Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro Lens Review by Blunty

Full E-M1 review at Digitalcamerareview (Click here). They like the camera a lot but there is also an open question:

“The camera has all the making of a semi-professional or professional camera. The addition of Olympus professional grade lenses makes the E-M1 a strong contender for professional. But will professionals be ready to take the plunge into a mirrorless system instead of holding strong with their DSLR systems? Sadly, I’m not quite sure we are. I think the E-M1 has some pretty spectacular features that most professional cameras don’t offer like an in-camera image stabilization system, weather proofing and tilting LCD screen. But, the overwhelming majority of DSLR users still have no idea what mirrorless can offer and changing camera systems is a scary notion to most. With a price point that is surpassing the Nikon D7100, Olympus is going to struggle with securing new buyers.”

CamerLabs RAW test: “under the hood, the Panasonic Lumix GX7, Olympus OMD EM5 and EM1 all share pretty much the same degree of real-life detail and noise levels.”

More E-M1 tests:
E-M1 images of Buchangrant.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Studio Sample Photos (Photographyreview).
Test at Itmedia (Japanese).
Full size RAW by Steve Huff.
test au château at Lepidi.

Preorder Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.

[shoplink 42073 ebay][/shoplink]

The [shoplink 42073 ebay]mini OMD keychain[/shoplink]…not the real OMD mini :)

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Two trusted sources confirmed that Olympus will announce a new High End compact camera in October. It will look like the an OMD (has integrated EVF) but feature a much smaller sensor. The smaller sensor will allow the camera to have a compact 28-300mm zoom. Basically it’s a sort of mini portable OMD…just a bit bigger than the [shoplink 42073 ebay]OMD keychain you can find on eBay[/shoplink] :)

I also got some info about a second high-end compact with FT sensor. But that camera could be announced a couple of months later…

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Some of the glorious High End fixed Lens filmcameras from Olympus:

Olympus Trip 35 ([shoplink 35471 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] and article on 43rumors)
Olympus 35 SP ([shoplink 36258 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] and article on 43rumors)
Olympus XA ([shoplink 37225 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] and article on 43rumors)

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Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

an imaginary ultra-compact Panasonic camera. Not a real product! :)

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According to one trusted source Panasonic will announce the new ultra compact camera next week on Thursday (October 10). The source didn’t share any details on the camera and new lenses yet. But we know from other sources that we can expect the following new stuff:

1) A new Panasonic GM1 very thin and small camera. Close to the Sony RX100MII in terms of size. No mechanical shutter at all. Body is made of magnesium with a leather finnish. It comes in total black, silver/black, silver/brown.
2) A new Panasonic 12-32mm compact zoom (non PZ). Even smaller than the current Panasonic X Vario PZ 14-42mm.
3) The new Nocticron 42,5mm f/1.2 lens will be in Store in December. I guess the price and final specs will be announced on October 10 too.
I can also confirm that there will be an Olympus announcement in October. More about that soon…

Stay tuned on 43rumors!
Ale.

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For sources: Sources can send me anonymous info at 43rumors@gmail.com (create a fake gmail account) or via contact form you see on the right sidebar. Thanks!
For readers: Don’t miss any news. Join our group on facebook and follow our tweets.

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

Image courtesy: Tyson Robichaud

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The GX7 is in Stock and shipping at Amazon US (Click here). And it is also easily on top of the most sold mirrorless camera ranking (you can see it here). And there are alreayd plenty of new tests and reviews to report today:

Our friend Tyson Robichaud (Click here) posted the first part of his ongoing GX7 review. He likes the camera a lot but also marked some quirks that can hopefully be fixed by Panasonic via fw update:

“Oddly, if you are using a Lumix lens that also has OIS, the GX7 will disable the In Body Image Stabilization and as far as I can figure out, you cannot use it.  This also follows a very odd omission of the lack of IBIS for video requiring optical stabilization for video shooters.  Silly.  I certainly hope this is remedied in a near future firmware update.”

Hardwarezone wrote a very positive conclusion:

“The Panasonic Lumix GX7 has genius. When I first learned about the camera I was not impressed, but when I started to use it I became impressed by how smoothly the camera handles. When I got the chance to use it side by side with the Olympus PEN E-P5 I became even more enamoured with the camera. On paper, the GX7 seems like it doesn’t hold up to many of the E-P5′s specs. But Panasonic’s great strength is in making their cameras easy to use, and that’s a metric you can’t judge on paper.”

And there are more test here:
GX7 test at Dime. And Jonas sent us a link to his own test: “I did a quick videotest with a GX7 and a slider. Have a look man! It’s all filmed as flatt as possible. -5,-5,-5,0 Natural style on 1080p 50fps then converted to 24fps 720p in premiere elements 11. http://youtu.be/DEoEJ23B7Ac”

GX7 links:
Silver GX7 body at Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK , Amazon JP.
Silver GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Henrys, Wex Deutschland, WexUK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 body at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Black GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Silver GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.

The new GM1 MFT camera is said to be close in size with the Sony RX100MII (pictured on top)

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A source just unveiled some intriguing info about the new Panasonic ultracompact camera that will be announced in early October:

1) It’s named Panasonic GM1. Now we have Panasonic G, GF, GH, GX and GM series….what a mess :)

2) The source wrote that “Its a lot smaller than i thought i would be“. It cannot be compared to other mirrorless interchangeable cameras. it’s more close to the Sony RX100 in terms of size (cool!).

3) The camera is very thin and that goal is possible because the camera is the first MFT camera with no mechanical shutter! it has an electronic shutter only! This is supposed to be better than the current e-shutters. And it can work with flash (with a certain shutterspeed)

4) The body is made of magnesium with a leather finnish. It comes in total black, silver/black, silver/brown.

The source writes that if you were hoping got a compact camera with FT sensor and fixed prime lens…forget it. The GM1 is better!

That sounds good! Stay tuned on 43rumors. Panasonic and Olympus rumors and announcements coming the next days and weeks!!!

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For sources: Sources can send me anonymous info at 43rumors@gmail.com (create a fake Gmail account) or via contact form you see on the right sidebar. Thanks!
For readers: Don’t miss any news. Join our group on facebook and follow our tweets.

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

[shoplink 38940 ebay][/shoplink]

The new Lens Turbo for Micro Four Thirds sales will start in November. As you know the Lens Turbo is basically a Speed Booster alternative without electronic contacts. There are already [shoplink 38940 ebay]Lens Turbo auctions for NEX and X-mount on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. But there is also a good news to report:

Unlike the current NEX and X version The MFT Lens Turbo adapter will have an all new design to highly improve the quality. It has increased the edge sharpness and solved the blue spot problem. Great!

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For sources: Sources can send me anonymous info at 43rumors@gmail.com (create a fake Gmail account) or via contact form you see on the right sidebar. Thanks!
For readers: Don’t miss any news. Join our group on facebook and follow our tweets.

Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct

Egami (translation here) spotted an Olympus patent describing a new on sensor phase detection tech. The idea is simple. With an addition of a second layer every single pixel can be used to enable phase detection AF. if it works we basically would have the best solution ever…even better than the Dual AF Pixel solution from the Canon 70D. But we all know there is usually a huge time gap between patents and real application on final mass products.