First Speed Booster for MFT tested at EosHD (and soon by Philip Bloom).

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Image courtesy: EosHD

Andrew Reid from EosHD (Click here) is the first user testing the soon to come Speed Booster for Micro Four Thirds. And soon Philip Bloom’s test will be online too. He just got the same adapter and is testing it on the BlackMagic Camera (see his pic on Instagram).

Back to EosHD, the version Andrew got is the Leica R to MFT mount adapter. Here are some key findings:

  • The MFT adpaters are different form the Sony E-mount adapters
  • Build quality of Speed Booster is excellent
  • Speed Booster increases sharpness in the centre of the frame but not at the edges
  • Micro Four Thirds is a 2x crop but with the Speed Booster that becomes more like 1.5x

He tested it on these lenses:

  • [shoplink 38869 ebay]28mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
  • [shoplink 38870 ebay]35mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
  • [shoplink 38871 ebay]50mm F2.0 Summicron-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/1.4 on the Speed Booster
  • [shoplink 38872 ebay]90mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
  • [shoplink 38873 ebay]28-70mm F3.5-F4.5 Vario-Elmar-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.5-3.5 on the Speed Booster

ThE MFT Speed Boosters will come in late Summer and will available at Metabones Shop. You can save this search on Slidoo to get notified when they will be for sale one Bay (here is the How To if you don’t know what this is).

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New G6 and GF6 tests…

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Photographer Giulio Sciorio shoots Miami with the Lumix G6

Let me catch up with some G6 and GF6 links:

Giuglio Sciorio also posted a Focus Peaking Lumix G6 test on youtube. Another peaking during recording test has been posted by Digitfoto on youtube. New G6 vs GH2 test made by Digitfoto on youtube. GF6 connectivity test at DSLRmagazine (google translation here).

Panasonic GF6 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Technikdirekt, Wex UK,
Panasonic G6 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and at Wex DE, Technikdirekt, Wex UK.

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E-PL5 with lens for $499. LX7 for $250.

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These are the latest US deals:
$100 off on the E-Pl5 with lens at Dell.com (Click here).
Limited stock of refurbished LX7 cameras sells for $249 at Groupon (Click here).
GX1 for $245 at Amazon (Click here).
$50 on Qualifying Olympus Digital Cameras at Amazon (Click here).
GH3 for $1199 at [shoplink 38824 ebay]electronicsvalley on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 38826 ebay]mzgamers on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
$100 off on the Demo 75mm lens at [shoplink 38861 ebay]CameraLand on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
$50 off on the Demo 60mm macro at [shoplink 38862 ebay]CameraLand on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Panasonic PZ 45-175mm lens for $299 at Amazon (Click here).

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Olympus quits low end compact camera business. Focus on mirrorless and high end compact.

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This comes as a “no surprise” for everyone here. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Olympus said it will eliminate its V series of compact cameras – the cheapest in its lineup, selling for less than $200. Its camera business posted a loss in the last fiscal year through March, because demand for compact cameras turned out to be weaker than expected, the company said.“. Olympus will focus their resources on the mirrorless system cameras and on high end compact cameras. As I told you a couple of days ago expect a new OMD and a new high end compact fixed lens camera to be announced within the next 3-4 months!

Japan Times also reports about Olympus current financial situation: “Olympus Corp. said Wednesday it returned to the black in fiscal 2012 with a group net profit of ¥8.02 billion, compared with a loss of ¥48.99 billion in the previous year, due partly to an improvement in its medical instrument business. But its imaging business, mainly consisting of digital cameras, logged an operating loss of ¥23.07 billion, posting a third straight year of red ink that weighed on the firm’s earnings. Olympus reported an operating profit of ¥35.08 billion, down 1.2 percent, on sales of ¥743.85 billion, down 12.3 percent. With the market for compact digital cameras rapidly shrinking, Olympus set its sales target for compact cameras at 2.7 million units for the current business year, compared with 5.1 million units in fiscal 2012. It will continue to focus on development and sales of mirrorless cameras, while drastically reducing its lineup of compact cameras. In its medium-term business plan through fiscal 2016, Olympus revised upward its consolidated operating profit projection to a record ¥143 billion from an earlier forecast ¥130 billion, on an expected increase in medical business sales supported by the weakening yen. For the current business year through next March, Olympus expects to post a group net profit of ¥30 billion and a consolidated operating profit of ¥71 billion, on sales of ¥700 billion.”

One more thing: The real challenge for Olympus is their 2-3 year strategy to compete in the high end digital camera market. Full Frame cameras are gettign cheaper and the competition in the mirrorles market is growing…

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TEST: 12-35mm firmware update solves shake issue.

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Panasonic fixes the strange 12-35mm lens shake? from Tim Hashko on Vimeo.

43rumors reader Tim tested the new 12-35mm X firmware 1.2 (download here): “I believe Panasonic finally fixes the shake issue in their 12-35mm f2.8 lens. anasonic has just released firmware 1.2 update for their 12-35mm lens which improves its stabilization system. Until now, this lens has been plagued with the infamous “shake issue”: when on a tripod and angled down, the image would shake. This was a well-known issue documented in numerous videos online. I did a quick test with the new firmware, and it does indeed look like the shake is completely gone. Here is link to my test on vimeo. https://vimeo.com/66329224 (video also embedded on top of this post). Not sure if this is newsworthy, but I was super thrilled to discover this and thought I’d spread the word.”

Thanks Tim!

Lens Price check at [shopcountry 31225].

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TIPA awards for everyone :)

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Like every year…every manufacturer won some kind of price at TIPA awards :) As you know there are so many categories that it is impossible to not win a prize. The Olympus E-PL5 won a price in the best entry level CSC category and Panasonic won the best professional CSC price with the GH3.

I bet that in 2014 Panasonic and Olympus will both win a price again. You wanna bet with me? :)

 

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