First image samples with the new Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm lens.

[shoplink 29193 ebay][/shoplink]

Too bd the price is so high because otherwise this lens would be mine! The lens is currently available for preorder on [shoplink 29193 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] for 1.299 Euro. The specs of the lens are amazing but I am surprised no big website posted any single image sample taken with it! So I spent some time to find them for myself. I got two images:
1) Full size image taken at full f/0.95 aperture on Flickr (Click here). There is a visible longitudinal chromatic aberration but the lens is very sharp and contrast is also good.
2) A small size image is available at Mapcamera (Click here). Aperture is unknown.

The [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] lens is smaller and lighter than the 17mm. And here is the lens on the GX1 and the lens on the E-M5. Let me know if you can find more image samples! Thanks!

P.S.: A cheaper alternative is the [shoplink 29238 ebay]Schneider 17mm f/0.95 (Click here to see it on ebay)[/shoplink] C-mount lens.

DxOmark: “micro 4/3 camera-lens combination is perfectly capable of replacing an APS-C combination”

 

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 gets DxOmarked (Click here): “With its extraordinary sharpness for a micro 4/3 lens, the [shoplink 23576]Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 is a winner.Pitted against the Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8, this Olympus 12mm holds an overwhelming advantage. Even more impressive is the fact that this lens can compete with much bigger lenses, such as the Canon 24mm L-series mounted on a 7D. In short, it really does seem that a high-quality, fully micro 4/3 camera-lens combination is perfectly capable of replacing an APS-C combination

Honestly, I couldn’t agree more!!!

Olympus 12mm price check: [shopcountry 23576].

P.S.: A couple of days ago they posted the Panasonic 14-42mm X lens review (Click here to read it)

New Olympus E-M5 news roundup…(new E-M5 accessories and info abotu Four Thirds lens support)


[shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] focus speed test.

There was an ongoing Olympus press meetings in Amsterdam and Yokohama and plenty of websites are now publishing new previews and videos. Here is a short roundup of the latest news:

Pen And Tell german report (Click here)
Interview at Akihabara (Click here).
New E-M5 accessories at Olympus Global (Click here and scroll down to see them).
Very basic ISO comparison at Zol (Click here).
E-M5 image samples on Flickr (Click here).

Biofos (Click here) has some news from Olympus UK about the Four Thirds lens support: “No AF improvement on 4/3 lenses I am afraid“. But Olympus made it also clear that they are working on that issue. Their goal is to make Four Thirds lenses fully operable on m43 cameras.

Focus Numerique now removed the ability to download the E-M5 RAW files. Our reader Olaf sent us this: “here is a raw-conversion from me aimed at maximum detail and less texture-smoothing than the internal jpegs, i think it really shows the potential of the E-M5, taken with a 300€ lens at f/1.8!
http://datenkeule.de/dl.php?file=file1329348705olympus-om-d-e-m5-preserie-exemple9.jpg
it is not easy to get the same sharpness olympus is doing with their jpegs while at the same time reducing noise and preserving texture-details.
now here the same file upscaled to 48mp (8000×6000) with a crop of here left eye (eat this nikon D800) ;-)
http://datenkeule.de/dl.php?file=file132934883148mp.jpg
here some crops to compare the potential of texture-preservation compared to the internal jpegs. 2 100% crops with jpeg to the left and the raw conversion to the right:
http://datenkeule.de/dl.php?file=file1329342465jpeg-raw.jpg
http://datenkeule.de/dl.php?file=file1329343823jpeg-raw2.jpg
unfortunately i wasn’t able to save all raws, i only managed to save 4 or 5 of them. maybe i can post some other conversions later, like the one from the bike and the other shot of the woman.

P.S: If you love analyzing RAW files than check Fujirumors (Click here). They just posted the first X PRO 1 raw files!

Full Preorder list:
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here), and Amazon Japan (Click here).
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Redcoon Deutschland (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).

Hands-on with the new Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm lens (with preorders in Europe)

With all that Olympus E-M5 buzz we don’t have to forget that there has been another very exciting new introduction. The new Voigtländer Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 lens! The Spanish website DSLRmagazine (Click here) posted a short hands-on article and video (the one you see here on top). That lens is twice as luminous as the [shoplink 29192 ebay]Leica 35mm f/1.4 (and costs many times less)[/shoplink]. Valentin Sama says the lens has a top notch build quality (as expected) and the new pull down aperture ring which allows smooth rotation is completely noise-free (super news for filmmakers). The focusing ring is very long which is a good news if you want a precise focusing, bad news when you are in hurry :)  The only major difference with the also superb [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] is the major size and weight of the lens (See size comaprison here). What I haven’t found yet are image samples. Did you?

A first preorder is available here in [shoplink 29193 ebay]Europe on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The lens should ship by late March /early April.

First RAW Olympus E-M5 files for download! (UPDATE: manual for download)

[shoplink 29074][/shoplink] UPDATE: You can download the E-M5 manual (Click here for the english manual pdf).

Merci Beaucoup Focus Numerique! Finally we can download the original RAW files form the new Olympus E-M5 (Click here to visit the site). To download the file click on “Télécharger le fichier raw“.

So there is nor excuse now! This is the very first time we can judge the image quality without having to worry if the JPEG settings were correct or not. Focus Numerique reviewers are quite satisfied with the results: “At 1250 ISO, the image retains a lot of details and the color rendering of Olympus is always pleasant“.

So take your time guys, analyze the files and give us some feedback. Click that link to see the ISO test with the GX1. It will be easier for you to compare the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] RAW quality. A couple of days ago I asked you if you were happy with the JPEG quality of the E-M5 but many of you answered that you have to see more full size and RAW pics before to give a final voting.

I am going to start a new Poll. As usual take time before to vote:

You have seen the RAW image quality of the E-M5: What do you think?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Full Updated Preorder list:
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here), and Amazon Japan (Click here).
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Redcoon Deutschland (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).

 

New set of Olympus E-M5 (Full size!) image samples! (and updated preorder list)

Finally you can see a first set of official [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] full size(!) image samples. They have been posted by the Chinese website pcpop (Click here). To facilitate the picture analysis I give you the direct links to their eleven full size images:
Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4, Pic 5, Pic 6, Pic 7, Pic 8, Pic 9, Pic 10 and Pic11.
Surprise, Pic 3 has been actually taken in my city…Antwerpen! Olympus next time make me a call when you pass by! :)

HKgolden (Click here) posted a short ISO comparison. The website loads very slow so here is the direct link to the image: http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/5057/37492reuploaded.jpg

Our friend Valentin Sama from DSLRmagazine (Click here) posted a new set of E-M5 image samples (with firmware 0.95). Too bad they are not in full size. I asked him if he can share the original images but he said Olympus doesn’t allow to post them because the firmware isn’t final :(

Full Updated Preorder list (with new Redcoon Deutschland preorder):
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Warehouse UK (Click here), Redcoon Germany (Click here), and Amazon Japan (Click here).
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Redcoon Deutschland (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
8) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).

Panasonic GX1 fully tested at Dpreview (Silver Award)

[shoplink 26836][/shoplink] The final full GX1 review is now online at Dpreview (Click here). It gets a 77% overall score and earns the Silver award. The reviewers are positively impressed by the image quality which in particular at Low ISO is close to the Sony NEX cameras (which have a larger APS-C sensor). The only big trouble they have is about the price. Why don’t get a [shoplink 22077]Panasonic G3[/shoplink] instead of the [shoplink 26836]GX1[/shoplink] when the G3 has the same sensor, but has a built.in EVF and a cheaper price? My personal answer is because of the smaller size and more sexiness :)

Anyway, I am looking forward to see if the new [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] will beat the image quality of the GX1.

Click theese linsk to check the price of the GX1: [shopcountry 26836].