We have two new reviews of the latest new MFT lens:

Gordon Laing from CameraLabs writes:

 In my tests against the Olympus 17mm f1.8, the Summilux 15mm f1.7 delivered higher contrast images that were sharper in the corners at wide apertures, along with better-looking bokeh.

Tyson Robichaud writes:

I see this lens as a story telling lens.  The type of lens that will work for a day to day, documentary lens.  It’s wide enough to allow for quite a bit of your scene making for a good environmental portrait lens, and allows you to focus very closely to allow for a shallow depth of field if wanted.  The relatively fast maximum aperture, combined with this wide angle of view will do me very well as a handheld, low light lens for times out and about in the darker hours.

Jurek: “Had the Panasonic LUMIX Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 for a few days. What a lovely little lens. Great color, sharp with a first class build. https://vimeo.com/99892074.”

15mm Lens store links:
Black lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Wex UK (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).
Silver lens at Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).

Video review of the Panasonic GH4 from Philip Bloom Reviews & Tutorials on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom posted his GH4 review (video is on top) and writes:

I am excited by this camera. It’s small, is packed with astonishing features, gives me a terrific image, and is bloody cheap. I need to do a lot more testing before giving my “Should I buy it” sort of opinion, not that I am ever black and white like that, but so far the biggest issues are the low light performance and the usual rolling shutter issues. Those issues aside, from my experience with it the past 5 days, I can see this camera potentially becoming THE next big thing for low budget filmmakers…maybe! It is also truly 4K for the masses, as the file sizes are not monstrous and can be edited a lot easier than any other 4K I have used. The HD is good, it just looks kinda average when compared next to the 4K of the camera. It’s not surprising, as once you shoot 4K everything else looks not as good!

GH4 North American store links:
GH4 camera at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Ritz Camera and Panasonic. Price: $1,698. In Canada at Vistek.
GH4 camera with interface unit at Adorama and BHphoto. Price: $3,298
Interface unit only at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic. Price: $1,998

GH4 Europen store links:
Germany: Wexcameras, Marcotec-shop.de.
UK at Wexphotographic, CameraWorld, UKdigital, CVP, TipTop.
Holland at Fotohanskeuzekamp.
Belgium at Fotokonijnenberg.
Norway at Fotovideo.
Sweden at Cyberphoto, Skandinavianphoto.
Finland at Telefoto, Topshot, Verkkoauppa.
France at Photocineshop.
Spain: Fotoboom.

Asian store links:
Digitalrev and Digidirect Australia.

4K cards
Kingston 16-32-64 GB SDHC UHS-I Speed Class 3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sandisk 16-32-64 GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Transcend 64-128 GB High Speed 10 UHS-3 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Panasonic 16-32-64 GB SDHC-UHS-I U3 Card (90MB/s) at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

One camera to rule them all. That’s the purpose of the new FZ1000. With a massive 25-400mm lens, 4K recording and a 1 inch sensor the FZ could become a quite popular camera!

ePhotozine reviewed the new FZ and writes:

The Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 is one of the cheapest 4K video recording devices available, and offers an array of impressive video features. However, if you don’t want to record 4K video, and just want a camera capable of taking excellent photos, with a good zoom lens, then the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 certainly delivers here as well. With a relatively large 1inch 20 megapixel sensor, a bright Leica 16x optical zoom lens with f/2.8-4.0 aperture, and full manual controls, the camera is capable of producing excellent image quality. Panasonic has clearly worked hard on developing an excellent performing lens, and the results can be seen in the photos, particularly in regards to pleasing out of focus backgrounds (bokeh). The camera has a great 3inch tilting screen, as well as a large, bright, high resolution electronic viewfinder, with a comfortable rubber surround. Build quality is very good and the camera has a lot in common with the Panasonic Lumix GH4, the top of the range Micro Four Thirds camera from Panasonic. There are numerous external controls and buttons, as well as full manual controls, but you can also use the camera in auto mode, or one of the scene modes and still get great shots, as well as high quality video.

Photographyblog says:

The fact that it does do almost anything you ask of it however meant that the FZ1000 was the camera we most found ourselves reaching for during the two week test period we had it, which speaks for itself. Capable of shooting everything from a child’s piano recital when you’re stuck at the back of the hall, to sunbathers on the riverbank as you’re cruising past on a ferry, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 only feels limited by your own imagination.

Techradar writes:

Panasonic is clearly pitching the FZ1000 against the Sony RX10 and it certainly gives it a good run for its money. It may be a little larger and not have quite such a high-quality feel, but the lens is a 25-400mm equivalent rather than a 24-200mm optic, albeit with an f/2.8-4.0 maximum aperture rather than a fixed f/2.8. Our lab results also indicate that the Panasonic camera outperforms the Sony model, but there’s not a huge amount in it and both models produce high quality images in the real world.

The FZ1000 brochure can be downloaded here: WeTransfer.com.
And Dpreview compared the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 vs Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10

Panasonic FZ-1000 preorders at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). In Europe at WexUK (Click here).

Richard Payne posted a full GH4 review at Redsharknews and writes:

As I work for Holdan (a UK, Ireland and European Distributor) I see a LOT of professional camcorders and large sensor systems. In my 30 year’s experience of working with video cameras, I can say with hand on heart that the GH4 is the first camera I would trust for both stills and video.

Also Caleb Pike from Dslrvideoshooter reviewed the camera:

The Panasonic GH4 is an amazing camera. I haven’t been this excited about shooting since I bought my 7D. Not because its a nice toy, but because I can spend more time and energy on my projects, talent and cinematography and stop dealing with silly DSLR issues. Watch my review for the full lowdown. (Editor’s note: Video is embedded on top of this post).

GH4 North American store links:
GH4 camera at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Ritz Camera and Panasonic. Price: $1,698. In Canada at Vistek.
GH4 camera with interface unit at Adorama and BHphoto. Price: $3,298
Interface unit only at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic. Price: $1,998

GH4 Europen store links:
Germany: Wexcameras, Marcotec-shop.de.
UK at Wexphotographic, CameraWorld, UKdigital, CVP, TipTop.
Holland at Fotohanskeuzekamp.
Belgium at Fotokonijnenberg.
Norway at Fotovideo.
Sweden at Cyberphoto, Skandinavianphoto.
Finland at Telefoto, Topshot, Verkkoauppa.
France at Photocineshop.
Spain: Fotoboom.

Asian store links:
Digitalrev and Digidirect Australia.

4K cards
Kingston 16-32-64 GB SDHC UHS-I Speed Class 3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sandisk 16-32-64 GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Transcend 64-128 GB High Speed 10 UHS-3 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Panasonic 16-32-64 GB SDHC-UHS-I U3 Card (90MB/s) at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

The Kodak S-1 (Image courtesy: ePhotozine).

Dpreview (Click here) posted the Kodak S-1 MFT camera first impression review. This is probably the strangest MFT camera to date. The camera has been made by JK Imaging Ltd (they just licensed the Kodak name). Dpreview doens’t say a lot about the camera (a part of the specs we already mentioned here months ago):

JK Imaging tells us that the Pixpro S-1 will be available in white or black, either body-only or in a twin-lens kit. Pricing is still to be confirmed, but should be very competitive with similarly-specified entry-level mirrorless cameras.

The interesting part is their hands-on with the three new MFT lenses from JK Imaging:

– The 12-45mm gives a 24-90mm equivalent angle of view. Despite having a retracting design, it’s about 63mm / 2.5″ long when packed.
– The telezoom offers an 85-320mm equivalent range, uses a near-silent internal focus mechanism. Extensive use of plastics in their construction, including the mounts. This does mean that the camera and twin-lens kit is easy to carry around all day without stressing your shoulder.
– The 400mm F6.7 is something of an oddity. It’s a simple fixed-aperture manual focus design, and focuses down to about 9m/ 30 ft. It has a rotating tripod collar, reflecting the fact that at 800mm equivalent, it’s not very practical to shoot hand-held

If the price is very low this camera could become interesting. Although nowadays you can get Panasonic and Olympus cameras for a very low price like:
[shoplink 46822 ebay]GF3 for $156 at 6ave (Click here)[/shoplink] [shoplink 46823 ebay]E-Pl3 for $187 at 6ave (Click here)[/shoplink]

So will the Kodak be able to beat them?

I think the new Panasonic FZ-1000 is a hell of a camera and Chris from TheCameraStoreTV does agree with me. Interestingly he doesn’t believe the 1 inch sensor is the same of the Sony RX100M3…

Panasonic FZ-1000 preorders at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). In Europe at WexUK (Click here).