E-P3 AF speed test made by Unwire.

There are tons of new Pen and Lens articles. Thanks to everyone for sending me those links!!! Here is the list:

Olympus E-P3

Olympus E-P3 Hands-On Preview at Photographyblog: “Although we shall reserve final judgment until we can bring you a fully-fledged in-depth review, our initial impressions of the Olympus E-P3 are exceedingly positive. The camera is solidly made, very responsive, extremely fast to focus and has great manual controls (although as noted we missed the dedicated ISO and WB buttons).”
Short E-P3 review at Wired: “bottom line on the PEN 3 is it’s a real shooter’s camera, not just a designer’s desktop paperweight. It’s an easy-to-use, fast focuser and shooter that’s got a steamer trunk full of fun, functional features, lenses and accessories.”
Olympus E-P3 JPG and RAW Photos at Photographyblog.
Olympus Debuts Dazzling New Micro 4/3 Gear (TheOnlinePhotographer).
The E-P3 has been added to the Four Thirds Matching Simulation.
Olympus event in Vienna at Photoscala (german).
Mass of E-P3 image samples on Flickr.
Olympus E-P3 Image Samples at TVsmith.
Olympus E-P3 review by Robert Wong.

Olympus event in Japan at DC.watch.

Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12mm f/2.0 Sample Photos at ePhotozine: “the image quality and sharpness of this lens is very good, with excellent detail right to the corners, and very little flare“.

Olympus E-PM1

Olympus E-PM1 Hands-On Photos at Photographyblog

Olympus E-PL3

Olmpus E-PL3 Hands-On Photos at Photographyblog.
Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 Hands On Preview at ePhotozine.

Olympus new flash unit

Olympus PEN flash unit at Letsgodigital. Olympus PEN E-P3 accessories at Letsgodigital.

Olympus new camera grips and accessories

Olympus PEN E-P3 camera grip at Letsgodigital.
The new Olympus PT-EP05L underwater case for the E-PL3 (Olympus Japan).

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Hot preorders: Olympus E-P3 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H and [shoplink 23576 ebay]eBay[/shoplink] Olympus 45mm f/1.8 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H.

So here we are with the first battle between the two top Micro Four Thirds lens. Which one is better? The manual focusing and ultrafast Nokton or the new, cheaper and autofocusing Leica lens? At SLRclub you can find the answer! A forum user just posted an image comparison you can see below (Click on image to enlarge). As you see the Panasonic lens is much sharper at the center of the image (at f/1.4) but the border performance of the Nokton is still better than the border performance from the Panasonic. This is so because the Nokton has a much larger lens.

If you prefer the manual focusing and ultrafast Voigtlaender lens you can get it right now at [shoplink 15659 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and at Amazon France (Cheapest price),
The Leica will be available in early August and you can preorder at Adorama (Click here), J&R (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).

Now let’s vote:

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One of my favorite websites CameraLabs (Click here) posted a final review of the new Panasonic G3. You can find plenty of video you can download in full resolution and image samples and comparisons. And it’s good to hear that they quite enjoy the G3: “The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable cameras I’ve used.“…”I genuinely believe many people who are shopping for their first DSLR would be better-served by something like the Lumix G3. “…”And last but by no means least, the image and video quality is right up there with the best APS-C DSLRs.”

Oh yes, the G3 is really a nice camera!

Click on the following store names to preorder the G3 at Amazon, Adorama and B&H. In Europe at Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, and worldwide on [shoplink 22077 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

– “Build quality is outstanding, with a solid construction and superb fit and finish.”

– “It’s also very good in the optical department, showing pretty consistent sharpness results across most of its aperture range. The moderate vignetting, lack of chromatic aberrations, and good close-up performance”

– “At first sight, it may look bulky and heavy, but when you remind yourself that it covers an angle-of-view range similar to that of a 100-400mm lens on a 35mm camera, you immediately realise that it’s actually quite compact, especially if you factor in the bright maximum aperture, too.”

Click on shop name to see the lens search results at [shopcountry 23304].

Now let’s hope Olympus will make such nice zooms for the Micro Four Thirds system!

Credit: Shawn Low/CNET Asia)

Before to read the test, if you are from US, you can get the Panasonic 20mm pancake for $389 on Amazon (Click here). It’s in Stock via Vann’s!

Shawn Low from Cnet Asia (Click here) tested the new Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 lens: “We think the lens produced good, pleasing bokeh (the quality of blur) unlike some kit lenses which can make out-of-focus elements appear harsh. The lens produced sharp images all the way to the edges. The lens also produced natural colors that were very close to what our eyes perceived. Although we had a positive experience with the Leica 25mm F1.4, we think that the lens’ minimum focusing distance of 30cm can sometimes be limiting.“More pictures at Cnet Asia.

Dpreview (Click here) posted more 25mm versus 20mm pancake image comparisons. There is a huge discussion about those images. Someone on DPreview said the [shoplink 14796]20mm f/1.7 lens[/shoplink] is actually sharper. To me it looks like the new Leica is sharper than the pancake when you look at the the center of the image.

You can preorder the Leica 25mm f/1.4 at Adorama (Click here), J&R (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here). I didn’t find any preorders in Europe yet.

Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 ASPH with Lumix G3 sample video from Gordon Laing on Vimeo.

The nice (and very fast) guys from CameraLabs (Click here). managed to post a complete set of full size images and video test on their website. And you can found even more images on Flickr (Click here). There is not a lot to say about those image and video samples. I like those images, they have some kind of “sex appeal” that makes me want to buy the lens :)
P.S: You can preoder the lens at Adorama (Click here) and on [shoplink 23181 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

And the Panasonic G3 is now in Stock at Amazon UK (CLick here). What’s impressive is that they are the first Amaozn store to have it in Stock…they also have beaten the japanese store!!! Other preorders are available at Amazon, Adorama and B&H. In Europe at Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, and worldwide on [shoplink 22077 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

P.S.: Below you can see the reportsed omuser image samples taken with the Leica 25mm lens