Finally! Olympus forecast says they will return to profit thanks to increased camera sales!

Yesterday I told you how surprised I was to see that the E-M1 seems to sell way better than the A7-A7r cameras according to Amazon mirrorless ranking (Click here). Well for once Amazon was apparently telling us the truth!

Today Bloomberg reports that” Olympus forecast a return to profit for its camera unit next fiscal year as sales of mirrorless models increase.“. Olympus CEO confirmed that camera sales will rise up to 1 million units til April (with 5% market share). And this means that after many years Olympus will make the first profit in the camera business!

Olympus CEO also said that the sales increase happens thanks to their high end mirrorless cameras. And it’s an easy guess that he meant the E-M5 and E-M1 cameras :)

Reminder: Gariz realized their sexy half leather cases for the new Olympus E-M1 You can have it on eBay in [shoplink 43405 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] or [shoplink 43406 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink].

a little bit of everything…

Olympus PT-EP11 Underwater Housing For the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Camera – First Look and Details from Backscatter on Vimeo.

GX7 with primes test (DxOmark).
E-M1 is camera of the year at Imaging Resource.
12-40mm lens test at Optyczne.pl
First Impression reviews on-line for the 12~40/2.8 PRO lens and the 75/1.8 Prime lens at Furnfeather.net.
Sports Photography with the Olympus E-M1 and 75mm Prime (TheDigitalStory).
First two parts of a multi-part comparison between the Fuji X-E1 & OM-D E-M1 (Link to part one and part two)
FF resolution vs micro-43 resolution (Camerastuffreview)

Henrik:There’s currently not many hands on tests available on the new 12-32mm Pancake lens available, so maybe the readers are interested in an overview and some Twig Pixel Peeping, how this lens compares to others in the Panasonic line up. And there’s a quiz, too … check from a crop if you’re a lens master and you can identify which lens was used :-) :
http://www.mopswerk.de/panasonic-lumix-g-12-32mm-quick-check-and-comparison/

Ulysses:I’m actually not writing about a rumor, but to report on a user experience I read about his Olympus E-M1 and brand new 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens. Apparently it was in a camera bag but got knocked onto a carpeted floor. Although not a long drop, the lens broke. On examination, he was surprised to find the screws that hold the mounting plate into the lens are inserted into plastic threads, making this seem like a weak point for the lens.
Now, perhaps other pro lenses from Canon or Nikon are constructed the same way. Right now, many people in that thread are understandably angry with Olympus.
As a pro photographer, I know from experience that even pro lenses for full-frame cameras can take an unfortunate bounce and shatter irreparably even when you might not expect. That could be the case with this poor guy. Or the lens may have already had some defect. Maybe not enough facts are known. And no one truly knows about the design quality of the lens other than Olympus.
What I was wondering from you: Do you (or anyone you know) have any insight as to the construction of the 12-40 lens? Is that rear mount actually held together by plastic? And would this make the lens less durable than might be hoped for?
And furthermore, does this call into question the construction of other lenses like the upcoming 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens?
You can read the thread and see photos of his unfortunate lens here:
http://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=56256

Obj:There’s a nice Panasonic/Kathmandu promotion running in New Zealand. Depending on the price of the camera, you get up to NZD 150 (EUR 90, USD 124) as a voucher for Kathmandu (well known NZ outdoor shops). The promotion includes the GM1! Here’s a link to the promotion: http://www.panasonic.co.nz/promotions/kathmandu-bonus-voucher-with-lumix-purchase/


A 43rumors friend created a new APP that some of you coul find to be very useful: iOS App texBlend and it’s is available in the App Store (Click here). More info about it at Outbackphoto (Click here).

E-M1 more popular than Sony’s A7-A7r series (Amazon ranking).

Size comparison image via Camerasize.

I know we have to take the Amazon mirrorless ranking (Click here) results with a grain of salt. That said I noticed something I didnt’ expect. The Olympus E-M1 has never been surpassed by the so praised Sony A7-A7r cameras. The E-M1 constantly ranks above them even now that the A7r is in Stock for the first time.

Olympus has done it right with the E-M1. Hope they can repeat the success with the new OMD camera that is going to be announced soon!

 

New SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 announced.

SLR Magic officially released their next new MFT lens. It’s the 17mm T/1.6:

PRESS RELEASE

NEW: The SLR Magic 17mm T1.6
SLR Magic expands its micro four thirds lineup with new wide angle lens
Hong Kong, China (December 13, 2013) – SLR Magic expands the micro four thirds lens lineup with the new SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 wide angle lens. With this latest addition, the portfolio of lenses for the micro four thirds system is now comprised of seven focal lengths.
The field of view of this new lens corresponds to a 34mm lens in 35mm format and this fast wide angle of view opens up many new creative composition opportunities, particularly in the fields of interior, architectural and landscape cinematography and photography. Additionally, a fast max aperture of T1.6 makes the SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 ideal for available-light photography.
We place our highest priority in the development on our lenses to fulfill the demands of professional cinematographers and photographers. The design and build of the SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 is solid and reliable.
The SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 will be available from authorized SLR Magic dealers starting end of December 2013.

Technical Data
SLR Magic HyperPrime 17mm T1.6
Lens Type: Fast wide-angle lens
Compatible Cameras:All micro four thirds mount cameras
Optical Design: 12 elements in 10 groups
Distance Settings: Distance range: 0.17m to ∞, combined scale meter/feet
Aperture: Manually controlled diaphragm, 10 aperture blades , Lowest value 16
Bayonet: micro four thirds
Filter Mount: Internal thread for 52mm filter; filter mount does not rotate.
Surface Finish: Black anodized
Length to bayonet mount: approx. 78.65mm (approx. 3.10in)
Largest diameter: approx. 56.3mm (approx. 2.21in)
Weight: approx. 340g (approx. 12oz)

Andrew Chan
Product Manager

——

Current SLRmagic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR magic Cine 12mm T/1.6 Lens at Adorama (Click here).
SLR Magic 25mm T0.95 at Adorama (Click here).
Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Noktor SLRmagic 50mm on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] SLR Magic Pin Hole Lens at Adorama (Click here)..

Need more speed? Ibelux 40mm f/0.85 finally released! Priced at $2,080!

The last year unveiled Ibelux 40mm f/0.85 lens has been finally officially released! It comes in MFT mount and is prices at $2,080! They claim it’s the world fastest lens althaugh there are some weird faster lenses liek the [shoplink 43373 ebay]Leica Leitz 65mm f/0.75 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

The Ibelux will sell from February and to learn more about it just read the full press text found via MirrorlessRumors:

Read more

Adobes new Camera RAW and Lightroom 5.3 with E-M1 and GM1 support.

Adobe released the new Camera Raw 8.3 and Lightroom 5.3 for Windows (Click here to download)Mac (Click here to download). It adds RAW support for the new E-m1, Stylus 1 and GM1. And it also adds Camera Matching color profiles (Natural, Muted, Portrait, Vivid) for the following Olympus cameras:

  • Olympus E-5
  • Olympus E-M1
  • Olympus E-M5
  • Olympus E-P1
  • Olympus E-P2
  • Olympus E-P3
  • Olympus E-P5
  • Olympus E-PL1
  • Olympus E-PL1s
  • Olympus E-PL2
  • Olympus E-PL3
  • Olympus E-PL5
  • Olympus E-PL6
  • Olympus E-PM1
  • Olympus E-PM2
  • Olympus STYLUS 1
  • Olympus XZ-1
  • Olympus XZ-2
  • Olympus XZ-10

Finally!