43 Rumors

Regarding the “Sony Alpha NEX-5 vs Olympus E-P2 vs Nikon D90 High ISO Noise” comparison by CameraLabs:

Not unexpected, but surprised by the margins by which the NEX beat the E-P2 in high ISO noise control, and also led it even at ISO’s of 200 to 400. That it also beat the Nikon D90, DxO Labs standard bearer for APS-C DSLR’s, was a surprise.

Had Sony not stumbled with its clunky user interface and lack of lens choices, it would likely own the mirrorless compact IL camera market. Its sleeker/smaller body than mFT’s, low price (NEX3 at $599) and now clearly superior performance all auger well Sony in this class.

Panasonic’s warmed over G2 with no sensor improvements now looks like a wasted opportunity, especially given its identical body to the G1. Perhaps technology simply cannot overcome the mFT’s smaller sensor size and, if so, the mFT smaller lenses will have to carry the day.

IMHOP, Panasonic and Olympus now absolutely need to match/improve upon the NEX body size to sell the mFT body/lens size advantage.