For a short moment Olympus displayed a mysterious “OM-D E-FZ1” camera name. It now has been removed. I don’t think this is a real name of a future camera. More likely this was a mistake…I guess :)
UPDATE: A source just told me that this was the internal code name of the E-M1!
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If you are really desperate and want the GX7…NOW than you can grab it via third party resellers at Amazon US, in Black (Click here) and Silver (Click here). But if you wait 10 days more than it will (hopefully) ship via Amazon itself. Meantime a Japanese camera owner posted a first unboxing video on youtube.
One more deal: E-Pm1 with lens for $248 at Amazon US (Click here).
Photoplus Expo in New York
Yep, I can now confirm via multiple trusted sources that Olympus will have one more product announcement in October! And there is definitely a High End Compact Camera. And I mean really High End…not a new XZ camera :) The announcement should take place right before the Photoplus show in New York City. I have no specs yet, but I will get them soon :)
There are plenty of competitors in that market:
– The [shoplink 41706 eBay]Fuji X100S (here one Bay)[/shoplink] with the superb hybrid viewfinder and unique sensor.
– The [shoplink 41707 eBay]Ricoh GR (here one Bay)[/shoplink] which is the smallest and also the cheapest
– The [shoplink 41708 eBay]Nikon Coolpix A (here one Bay)[/shoplink] fixed prime lens.
– The [shoplink 41709 eBay]Canon PowerShot G1 X (here one Bay)[/shoplink] fixed zoom lens.
It will be hard for Olympus to make something unique…or not?
Note: The High End fixed lens market is still growing and it makes sense for Olympus to join the battle. As reported via Personal-View in Europe the “More advanced fixed-lens cameras are also doing well. These are cameras with larger image sensors, which registered a sales increase of around 7%. Selling at steadily high prices of around EUR450.“
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Four Thirds Lens owners will be very interested to se Robin Wongs E-M1 FT Lens test (Click here). He tested these four FT lenses and you can see the results on the video I embedded on top:
1) Olympus ZD 7-14mm F4 ([shoplink 41751 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
2) Olympus ZD 14-35mm F2 SWD ([shoplink 41752 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
3) Olympus ZD 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II ([shoplink 41753 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
4) Olympus ZD 50mm F2 macro ([shoplink 41754 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
5) Olympus ZD 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 SWD ([shoplink 41755 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
6) Olympus ZD 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 (non-SWD) ([shoplink 41755 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink])
And the conclusion is:
“The focusing speed of Four Thirds lenses on the E-M1 is NOT as fast as how they are on DSLR E-5, E-3 or E-30. It may not have fulfilled my expectations, but in all seriousness, the focusing speed was FAR from disappointing. In comparison to previous focusing on any micro Four Thirds camera, the focusing speed on E-M1 has increased by quite a far leap, and is now very fast and reliable. For some lenses, the focusing speed was very close to the DSLR E-5. The fastest focusing lens out of the series tested was undoubtedly the ZD 14-35mm f2 SWD lens”
Robin writes that the reason why the E-M1 cannot match the E-5 performance is:
“Looking at Olympus DSLR E-5, it has 11 point AF, and each point has TWIN CROSS sensor, meaning FOUR lines of phase detect sensor were installed in each point to maximize the focusing potential. Looking at the specifications of the new Phase Detect in E-M1, it was not the same, and rather completely different. It has 37 selectable points, which covered quite a large area of the frame. Now here is the main difference, the AF points are NOT Twin Cross, in fact, they were not Cross points at all. Again, knowing these facts, to expect the autofocusing performance to match DSLR E-5, was starting to look more and more difficult to happen.”
I guess most FT Lens owners are not surprised by these results. Already Dpreview mentioned that the AF wasn’t as fast as on the E-5. We may need an E-M2 or E-M7 before we see an AF performance as fast as on the E-5!
Please take time to read the full test at Robin Wong’s site (Click here).
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Preorder Links:
Dedicated page at Amazon.
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.
E-M1 unboxing video by Jamie McDonald (found via Lepidi).
Tested: Olympus RC flash system vs. Nikon CLS (Lightingrumours).
Using Manual Focus Lenses on Mirrorless Cameras (Admiringlight).
GX7 test by Popco.
Panasonic G6 review at Hybridcams.
Panasonic GF6 review at Hybridcams.
Anonymous: “Thanks for all the good work recently. Would be great if you could do a post mentionining this possible new independent 4/3 digital back for 35mm cameras. Please check out http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/digipod. Reason I’m telling you is that if enough people join in it will be a 4/3 sensor:
“5000 backers will see the digiPod use a 4/3rds which is 18.0 x 13.5 millimetre.”
The funding round has 31 days left. With help of the 43rumors community the 43 digital back could become reality.”
Nicholas: “There don’t seem to be many people talking about m43 cameras and astrophotography so I thought I would give it a go with an OM-D:
http://thisisnotaprint.blogspot.dk/2013/08/astrophotography-there-are-more-stars.html”
Boyd: “While not quite a rumor, far from actually, I did a write up of what I think is going on in the American camera market to explain why mirror less cameras don’t occupy more market share. Give it a read if you’re at all interested and feel free to share it on the website: http://lumahouse.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/why-i-think-dslrs-still-sell-better-in-america/”
Huzsolt: “I made a short (long) test video with the G6. Instead of pixel peeping and comparing, I made it in a relaxing way (not counting the camera shake :) ), more like a real time use. Feel free to publish it, if you like it…
Be gentle, this is my first video ever (except some phone camera recordings)https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D27NShRVkmU”
James: “I’ve just made this video with the GH3: http://vimeo.com/73607899 It was filmed in one evening and the storyboard / shots made up as I went along. I had a basic idea in my head and I’ve always been inspired to make something with the tools you have, so I had a go! The tools I had were:
A friend called TJ, a GH3 camera, couple of SLR Magic lenses (12mm 1.6 and 25mm 0.95), and also my arms as a boom.
I did use a slider for two shots, but wasn’t practical to lug that around London without my arms falling off!
Hope you enjoy.”
Zsombor: “I have just published a small piece on mirrorless versus DSLRs on Mediium, citing your blog as well. https://medium.com/tech-blogging/ca09f5e34576
Maybe it is interesitng for the readers of 43rumors.”
Tom: “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to suggest a link to a blog post I’ve just written about cycling 1650km by bicycle in the West Australian desert carrying all food for 35 days.
Camera kit was an OMD EM5 with 35-100 f/2.8 Pana, 12mm f/2.0 Oly and 7.5mm Fish-eye Rokinon.
The post is an illustration of how the lenses and my camera system performed.
http://bicyclenomad.com/2013/08/31/canning-stock-route-photography/“
E-M1:
Damian McGilliCuddy posted that video with a Quick Look at Focusing with the E-M1. And ThePhoBlographer posted a first (very simple) E-M1 vs E-M5 ISO comparison. The camera still sells fine and is on top of the Amazon mirrorless ranking (Click here). And still in top 20 of the most sold digital cameras of all kind (Click here).
GX7:
If for some reason you need the GX7…NOW than you can get it via [shoplink 41743 ebay]Hong Kong eBay resellers (Click here)[/shoplink]. it’s in Stock and shipping worldwide. And the Japanese site Mynavi posted a full camera test.
Olympus Nordic posted that image of the 40-150mm f/2.8 Lens on Facebook. Afterall this lens is smaller than expected when we saw the first product pictures!
