongside each model name, design illustration, and spec list is a percentage that indicates the likelihood of the rumor coming true.

Electronic viewfinders have become all the rage as of late through the rise of the mirrorless camera, but many photographers still prefer optical viewfinders due to certain weaknesses of EVFs. One major drawback is the fact that the scene is often laggy, especially in low-light situations, making it difficult to track a moving subject.

Nikon is apparently trying to combine the best of the OVF and EVF worlds by developing a new giant viewfinder that's see-through.

Canon France has published a mysterious teaser ad to its Facebook page that shows a woman pointing some kind of invisible camera at a couple of ping pong players. The short (translated) message states, "Soon, we will share information that will change the way you look at the world…"

If you've been thinking about buying a copy of Apple's Aperture 3 for your post-processing work, you might want to hold off for a bit. A replacement may be on the near horizon -- at least according to a new book listing that has popped up over on Amazon Canada.

Lytro is currently the only camera on the market that lets you refocus photographs after they're shot, thanks to its fancy schmancy (and proprietary) light field technology, but it won't be the only one for long. Toshiba is reportedly developing its own Lytro-style camera that will target a different segment of the photography market: smartphone and tablet photographers.

In a recent interview with Quesabesde, Miguel Angel Garcia, the CEO of Olympus Spain, dropped another "official" hint at what the camera company is cooking up to replace the E-5. The subsequent article, which initially said that the camera would be compatible with both Micro Four Thirds and Four Thirds Lenses, has since been reworded to state simply that the replacement for the E-5 will be "capable of harnessing the full potential of Four Thirds lenses."

The mirrorless camera market has been bustling with activity as of late. Rumors have already begun circulating that Canon will be releasing a viewfinder-equipped EOS-M sometime in 2013, Polaroid is working on a Nikon J2 lookalike, and CES is just around the corner, which means many camera makers will be taking the wraps off upgrades to their mirrorless lines.

The latest word from the world of Nikon is still a bit surprising, though: Nikon Rumors is reporting that the camera giant is going to add not one, but two new mirrorless cameras to its Nikon 1 line at CES 2013.

Sony is taking full frame sensors very seriously. A few months ago the company launched the RX1, bringing full frame sensors to fixed-lens compact cameras. Around the same time, a rumor emerged that Sony is working on bringing the same sensor size to its NEX mirrorless cameras. It now looks like a full frame NEX is indeed on the way, to be announced in roughly one year.

After the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mark II was announced at the beginning of this year, many photographers were disappointed that it didn't include Image Stabilization. When October rolled around, there were new rumors that Canon had an IS version of the 24-70mm up its sleeve. The company did, but it wasn't what people were expecting. When the new IS lens was unveiled in November, it was an f/4 lens rather than an f/2.8.

If you're one of the many people who wanted both the convenience of having IS and the benefits of having f/2.8, here's some good news: there is indeed a 24-70mm f/2.8 IS on the way.

High dynamic range (HDR) mode is becoming a standard feature in newer digital cameras and smartphones. By snapping multiple photographs at different exposure levels, the camera can automatically generate an image that captures a greater range of light and dark areas than a standard photograph. However, the technique does have its weaknesses. Artifacts appear if any changes occur in the scene between the different shots, which limits the scenarios in which the technique can be used.

Apple wants to overcome this issue by implementing an HDR mode that only requires a single exposure. A recently published patent shows that Apple is well on its way to doing so.

Here's a strange leak that has people scratching their heads: photos and specs have emerged that show a soon-to-be-announced interchangeable-lens mirrorless camera by Polaroid. Called the IM1836, the camera will be a Polaroid-branded camera manufactured by Sakar International and will be powered by Android OS.

Whoa... Big news on the camera patent scouting front today: Nikon appears to be tinkering with the idea with creating a special 35mm SLR replacement back that would turn a film camera into a digital camera!

Now that filtered smartphone photos have taken over the photo sharing world, many people -- especially investors -- are wondering: what's next? One possible answer may be temporary photo sharing.

Just last week we reported that Snapchat had raised $10 million to continue pioneering the frontier. Now, a report has emerged that Facebook is working on its own mobile app that offers exactly the same thing.