Image courtesy: EosHD

Andrew Reid from EosHD (Click here) is the first user testing the soon to come Speed Booster for Micro Four Thirds. And soon Philip Bloom’s test will be online too. He just got the same adapter and is testing it on the BlackMagic Camera (see his pic on Instagram).

Back to EosHD, the version Andrew got is the Leica R to MFT mount adapter. Here are some key findings:

• The MFT adpaters are different form the Sony E-mount adapters
• Build quality of Speed Booster is excellent
• Speed Booster increases sharpness in the centre of the frame but not at the edges
• Micro Four Thirds is a 2x crop but with the Speed Booster that becomes more like 1.5x

He tested it on these lenses:

• 28mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay). This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• 35mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay). This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• 50mm F2.0 Summicron-R (here on eBay). This becomes f/1.4 on the Speed Booster
• 90mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay). This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• 28-70mm F3.5-F4.5 Vario-Elmar-R (here on eBay). This becomes f/2.5-3.5 on the Speed Booster

ThE MFT Speed Boosters will come in late Summer and will available at Metabones Shop. You can save this search on Slidoo to get notified when they will be for sale one Bay (here is the How To if you don’t know what this is).

Let me catch up with some G6 and GF6 links:

Giuglio Sciorio also posted a Focus Peaking Lumix G6 test on youtube. Another peaking during recording test has been posted by Digitfoto on youtube. New G6 vs GH2 test made by Digitfoto on youtube. GF6 connectivity test at DSLRmagazine (google translation here).

Panasonic GF6 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Technikdirekt, Wex UK,
Panasonic G6 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and at Wex DE, Technikdirekt, Wex UK.

Panasonic fixes the strange 12-35mm lens shake? from Tim Hashko on Vimeo.

43rumors reader Tim tested the new 12-35mm X firmware 1.2 (download here): “I believe Panasonic finally fixes the shake issue in their 12-35mm f2.8 lens. anasonic has just released firmware 1.2 update for their 12-35mm lens which improves its stabilization system. Until now, this lens has been plagued with the infamous “shake issue”: when on a tripod and angled down, the image would shake. This was a well-known issue documented in numerous videos online. I did a quick test with the new firmware, and it does indeed look like the shake is completely gone. Here is link to my test on vimeo. https://vimeo.com/66329224 (video also embedded on top of this post). Not sure if this is newsworthy, but I was super thrilled to discover this and thought I’d spread the word.”

Thanks Tim!

Lens Price check at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.

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Photoreview (Click here)  posted the very first full test of the brand new Panasonic 14-140mm lens. And their conclusion contains also a negative finding: “While subjective assessments of test shots and video clips showed them to be acceptably detailed, with natural-looking colours and an adequate dynamic range in outdoor lighting, our Imatest tests revealed the new lens suffered from the same performance issues as most extended-range zoom lenses. At no point did the resolution recorded in our tests reach expectations for the 16-megapixel sensor in the GF6. Interestingly, corner and edge softening was less than we found with the original 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 lens”

Gosh! Worse than the older lens? I just hope they got a non perfect prototype lens!

Panasonic PZ 45-175mm lens for $299 at Amazon (Click here).
New Panasonic 14-140mm lens links at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and at Wex UK (Click here).

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The main discussion around the new E-P5 was and still is the price. Robin Wong (Click here) posted a report about the Touch and Try Session with the Olympus E-P5 and wrote: “I have been monitoring the overall feedback and comments on the Olympus PEN E-P5, and many mentioned that they were taken aback with the rather high pricing. After all the E-P5 is a “Premium” camera, and it does have almost all the important features of OM-D E-M5.  Nonetheless, Olympus Malaysia did have special offers for the E-P5 pre-orders, with MASSIVE discounts given for bundling with the amazing Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 and the new electronic viewfinder VF-4!!”

Indeed the Black E-P5 superkit is now the most ordered MFt camera according to Amazon ranking (Click here to see the list).

More E-P5 news: Federico Cabrera (the OM-D photographer) is doing something artistic around the PEN E-P5 on facebook.com. The full shipping info of lenses and accessories has been posted at Olympus-global.com. E-PL6 vs E-PL5 specs comparison at Olympusimage.com. UK Preview event list at Photographyblog. First look and image samples at Photoreview.

Specs, Price and Preorders:
Full dedicated pages to the new Oly stuff at Adorama, Bhphoto.
E-P5 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 White at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Silver at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Black with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 White with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Black with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and Wex UK.
E-P5 White with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
17mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
45mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany.
75mm f/1.8 Black at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
VF-4 viewfinder at Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.