Preorders:
Black lens at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Silver lens at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here).

In short:
The new 20mm II version has a new metal finish replaces the original 20mm lenses resin body, and combines with a durable metal mount for a sophisticated premium feel.
Optically the new The LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 II lens offers the same great performance as the previous model with two aspherical lenses and a multi-coated lens surface for reduced ghosts and flaring

Press text:
Panasonic is pleased to announce the addition of a new single focal length lens, the LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 II ASPH (H-H020A) featuring a new metallic profile in the Micro Four Thirds standard. It boasts dramatic compactness and light weight despite its F1.7 aperture that enables beautiful soft focus in the background, allowing the subject to stand out impressively.
Comprised of seven lenses in five groups, the new system uses two aspherical lenses to minimize both distortion and chromatic aberration, achieving incredibly high resolution corner to corner. The versatile 20mm focal distance (equivalent to 40mm on a 35 mm film camera) is suitable for wide variety of photography including scenery such as sunsets and dimly lit indoor shots taking advantage of its beautiful soft focus. It supports the Contrast AF system for high precision auto focusing.
Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in unsharp areas when shooting at large aperture settings. The new LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 II ASPH. lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens element.

Images (Click on it to see a large size version):

Press Text:
Dpreview, ThePhoBlographer, Panasonic Japan, Photoscala,

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I was checking around to see if there was some kind of price drop on the current 20mm pancake lens. No way guys, the price actually went up to $399 at Amazon and BHphoto. And according to the Amazon Ranking the lens still sells well even at that higher price tag. It’s good news that Panasonic did sit down on the success and worked on a new version!

More sources came back to me to tell me the lens will be announced tonight (in USA) or 4-5am London time. So stay tuned on 43rumors to follow live the announcement!

US deals roundup:
Panasonic GF3 with 14-42mm lens (Brown) for $279 at Panasonic store (Click here). Use Coupon Code: “SECRETGF3”.
Black GX1 for $199 at Adorama (Click here). Silver GX1 for $199 at Adorama (Click here).
Adorama also sells the E-P3 with lens and free bag for $349 in Black (Click here) and Silver (Click here).

First we had the Speed Booster (first Leica R to MFT adapter is shipping)  then we had the [shoplink 38940 ebay]Lens Turbo[/shoplink] (coming soon) and now we have a third new adapter offering a 0,72x focal length conversion and 1 stop increase: It’s the Vizelex Light Cannon from Fotodiox Pro (available here at Fotodiox). What I am not sure about is if actually that Vizelex is based on (or has the same) Lens Turbo design or if it’s a completely new lens. These are the full details and the focal length multiplier is the same from the Lens Turbo:

The adapter is priced at $159.95.

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P.S.: The Leica R to MFT adapter is finally in Stock at Metabones (Click here). You can use some great Leica lenses with it:

• [shoplink 38869 ebay]28mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38870 ebay]35mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38871 ebay]50mm F2.0 Summicron-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/1.4 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38872 ebay]90mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38873 ebay]28-70mm F3.5-F4.5 Vario-Elmar-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.5-3.5 on the Speed Booster

We got some news from the competition. The Fuji X-M1 has been announced (price and specs at Amazon & full news and review report at MirrorlessRumors). It’s the first time Fuji will play a role in the advanced entry level segment. The camera is made to compete in the same segment as the [shoplink 33622]Olympus E-Pl5[/shoplink] and  ($599) and the [shoplink 37832]Panasonic GF6[/shoplink] ($599). The X-M1 is a little bit pricier ($699 body and $799 for the kit).

Question for you now is:

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Panasonic just announced a new firmware for the GH3 (Click here to visit the page). it will be released in July. These are the firmware fixes:

– “Low Light AF” is added that makes it possible to set focus on the subject in low-lit situations (-3EV). This function is popular in GF6/G6.
– “Silent Mode” is added which suppresses electronic shutter, shutter sound, operation sound and flash emission with a single setting.
– “Exposure Comp. Reset” is added which resets the setting of exposure compensation to ±0 whenever the camera is turned off or the shooting mode is changed.
– Connection problem with Apple Mac computers via Wi-Fi is fixed.

I really like that new “silent mode”. Great firmware update!

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For a short time Robin Wong (Click here) scared us a bit with that sentence in his first part of the ongoing E-P5 review:

“Unfortunately, I have to drop a bomb this early: the focus peaking did NOT work with the CCTV lens. When using a manual lens with no electronic contacts, I find NO way to activate the focus peaking! Believe me I have tried digging all the menu system and press all buttons, and if I am wrong in this I would GLADLY be corrected (this is the one time that I wish I am wrong, believe me). Focus Peaking on the E-P5 does not work with manual lenses. I could not use the CCTV lens to test the focus peaking, hence I chucked the idea of using the CCTV lens altogether. So much for an interesting, unconventional plan to do a review differently this time!“

UPDATE: But the good news is that Pekka Potka gave us an answer about Robin’s issue:

“Robin is simply wrong here. Focus peaking works perfectly well with all manual lenses. Electric contacts are not needed, but of course FP can not be actuated then by turning focusing ring. It can be assigned to at least three different buttons, just pick your choice. Another matter is if a lens too soft to be able to give any sharp details at all…”

UPDATE_2: Robin Wong officially apologized. Editor’s note: Don’t worry Robin, nobody is perfect and we still like you a lot :)

Damn, got a shock for a while :)

Links to all newly announced Olympus stuff:
E-P5 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 White at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Silver at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Black with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 White with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Black with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and Wex UK.
E-P5 White with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
17mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
45mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany.
75mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
VF-4 viewfinder at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.

Photoscala.de (google translation here) analyzed the latest Schneider financial report. Like so many other companies also Schneider announced that they will step out from the compact camera (fixed) lens business. And they confirmed that they want to focus on producing high quality lenses for Full Frame and for Mirrorless system cameras. As we reported before here on 43rumors their three MFT lenses will hit the market with at least a six month delay because of production problems. I think they should skip the 60mm f/2.4 macro release. We already have a good Olympus 60mm macro lens. It would be much better they do a MFT version of one of their great existing primes:

My favorite would be the 16mm f/1.2 Xenon! Great for street photography!