Weekly Rewind: Sigma founder passes away, three join M43rds, new camera/lens, etc

Another week is in the e-books, time to recap the week that was...

Gear News
+ Tamron, Tokina and Astrodesign officially join Micro Four Thirds
+ Tokina launches 11-16mm f2.8 Pro DX II lens for Canon and Nikon (with motor)
+ new Pentax Optio VS20 compact-zoom with two shutter buttons
+ Sony announces new backlit CMOS sensor with stacked design (initially smartphone sizes)

Other News
+ Sigma founder Michihiro Yamaki passed away
+ new biography book reveals Steve Jobs was interested in reinventing photography and was lQQking at Lytro
+ Google launches Trusted Photographers program for Google Maps for businesses
+ similar composition copyright case breaks new ground in the UK

Rumoralia (in alphabetical order)
+ Adobe video-teases Camera Raw 7
+ Canon patents larger-size backlit CMOS sensor designs
+ Canon rumors say a Digital Rebel T4i/650D may be the only new Canon DSLR by CP+ in early February
+ Canon 5D Mark II replacement rumoralia continue
+ Canon 4K RAW video patent published
+ Leica rumored to be working on two Photokina models
+ Nikon D700 and D300s refuse to go away
+ Pentax mirrorless rumored to have K-mount, no viewfinder, slightly smaller than K-r (and ugly)
+ Samsung NX20 and lenses rumored for mid-February

Reviewalia
+ most recent review round-ups
+ completed reviews of serious/advanced digital cameras
+ completed reviews of lenses

ALSO: check our other Frequently Updated Blogs
+ Camera Deals blog: discounts, specials, and in-stock alerts
+ Stock Status mini-site: tracking hard to find and/or hot cameras du jour
+ shop and support all this madness through the Noisy Mall
+ we are also investigating the possibility of two new dedicated mini-sites for a couple of niche subjects that are not getting as much coverage (if only there were 240 hours per day!)