[shoplink 29969 ebay][/shoplink] The E-M5 is now on [shoplink 29969 ebay]eBay Hong Kong[/shoplink].

The new Olympus E-M5 is supposed to hit the stores in Japan in three days at Amazon Japan. But the first two cameras can be already bought on [shoplink 29969 ebay]eBay Hong Kong (Click here, with international shipping)[/shoplink]. If you are not from Hong Kong please be aware that you have to pay import taxes. The Chinese website PChome (Click here for the translation) unpacked and reviewed the E-M5. As usual the google translation tool makes reading very painful but you can also look on the pictures only.

Olympus Japan announced that the new PT-EP08 underwater housing for the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] will be on sale at the end of July in Japan for ¥112,350 ($1,360). There is also a new waterproof lens port (¥38,000 or $460) and also a port adapter for Four Thirds lenses (¥17,000 or $206). The maximum depth you can reach with the housing is 45 meter (Source: Olympus Japan / Via: The Verge).

Preorders:
USA: Amazon, Adorama and B&H.
Europe: Jessops, Amazon UK and Amazon Germany.
Asia: Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Amy Davies from Techradar (Click here) had a chat with Mark Thackara (Olympus UK marketing manager). Mark said that: “Pre-orders are the highest we’ve ever had, it’s a lot higher than the [PEN] E-P1, and even the biggest pre-order level for many years, which I think shows how people are responding to the camera.”

Also my sources told me that there is a chance this will very likely become the most sold digital Olympus system camera ever. That’s not bad for a company we all thought would be close to dead three years ago only. It one more time proves that making right products can pay off. The bad news for us is that today a source told me that most of our readers will have to be patient to get their E-M5. Production is fully ongoing but cannot expect the high demand.

P.S.: Pekka Potka (Click here) posted a E-M5 stabilization and continuous auto-focusing test. Olympus Europe posted that Live Bulb Function in Action video on youtube (Click here). For US readers, here is the E-M5 free accessory deal info: http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/rebates/e-m5_accessory_mir_form.pdf.

Preorders:
USA: Amazon, Adorama and B&H.
Europe: Jessops, Amazon UK and Amazon Germany.
Asia: Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Rankings:

USA: E-M5 on position 7/8/15/18 (Click here)
UK: Silver E-M5 on position 9 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is too expensive and not on top (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 5/7/8 (Click here).

It doesn’t happen often to see such a (mostly) positive discussion about a new m43 products. We saw the nice tests from Pekka Potka, the videos from Olympus Australia, the ISO comparison with the E-P3, the RAW files from Focus Numerique, the Studio samples Dpreview (Click here) and MR Terada making a superb job answering all journalists and your questions (Thanks Mr. Terada!). While I know it’s impossible to really judge a camera until you have it in your own hands I want to ask you what you think based on all reviews and image samples you saw. What are the single aspects of the camera you like most?

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The highest ranked E-M5 in USA (Click here) is the Silver body with kit lens. In Germany (Click here) is the Black body and kit lens. And in UK (Click here) is the Silver body with kit lens.

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

Olympus Japan announced a new firmware update for the E-Pm1, E-PL2, E-PL3, E-P3 and the E-5. It adds support for the new [shoplink 29838]SDXC 48GB cards (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. It also improves the external flash functionality on the E-Pm1 and E-PL3.

One more thing. Amy from Techradar (Click here) had another small talk with Claudia Baehr, European Product Manager for Olympus. She said the mirrorless market  share in Japan now surpassed the 50% beating for the first time the DSRL camera sales. In UK mirrorless sales climbed at 30% while USA seems to be the most conservative market with mirrorless cameras having a 20% only. Claudia said: “the reaction in the States is a bit more mixed – the Americans seem to prefer bigger cameras, such as ultrazooms.”

Maybe the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] si the right camera for the US market? :)

Dear readers!

You can help Vitaly Kiselev to collect some money for an appropriate and independent NAB coverage: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2466/nab-2012.

As you may know the biggest surprise for the m43 system could be the new Super 35mm Micro Four Thirds camcorder. It may will anticipate some of the new video features of the GH3 too!

Over one year ago we conducted a POLL to see what kind of lens would be needed for the new Micro Four Thirds system (Click here to see the results from the December 2010 poll). During that time (December 2010 until today) Panasonic and Olympus announced many new lenses:
The [shoplink 23110]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] The [shoplink 25104]Panasonic 14-42mm X lens[/shoplink] The [shoplink 25103]Panasonic 45-175mm X lens[/shoplink] The upcoming new Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 X lens
The upcoming new Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 X lens
The [shoplink 23576]Olympus 12mm f/2.0[/shoplink] The [shoplink 23577]Olympus 45mm f/1.8[/shoplink] The upcoming new Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens
The upcoming new Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Time has come to prepare a new poll. Please comment this post with your Micro Four Thirds lens suggestions! To facilitate my job I kindly ask you to use a uniformed format that will allow me to easily copy and paste your lens description:

XXmm f/X.X -> price info (can be “low price”or don’t write anything if it doesn’t matter for you), size info (can be “pancake”, “collapsible”, “compact” or don’t write anything if it doesn’t matter for you), features (“high optical quality, “power zoom”, “smooth aperture ring”, “weather sealed”, “macro”, “manual focusing” or anything else you want to write.).  I make you an example by writing my own wish-list:

10.5mm f/3.5 -> low priced,pancake.
12mm f/1.2 -> high optical quality, weather sealed.
12-50mm f/2.0 -> powerzoom, smooth aperture ring.
17mm f/1.4 -> pancake, high optical quality.
25mm f/3.5 -> low priced,pancake, macro
42mm f/1.4 -> high optical quality.

You got it? Than start with your list!!!