Good Morning (at least here in Europe)! Let’s start the new day with a roundup of news about the recently announced Panasonic/Olympus stuff. On top you can watch a commercial uploaded by Panasonic.

Panasonic GH3:
GH3 image gallery at Popphoto.
First three hours impression by Wasabi.

Olympus E-PL5:
Ming Thein posted the first Olympus E-PL3 review: “Ultimately, success at this end of the market will depend heavily on the camera’s price point. The rich feature set and overall refinement in operation make me curious to see what will succeed the E-P3; now if only they’d make one with a built-in EVF like the NEX-6…”
An E-PL5 hands-on has been posted on DC.watch (Tranlsation here).

Olympus 60mm macro:
Quick Look at the Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro at Lensrentals. They compared it with the 45mm Panasonic macro and said that: “the resolution of the two lenses is identical.”
First impression review by Admiringlight.

One more thing: A new article about the next generation viewfinder likely going to be used by Olympus in next generation cameras at ePhotozine.

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Panasonic and Olympus Preorder Links with specs and price:
Special GH3 page at Amazon (Click here) and a full Olympus presentation page at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and in Europe at Wexphotographic UK (horrible price in UK!).
35-100mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
E-PL5 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
E-PM2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
XZ-2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
60mm macro at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
12mm Black prime lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
15mm cap-lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).

Note: There was an error in the Olympus and Panaosnic lens deal linking. Here are the correct links:
$200 price drop on the 12-35mm X lens at Amazon (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). If you recently bought that lens you can ask the $200 back from your store!
Olympus 75mm in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

Panasonic 12-35mm X:
Photographyblog (Click here) posted the first full 35-100mm X lens review: “Optically the lens is a great performer. At all focal lengths, wide open at f/2.8 the center sharpness is perfectly acceptable, but for edge sharpness it’s best to stop down by two f-stops for optimum results. Chromatic aberrations are only noticeable by their almost complete absence, while distortions are automatically corrected on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies.”
The lens earns an “Essential” Award and has as only real problem…the high price! $1399 at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).

More Lens Reviews:
Panasonic 45-150mm Lens Review at ePhotozine. Optyczne posted the Nokton 17.5mm lens test. English version of the test will be posted soon on Lenstip. Lens in Stock at Amazon (Click here). Cheapest price in EU on [shoplink 33865 ebay]eBay lettland (Click here)[/shoplink]. Some 60mm amcor samples have been posted by Damian McGillicuddy on his blog and on Facebook.

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Panasonic and Olympus Preorder Links with specs and price:
Special GH3 page at Amazon (Click here) and a full Olympus presentation page at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and in Europe at Wexphotographic UK (horrible price in UK!).
35-100mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
E-PL5 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
E-PM2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
XZ-2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
60mm macro at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
12mm Black prime lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
15mm cap-lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).

Rockumentary :: RØDE from 444-films on Vimeo.

I have to catch up with tons of news and here is a first part. Before that I kindly invite you to watch the video I embedded above. It has been made by a 43rumors reader with a hacked GH2. If you like it vote the video at Rodemic (Click here). You may help a 43rumors reader to become famous :)

Micro Four Thirds news list:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 at Photoreview.
Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Review at M43photo.
Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 at the seaside at Soundimagesplus.
LX7 review at Digitalcamerainfo, ePhotozine and DC.watch.
Olympus XZ-2 hands-on by Quesabesde.
Panasonic GX1 plus 12-35mm f/2.8 (Soundimagesplus).
Details on Panasonic 1.12um SmartFSI Pixel (Image sensor world).
Panasonic 20mm test at m43.eu.
Sony NEX-6 vs Olympus OM-D E-M5 Comparison (ePhotozine).
Olympus OM-D E-M5 and some cheap zooms (Soundimagesplus).
Full review of the GF5 sensor at DxOmark.
75mm lens test at Photokina by Pen And Tell.

DxOmark finally published the full Olympus E-M5 sensor test (Click here to read it). And the conclusion couldn’t be any better: “These Olympus high-end compact hybrids achieve scores that approximate those of their APS-C rivals (such as the Sony NEX). Simply put, the OM-D E-M5 is equipped with the best sensor we have ever analyzed for a micro 4:3, and to date the closest to that of the Sony NEX.”

Cameras like the Sony NEX-7 still have a small edge but than as usual you have to consider the lens quality too and the story will look even better for Olympus as we know that most E-mount lenses aren’t that good (with the only exception being the Zeiss 24mm lens). I had some fun trying the comparison tool and the E-M5 beats cameras like the Leica M9, Canon 7!

If you consider the quality of the sensor even the not spectacular new E-Pm2 and E-PL5 cameras do look much better than we initially thought they would be! So here are the store links to all three Olympus camera using the same 16 Megapixel Sony sensor:
E-M5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
E-PL5 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
E-PM2 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,

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E-M5 Case:
There is the official [shoplink 31898 ebay]CS-36FBC Olympus case[/shoplink]. A [shoplink 31899 ebay]leather half case from Hong Kong[/shoplink]. A full [shoplink 31900 ebay]leather case with strap from Cina[/shoplink]. Than we have half cases from two well known producers, [shoplink 31901 ebay]Zelenpol[/shoplink], [shoplink 31906 ebay]Kaza[/shoplink] and [shoplink 31902 ebay]Gariz[/shoplink].

E-M5 Batteries, and other things:
The [shoplink 31905 ebay]Olympus GS-4 strap[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 31903 ebay]DSTE E-M5 batteries[/shoplink] you have to use with an extra charger. There is an [shoplink 31903 ebay]E-M5 car charger[/shoplink] a [shoplink 31908 ebay]new E-M5 LCD screen[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 31909 ebay]Front Cover+ Top Panel[/shoplink].

Full length video sample taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 mounted with the M.ZD 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens by Zuikoholics.

Robin Wong (Click here) posted the second part of the Olympus 60mm macro review: “As a dedicated macro lens, this M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro surely will deliver satisfactory results, being able to capture massive amount of details, and generally it is a very sharp lens. The capability to shoot at full 1 to 1 magnification ratio opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Certainly, there is very little to complain about this lens when sharpness and image technical perfection are the main concern.” Lens preorders are up at Amazon, Adorama Bhphoto.

Imaging Resource (Click here) posted new Panaosnic GH3 full size image samples. By the way, Oled-Info reports that the GH3 EVF may be made by MicroOled company which is the only one using the RGBB architecture.

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Panasonic and Olympus Preorder Links with specs and price:
Special GH3 page at Amazon (Click here) and a full Olympus presentation page at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and in Europe at Wexphotographic UK (horrible price in UK!).
35-100mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
E-PL5 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
E-PM2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
XZ-2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
60mm macro at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
12mm Black prime lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
15mm cap-lens at Adorama (Click here).

DxOmark (Click here) just published the Panasonic G5 sensor score. The full test report should be posted soon. As you see from the image on top DxO still has to post the E-M5 results which they once unveiled to be “surprising”. Can’t wait to see this!

Panasonic G5 search links at [shopcountry 32274].

Image courtesy by Robin Wong (Thanks!).

Robin Wong (Click here) posted the first full Olympus 60mm macro review (Preorder at Amazon, Adorama Bhphoto). He compared the lens quality to the 50mm f/2.0 FT lens and said  “the 60mm F2.8  lens is sharper“. De facto that shapr that “Moiré pattern has become an issue for a few photographs that I have taken“. Read the full review to get an idea about the quality of the lens. What I like most about the review are the pictures. They are so amazing that it almost makes me think why I never liked macro photography until today :)  Also Zuikoholics posted the first part of the 60mm macro review.
Lens preorders are up at Amazon, Adorama Bhphoto.

So, we are talking about lenses so let me catch up with a link to the 12-35mm X lens review posted by Photozone (Click here): “The lens is, undoubtedly, a good one but not stellar. It is chili-sharp in the image center but the border region isn’t quite on this level in the lower focal length range.” No mistake, Photozone says it’s a very good lens but maybe not as top good as expected form a lens in this price range.

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Panasonic and Olympus Preorder Links with specs and price:
Special GH3 page at Amazon (Click here) and a full Olympus presentation page at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and in Europe at Wexphotographic UK (horrible price in UK!).
35-100mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
E-PL5 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
E-PM2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here). In EU at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France,
XZ-2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
60mm macro at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
12mm Black prime lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
15mm cap-lens at Adorama (Click here).