Olympus E-M5 versus E-P3 by Pekka Potka!

On left the image quality of the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]. Ont he right the [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink].

Pekka Potka is doing an amazing job in these days and keeps us posted with all his findings about the new [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]. The latest post includes an image comparison between the E-M5 and E-P3 (Click here to see it): “E-M5 is markedly better in every regard: sharpness, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range… . At higher ISOs E-M5 gains about two stop improvement. This result comes from new sensor with more resolution and better pixel per pixel quality, thinner low pass filter and impoved JPG processing.

Of course these is a JPEG image comparison but Pekka promised to post some RAW comparison soon too! But looking at the results I really hope Olympus will update their PEN line soon. The difference is huge! Pekka also tested the Af speed with 4/3 lenses a (Click here) and explained the dial configuration on the E-M5 (Click here).

More E-M5 bits: A japanese test at Nikkei (Click here). Image samples at Itmedia (Click here) and Flickr (Click here). And first music clip made with the E-M5 on youtube (Click here). The video quality is good but the music is terrible :)

And here is the Full E-M5 Preorder list (Update with J&R links):
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and J&R.
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon and Adorama.
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon, Adorama and Amazon Japan.

New DXOmark and other lens reviews

DxO is heavily testing our m43 lenses and the Leica really looks like a stellar performer:
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 review at DxOmark (Click here): “Our measurements of the Panasonic-Leica lens confirm that micro 4/3 lenses are quality optics, with results at least as good as those for entry-level APS-Cs.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 review at DxOmark (Click here).

More lens reviews/news:
Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 Review at Admiringlight (Click here) and Damian (Click here).
Crazy test – Pansonic 20mm f/1.7 vs. Olympus 14-35mm f/2 (Dpreview).
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 MEGA OIS Lens Firmware Update (ePhotozine).

Shop search links for the mentioned lenses:
Panasonic-Leica 25mm at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus 45mm [shopcountry 23577] Panasonic 20mm [shopcountry 14796] (out of Stock in ALL US stores).
The superb Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0 on [shoplink 25320 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

More image samples of the new Sonnetar (and some of the SLR magic scoope).

There are new and actually (very good looking) image samples taken with the Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 prototype lens on the GH1. You can see them at KTFdesign (Click here) and KTFturbo (Click here). A japanese source confirmed that it will have the same $650 price of the [shoplink 29387 ebay]Pentax Q mount version (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. It will be a more compact and cheaper alternative of the [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 lens[/shoplink]. No matter if you like the new Sonnetar or not it is great to see such a busy buzz of new third party lenses for the m43 system. Sigma, Voigtländer, Schneider, Zeiss and SLRmagic…that makes the system great!

Speaking of SLRmagic, you can see some image samples taken with their new scoope lenses on Flickr (Click here). Their 12-36×50 ED (420-1260mm) lens is available on [shoplink 29411 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] for US $549.00.

Impressive! Pekka Potka tests shows the E-M5 high dynamic range and efficient 5 axis IS.


The dynamic range graph posted by Pekka Potka.

Pekka Potka posted a double E-M5 test on his website (Click here). First, he measured the dynamic range and found that the new [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] has a 2 EV advantage over the [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink]! Soon other websites like DxO or Dpreview will post their reviews and if they can confirm Pekkas results than this is actually an impressive step forward!

And he also tested the  new five axis Image stabilization and he is again impressed by the results.

More I look at the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] more I think that this time Olympus did it right! After almost three years of product reiteration we finally have something really new :)

Now it’s up to Panasonic to impress us with the future GH3!

Full Preorder list:
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon Japan.
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon and Adorama.
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon, Adorama and Amazon Japan.

One more full size image sample with the Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95


Yakinik posted one more full size image sample taken with the GX1 and the new Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 lens on Flickr (Click here). It has been taken at full aperture and it looks not bad at all! The only thing that doesn’t look good is the high price. Until now I only found two preorder options in German ebay stores at [shoplink 29368 ebay]Digitalhandel (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 29367 ebay]Bayern Fotoversand (Click here)[/shoplink]. Both for 1.299 Euro.

Meanwhile the other Nokton 25mm lens is getting a tiny bit cheaper. It’s available for 712 Euro on [shoplink 29370 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] or for 718 Euro at Amazon France (Click here).

First Olympus E-M5 short review, new images and new preorders in UK


Olympus OM-D E-M5 Hands-On Review at ePhotozine (Click here): “Thankfully the camera lived up to our high expectations, and in some ways surpassed them with better than expected noise performance even at high ISO settings! The sensor in the camera has more resolution, with 16 megapixel compared to the PEN cameras 12 megapixels, yet also offers lower noise results!

New official images from Olympus Japan (Click here). Some more E-M5 news and tests at pf.nl, digifoto.nl, hi-tech.ru, lydogbilde.no and swiatobrazu.pl. The E-M5 instructions manual is available in French (English, Spanish, German, etc. as well) via Openpn.

And there are new E-M5 preorders at Amazon UK. I updated the full preorder list (Just click on the shop name to see the direct E-M5 link):

Full Preorder list:
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon Japan.
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon and Adorama.
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon, Adorama and Amazon Japan.