As I told you last night Olympus didn’t expect to sell the Silver E-M5 models as well as the Black models. And if you are lucky you will find just a couple fo them in Stock here and there. I found two (overpriced) Silver models at Amazon US (Click here) and in Europe at uw-photo.ch (Click here). 43rumors readers told me that February Silver E-M5 preorders are now shipping from different stores. I hope you can get your soon too!

And now let’s check the latest E-M5 news roundup:
Golftoimpress (Click here) tested the Konica Hexanon f/1.7 on the E-m5: “I have to say I love this lens, how can I not considering its price and its performance. It is not hard at all to manually focus on the E-M5 which makes it a great choice for those photo enthusiasts who own a stash of legacy lenses“. You may wonder ow much this lens costs? A used Hexanon costs between $30 and $60 only on [shoplink 31171 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
E-M5 impressions by John Brawley (Click here). Test charts at Pixelmania.nl (Click here).
Admiringlight (Click here) is the first to revie the E-M5 battery grip: “The well thought out control placement and solid build make it worth the price in my opinion.  While it’s a shame the horizontal grip blocks the battery door, it’s a tradeoff I’m glad to make for the two piece construction.”

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Let’s start with the updated preorder list. You can preorder the new 12-35mm X lens:
in USA at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
in Europe at FotoHanzKeuzekamp (Click here).
in Asia at Amazon Japan (Click here).

Finally I spent an hour to carefully read all four available reviews at Photographyblog, ePhotozine, SLRgear and DSLRmagazine. I guess most of you read them and from a technical point of view this lens really almost has no flaw. Resolution is perfect. The lens makes no noise when zooming or focusing, distortion is low and harmonic across the range. Only the (surprisingly) missing Powerzoom function can be problem for videomakers. Really didn’t expect that lens to not come along the Powerzoom and as this is an ideal lens for filmmakers some of them may be frustrated right now :)
I may add that the USA price is a bit higher than expected. American readers are used to get that special Euro-Dollar 1:1 coversion. So after reading that the lens costa 1.100 Euro I would have expected Amazon (Click here) to sell it for $1,100. Anyway, I think the price is ok if you look at all features. The lens has a super image and build quality and as Dpreview writes: “Panasonic’s excellent implementation of ‘focus-by-wire’ manual focus is responsive and precise, and streets ahead of some of its rivals“. This lens really sets the latter so high that it makes look the competition really bad! The Micro Four Thirds system really became a lot more mature and it will be hard fro Sony, Nikon and even Canon to surpass the m43 system for a long time coming! At that point I have to remind you that the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 X lens will arrive along the GH3 in late Summer  while the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is coming out within the next couple of weeks. And that’s not all that’s coming ;)

Great time ahead for us Micro Four Thirds users!!!

Zelenpol announced a new carbon case you can get $170 on [shoplink 31139 ebay]eBay (Click here to see the auction and more pictures)[/shoplink]. They also have a classic Black leather case for sale again on [shoplink 31138 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

And now lets’ talk about some unconventional reviews. Want you know for example if the E-M5 is good enough for Astrophotography? The answer comes from Therovingphotographer (Click here): “So there you have it – a somewhat unexpected review, but further solid proof that the E-M5 is a seriously capable little camera.“. And one of the main features of the E-M5 is the robust and weather sealed body. So does’t it really do his job at over 11000 feet? Check out the answer by reading that post on dpreview. And what if something goes wrong with the exposition? Steve Huff (Click here) explains you if you can save an underexposed shot. Oh, and he also compared the E-M5 to the big ones like the NEX-7 and the superpixel D800 (Click here). MirrorlessReviews posted six E-M5 videos on youtube (Click here). And finally the m43 sceptic admin of Camerazealot (Click here) converted himself to the E-M5 religion :)

And I end this post with the E-M5 preorder and Amazon ranking links:

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Bestseller list. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 11/12/13 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 7 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 2/9 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 3/4 (Click here).

UPDATE: You can preorder the lens at Amazon (Click here)

So it was true! Panasonic has indeed an announcement for the May 21th! You can already read the first lens review at Dslrmagazine.com (Click here) and Click here for the google english translation. A f/2.8 24.70mm lens (in FullFrame terms) that is half the size of a Canon 24-70mm (Click here) or [shoplink 31079 ebay]Nikon 24-70mm (Click here)[/shoplink]!!!
As Valentin Sama writes this lens is weather sealed and hints that “a future body also sealed, and with high performance is coming before Photokina“…..his own words!

Lens performance:
RAW files have a very high resolution in center and corners, with a peak in at f/8. But already wide open the lens can deliver a “full performance”. The center has complete absence of chromatic aberrations, and it’s only very discrete in the corners, where there is also a bit of astigmatism. Vignetting is present at f/2.8 only (but nothing to worry about). It has very low distortion (which is easy to correct in PS). And here are some image samples: one, two and three.

In short, according to Valentin that lens sets a new level of quality for all mirrorless zoom lenses. It almost has no flaws. The price will be around 1.100 Euro (I guess this means 1,200 in Dollars). That’s I keep checking Amazon (Click here) but there is no preorder at the moment of writing this. Meantime answer this:

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So, do you like the lens???

P.S.: The Canon 24-70mm costs over $1500 at Amazon (Click here) while the Nikon costs almost $1900 at Amazon (Click here).

Our french friends from Hybridcams got their hands on the new Panasonic GF5 and shot that video in Paris. It’s really a great cam, but as I said yesterday I don’t know if it can compete against the cheap [shoplink 23109]GF3[/shoplink] or cheap PEN entry cameras (like the list of cameras I posted here at the bottom). Anyway, the GF5 is now arriving in US and European stores. Preorder search links: [shopcountry 30485] (Could not be listed in some stores).

No camera is good without a good lens. And here is a new triple lens review about three (Micro-) Four Thirds zoom lenses:
Panasonic 14-140mm lens review at ePhotozine (Click here).
Olympus 75.300mm lens review at Photoreview (Click here).
Olympus Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED (FourThirds!) Lens Review at Photoreview (Click here).

And here are some nice refurbished Olympus cameras at Olympusmarket. As usual keep in mind that European citizen only can buy the stuff:
[shoplink 31048 ebay]Silver Olympus E-P1[/shoplink] [shoplink 31049 ebay]Silver Olympus E-P3[/shoplink] [shoplink 31050 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2[/shoplink] [shoplink 31051 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31052 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31053 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31054 ebay]Red Olympus E-PL2[/shoplink] [shoplink 31055 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31056 ebay]Olympus MAL-1 macro light[/shoplink] [shoplink 31059 ebay]Olympus MCON-P01 MACRO Converter[/shoplink] [shoplink 31060 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31062 ebay]Black Olympus E-P2 with external VF-2 viewfinder[/shoplink] [shoplink 31063 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31064 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31065 ebay]Black Olympus E-P3 grip[/shoplink] [shoplink 31066 ebay]Beige Olympus E-P3 grip[/shoplink]

Now Asian companies are starting to release more and more new E-M5 accessories. What you see on top is the new hand made E-M5 leather case made by Worldseller ([shoplink 31035 ebay]Click here to check the auction on eBay)[/shoplink]. It’s a bit expensive. A new much cheaper leather case has been made by Jieseker ([shoplink 31036 ebay]Click here to check the auction on eBay)[/shoplink].

And here is a triple new E-M5 review:
DCresource (Click here) published the full E-M5 review: “Overall, the Olympus OM-D EM-5 is an excellent Micro Four Thirds camera, assuming that you can survive with the less-than-stellar ergonomics“. Actually it’s the first reviewer compalining about the camera ergonomy!
The Canadian website Hereshow (Click here) posted an E-M5 review: “Granted, this camera is more expensive, but the EVF is built-in; it’s not an extra cost accessory. The classy E-M5 is one of the most desirable Compact System Cameras. With its SLR-like controls, speed and feature set, it would be a fine choice for photo enthusiasts.”
Macworld (Click here) doesn’t test Mac stuff only but also the E-M5: “Olympus has been a leader in the Compact System Camera revolution, and the OM-D E-M5 will solidify that position. It is a good-looking, well-designed, highly capable camera. I recommend the 12-50 mm zoom lens with the body, which currently lists for $1300 for the kit.”

E-M5 orders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

The image on top shows the new [shoplink 30942 ebay]Kaza E-M5 case (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink]. It’s way cheaper than the [shoplink 30624 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 30625 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink] Gariz case!

And now it’s time for the next E-M5 review link session:
Trustedreview (Click here) posted a new E-M5 review: “Overall image quality is very good too, with the E-M5 consistently able to produce sharp, detailed and richly toned JPEGs, with the option to record 12-bit Raw image files for more detailed post production.”
Photoreview Australia (Click here) writes: “Despite its convoluted user interface, it’s difficult not to be impressed by the E-M5. Performance-wise, this camera has a lot going for it. Image files straight from the camera appeared sharp with a wide dynamic range in JPEGs and plenty of detail accessible in raw files.” They also tested the 12-50mm lens (Click here): “On the E-M5, the review lens produced a good set of results in our  Imatest tests, which proved it capable of matching the performance of the camera’s sensor. The highest resolution figures were recorded between f/5.6 and f/8”
And to finish a review by a declared Micro Four Thirds skeptic at Camerazealot (Click here): “after having it in my hands over the weekend, I am very happy to state that it really was the best choice for my intended use.  It is fast, compact and highly customizable.  The image quality is improved, and the AF speed has definitely lived up to its advanced billing.  The styling and functionality are superb, and even the little clip-on flash unit works well.  It is an absolute perfect fit for my needs, with the added bonus of using it with legacy lenses.” ….Skepsis gone I guess? :)

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Bestseller list. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 11/17/20 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 7/15 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 4/6/14 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 5/10/13 (Click here).