Finally Panasonic released a new MicroFourThirds lens. The 8mm Fisheye will be available from July 2010 and cost £729.99 (according to dpreview).

UPDATE: Click here to preorder the 8mm fisheye lens on Amazon! ($799)

FX75/70 press releases on:
Dpreview
Imaging Resource
Letsgodigital
The PhoBlographer
Quesabesde (spanish)

Panasonic 8mm fisheye press release on:
Dpreview
Imaging Resource
Letsgodigital
The PhoBlographer
Quesabesde (spanish)

ZappB created an AF-assist beam mod for the Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1. On dpreview forum he says that “With the AF light, I can take photos in pitch black conditions using the flash. Normally, this would be impossible. I also added a mode for the light to stay on constantly for video or whatever you desire with a constant light.”

Now he wants to teaming up with a manufacturer to produce these device. Contact him if you want to collaborate!

Well don ZappB!!!

EosHD just made a wiki entry where he explains how to install the Panasonic GH1 firmware hack.

List of major improvements:
– 24p native footage, no need to unwrap from 60i or use pulldown on NTSC models
– Increase in image quality
– Higher bitrates in AVCHD mode
– Interface language can be selected from large range of international options

Sounds awesome. Let me know if the firmware hack works without any flaw. And please keep in mind that this is a hack soyou have to be aware of the risks!

Dpreview tried to found an answer to the following question: Can software ever take the place of optical excellence?

They tested four cameras: Canon Powershot S90, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 and the Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1.

And what did they discover? “Purely optically-corrected design have an edge over the Micro Four Thirds lens that combines both optical and digital correction.”
Interesting!

Read more on dpreview.

You can now preorder the Olympus E-PL1 For Dummies on amazon (click here)! The book will be available on July 26, 2010. “For dummies” is a very popular series of instructional books and the fact that they publshed a book for the Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1 prooves once again how popular the camera is. The same book is also available for pre-order on Amazon UK (click here) and Amazon Canada. I hope there will be soon translation in other languages.

But there are more new books coming (click on the link to visit the product page on amazon.com):
– David Busch’s Olympus PEN EP-2 Guide to Digital Photography
– Olympus Pen Series Tutorial DVD, including E-PL1 (E PL1) by QuickPro
– David Busch’s Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Guide to Digital Photography

One thing we noticed is that in Germany you have tons of books about FourThirds and MicroFourThirds cameras. Check out the book list for Olympus PEN (click here) and Panasonic (click here) cameras.

The last new entries are the Olympus PEN and Profibuch Panasonic Lumix G.

The Olympus PEN book will be soon available in Amzon UK (click here). And click here to read the full list of books of Olympus and Panasonic books on amazon UK.

I only found Panasonic related books on Amazon France.

Do you have some book suggestions?
Thanks!
Ale