Image courtesy: Pekka Potka

Pekka Potka (Click here) posted the full Nokton 17.5mm review: “It has potential to give you visually interesting images with its own touch. It has also potential for great image quality in strictest technical meaning. But it is not a good choice for a casual shooters. Street photography and moody images in low light are its own territory.

To get the lens check [shoplink 30452]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

P.S.: The Panasonic 12-35mm X lens is now shipping in Europe. In Stock for example at Fotomundus (Germany).

Robin Wong (Click here) posted the second part of his [shoplink 31284]Olympus 75mm f/1.8[/shoplink] review: “it will give you extremely sharp images, with very admirable bokeh quality and performs very well in autofocus. If you need the 75mm focal length, do a lot of portrait shooting, and know what you are doing with a 75mm focal length, this 75mm F1.8 lens will make you a much happier photographer.”

And don’t forget to play with the nice Matching Simulation (Click here). All newest lenses including the 75mm Olympus, Panasonic X zoom, Tokina 300mm, Sigma primes and Nokton 17.5mm are included! The only thing I hope Olympus and Panasonic will add is larger pictures. Hope they are reading me :)

Links to the mentioned newest lenses of 2012:
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.
Sigma 30mm lens at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon JP (Click here) and Digitalrev.
Sigma 19mm lens at Amazon US , Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon JP and Digitalrev.
Nokton 17.5mm at Amazon and Bhphoto and we Europeans can find it for an incredible good price at [shoplink 31772 ebay]LaPetiteBoutique (Click here)[/shoplink].
Tokina 300mm….still missing :(

Robin Wong posted the full Olympus 75mm review: “looking at the 100% crops, seriously the sharpness was outstanding, and beyond my expectations. I think this lens will set a whole new level of benchmark for resolution and sharpness tests.”

Dpreview posted new full size image samples taken with the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens. Same thing has been done by Imaging Resource.

Lens Rentals tested the 12-35mm X lens and proved that the lens resolution is second to the Olympus 12mm prime lens. They also compared the results with the Full Frame Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens: “I think there’s clearly a difference in favor of the Panasonic / Olympus combination here. Now, before any Fanboys have a  stroke and spit their beer, the Canon lens used was optically tested 3 days ago. It’s perfectly fine and has no problems.” The only real complain from Lens Rentals is about the high price. But essentially you get an excellent lens for what you pay for.

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.

SLRgear (Click here) is the first website posting a full and very detailed review of the new Olympus 75mm f/1.8: “Simply amazing results for sharpness, great resistance to chromatic aberration, very low corner shading and near-zero distortion. Add in excellent build quality and good looks, and you have a package that’s sure to please any photographer.”

Click on the shop name to check the Olympus 75mm page and price: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan and on [shoplink 31284 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

Meantime there is a super deal on the GX1. Body + lens for $519 at Adorama (Click here).

GX1 with Leica 14-150mm at Soundimagesplus. Lumix 20mm versus Sigma 19mm at Popco. GF5 conference in Taiwan (Nikkei). Wood grip for the E-P3 at Itmedia. 43rumors reader and m43 photographer Adam Thirtle gets interviewed at SmallCameraBigPicture. Giants vs Dodgers – Shots with Olympus OM-D at TheDigitalStory. E-M5 with Sigma 30mm lens at itmedia. Hennigards made a nice m43 lens database. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Video Test at The.me.

The 75mm with the optional lens hood

The conclusion from Pekka Potka tells it all: “I have very little more to write about this lens. When something is average, there are usually many sides you can ponder. Now there aren’t. Just add all the superlatives you can think of if you want to make this blog longer.” The lens is sharp in the center and in the border at any aperture. There are only negligible differences. It’s really the sharpest Olympus M43 lens ever released.
Here is a picture of the lens on the E-P3 and here a picture of the lens on the Black E-M5. Black camera with Silver lens doesn’t really look good. I hope Olympus will release a Black version too!

Click on the shop name to check the Olympus 75mm page and price: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan and on [shoplink 31284 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

Adorama has also the accessories: Olympus LH-61F, Metal Lens Hood (Click here) and the Olympus LC-61, Metal Front Lens Cap (Click here).

The video on top is made by SmallCameraBigPicture and shows the 12-35mm unboxing ritual. I hope you can leave that experience soon too!
Panasonic 12-35mm X lens preorders at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Fotohanskeuzekamp, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

New E-M5 books coming:
David Busch is working on a guide for the OM-D and it should be finished in July. As you know he alreayd wrote an E-P2 guide you can find here at Amazon. The german Profibuch from Wagner should be in Stock very soon at Amazon Germany.

New E-M5 reviews and news:
ThePhoBlographer sold everything for the E-M5: “It perfectly embodies what I loved so much about the Fuji X100, but incorporates the usability and flexiblity of my Nikon D7000.”
Photographer Marc Rogoff is also testing the E-M5. A never seen OMD grip at Dpreview Forum.

In Stock status check:
In USA some overpriced kits are in Stock at Amazon and eBay. In Stock in Canada at Mostlydigital.
Europeans have a bit more luck. Amazon UK has also the Silver body in Stock, Amazon Germany the black E-M5.
All preorder links: Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.