At Photokina 2010 Olympus also announced the all BLACK E-P2 kit. There is now a $200 discount on that kit at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). The offer ends on June 4.
Other m43 deals:
The Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm price dropped down to $558.73 at Amazon (Click here).
The Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens is back in Stock at BHphoto (Click here) for $379.95.
UPDATE: One single GF1 body is in Stock for $449.95 at Amazon (Click here).
DPreview (Click here) posted the full Fuji X100 review. You can have a lot of fun by comparing the results with Micro Four Thirds cameras. Dpreview likes the camera but recognizes that :”Ultimately, perhaps the biggest problem for the X100 is that it’s competing in today’s marketplace with the new breed of compact Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras, and it’s not exactly cheap in comparison.”
Look for X100 preorder options by clicking on the direct shop link at [shopcountry 19929].
Our Japanese friends from Digicam-info (Click here) contacted us to share a rumor they received from a reliable source. According to that source Olympus is already producing the 12mm f/2.0 lens for Micro Four Thirds. Production began in April and the lens will be announced in June. The lens production is in Tatsuno (where Oly’s high level lenses are made) and you can expect a top of the notch image quality. This is the very first Pro lens for Micro Four Thirds! It’s also one of my favorite focal lengths! So how will this lens be compared to other lenses?
1) The closest lens we can compare with is the upcoming Olympus Zuiko is the [shoplink 16258]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5[/shoplink]. The Zuiko will very likely be more expensive, bigger in size, but also be a bit faster, have a better build-quality and hopefully deliver a huge step forward in image quality. See the review of the Panasonic lens at Photozone, and check price at [shopcountry 16258].
2) The two Micro Four Thirds lenses that do cover the 12mm focal length are the [shoplink 14822]Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 14818]Olympus 9-18mm[/shoplink] lenses. But I expect the new Oly prime to be less big and to deliver a higher image quality. I do hope it will also be cheaper than the Panasonic zoom. See the review of the Panasonic lens at Photozone, and check price at [shopcountry 14822].
3) An extravagant comparison can be made with the Pentax 12mm f/1.4 C-mount lens. Unlike the Pentax lens the Zuiko lens has autofocus and much better image quality. The only advantage of the Pentax lens is the price. The Pentax sells for around $20 on [shoplink 21589 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Our sources told us that this is not the only lens Olympus will announce in June. The second lens is a portrait lens and I hope to get the specs very very very soon! Also that lens is a high quality lens. Finally Olympus!!! June will be full of new Micro Four Thirds stuff announcements (because new products are coming from Panasonic too!).
P.S.: The video on top shows the Tatsuno plant and one of the lenses made there: The Olympus 300mm f/2.8. it’s the most expensive lens ever made by Olympus. Check the scary price at [shopcountry 22138] (if you find them in Stock). There is an article about the Tatsuno plant here at Olympus Website.
One more thing: I am working on many new rumors, I am very busy with it. Sorry if in those days I missed to answer some of your emails. Please email me again if I forgot something ok? Thanks for your understanding.
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
As you know one month ago SLR magic announced a new lens with Micro Four Thirds mount, the [shoplink 22155 ebay]11mm f/1.4[/shoplink]. The list price of $209.99 seemed too high for many of our readers and it’s good to see that SLRmagic recognized that and lowered the prize down to $129.99.It now has a different design with different MC coating to exclude the lens hood. It has a Micro Four Thirds mount (you don’t need any adapter). You can see some image samples taken with the lens on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. You see there is a lot of vignetting you have to deal with (they call that toy effect). Those waiting for a high quality lens in that focal length should wait for the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens. But the SLRmagic lens is many times cheaper than the future Oly lens.
Preorders are also available on that link on [shoplink 22155 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
I guess that after the Megapixel race we are going to see a completely new kind of competition…the “who makes the smallest camera” fight! I just got this image from a source. It is a size comparison made between the current [shoplink 17361]Panasonic GF2[/shoplink], [shoplink 18844]Olympus E-PL2[/shoplink] and the upcoming Sony NEX-C3.
I kindly invite you my other second website MirrorlessRumors.com to learn more about the NEX-C3. I just published the NEX-C3 specs and flash and lens details (Click here to read them).
I guess it’s not hard to predict that even Panasonic and Olympus will soon try to develop smaller cameras. But does it really matter for you?
The japanese website Itmedia (Click here) tested the new Olympus converters.
You can already preorder the converters in many stores:
Olympus Fisheye Converter at [shopcountry 21289].
Olympus Wide Lens Converter at [shopcountry 21292].
Olympus Macro Converter at [shopcountry 21293].
Reghardware (Click here) reviewed the GF2: “Recent additions, including the new DMC-G3 suggest Panasonic’s emphasis may have shifted to entice more cost conscious photographer to the MFT format. Whether the touchscreen is enough to compete with the likes of the [shoplink 18844]Olympus PEN E-PL2[/shoplink], remains to be seen. Still, with the Lumix DMC-GF2 Panasonic has succeeded in creating a clever and exciting camera.”
Click those links to check GF2 price and availability: [shopcountry 17361].
Fourthirds-user (Click here) compared the High ISO performance from cameras old and new cameras (Like for example the old Olympus E-1 and the newer Olympus E-5).
Good news for the Micro Four Thirds system. BBC approved the AG-AF101 as a HD specialist cameras. You may don’t know that only a few cameras are on the BBC list. That includes the much more expensive ARRI cameras, the Sony’s CineAlta F35 and the Red modular cameras. See the full (short) list of approved cameras -> Download .pdf. Low budget documentary filmmakers will be very happy to read that news. But there is only one “limitation”. You have to record the images on the external recorder to capture footage at 50Mbps via HDMI. (Read the article at Dvuser.co.uk)
You can get the AG-AF100(or 101 or 102) at BHphoto (Click here) or [shoplink 22129 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Dvuser.co.uk (Click here) tested the Voigtlander 25mm F0.95 Micro 4/3rd lens on the Panasonic AF101 camcorder. Is the lens good enough for video? Nigel Cooper says :”I’ve been shooting with the Panasonic AF101 with the [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtlander 25mm MFT lens[/shoplink] for some weeks now and to say I’m impressed is an understatement. The quality that the Voigtlander optics produces is truly amazing. As for the Bokeh, it is truly amazing. At F0.95 you can achieve the shallowest depth-of-field; it’s incredible and it yields some incredibly artistic results.” The final rating is 5 start of 5! Thanks Nigel for your very detailed review!
The best thing is that now there are plenty of Nokton lenses in Stock in [shoplink 15659 ebay]European eBay stores (Click here)[/shoplink]. All new and with the normal price (which is 899 Euro). Click on the shop names: [shoplink 22125 ebay]Foto Mundus[/shoplink], [shoplink 22126 ebay]infoto2[/shoplink], [shoplink 22126 ebay]infoto2[/shoplink], [shoplink 22127 ebay]eu-shphoto[/shoplink], [shoplink 22128 ebay]deutscher-digitalhandel[/shoplink] (ships worldwide!). Our US readers can buy from Europe only because US stores do not have them in Stock. BHphoto accepts preorders (for a very good price) but they still don’t know when they will have them in Stock (that’s what they told to me).
UPDATE: In France you can find the Nokton for 749 Euro only at lapetiteboutiquephoto.com. Don’t know why they are much cheaper than other stores but I have been assured that this is a very reputable store!
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The japanese website