Good morning….and surprise! :)

What you see here is the basis of our new theme. Over the next days you will see many changes. For example a new logo will be made soon and new fonts for the title will be used. All suggestions are welcome!

Why a new theme?
43rumors has existed since 16 months ago. The theme we always used was a “casual choice” and not a consequence of a rational decision. There are many reasons why we felt we had to change the design:
1) Easy simple design. We wanted a new theme with less chaos and content. We have taken into account your criticisms and suggestions and tried to find the best working solution.
2) We wanted to make it easy for you to share rumros and news. Click on the “SHARE” button (on the top of the right sidebar) to send me links images and rumors/news. Name and email address are not required and IP-address will also not be stored. Easy or not?
3) A major improvement has also been also made on the camera database. It locates your IP-address and shows the stores near to you (for now this works only for 10 countries and we will be adding holemore countries soon). Soon we will add quick-links to reviews, specs, news and user reviews for eveyr single Panasonic and Olympus camera and lens!
4) The theme and the whole website is now based on buddypress. This means that if you are a member you can join groups, post in forums, share pictures and make friends. Buddypress is still under heavy development and we will add those features as soon as we feel they are mature. For now you can register yourself and create a profile. Once registered you can make friends, and create or join groups.
5) The old theme and plugins didn’t work very well. There were database errors and a lot of weird stuff. The new website is a completely new installation and runs very well!
6) The new website is easy readable with all modern browsers and also with Blackberries and Iphones.

We need some help:

1) If you are from US, Canada, Japan, Germany, Austria, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Poland, you can help us to test the camera database. In theory the database should show you the links to amazon, ebay, pixmania and other stores, depending upon your location. If you are located in Germany click on “Amazon” and you will jump to the Amazon Deutschland product page. If you have some time please check if it works for all products! There are so many links that I may have made some mistakes :(
2) If you find bugs or if you would love to see some changes here and there contact me on 43rumors@gmail.com.

So now let me go back to work! I really want to fix everything as soon as possible while my girlfriend is out shopping!

Many Thanks again for all your support!

Ale

Sorry for inconvenience. We need to fix a lot of things on our new theme. After that we will release a detailled description of the new features. All the process will take few hours.

UPDATE: I am sooooo tired. We were three guys working to make the new installation. You don’t know it….but this is our third attempt to install the new system (three nights!). Now we are here with tons of bug we need to fix. It’s 2.19am and I am falling asleep like a completely drunk teenager. Sorry if I didn’t manage to fix everything, but I need to rest and tomorrow I will finish the job and explain you the new website.

Thanks!

P.S.: This is not just a new design, 43rumors now runs on a completely new software. 43rumors will become a mini-facebook were each other can share infos and pictures, and make friends.

After months of gestation, tests and a lot of frustration the new theme is finally ready! We tested the theme on other websites before to install it on 43rumors. We wanted to be sure that almost everything works.

This is a major change for 43rumors. Not only because the website will become far more cleaner (and I hope nicer) but also because new features will be added. One of the most precious value of 43rumors is…you! And that’s why the new 43rumors websites runs on buddypress (a social blog). You will be able to become official 43rumors members. You can make friends, send messages to each other, create fan groups and in near future forum and wiki will be added!

I will give you more infos soon but let’s do the installation now and fix the bugs!

Thanks!

Added “PAL<->NTSC Menu” patch for [shoplink 14828]Panasonic GF1[/shoplink] and [shoplink 14826]Panasonic GH1[/shoplink].
In short – it allows you to change video standard on the fly.
“Video Out” menu is used. It’ll simultaneously set you TV output standard
and also camera shooting standard.
As a side effect, this patch enables Video Out menu for regions where it was
disabled.
Firmware download and how-to on DVXuser.com
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Amin Sabet tested the new [shoplink 14818]Olympus 9-18mm[/shoplink] lens (Serious compacts)
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Panasonic Lumix G2, uma G1 com vídeo (fotodigital online…portuguese!)
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[shoplink 14832]Olympus E-PL1[/shoplink] review on Reghardware
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Olympus E-PL1 “Bounce Flash”? (Thedigitalstory.com)

We “predicted” it on 43rumors and now it is here! The new 3D lens for MicroFourThirds cameras. The lens will be on sale by late 2010 and also the image of the lens is just a prototyp. But also other 3D stuff has been announced:

Press release:
ThePhoblographer
DDay (italian)
Gizmodo
dpreview
engadget

Panasonic is pleased to announce the development of the world’s first* twin digital interchangeable lens. The revolutionary new accessory will make high quality 3D shooting possible with an interchangeable lens system camera for the very first time. As 3D content becomes increasingly popular across a variety of platforms, Panasonic plans to release this new lens for sale before the end of the year to deliver the joy and excitement of 3D shooting to interchangeable lens system camera users.

Having already taken the lead in 3D technology, Panasonic has had great success with the launch of their 3D-capable VIERA televisions and 3D Blu-rayTM Disc Players. The 3D market is predicted to steadily grow over the coming years, as explained by industry analysts, Screen Digest: “As consumers slowly replace the main TV set in their house, and as the price of 3D TVs continue to fall, Screen Digest expects that 3D TVs will be in around a quarter of households in major developed markets by the end of 2014***. “

The introduction of the 3D lens aims to respond to demands of consumers who want to enjoy 3D shooting for themselves whilst also expanding Panasonic’s range of 3D products. The lens will allow users to capture images in 3D which can then be viewed back using 3D-capable VIERA televisions in the comfort of their own home.

“As consumers slowly replace the main TV set in their house, and as the price of 3D TVs continue to fall, Screen Digest expects that 3D TVs will be in around a quarter of households in major developed markets by the end of 2014. “

Until now, 3D shooting with an interchangeable lens system camera has only been possible by using panorama systems or a combination of two lenses and two CCDs, but these systems have drawbacks including the need for a dedicated 3D camera and the difficulties of capturing moving objects. Panasonic’s new 3D lens for the LUMIX G Micro System features two optical systems installed within the diameter of the lens mount, creating stereo images from the left and right lenses, to be processed with a 3D image processing system. Thanks to Panasonic’s advancements in optical technology, image processing system, and lens barrel design, the 3D lens still manages to retain an extremely compact size.

This new compact 3D-capable interchangeable lens allows easier handling and instant 3D shooting, producing 3D images without distortion or time lag between left and right images, even for moving objects.

Through expanding its range of 3D products, Panasonic will continue to lead the industry by bringing a true-to-life 3D experience to its customers.

If you are looking for a very high-quality and very fast lens (and you have a lot of money to spend) than you should take a close look on the Konica 50mm f/1.2 lens! I found some image samples of the lens used on a Panasonic G1 here: yotarouyokosuka.com Image samples on Leica cameras are available here on < a href="http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/utsurundesu/20015" target="_blank">Rakuten and Stephen Lee
A small review is available here: portretteur.nl. He also made a comparison with the Canon FD 50mm f/1.2 lens. A little bit of lens porn on Flickr and here :)

And if you want to get the lens or just check price and availability click here to see the lens on eBay: Konica 50mm f/1.2 lens

More “need for speed” lenses:
– Fujinon 25mm f/0.85
– Four crazy 90mm f/1.0 Lenses
– Voigtländer 50mm f/1.1
– The Leica Noctilux 0.95
– PEN-F Zuiko Olympus 42mm F/1.2
– Schneider Xenon 0.95/50mm
– De Oude Delft 50mm f/0.75
– The 75mm f/0.85 Leitz lens