LX7:
Although not a m43 camera some of you are considering to buy the new Panasonic LX7. So here are two new review: ISO tets by Focus Numerique (Translation here) and at DSLRmagazine (Translation here).
While the LX7 is certainly a nice camera I would have liked to see a larger sensor compact. Currently the RX100 is selling terribly well (here is the ranking).

Olympus 12-50mm,45mm and Nokton 17.5mm:
SLRgear posted the full Olympus 12-50mm review: “As the kit lens for the OM-D EM-5, you couldn’t really ask for more; the lens offers excellent results for sharpness, corner shading and distortion.”
M43.eu (Translation here) tested 45mm lens hood variations.
Admiringlight tested the Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 lens: “Overall, I was absolutely blown away by the performance of this lens.  I was not expecting anywhere near the performance it provides at f/0.95, and the resolution it delivers stopped down is equally stunning. ”

You don’t see Admiringlight use the word “stunning” very often! Lens is in Stock at Amazon US (Click here). Best price for Europeans at [shoplink 32734 ebay]Lapetitephoto eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

BHphoto just postponed the G5 release to August 20th (before it was August 10th).

While we have to wait one month to see the new GH3 let’s see what the GH2.5 (so named by a Panasonic manager) can do ;)

Trustedreviews posted the full G5 review: “Build quality is very good, the touch screen functionality makes it a fun and intuitive camera to use and overall image quality also impresses. Add to this the camera’s fast AF performance, flexible vari-angle screen and useful 6fps burst speed and the G5 adds up to a tempting package.”

Focus Numerique (Translation here) posted the full ISO test. The camera easily beats the [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink] although it can’t catch up with the Sony NEX-5n.

Meantime the GH2 got the lowest price ever on Amazon (Click here) and at the moment of posting this the 12-35mm X lens is also back in Stock (Click here).

—

New Panasonic stuff preorders:
Black G5 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here)
Silver G5 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here)
45-150mm lens in Black at BHphoto (Click here) and in Silver at BHphoto (Click here).
LX7 in Black at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) in White at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here)
Other compacts, the FZ200 at BHphoto (Click here), the FZ60 at BHphoto (Click here).

Time for a new short E-m5 news roundup:

The video on top is a report from CNN. It shows an E-M5 photographer that took a photo that had the famous “viral effect”. A nice free advertising for Olympus :)
P.S.: The Photographer contacted me to say he is actually a regular 43rumors reader. His website is http://patlu.com.

You may remember the dpreview forum post where Axel from DxOmark said that: “the lab is working on it but noticed some surprising measures and is analyzing the root cause.” One month passed and we still have no news. And we porobably have to wait a long time more because the DxOmark team just leaved for a (well deserved) vacation.

Meantime Echenique (Click here) posted a full E-m5 review: “All it really needs is focus peaking and better continuous AF performance and they will have a real winner on their hands.”

Fuji Xpro vs Ricoh GXR M vs Sony NEX7 vs Epson RD1 vs Olympus OM-D M mount lens comparison at thef8blog (Click here).

In Stock status….easy…almost all kits are now in Stock. Click these search links to check for yourself: [shopcountry 29074].

For US readers: Todays Amazon Gold Box deals offers a Panasonic waterproof camera for $99 only.

[shoplink 22691 ebay][/shoplink]

As you may remember Tokina announced the first Micro Four Thirds lens a couple of months ago. It is a 300mm f/6.3 Telephoto Macro Lens. A first test with many image samples has now been posted at DC.watch (Translation here). The lens costs $369 in US at BHphoto (preorders here). It should start shipping in US and Europe by end of this month while in Asia it’s already available on [shoplink 32632 ebay]eBay (click here)[/shoplink].
One more thing. The images you see on DC.watch have been taken on the Olympus E-M5. The Silver bodies are now in Stock:
Silver E-M5 Body only is in Stock at Adorama, [shoplink 32620 ebay]Adorama ebay with extras[/shoplink], Amazon (shipping next week) and in Europe at Amazon UK and [shoplink 32627 ebay]Simplyelectronics[/shoplink].
Silver E-M5 with kit lens only is in Stock at Adorama, [shoplink 32618 ebay]Cameraland ebay[/shoplink] , Amazon (via third party resellers) and Amazon UK.

On left the Olympus lens, on right the [shoplink 31293 ebay]Zeiss Biotar 75mm f/1.5[/shoplink].

CSCmagazine (Translation here) posted a crazy comparison between the Super New Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens and a a lens who’s design is from 1939(!)…the [shoplink 31293 ebay]Zeiss Biotar 75mm f/1.5[/shoplink]! So if you are curious to see how big a 70 year difference looks check out the image comparison on CSCmagazine. Meantime we have been told by our readers that BHphoto (Click here) has shipped their lens preorders! Finally!

More Lens preorders at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.

Olympus Lens alternatives (if you don’t care about the missing autofocus and electronic contacts):
1) [shoplink 31292 ebay]Dallmeyer 75mm f/1.9 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This is an extremely expensive lens and I don’t know why it is so. Only crazy guys would buy that :)
2) [shoplink 31293 ebay]Leica Summilux 75mm f/1.4 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. Extraordinary high quality lens for an extraordinary price (although it’s still less expensive than the mysterious Dallmeyer). It’s the fastest of all 75mm lenses
3) [shoplink 31293 ebay]Zeiss Biotar 75mm f/1.5 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. Fast and also a bit exotic lens made for the Exacta series.
4) [shoplink 31294 ebay]Leica Summarit 75mm f/2.5 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. High quality and relatively compact lens. A bit slow compared to the Olympus (f/2.5).
5) [shoplink 31295 ebay]Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. Probably the best alternative of the new Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens. Same aperture, superb high quality and cheaper.
6) [shoplink 31324 ebay]Fujinon 75mm f/1.8 (Here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This is a very cheap TV lens and I don’t expect the quality to be very good. I wouldn’t buy that unlike your really need that focal length and you have a very low budget.

The best (and most expensive) Micro Four Thirds zoom is now shipping and 43rumor readers are testing the lens. Time for a short roundup of the links I got. Enjoy!

Reviews:
Admiringlight writes: “The 12-35mm f/2.8′s combination of top flight optics, fast aperture, quality build and great zoom range make it a lens for any serious shooter to consider.”
Soundimagesplus posted the first, second, and third part of the X zoom review: “A few test shots indicate that its VERY sharp, as good as anything I’ve seen in m4/3, and  there is some decent bokeh. Not normally a strength in m4/3 lenses.”
There are now eight User Reviews at Amazon (Click here). All 5 stars :)

43rumors Readers review:
Kevin: “I filmed a test video with my new 12-35 x lens. Thought you might like to see it at Eslkevin.blogspot.jp”
Pier-Yves: “Filmed today with the 12-35 and the 7-14 (here on youtube).Paris was dark today. Bonne lecture. LesFilmsDuRegard.Com”
Gary Hanna: “just wanted to share a 12-35mm X video I recently completed (here on youtube).

In Stock and price check: [shopcountry 31225].
For my European friends. The cheapest price i found is in UK at [shoplink 32542 ebay]T-Dimension[/shoplink] and [shoplink 32543 ebay]Simplyelectronics[/shoplink].