Once again Olympus reaffirmed that the future is Micro Four Thirds. But they still need some time to develop a PRO Pen camera that can replace the [shoplink 17163]Olympus E-5[/shoplink]. You can read the original message on the getolympus facebook site (Click here).
I got small bits of info about the upcoming Leica 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens. The lens has the same diameter as the current 20mm f/1.7 pancake which is 63mm. And the length opf the lens is 54,5mm. On the picture on top you can see a comparison with other lenses. The new Leica is 1cm shorter than the current only Leica m43 lens, the The [shoplink 14794]Panasonic 45mm macro[/shoplink]lens. The big lens is the [shoplink 16340 ebay]Four Thirds 25mm Leica[/shoplink] which uses the 43 to m43 adapter. The camera is the old nice [shoplink 14828]Panasonic GF1[/shoplink].
There is one more info I got that need to be double checked with other sources. One source “heard” that the new Leica will be cheaper than the rumored 700-800 dollar/Euro price range. Let’s hope this is true because if the lens costs around 500-600 dollars/Euro (and the image quality is top notch) I am sure it will sell like hotcakes! Reminder, the “old” Four Thirds 25mm f/1.4 had a price tag of $1100 dollars/Euro. As you know that lens has been discontinued and you can still find some Four Thirds 25mm lenses on [shoplink 16340 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
P.S.: Someone can send me a picture of the lens? Thanks! :)
Reminder -> Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct
Good Morning!
I want to thank all the people that sent me links to news, deals and reviews in those last days. I write this because I didn’t post most of the things they sent me. I had no time because I am working full time on rumors (it is a LOT of work to get good rumors!). It’s is important that you know that I really appreciate your help and I ask you for a bit of patience. I will post everything you sent to me as soon as I can!
A second message goes to all sources that sent me info during the last month. Thanks for your help! As you have noticed (you sources) I didn’t post most of the rumors I received. I have done this because I always try to doublecheck the info. Also in that case thanks for your patience! It’s important you know that I got your messages and the good news is that I now have been able to verify most of the rumors you sent to me. It was good to take time before to post the rumors because some of the rumors I received were incorrect (like for example the rumor about the PEN with built-in viewfinder).
To cite Steve Jobs: There is “one more thing” for our readers: There are now many good rumors coming (FT5!). And most of the news are very exciting. I am particularly happy about the upcoming lenses. It well help to push the Micro Four Thirds system much more than any other Mirrorless system (See NEX and NX). But also the upcoming PEN and G3 cameras and the rumors about the cameras coming in September are very intriguing. be prepared to discuss some hot rumors soon! Are you ready? :)
The new 12mm f/1.6 Noktor lens (Click on image to enlarge!). P.S.: The bulge is not a lens hood. its part of the lens.
I have been contacted by the guys from SLR Magic which are now also the owner of the Noktor company. We had a long chat and they were so kind to send us the very first pictures of their upcoming new Noktor lens. It is a 12mm f/1.6 manual and native Micro Four Thirds lens! Unlike the 50mm f/0.95 Noktor the 12mm lens has been designed from scratch for the m43 system!
SLR Magic told me that: “In August last year we asked on some forums what kind of lens people want. The conclusion was many want a wide angle prime that is fast, sharp, and round aperture. We hope this is what everyone wanted and we want to thank everyone for their suggestions.”
SLR Magic had a thread on dpreview.com in August 2010 asking for the “Most wanted micro four thirds lens” To thank those who participated in the thread for the making of this lens they have a friendly price offer for them. All they need to do is email support@slrmagic.com with their dpreview username and mention their interest in buying this lens. They have a record of those who participated in the thread and only those people will be eligible.
As you can see the lens is smaller than the mount itself. The product manager from SLR Magic told me that if the lens would have been f/2.0 the lens would have become noticeable shorter. But they wanted to make it as fast as possible: “We made it to target professionals. As we are a full manual lens, we aimed to have low distortion with no software correction for best quality” And the lens has been optimized for video: “It has stepless aperture as smooth manual focus. We put in the cinema lens design into it with the 12 aperture blades.“. The Noktor HyperPrime 12mm will have an 58mm filter thread and even the built-in flash light does not get covered by the lens.
As you know Slrmagic already makes three lenses (but they are not as good as the new Noktor):
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
The lens will be available in a couple of months. You can follow their updates on twitter @slrmagic and/or @noktor.
Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge the pictures. All pictures have been taken with the Noktor 12mm preproduction lens!
Will not come on June 30th. The PEN with built-in viewfinder (image made by our reader Leendert)
I am finally getting top info from reliable sources. And let me kill your hopes by pressing those words with my cold fingers: The E-P3 has no built-in viewfinder!!! The E-P3 is not the PRO pen we were waiting for. And to be honest Olympus officially announced that it will come in two years only (but you know, we were hoping they would not let us wait that much). The E-P3 is a “semipro camera” and a nice upgrade of the current [shoplink 14830]Olympus E-P2[/shoplink]. Those of you that like me were dreaming a [shoplink 22799 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink] styled interchangeable mirrorless cameras should hope the more advanced Panasonic GF model will respond our needs. Let’s cross the fingers!
One more thing: I am working on many rumors. All I can say now is that there will be good news too soon! So don’t be to sad!
P.S.: A 43rumors reader pointed out that Olympus smallest rangefinder camera ever made was the [shoplink 22904 ebay]Olympus XA (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink]. That was another great design made by Maitani!
P.P.S.: Links to the Fuji X100 at [shopcountry 22799].
Reminder -> Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct
Look what I found in my mailbox today (thanks anonymous sender)! It’s a full-size picture of the mini mini mini GF3 camera! With that size the GF series is getting very close to the well known mini [shoplink 22877 ebay]Minox camera (Click here to see them)[/shoplink]. The GF5 could become even smaller and a perfect tool as spy camera for James bond alike special agents :) To me it looks like the GF3 is even smaller than the today announced Sony NEX-C3!
I have to say that it doesn’t look that bad. And if the GF3 really has the same [shoplink 22077]Panasonic G3[/shoplink] sensor than it might will become a hotseller!
[/shoplink]
Image on top shows the currently only Panasonic-Leica lens for the Micro Four Thirds system, the [shoplink 14794]45mm f/2.8 macro[/shoplink].
I am still not 100% sure about the final price of the upcoming Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 but I have two small FT5 info (FT5=almost certainly correct info from trusted sources):
1) The Leica 25mm f/1.4 costs less than $1000. I got this from very good sources. A new source told us the lens will cost somewhere between $800-900 (That’s FT3). I don’t know the price in Europe but I suspect that companies will continue to make the wrong calculation: 1 Dollar = 1 Euro :(
A quick price comparison: The Four Thirds [shoplink 16340 ebay]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] price was $1099. ANd the actual price of the [shoplink 14794]Pana-Leica 45mm[/shoplink] macro is $800.
2) The Leica 25mm f/1.4 is quite compact although not as compact as the [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] (double the length of the 20mm pancake).
If you know the price of the lens in US and in Europe feel free to contact me anonymously by using the contact form on the right sidebar. You can avoid to send me your name and email address. it also doesn’t store your IP address. Thanks for every info you can share! :)
Reminder: The [shoplink 16340]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] Four Thirds lens has been officially discontinued. You can still find some of them on [shoplink 16340 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Reminder -> Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct
