Olympus Japan announced that the new 75mm f/1.8 lens will start worldwide shipment on Julty 6th. Meantime Robin Wong announced that he will soon publish his lens review. Robin posted an image of what looks like a Black 75mm lens version but he said it’s a normal silver one and the black color is just an effect of some post processing. Click on the shop name to check the Olympus 75mm page and price: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan and on [shoplink 31284 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

For EU readers:
Meantime my European colleagues may like to know that four new Nokton 17.5mm are back in Stock for1139 Euro at [shoplink 31890 ebay]La Petite Boutique on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And plenty of cheap refurbished E-PL1 cameras are now sold by [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket (Click here)[/shoplink].

What you see here on top is the new E-M5 nauticam housing and I posted the full rpess release on the bottom of this post. This is great news but I wanted you guys to see this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/songmatin/7429298362/. It’s an E-M5 connected with an iPhone with what looks like an APP created to control the E-M5. UPDATE: This is fake! Anyway, great to see what a buzz such a fake image can create. Hope Oly takes notice of it!
Click the links to open the full press release:

For weeks now I am solving a series of minor issues on 43rumors and Mirrorlessrumors. I disabled the member messaging and member registration. The main reason is that I want to do a full checkup and upgrade that solves any spam or loading issue. If all works fine in two weeks 43rumors will load faster and be more spam-proof. Yesterday the website was offline for a coupel of hours. The main problem was MirrorlessRumors that had a broken comment system (now fixed).

Thanks for the patience! And now let’s go one with a real FT5 rumors…coming soon ;)

A great image of the E-M5 with Panasonic 12-35mm X lens compared with the Canon 5DmarkIII and Tamron 24-70mm. (via DSLRmagazine).

Olympus will allow the publishing of 75mm f/1.8 reviews and image samples from next Monday only. That’s why we didn’t see any full review until now (although Cyberphoto Sweden posted some images anyway).
Meantime the Panasonic 12-35mm lens is in Stock for the first time via Hong Kong reseller at Amazon US (Click here).

UPDATE: One silver E-M5 body is in Stock at Amazon right now (Click here).

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Panasonic 12-35mm X lens preorders at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Fotohanskeuzekamp, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Olympus 75mm preorder and price check at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.

[shoplink 25320 ebay][/shoplink] Image on top: The [shoplink 25320 ebay]Four Thirds Olympus 12-35mm f/2.0 lens[/shoplink].

We are getting closer to the big Photokina event in September and I am sure Olympus and Panasonic will announce many new cameras and lenses. There is one big question I have for you. The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens is a great lens but I keep reading that some of you want an even faster zoom like the Four Thirds Olympus [shoplink 25320 ebay]14-35mm f/2.0 (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink]. I am sure Olympus is interested to know if you would prefer such a lens (in m43) version over the new Panasonic 12-35mm.

Let’s say Olympus would do a lens like that:
12-35mm f/2.0 (2mm wider than the Four Thirds version)
weather sealing, power zoom (not available on the Panasonic),
no Image stabilization (unlike the Panasonic that has in lens OIS)
Almost Twice as big as the Panasonic lens
Price $2300 like the current 14-35mm lens price at Amazon (Click here) and $1,000 more than the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 (at Amazon).

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Please send a honest answer! :)

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Panaosnic 12-35mm X lens preorders at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Fotohanskeuzekamp, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

I was looking on vimeo and youtube for some nice new video samples to post within my next “a little bit of everything” article. And I found this, the most boring test video (on the E-M5) ever made. I haven’t learned anything from the video and you?

EU Nokton deal:
We Europeans can’t enjoy many deals like in US but Le Petit Boutique on [shoplink 31690 ebay]eBay France (Click here)[/shoplink] is selling the Nokton 17-5mm f/0.95 with a huge 160 Euro discount…for Europeans only :)

GF5 and 14-24mm X lens reviews:
Full Panasonic GF5 review at ePhotozine: “The Panasonic Lumix GF5 is a worthwhile upgrade, resolving a number of our original complaints about the GF3, and the addition of improved effects, menus systems, and built in scene modes with guides for beginners are a useful addition for beginners. The screen looks great and the camera feels better than ever with an improved rubber grip and body styling. The GF5 is certainly an appealing camera, particularly with improved noise performance in comparison to the predecessor”
GF5 shop links at [shopcountry 30485].
Lenstip posted the full 14-42mm X lens review: “The results of our test show that, when it comes to the optics, we deal here with a typical ‘kit’ lens which doesn’t stand out against the rest of contemporary devices of this type which are added at almost no charge to the reflex and mirrorless cameras of its rivals. The quality is something that makes the Panasonic stick out, though. It is a device produced in Japan, made of solid components with a metal mount.”
Lens shop links at [shopcountry 25104].

More news
Cool Olympus advertising pictures at Behance (Click here).
E-P3 + PENTAX-110 50mm F2.8 at DC.watch.
Olympus 9-18mm firmware update (DCwatch).
New grips for the E-P3 at DC.watch.
Panasonic GF5 presentation event in Japan (DC.watch).

Something else:
Forgot to mention that you can subscribe Elena’s Greekdiaries feed by saving that link: http://www.greekdiaries.me/feed/. And she was busy with the children yesterday. She will answer your comments today ;)