The need for fast video lenses: Cosmicar/Canon/Tokina 12.5-75mm f/1.8


This is the only [shoplink 17922 ebay]GH1 + 12.5-75mm[/shoplink] lens I found on vimeo :)

We have still to wait a little bit before to get our GH2. To kill the time I searched for some exotic fast zoom lenses that we (and I) might could use on the GH2. There is one particular interesting lens I found on [shoplink 17922 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The Cosmicar-Canon-Tokina 12.5-75mm f/1.8 C-mount lens! The focal lenght and constant fast aperture is very interesting and but sadly I found only one video taken with the GH1. The Karaoke part is terrible :)
A few pictures can be seen at Flickr. The japanese website geocities.jp tested the Canon version of the 12.5-75mm lens.

That lens is deifnitely not a professional solution but we have to wait a few months before Panaosnic releases the already announced fast wide and normal zooms!

[shoplink 17922 ebay]Click here to see all current 12.5-75mm F71.8 lens auctions on eBay[/shoplink].

Panasonic 100-300mm test at Omuser

Omuser.com posted a series of image samples at any focal length an aperture (Click here to read the google english translation). Image quality and build quality of the [shoplink 16261]Panasonic 100-300mm[/shoplink] are very good. The AF is quick and quiet. The only “issue” is that the lens is big and heavy. But damn that is a 200-600mm FF equivalent! And if you compare it to other lenses the Panasonic is really very small and very cheap:

Sigma 150-500mm for $999
Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 for $6,999.00

The Panasonic 100-300mm lens is already in Stock in Europe at Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK
In US you can only preorder the lens at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto.

You can also buy all new Panasonic lenses on eBay:
[shoplink 17556 ebay]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 eBay acutions[/shoplink] [shoplink 17618 ebay]Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 eBay acutions[/shoplink] [shoplink 17620 ebay]Panasonic 3D 12.5mm f/12 eBay acutions[/shoplink]

Olympus 14-150mm lens review (+ new Voigtländer in Stock on eBay)

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Photographyblog heavily tested the [shoplink 15659]Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6[/shoplink] lens.  The lens performance is verz good: “It has left us with a favourable overall impression.“…”you can safely use it wide open or stopped down by one f-stop“…”Chromatic aberrations can be a bit of an issue at longer focal lengths, but they can usually be dealt with in post processing.”

That lens is in Stock at Amazon (Click here) with a $120 discount.

There are also a few new tests with the Voigtländer:
Mike Kobal tested the Lensbaby Composer and [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] on the Panasonic GH1. And he also posted a Super Slow Motion test.
TheBlackStar posted a few image samples on Flickr and Dreesman at Dpreview forum.

If you want to buy the lens there is one single Voigtländer Nokton in [shoplink 15659]Stock on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] sold via german resellers (UPDATE: Lens sold)

Olympus E-5 vs Nikon D3s test

At Omuser.com you can see the [shoplink 17163]Olympus E-5[/shoplink] vs Nikon D3s shootout. You can see the image comparison on page 5 (Click here). The text is in chinese but that should not be a problem:

Look at the following samples:

ISO 200 (Click on image to enlarge)

Nikon D3s
Olympus E-5

Not bad at all! And consider the price difference …the Nikon costs $5100!

Digitalkamera.de posted a new Olzmpus E-5 review (Click here to read the google english translation). Also in that case the reviewers is enthusiast about the camera performance. The only complain is the high price.

Olympus E-5 direct shop links:
Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Deutschland.

Panasonic LX5 camera of the year at wired (+ new book from Alexander White)

Dpreview posted a “Enthusiast Compact Group Test” and compared the [shoplink 17288]Panasonic LX5[/shoplink] with the Canon Powershot S95 and Nikon Coolpix P7000. The LX5 wins the contest ;)
Another good news: According to Wired the Panasonic LX5 is the camera of the year.

Alexander White contact us to present his new LX5 book: “I wanted to let you know that my new book about the Lumix LX5 has been released, and is now available at Amazon.com and from my own web site, www.whiteknightpress.com. “. Thanks Alexander!

A very positive Olympus E-5 review at ePhotozine

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ePhotozine posted a surprising positive articel about the new [shoplink 17163]Olympus E-5[/shoplink]. De facto they say that “If this is the last of the mirror type DSLRs in the Four Thirds range that will be a great pity. Olympus have a finely made product that delivers exceptionally good results. Does the smaller sensor compromise quality? Not in the E-5, that’s quite clear.

Those are just a few of the many positive statements you can find inside the article:
– The E-5 instantly inspires confidence
– In terms of exposure, the camera is not susceptible to errors from bright light sources and backlighting.
– Focusing in all modes is crisp, fast and accurate. Very impressively, the camera seems able to focus upon almost featureless dark subjects with the same snap as more normal ones.
– I have no complaints about colour reproduction either. Colours are accurate and correctly saturated at the Natural setting.
– AWB deals very convincingly with mixed lighting sources and low light levels, so it is a mixed bag of settings to achieve the best results.
– The dynamic range of the sensor is not a problem. Highlights and shadows are recorded with detail over a surprisingly wide range.

It looks like despite the not so attractive features the E-5 is capable of delivering a very good image quality! Now Olympus, bring us the Pro-MFT camera ;)

Olympus E-5 direct shop links:
Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Deutschland.

P.S.: You can download the japanese E-5 system chart and brochure here: http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/support/cs/ctlg/index_ctlg.html. The english version is available here: http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/208_manuals.cfm?prodID=MN4279292

Philip Bloom: The GH2 is better than the hacked GH1!


Home Cooking…avec le GH2! from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom had the chance to play around with the new [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] and the new [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] lens.

What are his thoughts about the GH2?
“Very easy to operate. LCD touch screen great and intuitive and nice resolution. EVF lovely, great resolution and makes handheld a dream! Nice to have audio meters on screen. Image… gorgeous. SO MUCH better than GH1. No mud, no nasty vertical lines…Although all shot at low ISO I did some 2500 ISO tests and there were really good! I found ISO 800 almost unusable at times on my GH1, and any underexposure in dark areas even at low ISOs…UGH, no problem now…” . And after his first short test he says the GH2 is better than the hacked [shoplink 14826]GH1[/shoplink]!
What does he say about the lens?
It’s simply my new favourite lens, shame it won’t go on my Canons or [shoplink 17844 ebay]Leica M9[/shoplink]. It has a beautiful look to it, great bokeh, so solid and well made and can focus as close up as a macro. LOVELY!

You can order the lens on eBay ([shoplink 15659 ebay]Click here[/shoplink]) or Amazon Germany (Click here)

P.S.: The GH2 should start shipping today in US (let us know if you receive it!). Those are the GH2 direct links to some of our affiliate shops:
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France.