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.

UPDATE_2: The X100 is in Stock at Digitalrev (Click here).
UPDATE_1: BHphoto now takes X100 preorders (Click here). They will ship it soon (so they told us).

Right now you can find one single [shoplink 20939 ebay]Fuji X100 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. It’s a unique chance (and I bet it will expensive also) to get the camera also because Fuji officially announced that they had to stop the X100 production! The factory that currently produces the X100 is in Taiwa-Cho (Miyagi) which is 30 km from Sendai. Good to hear that there were no injured people!

Other (Micro-) Four Thirds member like Sigma and Cosina/Voigtländer had no or very little damages in their factories that will not affect their current production. Reminder: Cosina makes the [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 for Micro Four Thirds[/shoplink].

On picture: Olympus facility in Japan

I just got good news from Japan. All Olympus employees are safe, nobody was injured and all facilities are secure. There will be of course some problems with the current activities and production but that’s just a temporary and not so important issue in those days.
Meanwhile Panasonic made a 300 million yen monetary contribution and in-kind donations of 10,000 units each of radios and flashlights and 500,000 dry batteries to aid victims and support the recovery of areas affected by the strong earthquake that struck Tohoku area on March 11.
P.S.: Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Image on top: The Panasonic Fukushima plant

In an official press release Panasonic announced that Fukushima factory activity have been stopped. There is a lack of electricity, gas and water that forces them to shut down the production (Source: DC-watch).
Panasonic said that: “A few employees working at the Fukushima factory, the Sendai factory of AVC Networks Company and at the Koriyama factory of Panasonic Electronic Works received minor injury. Some part of the ceiling and wall were damaged, but there has been no fire or collapse. As regards the impact on our business operations we are in the process of investigation.” (Source: AP).

I guess this will cause supply problems with current cameras (they are made in Fukushima). Also the future new product release could suffer from some changes and delays. Reminder: The Panasonic G3 should have been announced between late March and late April.

P.S.: I didn’t hear anything about Olympus (don’t recall them to have their factories in the affected regions).

Sun Flares taken with the GH2 and [shoplink 20857 ebay]C-mount Canon 35mm 1:1.2 (Click here to see that lens on eBay)[/shoplink].

E-PL2

Olympus E-PL1 design patent (Freepatentsonline).
The Complete Olympus EPL-2 Review (ThePhoBlographer).
Test Olympus E-LP2 : colorimétrie et précision (Focus Numerique).
E-PL2 at [shopcountry 18844].

GH2

Panasonic GH2 Review (Seriouscompacts)
GH2 studio samples, a closer look (DPreview forum).
GH2 + wide C-mount Cosmicar 12.5mm 1:1.4 (Vimeo).
GH2 at [shopcountry 16254].

Other news

Olympus VG-130 Review (Photographyblog)
Panasonic introduce new SDHC UHS-I memory cards (ePhotozine)
Photos from the panasonic stand at Focus On Imaging 2011 (lumixg2photographer).
Panasonic launch the ‘A City Exposed’ campaign (ePhotozine).
Panasonic Announces Pricing For Its 2011 Premium Lineup Of Lumix Digital Camera Models (Imaging resource)
Fuji FinePix X100 Review: First Impressions (Photoradar).
Self-tutorial 01: Photographing interiors (Jjsemplephotography).

Videos you sent me

Solar Powered – Keep your camera charged (Vimeo)
Macklemore – The Making of Wings 01 (Youtube)

Right now you can get the Panasonic GH1 body only for $399 at Amazon (Click here).

Adobes new Camera RAW 6.4 and Lightroom 3.4 release candidates bring support for the newest Olympus’s XZ-1 and E-PL2 cameras:
Click here to download Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v3.4 release candidate
Click here to download Adobe Camera Raw v6.4 release candidate
You can order the XZ-1 at [shopcountry 19904].
and the E-PL2 at [shopcountry 18844].

And Olympus Japan just announced that worldwide shipment of the new Olympus lens converters will start on March 18. The Fisheye, wide and macro converter do work on the new 14-42mm II lens, and on the 14-150mm and 40-150mm lenses. P.S:: The Japanese website DC.watch.impress (Click here) tested the three new E-PL2 converters a few days ago.

The Chinese company “Ownuser” made a battery grip for all Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras except the GF1/GF2. Sadly the only info we got has been posted as an image with Chinese text so I cannot translate it with the help of the google translation tool. Some Chinese 43rumors readers can send us a summary of all the key features of the battery grip? What I can understand from the images is that they have three different grips and that there is also some kind of IR transmitter. The person that send me that news told me that they have made 1.500 of those items.

This is the website of the company with the battery grip page: http://www.ownuser.com.tw/mig_pg2.html
This are the Ownuser products on [shoplink 20831 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] (didn’t find the battery grip…or is it there somewhere? I found the battery grip for Olympus cameras instead)

UPDATE: 43rumors reader “Kolen” translated the chinese text (Hurray for Kolen!)

“The first battery grip from Ownuser:

For Panasonic G2/G1/GH1/G10
MIG-PG2 with camera as shown:

Model description:
MIG-PG2B
MIG-PG2AB
MIG-PG2RAB

MIG-PG2 overview:
1) tripod 1/4 20 screw thread
2) External Shutter release input
3) External AC power input
4) Camera shutter release output
5) screw of the tripod thread
6) hand grip
7) tripod mount
8 ) Left battery cover
9) Right battery cover
10) battery to camera
11) battery contact
12) cable
13) shutter
14) on/off button
volume: about 12.6cmX6.2cmX3.9cm
weight: 110g

Compact, convenient, good build, comfortable for portrait

3 type of battery input for convenience:
1) two Lithium batteries
2) AA Battery (6A/8A)
3) External AC power input

1500 units produced globally, unique for personal style

MINI-IR 2B overview
1) IR output
2) focus
3) shot
4) Bulb
5) clear
6) 10s self portrait
7) battery

The camera with Mini-RHS 2
1) volume is smaller than the DX-RHS2 by 70%. Lighter and more convenient.
2) channel lock to protect interference from other sources
3) timer alarm for accurate dusk/twilight photography
4) Can used together with DX-51R 2 & Mini IR 2
5) Attached to the hot shoe on the camera, e.g. Minolta, Sony Alpha 100.
6) 360 degree rotation ability: can be used together with on camera flash
7) 2XAAA battery

Mini IR 2B
for amateur, indoor photography
channel can be locked to prevent interference
1) 5 key control, simple and clear, perfect fit
2) Focus and shot seperately
3) Bulb / 10s self portrait

Mini-IR 2B basic function
A. Channel lock (must choose the channel first, then lock the channel to prevent interference) (After the first settings, it is automatically saved for future use)
1) press for 5 seconds, red/green light lights alternatively and a beep three times.
2) press the shot button on MINI IR2B, it is finished after the beep
3) press the channel lock once again to complete

B. 4 main functions (IR function will consume battery life. Please shut down when it is not in use)
Focus is separate from shutter to prevent delay. Focus can be set as AE-L or AF-L.
Tele/macro photography
self portrait
LIVE VIEW shot

Single button control without menu
typical camera need to go into the menu for self-portrait, not so convenient
a physical 10s self portrait button is more convenient
in operation, autofocus green light will lights up first. red light flash once per second, continuous red light in last three seconds
(in the figure: autofocus indicator (green), and red light)
Bulb shutter can be used
bulb shutter has a function to prevent false alarm. only after focus, bulb shutter can be activated. Only can be used to end the bulb.
support longest bulb for 10 hours
dusk/twilight night astro

Rhythmic speaker supporting bulb
bulb has a function of beep per second. After activated bulb, use the control button to set speaker.
(In the figures:) control method: On-> OFF -> ON
press setting button once > ON
twice > OFF
again > ON
You can use one hand to control the remote and another hand to cover the camera at the right time.”

This is the website of the company with the battery grip page: http://www.ownuser.com.tw/mig_pg2.html
This are the Ownuser products on [shoplink 20831 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] (didn’t find the battery grip…or is it there somewhere?)