Image courtesy: Robert Cicala by lensrentals

Now this test is going to push the Olympus 75mm preorders ;)

Robert Cicala from Lensrentals (Click here) just published another kind of Olympus 75mm lens review. He actually disassembled the lens to see what’s inside. He didn’t care a lot about the image quality because…”I won’t repeat what has already been done more thoroughly elsewhere. But I will say the Imatest results are spectacular.”

The real question was, how well is the lens made? He writes: “Some people are put off by the price, at least from the discussions I’ve seen online. My perspective is that sometimes things are expensive because they’re worth it. This seems to be one of those times. The build quality is different than the majority of mirrorless lenses. The ones that are built like this are about this price range.”

Read the full article at Lensrentals (Click here) to get the nice feeling that Olympus that time did it right and didn’t save a single penny on the lens costs. Full image quality reviews can be seen at DSLRmagazine (Tranlsation here), Robin Wong (part two) , Robin Wong (part one), Pekka Potka and SLRgear.

And now to the preorder options and shipping info:
In USA Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), J&R(Click here) and BHphoto (Click here), will start shipping the lens in a few days.
Also in Europe  Amazon Germany (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Amazon France (Click here) and Amazon Italy (Click here) will very likely ship the lens by end of the month.
In Asia it’s already available at Amazon Japan, Digitalrev and on [shoplink 31284 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

Hood alternatives:
As I told you days ago the original hood costs $80 at Adorama or 80 Euro at Amazon Germany. On eBay (via Hong Kong) you can buy a third party [shoplink 32155 ebay]standard hood for $15 (Click here)[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 32156 ebay]tele hood for $16 (Click here)[/shoplink].

Image on top: Francis Ford Coppola looking into his top options. And he picks the GH2 :)

Zacuto (Click here) posted the second part of the great Camera Shootout. It worked like that. An audience (including Francis) saw five short movies each made with a different camera, the [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink], Sony F65, Red Epic, Canon C300 and Arri Alexa. The audience had no way to know which movie had been made with a certain camera. At the end they had to pickup their favorite choice. The most voted camera was the Panasonic GH2!

Andrew from EosHD writes: “For digital theatre screenings in 2k or 1080p, extremely high end cameras simply don’t look that much different to the lower end ones. It is therefore the lighting and the skill behind the camera that makes a larger percentage of the difference. As the level of skill involved here behind the camera was all very high, each scene was similar butthe GH2 was still able to overcome the F65 or Epic, mainly because –

A) It was handled better
B) The lighting was most creative
C) The technology inside the GH2 was advanced enough to deliver on this shoot relative to a $70,000 F65”

Yep, as I always try to remind you it’s your creative skills that do matter. The camera you use “almost” doesn’t matter anymore! And again, a long hand clap clap clap to all Panasonic engineers for delivering us such a great camera. And we really can’t wait to see what you guys did with the GH3! ;)

P.S.: If you need a great hybrid camera for a low price you may don’t care about the GH3 which will be priced at $1,500. Go for the much cheaper GH2! Price check and search links at [shopcountry 16254].

Olympus OM-D Underwater Video Tests – by Jim-Decker from Digital Shootout on Vimeo.

It’s summer time and I guess some 43rumors readers are divers. So you may look at the new double underwater test at Thedigitalshootout. They reviewed both the GX1 (here is the review) and the E-M5 (here is the review).

I live in the middle of the mountains so I am the wrong person when it comes to talk about what’s good or not about the underwater performance. Anyway, I trust the reviewer when he writes that the “E-M5 in the Nauticam housing is hands down the most sophisticated and highest performing mirrorless camera you can take underwater today.” and the “GX1 in the NA-GX1 is so brilliant… shooting performance is great, and the image quality rivals SLRs at 3 times its price.“.

For US readers: The Silver E-M5 kit is finally in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

GX1 shop search links: [shopcountry 26836].
E-M5 shop search links: [shopcountry 29074].

Olympus 75mm lens on the E-m5 (Image courtesy from DSLRmagazine).

It’s already time for a new review post on 43rumors:

DSLRmagazine (Tranlsation here) just posted the full Olympus 75mm lens review. As you see from the charts posted on the website the lens provides an excellent performance in every aspect. The reviewer writes that the lens has indeed the fastest AF on the market. And while the lens has a very tele focal length he writes that it’s “ideal for “stolen” portraits and street shots from a distance, more discreet and the focal inadevertido standard documentary.” Bye bye privacy :)

As noted by other before the only real flaw of the lens is that the hood is not included. For 900 Euro Dollar we would have liked to see it in our box fro free.

Some new in Stock status info. The lens will arrive in Europe within the next 2-3 weeks according to Amazon Germany (Click here), on July 31th according to Amazon UK (Click here), on July 20th according to BHphoto (Click here). If you really can’t wait you can uy it right now in Asia where it is in Stock on eBay ([shoplink 32105 ebay]here[/shoplink] and [shoplink 32106 ebay]here[/shoplink]) and at Digitalrev.

Time for a new recap of the newest tests. On top you see the E-M5 with standard lens comparison by DSLR-check. Click on the image to see the full size version at DSLR Check.

Tyson Robicheaud posted an update on his E-M5 and G3 sensor comparison. Olympus E-M5 coverage at Diglloyd. E-M5 with Panasonic 12-35mm X lens test at Itmedia (translation here). Some image samples taken with the 75mm lens at 500px. Venez essayer l’Olympus OM-D EM-5 at Focus Numerique. Long Term Comparison Review of the Fujifilm X Pro 1 vs Sony NEX 7 vs Olympus OMD EM5 at ThePhoBlographer. A new case for the E-M5 via DC.watch.

—

Olympus and Panasonic lens preorder:
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.

E-M5 preorder links:
Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

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].

My friend Tyson Robicheaud (Click here) compared the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] with 16 Megapixel Sony sensor with the [shoplink 22077]Panasonic G3[/shoplink] and 16 Megapixel Panasonic sensor: “I really wanted to see how these two sensors compared to one another as I have been very impressed by the G3.” Check out his website to learn more about the test!

Meantime I remind you that on July 18th we will see the new G5 which has the same G3 sensor but a newly improved processor. Let’s hope the new GH3 (again 16 MPX?) sensor brings a major improvement in RAW quality too!

Olympus E-M5 price and in Stock status check at [shopcountry 29074].
Panasonic G3 price and in Stock status check at [shopcountry 22077].

This week we finally had the answer about the E-m5 sensor manufactorer. As you know i’s a Sony and you may will look to the reviews I link form now on knowing it’s not just a “re-used” Panasonic 16 Megapixel sensor. Here are the links:

Reviews:
Imaging Resource posted the full E-M5 review: “Not only does the Olympus OM-D E-M5 look great, it takes great pictures, meeting or exceeding the quality of some pretty surprising competitors. Its interface is designed with photographers in mind, with ready control dials and a smart interface, all in a very small package.”
Three first reactions at The Online Photographer.

And here are two readers E-M5 works:
Marco: “give a look to what I did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcWds9N_hgc
 I wanted to try to test the AF speed of the OM-D with some of my regular 4/3 lenses such as 12-60, 35-100, 50-500 and 7-14. I think that it’s an interesting test to understand how the OM-D performs when using 4/3 lenses. Of course it’s not a great performance, but seeing it filmed may give confidence to doubtful users! Greeting from Rome!”
Cem: “I tried my new OM-D E-M5 last night with 4th of July fireworks. It did an amazing job. I tought you may want to share it so others can see what this camera can do!
here is my flickr link for the album! http://www.flickr.com/photos/cempayzin/sets/72157630429515370/”

E-M5 preorder links:
Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

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].