Jeu de Société from SCHAZ on Vimeo.

Simon: “Just wanted to share this promo video that was shot exclusively with a GF1. CrumplePop (makers of awesome VFX) is featuring it on their blog! Check it out: http://crumplepop.com/blog/”

Travis: “I shot a bunch of video and stills at the regional bouldering competition my son competed at this weekend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02r6ArAnvHY
The gym is extremely dark so I used the 25mm F1.4 the entire time. Even the 45mm F1.8 wasn’t fast enough for the “cave” where most of the climbing took place.
One thing I can say is that the new AF improvements are significant. I now use AFC for video always. The expanded touch screen for AF is also a huge bonus. I also didn’t really miss the high bit rates from the hack at all. Hopefully, the new firmware will be hacked soon so we can have the best of both worlds.
This footage was basically unedited in terms of color and affects. The only thing I did was add in some sharpness because I didn’t have it set to do that in camera.”

Andrew: “Hello, I wanted to share a unique single-take music video which I shot on the AF-100 with a PL mount Cooke 18-100 T.3 lens: http://vimeo.com/32183353. I also recently co-directed a full length climbing film on 2 AF100s. here is the trailer:  http://vimeo.com/akorn/a-fine-line-film-trailer”

Brian: “I wanted to share a promotional video that I shot on a Panasonic GH2 for Anime World Chicago. No hacks or expensive toys. Just my camera, the 20mm pancake lens, and a tripod. http://vimeo.com/29159618”

Mike: “just sharing, shot with GH2 and 5N…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_my1pDzWzc ab geht’s nach Africa/Kenya morgen, bin ende Dec wieder zurück. wünsche dir schöne weihnachten!”

Farrukh: “Created our first video clip with the EP3 and the PL 25mm. Love the combo! http://implausibleblog.com/2011/12/19/winter-llama-walk/ and http://implausibleblog.com/2011/12/23/world-dreams-uk-final-amika/”

Hakan: “Here is a little bit of everything, I took your words in plain ” Enjoy the time with your families and take some nice pictures of them”: http://vimeo.com/34190358”

Alex: “Not really a rumor, but wanted to share a funny Christmas music video. Shot with Panasonic GF1 and Sony EX3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlMQ7ZeWew0”

P.S.: Digitalcamerainfo (Click here) is giving away a 9-piece grand prize worth over $4000. They are going to reveal one piece of the prize everyday until New Year’s, starting with a Sony NEX-5N.

A short post to wish you all Merry Christmas! Enjoy the time with your families and take some nice pictures of them ;)

Greetings from Antwerp!

Ale

Dear readers,

Many of you worried about me because of the post I wrote yesterday. I only wanted to add that I am not sick, and I am not going to stop the activity on 43rumors. I am having some issues to solve within my family and that’s why I could miss to post some news or not be that fast to answer your emails. So if it happens that you don’t hear about me for a few days you should know that I am very likely busy with family business.

That said, I really appreciate your kind words. It’ really gave me some energy I lost during the last weeks. I will need that because I know we are going to see many new m43 products within the next weeks. There will be the enw Panasonic lenses and I have been told Olympus could launch the new camera in February (yes, the new “revolutionary” camera). I will keep working on those rumors and I am glad we can have such an interesting time to share together.

Merry Christmas!

Reuters reports that: “Olympus Corp is preparing to issue about $1.28 billion (100 billion yen) in new shares to bolster its depleted finances, with Japanese high-tech stalwarts Sony and Fujifilm seen as possible buyers, the Nikkei business daily reported.” Reuters also says that Panasonic could join the “share shopping” too. This really sounds like a very vague rumor. Before Reuters and Bloomberg reported that also Samsung and Hoya may be interested in an Olympus acquisition. Such news are no-news anymore :)

All I know from my sources is that Olympus has a very close relation to Fuji, and there are rumors that Olympus is talking with Fuji a way out of the financial mess. But that’s just a rumor. I think it will not pass a lot of time that we will see Olympus real steps.

UPDATE: BBC reports that “Japanese prosecutors have raided the headquarters of camera and medical equipment maker Olympus as part of an ongoing investigation.”

P.S.: Olympus gives us some nice new m43 cameras and lenses soon so that we can help you out with our money!

We are close to a new year that I am sure will bring us many more innovations and cameras than the finishing 2011. And you already know most of what’s coming. Nikon will release their new FF cameras which as usual will bring a bit better image quality, a bit more features a bit more of everything. We can expect the same “slow advance” approach from Canon. Fuji is going to introduce a revolutionary new sensor made by organic materials that can surpass the quality of any other FF sensor. Sony will very likely introduce a fullframe NEX-9 camera and sensors with more Megapixels (there is already a working 100 Megapixel sensor prototype). Pentax plans to make both a fullframe and a medium format mirrorless camera. Panasonic will bring global shutter, and a new GH3 with top video quality.

But there is one technology that will probably be the ONE BIG THING of the year 2012. It’s the upcoming new Olympus viewfinder technology. I explain you my reasons:

I am pretty convinced (like many others) that mirrorless is the future. But there is one thing I really cannot fell in love with. It’s the electronic viewfinder. While I understand the advantages of such technology (What you see is what you get in terms of framing, depth of field and so on) I still think it will always miss that “special close to reality feeling” I have when I look through an optical viewfinder of a real rangefinder or DSLR camera. I prefer the use of the 3 inch LCD any time over the external viewfinder from my [shoplink 14830]Olympus E-P2[/shoplink]. And it’s not because of the poor quality. I also used the super high resolution viewfinder from the [shoplink 26379]NEX-5n[/shoplink]. It’s a bit better but it doesn’t change anything to the missing “reality feeling” I am looking for. It’s an unnatural process to look at a digital screen with a linear pattern of pixels that is placed at a couple of millimeters from your eye. It’s completely a different experience to look at the  direct stream of light coming from the real subject in the distance. And I believe that’s the real big gap between the current mirrorless cameras and the classic DSLR (or rangefinder) cameras. Neither a 100 megapixels sensor nor a super OLED technology can replace the ONE thing I need.

The [shoplink 19929 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink] hybrid viewfinder has been the first camera that made step in the direction I want. But it has on big limitation (it doesn’t work with interchangeable lenses). I know the new LX cameras from Fuji will use an optical (non-hybrid!) viewfinder. That sounds damn intriguing but what I heard about Olympus technology sounds far more advanced! It’s a sort of “semitransparent viewfinder“. You will have all the possible advantages. The optical “feeling” and when needed the digital “perfection”. Plus it works on a camera that can take interchangeable lenses. I still don’t know the details of the viewfinder. I only heard about a prototype having an invisible OLED layer on the optical viewfinder. I hope some of my sources can help me to figure out how it works. But all I know is that the camera is coming soon.

So dear Olympus, let others run the Megapixel race, the super fake perfectly boring specs war. What I need is to feel photography, to feel a camera that stays well in my hands, to feel a camera that brings me emotionally as close as possible to the moment I intend to capture. If Olympus will make that camera my little savings will be spent for them. No matter how many Megapixels the camera has.

P.S.: Thanks for all the positive energy you gave me today with your comments on my previous post. It really gave me the kick to write that post about the Olympus viewfinder!

P.P.S.: My favorite camera is still the [shoplink 27849 ebay]Mamiya 7 (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink]. An absolutely non(!) perfect camera that makes me take superb pictures!

I long thought if I should write this or not. But there is no way around than be direct with you and tell you something personal.
No matter if you like 43rumors or not, no matter how many mistakes I may make or not, I am giving 100% of myself behind that website. I spend my time while I have breaks during my regular work, I spend my time while I am travelling around the world like I did in the last six months. I am the only one working on it, and I somehow managed to post daily news (even if it meant to work deep into the night). And looking back, I realize I am always on the extreme limit of my forces. As long as I am full of energy this hasn’t been a problem.

But recently I had some bad news in my life. I am going through tuff times since months (UPDATE: I am not ill, it’s something else). I guess you all understand what that means. These are the times when you fight against something that looks like you cannot beat. It’s amazing how life is so much bigger than our actions, hopes and fears. And in these last days I am feeling like I need to rest, slow down a bit. And that’s why I am writing this post. I cannot cheat on my energy and on my readers, I ask you to be patient if for the reason I mentioned to you I will be late in answer your emails, if I will not post 3-4 news per day as usual. I really need to take a deep breathe.

It may sounds like I am bit hopeless but I am not. For some reasons this is a healthy time. Sometimes life reminds you how stupid our thoughts, philosophy, and daily lies are. Life can be so tremendously honest and hit you with a big kick in the ass when you absolutely do not expect it. I am going damn close to what I am, more simple and with less waste of thoughts and actions.

And to end this post, I wish you that for Christmas: Don’t fear life, don’t lie to yourself, don’t waste time. Face the deepest and simplest part of your life, it may scares at the beginning, but once you are there you will feel much better than you think!

Merry Christmas
Ale

P:S.: A special thanks goes to the guys that created this: Cubestories.com. Thanks for the awesome experience!

P.P.S.: Wrote that post at 3.46 in the morning. Don’t care about my terrible English ok? ;)

SLRmagic announced the release of the new Spotting Scope for Micro Four Thirds. Their plan was to release them earlier but the product was delayed because customers asked them to add a tripod collar before we release the lens. You can see some image samples and buy the lens on their [shoplink 27827 ebay]eBay page (Click here)[/shoplink].

PRESS RELEASE

SLR Magic introduces a 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope and expands its micro four thirds lineup with SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope lens for Digiscoping.

Hong Kong, China (Dec 16, 2011) – SLR Magic introduces a 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope and expands its micro four thirds lineup with SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope lens for Digiscoping. With this latest addition, the portfolio of lenses for the micro four thirds system is now comprised of six focal lengths.

The SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope gives you the highest resolution and brightest view possible by three key elements. It features an over sized eye relief, utilized Extra-low Dispersion optics, as well as fully Multi coated glass to help you with spotting the rare bird species. The SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope also offers stacked, dual-focus controls, so you can make both rapid and fine-tuning adjustments. The scope comes with a soft carrying case and handle. The micro four thirds version comes with the mFT adapter objective.

The field of view of this spotting scope on the micro four thirds camera corresponds to a a 840-2520mm lens in 35mm format. The user friendly design allows you to attach your camera by mounting it like any other camera lens. Everything you need comes with the package and there is no need to have a compatible lens to use it. This is the perfect solution for amateur digiscopers who want to take photos or video of wildlife.

The 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope will be available from authorized SLR Magic dealers end December 2011.

Technical Data
SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED (Premium Extra-low Dispersion glass) for mFT
Lens Type: Spotting Scope
Compatible Cameras: All micro four thirds mount cameras
Magnification: 12-36x
35mm equivalent focal length: 840-2520mm
Objective: Φ50
Lens Coating: Multi Coated
Close Focus: 15 ft.
Weight (oz./g): 28.2/800, 49.4/1400 (with mFT adapter objective)
Water Resistant/Fog proof: Yes
Eyepiece: Straight Zoom
Eye relief: 23mm
Accessories: mFT adapter objective with tripod collar
MSRP: $549

Andrew Chan
Product Manager