Dpreview posted a “Enthusiast Compact Group Test” and compared the [shoplink 17288]Panasonic LX5[/shoplink] with the Canon Powershot S95 and Nikon Coolpix P7000. The LX5 wins the contest ;)
Another good news: According to Wired the Panasonic LX5 is the camera of the year.

Alexander White contact us to present his new LX5 book: “I wanted to let you know that my new book about the Lumix LX5 has been released, and is now available at Amazon.com and from my own web site, www.whiteknightpress.com. “. Thanks Alexander!

ePhotozine posted a surprising positive articel about the new [shoplink 17163]Olympus E-5[/shoplink]. De facto they say that “If this is the last of the mirror type DSLRs in the Four Thirds range that will be a great pity. Olympus have a finely made product that delivers exceptionally good results. Does the smaller sensor compromise quality? Not in the E-5, that’s quite clear.”

Those are just a few of the many positive statements you can find inside the article:
– The E-5 instantly inspires confidence
– In terms of exposure, the camera is not susceptible to errors from bright light sources and backlighting.
– Focusing in all modes is crisp, fast and accurate. Very impressively, the camera seems able to focus upon almost featureless dark subjects with the same snap as more normal ones.
– I have no complaints about colour reproduction either. Colours are accurate and correctly saturated at the Natural setting.
– AWB deals very convincingly with mixed lighting sources and low light levels, so it is a mixed bag of settings to achieve the best results.
– The dynamic range of the sensor is not a problem. Highlights and shadows are recorded with detail over a surprisingly wide range.

It looks like despite the not so attractive features the E-5 is capable of delivering a very good image quality! Now Olympus, bring us the Pro-MFT camera ;)

Olympus E-5 direct shop links:
Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon Deutschland.

P.S.: You can download the japanese E-5 system chart and brochure here: http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/support/cs/ctlg/index_ctlg.html. The english version is available here: http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/208_manuals.cfm?prodID=MN4279292

Home Cooking…avec le GH2! from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom had the chance to play around with the new [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] and the new [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] lens.

What are his thoughts about the GH2?
“Very easy to operate. LCD touch screen great and intuitive and nice resolution. EVF lovely, great resolution and makes handheld a dream! Nice to have audio meters on screen. Image… gorgeous. SO MUCH better than GH1. No mud, no nasty vertical lines…Although all shot at low ISO I did some 2500 ISO tests and there were really good! I found ISO 800 almost unusable at times on my GH1, and any underexposure in dark areas even at low ISOs…UGH, no problem now…” . And after his first short test he says the GH2 is better than the hacked [shoplink 14826]GH1[/shoplink]!
What does he say about the lens?
“It’s simply my new favourite lens, shame it won’t go on my Canons or [shoplink 17844 ebay]Leica M9[/shoplink]. It has a beautiful look to it, great bokeh, so solid and well made and can focus as close up as a macro. LOVELY!”

You can order the lens on eBay ([shoplink 15659 ebay]Click here[/shoplink]) or Amazon Germany (Click here)

P.S.: The GH2 should start shipping today in US (let us know if you receive it!). Those are the GH2 direct links to some of our affiliate shops:
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France.

The Micro Four Thirds system now offers two über-fast lenses. The Voigtländer 25mm and the Noktor 50mm lenses (both with the amazing f/0.95 aperture)! Sadly it is almost impossible to buy the Noktor. The website (Noktor.com) has no lens in Stock and there are a few and sometimes zero auctions on [shoplink 15629]eBay (Click here to check)[/shoplink] The Voigtländer is available at local stores or on [shoplink 15659]eBay via german and asian resellers (Click here to check)[/shoplink].

2 days ago I received my Voigtländer lens and I made quick comparison with the Noktor 50mm. All images were taken with my [shoplink 16885]Olympus E-P1[/shoplink]. JPG at normal settings and resized in Photoshop.

Click the link below to see the minireview:

Luminous Landscape (“LL”) posted the new Panasonic GF2 hands-on: “Whatever the [shoplink 17361]GF2[/shoplink] may be (and I’ll tell you in a moment what ecological niche I think it is intended to occupy) it is not a linear successor to the [shoplink 14828]GF1[/shoplink].” and “Which brings us to the question of how does the GF2 handle and how does it compare to the GF1? Frankly, for myself (and yes, I own a GF1) the GF2 is a disappointment. I like cameras with manual controls.” but “Panasonic has shown that a small camera can have a usable interface, even when it might not appeal to photographers like me that prefer traditional tactile controls.”

P.S.: LL should ask Panasonic why Japan will have the GF in Stock on December 3 and the rest of the world by end of January. And where is the GH2? Should we start to learn japanese just to buy those nice [shoplink 17664 ebay]japanese GH2 cameras you can find on eBay[/shoplink]? :)

We have two new reviews at DC.watch (Japanese with google English translation) and Akihabaranews (in English).

For Akihabara the GH2 is an “impressive upgrade!” and “the [shoplink 14826]GH1[/shoplink] was and still is an incredible All-purpose Camera that kicked some serious ass to other big names including Canon or Nikon. The [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink]  just proved to us how far ahead Panasonic is in this field. As a GH1 owner I must admit that I struggled to get used to the GH2 new button layouts but the improvement made on this camera are really worth the hassle.”

DC.watch wrote a less emotional but more detailed review with many Image samples you can download.

P.S.: Still no news about the GH2 availability in Europe and US.

First I have to say that I just received my Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 and I had that nice WOW feeling when I opened the box. It’s extremely well built lens and I love to play with the smooth focus ring and I already love that nice “tic” sound when changing the aperture ring. The first thing I noticed is that you have to make a 1 and 1/2 turns to move from a close focus distance (17cm) to infinite focus. I will try the lens this weekend and compare it with the other wide open king, my Noktor 50mm f/0.95. For the record: I bought that lens from [shoplink 15659]Foto Mundus on eBay[/shoplink].

There are two new reviews:

Peter Lueck reviewed the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm lens. Also ThePublicEye published a short test. And a few image samples can be found at dpreview forum.