New Panasonic GF3 and GF2 reviews (GF1 body only for 228 Euro..new!)


There is a new Panasonic GF3 review at ePhotozine (Click here): “The camera features a  full manual controls, and the small size makes it easy to take on a casual day out, when you normally wouldn’t want to carry a large camera with you. The enhanced hand grip on the front of the camera, and solid build quality make it easy to hold, however we wish it was still as feature packed as the GF2. At least the camera is still capable of delivering excellent image quality.” The camera gets Highly Recommended. Click those links to check the GF3 price: [shopcountry 23109].

ePhotozine didn’t only test the GF3, but also the “older” GF2 (Click here): “The Panasonic Lumix GF2 is a bit of a bargain at the moment, offering a compact, controllable camera with great image quality, high speed focusing and continuous shooting, and full HD video with stereo sound for around £400 with kit lens“. it also gets Highly Recommended.
The GF2 gets also tested by Neocamera (Click here): “This compact SLD turns in a very well balanced performance, with low image noise, good color, excellent white-balance, great metering and relatively fast speed. There is really no area where the Lumix GF2 has issues with photography. Despite the absence of a dedicated mode which causes some frustrations, the GF2 captures full HD videos in high-quality.“. Overall score is “Good“. Click those links to check the GF2 price: [shopcountry 17361].

Neither the GF3 neither the GF2 managed it to become as popular as the first GF camera, the GF1. That camera now sales for $1499 at Amazon (Click here)!!! But I found a terrific good deal in Europa. You can get a new(!) GF1 body only for 228 Euro at Softwings on [shoplink 24795 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. They do only sell two cameras! If you want to get the GF2 look at the deals on Amazon (Click here) and the $100 instant savings you get at BHphoto (Click here). You can find the kit options for $520 and the body only for $359.

That said I am still working on the GF7 rumor. I didn’t post a lot because there have been some changes in the Panasonic roadmap. So I had to recheck everything :(

 

Plenty of new Olympus E-P3 reviews.

A nice image posted by Photoscala.de.

There are many new [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink] reviews:

Let’s start with ePhotozine (Click here): “The Olympus PEN E-P3 is a welcome upgrade to the E-P2, with extremely fast focusing, which was one of the big problems with the PEN series, especially if you’d used another faster Micro Four Thirds camera, but now Olympus are back in the game. The addition of a built in flash, AF illuminator and several new art filters and effects that can be applied to the art filters, is a very welcome addition“. The camera gets “Highly Recommended!

The next test has been made by Photographyblog (Click here): “While with the exception of it missing a built-in flash we were perfectly happy with the E-P2 until the E-P3 came along, this new model is enough of a change, and indeed a larger one than that separating the E-P1 and E-P2, to suggest Olympus has played its hand well. ” Also for them the E-P3 deserves a “Highly Recommended!

The german website Photoscala (Click here to read the translation) wrote: “The e-P3 delivers crisp immediately, directly zoomable photos. Resolution, sharpness and tonal reproduction follow the ‘visual complacency’- so the photos will look as good as possible from a standing – and align themselves to the amateur. Nevertheless, most values ​​for noise, compression, resolution, vignetting and distortion are pretty good and well suited for most purposes.

The french Focus Numerique (Click here for the translation) finalized their very detailed and interetsing review: “The new Pen E-P3 is definitely the best Micro 4 / 3 Olympus and deserves recommended.

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].

First Olympus 45mm f/1.8 review by Pekka Potka

Photobucket

The two new Oly lenses, the 45mm and 12mm (Clubsnap)

You can read a new Olympus 45mm f/1.8 review made by Pekka Potka (Click here and than click on the 45mm link under “latest”): “The sweet point is from 2.8 to 5.6. Contrast and sharpness are very good. Shooting JPEGs I didn´t notice any need to worry about distortion, vignetting or chromatic aberrations. Lens has problems with flare only with sun hitting front lens against or nearly against the light. It is optically a lot better lens than its price tag says“.

The lens will start shipping in very late September and there are only a few places now where you can preorder it:

Adorama (Click here), J&R (Click here), Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon FR (Click here), Amazon JP (Click here) and on [shoplink 24774 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Reminder: Clubsnap (Click here) has been the very first to post some 45mm f/1.8 image samples.

E-P3 vs Leica M9 (Steve Huff) and manual focusing test (Digitalrev)


The video above shows a manual focusing test made by Digitalrev. They compared the [shoplink 23568]E-P3 vs [shoplink 23109]GF3[/shoplink] vs NEX-C3[/shoplink].

Crazy Comparison – The Olympus E-P3 with 12mm vs the Leica M9 with 24 Summilux by Steve Huff (Click here).

Peter Lueck (Click here to read the google english translation) tested the new [shoplink 23576]12mm lens[/shoplink].

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].

Leica 25mm now shipping to Europe (+Stock on eBay + new review)

Image on top: The 25mm Leica from Helge (3dkraft)

Our 43rumors reader and friend Helge just received the very first Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 lens that has been shipped to Germany. And he already made a full sharpness and bokeh test on  3d-kraft (Click here /it’s in english!): “If you are looking for a bright standard focal length comparing to a 50mm at fullframe wth autofocus, perfect sharpness and already some potential to play with DOF, the Leica DG Summilux 25/1.4 is highly recommended. Also in video mode the autofocus performas very well. Used on the GH2 it is very silent and adjusts sharpness speedy and nearly without optical pumping.

If you want to buy the lens now you can find it on eBay via Asian resellers [shoplink 24686 ebay]here[/shoplink] and [shoplink 24687 ebay]here[/shoplink]. Amazon Germany (Click here) still says the lens will be in Stock between the next 3-6 weeks. Amazon UK (Click here) says that the lens is temporarely out of Stock. Amazon US (Click here) shas some lenses sold by japanese resellers.

The Panasonic GF3 gets “dpreviewed” -> and talks about the GF7 ;)

[shoplink 23109][/shoplink] The detailed [shoplink 23109]Panasonic GF3[/shoplink] test has just been posted at Dpreview (Click here): “The GF3 is a camera that combines high image quality and access to advanced shooting options with a small form factor and simplified control layout. Enthusiasts may be disappointed with the relative paucity of direct controls, but the GF3 is a very easy to use camera that is capable of lovely images.
The very interesting part is that Dpreview now started to talk about the GF7 (that’s the name we from 43rumors got form our sources): “This being said, given that Panasonic’s chief rivals (Olympus and Sony) have either released or at least talked about producing a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera targeted to the enthusiast market, we wouldn’t be surprised if Panasonic has similar plans. One could even argue that in positioning the GF3 so unambiguously as an upgrade for compact camera users, Panasonic creates a gap in its G-series lineup waiting to be filled by just such a camera.
You can get the GF3 right now at [shopcountry 23109] (Click on shop names).

P.S.: You can also play with te GF3 vs E-PL3 vs NEX-C3 studio comparison (Click here).

Wanderlust, Toylens, XZ-1 and a Jupiter 8 rangefinder lens review!

The Jupiter 8, 50mm (Image courtesy NicoFoto)

NicoFoto (Click here) tested the Jupiter 8 (50mm)lens on the Panasonic GF1: “It is full of character, renders beautiful images, and fits Micro Four Thirds cameras such as the Panasonic GF1 like a glove. Works great for portraits. It is hardly an instant gratification tool, rather, it demands a learning curve that must be endured – and that’s exactly why it can help you improve your photographic skills.
Usually you can find that lens on [shoplink 24651 ebay]eBay (Click here to see the search results)[/shoplink].

Outbackphoto (Click here) tested the Wanderlust Pinwide Pinhole for m43 cameras and the SLR Magic Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4.
The Wanderlust is available here wanderlustcameras.com.
You can find the SLR magic lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

PhotographyBay (Click here) posted a full XZ-1 review: “Overall, the Olympus XZ-1 is a great little compact camera. I find it to be right up there with the Canon G12 as a serious compact shooter. The design is solid, with a slick metal body, the smart lens selection wheel and the signature Olympus Art Filters. The bright f/1.8 lens puts it at the front of the pack in this regard. The rest of the XZ-1′s features and performance considerations stack up nicely against any compact camera in its class.”
The XZ-1 is in Stock at [shopcountry 19904].