Olympus [ib] version 1.3 has been released today (Download at Olympus Japan). Following features have been added:

– Added the function to upload images to Flickr.
– Added the function to upload movies to YouTube.
– Added the function to upload images to “Private Space” on [ib on the net].
– Added the function to upload images to “Share Space” on [ib on the net].
– Added the function to back up images to “Photo Bank” on [ib on the net].
– Added the function to order online-prints (Photo Print, Photo Book) on [ib on the net].

Meanwhile DC.watch posted a new Olympus 40-150mm lens review. Reminder: The new Olympus Lens is in Stock at Amazon (Black lens) and Adorama (Black and White lens).

Barry Green (DVXuser forum) explains why the Panaosnic didn’t add 25p recording: “I was floored when I asked them where in the world 25p went, and the response I got from one of the Lumix reps from a PAL territory was basically “what are you talking about? It has PAL support, it does 50i!” Because they think they’ve gone beyond that. They offer 50i, 60i, 50p, 60p, and 24p.
It doesn’t help the PAL users who want/need 25p, but … near as I can tell, this is their thinking. They’ve gone and enhanced the camera beyond that stuttery film-look 25p, and added 50i for the “live” video look. And frankly, for the vast majority of their customers, that’s probably true — they will probably prefer that. For PAL users who want 25p, we’re left with either a case of use 720/50p and drop every other frame, or use 1080/24p and speed it up by 4%. ”

Panasonic GH2 preorders at: Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France.

Amazon recently added a new bestseller category for mirrrorless cameras! That’s one more proof for the success of such cameras. But there is one BIG mistake. Amazon US names the category “Micro Four Thirds cameras” unlike other Amazon Europe stores where they call it “Compact System Cameras”. Is that a mistake or a Panasonic/Olympus marketing action?

Check out the current rankings:
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon US (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon Deutschland (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon UK (Click here)
– Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon France (Click here)

Amazon Canada and Amazon Japan do not offer the new ranking system.

What can we learn from those rankings? Generally spoken Micro Four Thirds is winning the game against Sony and Samsung. In UK and Germany, Samsung is doing surprisingly well and in France the NEX cameras are on top of the list. And the most popular camera is (as usual) the [shoplink 14828]Panasonic GF1[/shoplink].

I was one of those guys that played some time with the old medium format Holga Pinhole camera. What I didn’t know is that there are [shoplink 16969]Pinhole kits on eBay[/shoplink] that do tranform your Micro Four Thirds camera in a digital Holga. [shoplink 16969]Check out the current auctions on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. You can also find some image samples!

Panasonic AF-100 Hi-RES Extended RE-Cut evaluation by CREWS.TV from Yves Simard on Vimeo.

With the release of the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D MarkII (over two years ago) the age of the VDSLR (DSLR with video cameras) began. But according to the director Frank Glencairn that age is already past: “Okay, this is it. VDSLR is dead. It was cool, it was fun, it was great but it was also a major pain in the ass. It´s over. Panasonic came out with the [shoplink 16841]AF100[/shoplink] at IBC and then there is Sony and the Scarlet soon. We finally come back to real camcorders, without moire and all the other problems to deal with. Sorry Zacuto.”

Panasonic is about to release the very first professional (bye bye Sony NEX-VG10), useable (bye bye Canon 5D) and cheap (bye bye RED) big sensor videocamera. I am one those guys that shot documentaries and I really like that camera. That’s why my production company preordered the AG-AF100 ([shoplink 16841]at BHphoto[/shoplink]). It’s great news for the Micro Four Thirds folks (even if you don’t care about video). I hope the success of that camera will push Olympus-Panasonic and other third party lens makers to delivers us new lenses!

A message to our european readers: BHphoto is the only worldwide store accepting preorder. [shoplink 16841]Click here to add the camera to your basket and select your country[/shoplink]. They have an online calculator that tells you how much taxes you have to pay for your country and they will manage all the burocratic stuff!

One more video: http://vimeo.com/15107117

Biofos published a very interesting interview with Mr. Terada from Olympus! De facto Olympus confirms that the classic Four Thirds system will continue and every customer will be supported for a very long time.

This are the most interesting parts of the interview (but please read the complete interview because there is really a  lot of information!):
– Asked if Olympus is contractually tied to Panasonic MR. Tarada answered that “We always look for all possibility to have better product” and “We will choose whatever we think is best for our products. We are free and have selected current sensors as the best ones for our products.”
– “We said pixel race was becoming less significant than before, and thought 12MP would be able to satisfy most of the customers. But we are not sticking to any specific MP.”
– “Although there are no Four Thirds lenses currently under development, it does not mean that there will be no future lenses based on this technology.”
– He gave a “positive answer” when asked if there could be a Pro-level, weather-proof m4/3rds body and lens(es) at some point.
– “Having a large magnification optical finder with small body is a difficult to design. One of the benefit to have a EVF is to overcome this difficulty.”
– About the high price of the new Olympus E-5: “The price reflects both the performance we believe the camera delivers and the cost of producing it. To meet the professional level of robustness, we pay some costs on it.”
– When asked about the modular camera concept he said that “We can’t say concrete product plan.”

Thanks Biofos!

More E-5 news:
– Zone-10 published new articles
– Photographyreview has new image smaples
– At Pixiq: Digital Infrared Photography and the Olympus E-5

Olympus E-5 preorders at Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama