Finally we can see the first real tests of that beast of an Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens! Visit Four Thirds User, ePhotozine, Gabrielle Motola, Techradar, Photographyblog, Snappydiablog and ThisIsTanaka to see them! I will updated this post as soon as I find more links to tests.

FourThirdsUser writes: “Clearly, the 75mm lens beats the 45mm for sheer quality of background blur and bokeh, but the sharpness of in-focus areas at f/1.8 remains pretty much as good as the 45mm. You certainly don’t need to stop either lens down in order to get tack-sharp images.”

P.S.: The lens should be in Stock starting from this week. Here are some direct preorder and price check links: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.

M43.eu posted a self made black verison picture of the 12mm, 45mm and 75mm Black lenses.

It’s time for a short E-M5 recap:
E-M5 review at Digitalphotographyschool. E-M5 Ibis issues described by a user at Dpreview forum. E-M5 and Lightroom 4.1 expsoure article by Pekka Potka. On Assignment with the E-M5 by Giulio Scorio. Some thoughts on the OM-D by Soundimagesplus. E-M5 with 7-14mm Panasonic lens by Soundimagesplus and with Leica 14-150mm ([shoplink 31804 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink]) again at Soundimagesplus. Full E-M5 review at Focus Numerique (Translation here).

New E-m5 and new lens (pre)orders:
E-M5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Olympus 75mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
Panasonic 12-35mm X lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

P.S.: I am out the full day. Don’t think I will have Intenret at 3.000mt where I will go now.

One Week With Voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95 from Seb Farges on Vimeo.

Nokton 17.5mm
Seb Farges is testing the new Nokton 17.5mm lens. The lens is in Stock at Nokton Amazon and Bhphoto and we Europeans can find it for an incredible good price at [shoplink 31772 ebay]LaPetiteBoutique (Click here)[/shoplink]! 979 Euro, that’s 220 Euro than in other stores!

Olympus 75mm
ePhotozine posted a new Olympus 75mm f/1.8 hands-on. Still no full review :(
Preorder and price check at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.

The newly announced Olympus 75mm f/1.8 should hit be in Stock within the next days. But there are still no real reviews out there. Let’s hope they are coming out soon. Meantime on top you can watch a hands-on video. And our reader Napi sent us this: “Just thought I should let you know that there is one more image sample for the Olympus 75mm F1.8 on the official website: http://olympus-imaging.jp/product/dslr/mlens/75_18/sample/index.html. It’s just one more image, but at least it shows the lens in a context it will be used for probably more than anything else, mainly shooting portraits.” And another reader sent me that link to a polish hands on at m43.eu (translation here).

As I told you last wek the lens is not really a hotseller. maybe the price is a tack too high?

Direct links to the Olympus 75mm preorder and price check at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.

Venid Vidi Vici: E-M5 remains on top of the mirrorless ranking since the day it was in Stock for the first time (Click here to see the rankings).

I really try hard to not overpost 43rumors with [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] related news. But we just got many new reviews and one of them is from one of my favorite reviews…CameraLabs! I guess Panasonic has to hurry with the GH3 release otherwise we will all end buying the E-M5! :)

CameraLabs: “The OM-D E-M5 marks the beginning of a new strand in mirrorless CSC cameras that poses the strongest threat yet to the dominance of DSLRs in the higher-end of the consumer market. It cleverly combines a retro SLR design (which is still widely held in affection 40 years on) with the best that modern technology can offer.”
PDNgear: “Maybe, in the end, that’s the best thing I can say about the Olympus OM-D E-M5. It’s a cute-looking, retro-style camera that’s capable of taking some fantastic quality images and HD video but like its awkward-sounding model name, it just never felt comfortable to me.”
Rovingphotographer: “The E-M5 isn’t for everyone. There are die-hards, purists, and folks who just like their DSLRs. That’s fine. That’s why we have choices. I truly think this is the first step towards a new era of cameras. But even if it’s not, it’s a step forward for me.”
For our German readers: E5-M Einstellungsführer at System Kamera Blog.
The Black E-M5 ramins within the top 40 of all sold cameras at Amazon (Click here). pretty impressive if you consider that unlike Canon and Nikon camera sthe E-m5 gets splitted in two color versions (would eb ncie to see the sum of Black and Silver E-M5 sales).

New E-m5 and new lens (pre)orders:
E-M5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Olympus 75mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
Panasonic 12-35mm X lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

The size comparison image by Imaging Resource. On right you see the [shoplink 28222 ebay]OM-1 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

You can’t get enough of E-M5 reviews? Then fere is the next from Imaging Resource: “Resurrecting a popular design from its past proves fruitful for Olympus: 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“.

USA readers will be happy to know that the E-M5 will be in Stock on Monday: Black E-M5 with 12-50mm camera (click here). And here for the Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens (click here). And at the moment of writing exactly those two kits are ruling the Amazon mirrorless ranking (Click here to see it).

Meantime new ebay stuff for the E-M5 is coming out. Right now I found a new LCD screen you can buy to replace a damaged one ([shoplink 31683 ebay]Here is the auction[/shoplink]) and a new leather bag case that also “works” with attached flash ([shoplink 31682 ebay]Here is the auction[/shoplink]).

New E-m5 and new lens (pre)orders:
E-M5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Olympus 75mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
Panasonic 12-35mm X lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

The E-m5 with the 12-35mm X lens (Image courtesy: DSLRmagazine).

Luminous Landscape is one of my favorite websites and they just published a long and as usual very well written E-M5 and 12-35mm X lens review (Click here to red the full article!).

E-M5:
It’s a very honest and practically oriented test (which I like a lot). In short LL says that this is the best m43 camera yet: “It is a winner, and has now become my preferred camera for travel and urban walk-around shooting“…”there isn’t a camera with a superior MFT sensor. The OM-D E-M5 is likely the most highly configurable camera ever. Dynamic range looks to be quite close to any other mirrorless system and in terms of colour accuracy the O-MD may be among the best current cameras. Skin tones are particularly pleasing right out of the camera, with JPGs as well as raws in Lightroom 4.1. Video on the OM-D is OK, but not great.” Of course it has flaws and issues like any camera and LL list them all. Most of them can be fixed via further firmware upgrade (which I hope arrives soon).

12-50mm and 12-35mm X lenses:
They are not si impressed by the 12-50mm Olympus kit lens: “In fact it’s a pretty good lens, but it’s not a great lens.” But there is also another critic: “A $500 lens should have a shade included, it’s as simple as that. To not do so is an insult to customers.”
LL also had the new 12-35mm X lens for testing: “Simply put, this is a first rate lens“.

It’s a gold time for Micro Four Thirds and there is a lot of big news coming soon…GH3, new PEN’s a new lenses! Great!

New E-m5 and new lens (pre)orders:
E-M5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Olympus 75mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
Panasonic 12-35mm X lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.