The commercial on top has been shot entirely with the Olympus E-PL1: “We initially considered using a [shoplink 15024]Canon 7D[/shoplink] but due to the weight factor, that idea was scrapped early in pre-production. We also tested the GoPro HD and ContourHd but the results were not good enough for broadcast.
I suggested we use the [shoplink 14832]Olympus Pen E-PL1[/shoplink] due to its small form-factor and decent image quality, After some testing, we decided that it produced good enough results for the commercial.
Director: Farouk Aljoffrey
Cinematographer: Eric Oh
Production Co.: Planet Films”

The E-PL1 is currently discounted in many stores (because of the E-PL2 release). Check price at[shopcountry 14832].

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 / ZS10 review (Cameralabs).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH5 Review (Steve Digicams).

Aputure Gigtube Wireless Review (Megapixel).

New Panasonic GF2 waterhousing (Recsea).

Panasonic to resume production in some jaapnese plants (DC.watch)

What happened with Noktor? A year ago they launched their Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds but the lens is out of Stock since May of last year. I tried to contact them but I didn’t get any answer. So I am asking you if you were able to get some news. It’s impossible to find that lens on [shoplink 15629 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] or in any other store. The website itself hasn’t been updated since a long time! it’s a bit pity because they really had a good start with a lot of viral advertising on forums and blogs. It was the first non Olympus/Panasonic lens with Micro Four Thirds mount and it has that amazing f/0.95 aperture (although the image quality is low). I am surprised to see that they stopped to ship the lens without any explanation.

Check out: http://noktor.com/

There are many other 50mm f/0.95 lenses on eBay but you need an adapter to use them and they are expensive:
– Navitron 50mm f/0.95 for $700 [shoplink 21028]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] – Canon 50mm f/0.95 for $2500 on [shoplink 21030]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] – Schneider 50mm f/0.95 for $4500 on [shoplink 21029]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] – Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M for over $10000 (!) on [shoplink 21031]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Dear readers.

I had a small surgery today. That’s why I had no tiem to answer your emails and comments. Tomorrow (Saturday) I will have more time to work on 43rumors.

Thanks for your understanding.

P.S.: I am doing fine ;)

Camerquest (Click here) is keeping us up to date with the [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] availability: “March 6th Update: The February shipment is indeed SOLD OUT. The NEXT PRODUCTION RUN is estimated in late April 2011.”

At least you find a few of them on [shoplink 15659 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. There are now more ongoing auctions than it was a few weeks ago.

One of our sources told us that Cosina doesn’t have any plan to increase the production of that lens. They do not have the capability to do that. So you can expect shortages for the whole year :(

P.S:: For our polish and European readers: Infoto.pl and Allegro.pl do list the Nokton as in Stock! Somewhat crazy if you think  that the rest of Europe doesn’t have it in Stock :)

Thanks Mike Kobal!

Goodgearguide tested the Olympus E-5: “The Olympus E-5 is definitely a beast of a camera, but its low-light performance isn’t as good as its competitors, and overall its images look a little muddy (although some users may prefer this). It also takes a while to learn how to use it effectively. However, it is fast when it comes to sequential shooting as well as focusing, and it has a useful articulating screen and Live View mode.” Get the E-5 at [shopcountry 17163].

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT3 Review (Photographyblog).

March 11 Earthquake in Tokyo taken with the GH2 (Vimeo). Get the GH2 at [shopcountry 16254]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 / ZS10 High ISO JPEG Noise preview (CameraLabs).

Panasonic GF2 review (Fotopolis). Get the GF2 at [shopcountry 17361]

3Dkraft tested the audio quality of the GH2 y doing a Bariton- and Sopran-Saxophon Live-cut. The quality is very surprising good and you should hear the video using good headphones!

Image courtesy: Megapixel

Last week Olympus stated that DSRL will become a niche market in 5-10 years. The future is mirrorless or as Olympus says the future are “Pen-type” cameras :)

There are two data that do confirm the increasing mirrorless popularity. Almost a quarter of all interchangeable lens cameras sold in the UK during January are mirrorless (That’s a 160% rise on the same month the previous year). In Germany 80.000 of all 960.000 system cameras sold in Germany during 2010 are mirrorless. And In Japan almost 40% of all sold system cameras are mirrorless.The market is lead by Panasonic 38.7% followed by Sony 32.2% and Olympus 29.1%.

Image on top: The fisheye, wide and macro converters.

Olympus officially postponed the launch of the recently announced products (Source: DC.watch). That includes the new compact cameras and the three Micro Four Thirds lens converters.
We all have understanding for this!

If you want to make a donation to help the japanese people click here: http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Reminder: The other two PEN accessories are already on market:
– MAL-1 Led Light at [shoplink 20217 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.
– PenPal bluetooth module at [shoplink 20218 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.