According to our source (plus one external soruce at Digicam) Olympus will announce the new PEN mini and the new E-P3 cameras on June 30 (That’s a Thursday). The digicam source still believes that there will be an E-PL3 too. I am still not sure about that. Let’s see what I will get from my sources during the next days…

P.S.: I had three very busy days. I will now read all emails you sent me. Will answer you all :)

A fake E-P3 image made by our reader Leendert (Thanks!)

The most intriguing upcoming Micro Four Thirds product is certainly the new Olympus E-P3. Let’s start with a good news first. Two trusted sources contacted me to say that Olympus organized a huge event for the E-P3 launch. It’s a two day long meeting! Would you organize something like that for if the E-P3 would not be something more than just an updated [shoplink 14830]E-P2[/shoplink]? Certainly not!

And here are the last two rumors I got from new sources. As you can see there is a huge contraddiction:
Source_1: The E-P3 will be released in June. It has an integrated EVF and it will be smaller than E-P2. No on-board flash though.
Source_2: I also can confirm that no one will have an build in viewfinder. Design and features should be a small revolution I heard by Olympus PM.

That’s why I am always careful with new sources! Let’s hope my trusted sources can soon tell us more about the E-P3 and the other mini Pen camera!

P.S.: I got a TERRIFIC rumor about Samsung! Will post that on MirrorlessRumors as soon as I can! Pro photographers will be VERY happy with that news. And Canon-Nikon should be worried for the very first time! This could be the rumor of the year :)

Exactly one week ago the Japanese blog Digicam Info (Click here to read our post) said the new Olympus E-P3, E-PL3 and the Pen MINI would be announced in June the 3rd. Their source told them that all three cameras will feature the same 12 Megapixel sensor and will not have any built-in viewfinder.We rated the rumor with a very low FT2 (unreliable rumor from unkown source).

My trusted source didn’t say a lot in these days but they confirmed that there will be NO! announcement on June the 3rd. That’s not a big news, but it gives us hop that maybe the other info from Digicam were also wrong! So there is still hope for a PEN with built-in viewfinder!!! Come on you digital [shoplink 22259 ebay]Olympus SP[/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

I got that message from a dutch dealer (Thanks!):

“Our Olympus account manager told us that the [shoplink 14830]Olympus E-P2[/shoplink] is out of production. We see a price fall in the XXX now. You can buy a EP-2 for 399 euros now.
The replacement will be announced in about two weeks. There will be a 2nd camera announced. So there will be 3 camera’s in the new line up.
E-PL2, EP3 and a new camera. I’m not sure if it will be placed in between or above these camera’s.
I hope above offcourse. ”

Check those links for more E-P2 deals: [shopcountry 14830].

UPDATE: Today readers found that Olympus official european stores didn’t list any Four Thirds camera anymore. But Olympus just sent us that following statement:

“We took E-5 off the shop as we had too many orders.
The shop is quite new and technically it is not so easy to stop the order taking.
We have so many orders now, that we’re not able to supply the new orders in a decent delivery time.
So we decided to take it off for some days/weeks.
E-5 is very successful and we plan a long life cycle for this product.
And again, we will stop our SLR business only in case we will be able to provide similar qualities in MFT.”

Check the Olympus Germany store: http://shop.olympus.de/e_commerce/univers.cfm?tri=news&cat_id=17

The E-5 stock status at [shopcountry 17163].

June will be an amazing month! Panasonic and Olympus will announce at least three new cameras and three new lenses. In summary there will be:

– An ultra-small Panasonic GF3. It will be 15% smaller than the current GF2, same G3 sensor.
– The Panasonic-Leica high quality (and high priced?) 25mm f/1.4 auto-focus lens.
– The Olympus PRO E-P3 (with integrated EVF? and new Olympus sensor?).
– The mini PEN (XZ-1 style?).
– The 12mm f/2.0 SHG pro lens (expensive).
– The 50mm f/1.8 portrait lens.

Those are info based on rumors, so there is still room for changes or unexpected additions. But now it’s your turn. Let us know what kind of product you will buy (I included the new Panasonic G3)!

 Loading ...

Stay tuned on 43rumors! It’s really an exciting time now!

[shoplink 21235][/shoplink] Image on top: The current [shoplink 21235 ebay]Olympus Four Thirds 50mm f/2.0 macro[/shoplink] lens.

I know from our trusted sources that Olympus developed two different portrait lens prototypes. A 45mm f/1.7 and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I am still not sure which one is coming but a new sources contacted me to say that the Olympus 50mm f/1.8 lens will be announced along the E-P3 in late June. The retail price will be $499 (499 Euro). I am also getting some other reports saying that the lens will not be a macro lens like the [shoplink 21235]Four Thirds 50mm f/2.0[/shoplink] or the [shoplink 14794]Panasonic Micro Four Thirds 45mm f/2.8[/shoplink] lens. And it will be very compact. But please keep in mind that those specs and price are from a new source! Take it for what it is, an unconfirmed and yet not reliable rumor! I hope other sources can confirm or deny that rumor soon.
Meanwhile thanks to the anonymous sender for sharing the tip. All 43rumors readers should hope that new source is telling us the truth also because he said the E-P3 will have a built-in Viewfinder :)

 Loading ...

P.S.: Another source told me that the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 SHG (Super High Grade) will be very expensive. He didn’t send me the price but I hope he will send me that info after reading that post :)

Here is a list of current Olympus SHG Four Thirds lenses (all made in Tatsuno):
14-35mm f/2.0 ED ([shoplink 22406 ebay]Click here to see that lens on eBay[/shoplink]).
35-100mm f/2.0 ED ([shoplink 22402 ebay]Click here to see that lens on eBay[/shoplink]).
90-250mm f/2.8 ED ([shoplink 22401 ebay]Click here to see that lens on eBay[/shoplink]).
150mm f/2.0 ED ([shoplink 22404 ebay]Click here to see that lens on eBay[/shoplink]).
300mm f/2.8 ED ([shoplink 22405 ebay]Click here to see that lens on eBay[/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