Titanium E-M5II:
I was no big fan (to put it nicely) of the Olympus lens limited edition. But the new E-M5II titanium makes a lot more sense. It’s a real(!) 7,000 pieces limited edition. It comes with some nice things (card-bag, member card and cool strap) and it looks really good. Today it’s also available for preorder at Amazon US (Click here). It will ship from August 1.

New PRO lenses:
ThePhoBlographer posted some new image samples taken with both the new 7-14mm and 8mm PRO lenses.

Both lenses feel exceptional in terms of ruggedness, though in the hand I’m a much bigger fan ot the 7-14mm f2.8. It just felt nicer and is actually smaller than the f1.8 fisheye lens. Considering that these are prototype lenses that we tested, we can’t comment yet on final image quality. But as far as what we see so far, we’re quite impressed.

Steves Digicams tested the 8mm fisheye:

This is 100% not the reason to drop a grand on a PRO series lens for your OM-D… But the 8mm Fisheye is, particularly when coupled with a vari-angle touchscreen display, perfect for taking large group selfies. Not only can you fit in everybody at once, but you can also see the world around you.

New Olympus stuff preorder links:
7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK.
8mm f/1.8 PRO lens: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK.
Titanium E-M5II: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK.
Accessories:
7-14mm Olympus LC-79 Lens Cap at BHphoto.
Olympus PPO-EP02 Dome Port for 8mm at BHphoto.
Olympus PPZR-EP05 Focus Gear for 8mm at BHphoto.
Olympus POSR-EP10 UW Anti-Reflecting Ring for 8mm at BHphoto.

Usually third-party electronic adapters offering autofocusing are a pain in the … when it comes to get a really fast AF performance. But Kipon managed to make it really work super fast! Just watch those cool three official Kipon test videos:
KIPON EOS/EF Lens to Micro 4/3 Adapter AF Speed Test (Part1 on Youtube). Tested with the [shoplink 53353 ebay]Canon 24-105 STM (Click here)[/shoplink].
KIPON EOS/EF Lens to Micro 4/3 Adapter AF Speed Test (Part2 on Youtube). Tested with the [shoplink 53354 ebay]Canon 40mm STM (Click here)[/shoplink].
KIPON EOS/EF Lens to Micro 4/3 Adapter AF Speed Test (Part3 on Youtube). Tested with the [shoplink 53355 ebay]Canon 70-200 f4 IS USM (Click here)[/shoplink].

All their adapter usually sell via multiple [shoplink 52819 ebay]eBay sellers (current MFT adapter list here)[/shoplink]. The new adapter will be listed there soon!

Olympus E-M5 MK II Tips and Tricks Review.
Guest post by Travis

This video will attempt to show you how to get the most out of the new Olympus E-M5 MK II. It will show you how to setup the camera for photos and videos. This video assumes that you have already made up your mind to buy the E-M5 MK II and you just want to know how to navigate through all of the menus and settings.
The best way to use this video is to follow along with your camera in hand and use the youtube pause and rewind buttons if you need to go back and review what I said. If you want to see more videos like this please remember to subscribe to my channel and rate the video. If you have any questions then post them in the comments and I will try to answer them.

The Olympus AIR Micro Four Thirds “lens-camera” is now shipping in Japan. DC.watch tested it with many third party lenses like the summicron 50mm (image on top). And here are some of the strange combos posted by DC.watch:

The E-PL7 tested by CameraLabs

CameraLabs (Click here) posted the full Olympus E-PL7 review:

I liked the PEN E-PL7, it’s a great development of the PEN line and a capable, classy model. It scores over other models with its classic good looks and solid construction, physical controls, built-in stabilisation and the ability to plug in accessories like a viewfinder or external flash. Given that Olympus is looking for a way to differentiate the PEN line from its more advanced OMD models I’d have thought redesigning the touch-screen to offer better and simpler control options, particularly for self-shooting, would have been an obvious move. That, and the quality of the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 EZ powered kit zoom are the disappointments here. Of course you can always fit a different lens and not everyone’s a selfie fanatic so neither is a critical failing, but they do prevent the E-PL7 from scoring our top award.

You get the E-PL7 at Robertscamera for [shoplink 52354 ebay]$449 (body only)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 52353 ebay]$549 (with kit lens)[/shoplink].

[shoplink 52804 ebay][/shoplink]

The two new Panasonic lenses will ship from April 23 according to [shoplink 52804 ebay]multiple Japanese ebay sellers (Click here)[/shoplink]. The lenses now got reviewed by Photographyblog:

About the 42,5mm f/1.7 lens they write:

Optically the Panasonic LUMIX G 42.5mm f/1.7 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. is a good performer. You can safely use it from f/4 onwards for optimum results, but there’s a lack of sharpness at f/1.7 both in the center and at the edges of the frame. Chromatic aberrations are almost completely absent, while distortions are automatically corrected on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies, and vignetting is only really an issue at f/1.7. The inclusion of built-in image stabilisation is the icing on the cake, though it’s a shame that there’s no dedicated switch to turn it on and off.

About the 60mm macro they write:

Optically the Panasonic LUMIX G MACRO 30mm f/2.8 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. is an outstanding performer. You can safely use it wide open at f/2.8 for optimum results, with even the edges of the frame looking sharp. Chromatic aberrations are almost completely absent, while distortions are automatically corrected on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies, and vignetting is only really an issue at f/2.8. The inclusion of built-in image stabilisation is the icing on the cake, though it’s a shame that there’s no dedicated switch to turn it on and off.

UPDATE: a “Hungarian” review of the 30mm macro can be read at Mlzphoto (google translation here).

New Panasonic lens preorders:
Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 POWER O.I.S. Lens at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
Panasonic MACRO 30mm f/2.8 MEGA O.I.S. Lens at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.

A couple of weeks ago Samyang launched the new 100mm macro lens in two versions. You can read all about them here:
100mm f/2.8 macro at Syopt.com. Preorder now at Amazon (Click here) and at BHphoto (Click here).
100mm T/3.1 macro Cine version at Syopt.com. Preorder now at Amazon (Click here) and at BHphoto (Click here).

And here you have now the very first image samples taken with the E-M1:
http://lenswork.tistory.com/entry/Samyang-100mm-f28-MacroSample-Images3
http://lenswork.tistory.com/entry/Samyang-100mm-f28-MacroSample-Images4