There is more and more competition coming. Sony will announce a huge ammount of new NEX cameras ad lenses (Click here to see the lenses at SAR) and new cameras from Samsung and probably Nikon (More at MirrorlessRumors.com). But now I want to know what you think are the strenghts of the m43 system compared to the other mirrorless systems!

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Th EISA (European Imaging & Sound Association) is a unique association of 50 special interest magazines from 19 European countries. And every year they do award the best photo cameras and lenses. The problem I have with Eisa is that they created so many different categories that it easy for every manufacturer to win at least one of the prizes. Olympus for example won the “European All Weather Camera 2011-2012” with the Olympus TOUGH TG-810. And Panasonic won the “European Compact System Camera 2011-2012” with the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G3.
See all categories and winners at http://www.eisa.eu/awards/3/photo.html
Like last year, and two years ago and three years ago (and so on) everybody won a price! Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fuji, Samsung, Pentax, Tamron, Sigma, Casio…sounds a bit like a joke or no? That said the [shoplink 22077]Panasonic G3[/shoplink] is certainly the best mirrorless camera announced in 2011!

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].

Thanks to Samyang current Four Thirds user can see the light of some new Four Thirds lenses. They just announced on their website (Click here) that by end of the year they will announce the 24mm f/1.4 fast wide angle! It will have 13 elements (in 12 groups) including four ED elements and two aspheric lenses. The lens is manual focusing only but the optical quality is on a very top level

There are currently two fast manual lenses you can get for your Olympus camera:
1) The 35mm f/1.4: In US you can find it as “Rokinon” at Amazon (Click here), as “Samyang” on [shoplink 24768 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and as “Rokinon” on [shoplink 24770 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
2) The 85mm f/1.4: You can get for $274 on Amazon (Click here), as “Samyang” on [shoplink 24769 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and as “Rokinon” on [shoplink 24771 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

P.S.: All Samyang lenses for Olympus can be found on eBay only and under seven different brand names (Click on it to see all Four Thirds lenses from the specific brand!):
[shoplink 20647 ebay]Samyang [/shoplink] [shoplink 20684 ebay]Walimex [/shoplink] [shoplink 20649 ebay]Rokinon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20650 ebay]Opteka [/shoplink] [shoplink 20651 ebay]Falcon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20653 ebay]Vivitar [/shoplink] [shoplink 20652 ebay]Bower [/shoplink]

[shoplink 16841]Panasonic AG AF100[/shoplink] Vs [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] Resolution & Gamma Tests (Source: Cinescopophilia).

Olympus SZ-10 Super Zoom Digital Camera Review (ePhotozine).

EP3 vs G3 High ISO 20mm 1.7 and 25mm 1.4 (Dpreview forum).

Panasonic G3 test at Akam (norwegian).

E-P3 with 12mm lens test at Hendralauw.

Panasonic pic becomes six billionth on Flickr (Amateur Phtographer).

Finest Dance 3D (3dkraft.de).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Express Review (Neocamera).

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].

More dealers are sending me details about the availability of the new Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 lens. They do confirm the shipment has been delayed to end August/early September. That’s once againa frustrating news coming from Panasonic. The lens was supposed to be in Stock in August. The lens is in Stock in Japan and if you need the lens now you cna buy it on [shoplink 24565 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and on Amazon US (Click here) sold by japanese resellers.

And Amazon Germany (Click here) confirmed the lens will be in Stock between the next 3-6 weeks.

Olympus quarter results history for the imaging division (Source: Photoscala).

Photoscala (Click here) analyzed the latest Olympus financial results. Olympus managed to stop the decline. There was a slightly profit in first fiscal quarter of 2011. The bad news for Olympus is that North American sales fell by 26.3%, while in the other regions they recorded increases. But as you see from the table on top (made by Photoscala) Olympus isn’t doing very well in the camera division. It looks like Micro Four Thirds alone is not helping them to much. Olympus needs to do more! Do you have any ideas? :)

Olympus Japan (Click here) announced a new firmware update for PEN cameras. The E-PL1/PL2/P2 are now compatible with the new Olympus VF-3 external viewfinder. But there is a bug Olympus didn’t solve yet. When using the new VF-3 on the new E-P3 (with touchscreen enabled) the the two rear wheels will no longer work! You have to disable the touchscreen funtion to enable their functionalities (Source: SystemKameraForum).

Let’s take a break from rumors and camera reviews. Here is a list of links to articles that can help you to undertsand some scientific and technical aspects of photogaphy.

My prefered website is Cambridgeincolour.com. They recently published two new articles:
1) Reducing Camera Shake with Hand-Held Photos: “We’ve all likely encountered this problem many times: blurry photos due to camera shake with hand-held shots. It’s especially prevalent for those of us who are unfortunate enough to have unsteady hands. While it cannot be eliminated entirely, fortunately there’s a number of steps you can take to greatly reduce its impact — and hopefully prevent it from becoming visible in the first place.”
2) Using Camera Shutter Speed Creatively: “A camera’s shutter speed can control exposure, but it’s also one of the most powerful creative tools in photography. It can convey motion, freeze action, isolate subjects and smooth water, amongst other abilities. This tutorial describes how to achieve these various effects…”

A bit more complicated and scientific article has been published by Berkeley:  “The human eye long ago solved a problem common to both digital and film cameras: how to get good contrast in an image while also capturing faint detail.” Read the article to understand “Why the eye is better than a camera“.

Now something more easy and funny to read (and use). There is a new online SLR Camera Simulator at Camerasim (found via Fotoactualidad). It’s a perfect site for beginners that need to learn the basics of photography!