Look how Olympus is going to tease us! What you see on top is the E-P3 successor and Olympus will not show it to us for now :(
UPDATE: There is absolutely no official detail yet about possible specs. They only say that they will release that new E-P3 within 2013. And the graph below states that Olympus will release the new PEN, a new OMD, a new E and a new high end compact camera by end 2013.
Source: DC.watch. (Thanks Masato!)
wow guys! Voigtlander-Cosina keep doing great lenses for the MFT system! They just announced a new 42,5mm f/0.95 lens!!!
This is the third MFT lens from Nokton. The ther two are the:
Nokton 25mm f/.095 at [shopcountry 15659].
Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 at [shopcountry 30452].
See at DC.watch.
After having tested the Olympus body cap lens today DxOmark (Click here) also released the Olympus 60mm macro results. They write: “Compared to its main (and more expensive) competitor, the Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 ASPH OIS, it offers better quality for the money, delivering category-leading vignetting performance among Micro Four Thirds prime lenses as well as excellent sharpness.”
And let’s keep talking about the new lens tests:
The Olympus 17mm f/1.8 has been tested by Lepidi (translation here) and Steve Huff. And there is a Panasonic 12-35mm lens test at Thebitmap.
No one of these lenses is as good as the Olympus body cap lens of course :)
Short break from regular Olympus-Voigtlander news to inform our long time frustrated US readers that the Panasonic GH3 is back in Stock at Amazon US (Click here) and Samys (Click here)! You even have it in Stock with a $65 discount on [shoplink 36502 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. UPDATE: Now sold out at Amazon!
And there is another nice deal. Lowest price ever for the GX1 body at Amazon ($319). And still running and in Stock the double Sigma lens deal at BHphoto (Click here).
Yesterday Panasonic also announced two new GF5 kits (Source: Panasonic.net). One with the new 14-42mm lens only and one dual lens kit with the new zoom and the 45-150mm lens. Current GF5 kits (but also GX1 kits) are now discounted and here is a short roundup of the lowest prices in USA for the new GF5 and GX1:
GF5:
Panasonic GF5 with 14-42mm (non X) lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here). Red kit for $399 at Adorama (Click here).
Red GF5 with X lens for $399 at [shoplink 36452 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. To get notified on X kit deals save this search on Slidoo eBay.
GX1:
Body with 14-42mm (non X) lens for $449 at Amazon (Click here).
GX1 with 14-42mm X(!) lens for $499 at [shoplink 36451 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. To get notified on X kit deals save this search on Slidoo eBay.
Olympus body cap lens:
DxOmark (Click here) tested the Olympus Body Cap lens. I guess they did it just for fun to see how low the quality is. And indeed the lens ranks at 2872th place: “No photographer buying a $49, 9mm long body cap lens is expecting optical perfection. Instead this lens is a bit of fun, a curiosity, a point and shoot option that’s a bit quirky and doesn’t cost much money. The limited focusing, fixed 15mm focal length and f/8 aperture will be overly restrictive for some and the latter means you’ll need to shoot in decent light, unless you’re really going to crank up the ISO. Those restrictions however will often make you work in a different way and who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.”
Curiosity: Pentax today announced a body cpa lens for the Q system too (Source: MR).
Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens:
Now let’s rise the bar from the worse to the best lens. Our friend Tyson Robichaud (Click here) tested the Olympus 75mm f/1.8: “It’s sharp, too sharp some may even say for portraiture as you’ll potentially need to be softening skin to get the most flattering results in certain situations. The price is high, but that is what it is. Should Olympus have provided a hood and sealing at this price point? I think so yes, but once you get over that hurdle, you won’t be left wanting from a pure image quality standpoint.”
Lens price check at [shopcountry 31284].
Thord party and cheap hoods in US ($7 on amazon), US ($32 better quality), [shoplink 34663 ebay]Germany (ebay)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 34664 ebay]Hong Kong (ebay)[/shoplink].
Mirrorless Workshop by Giulio Sciorio:
Award winner Giulio Sciorio and known MFT user organized a new workshop that some of you might be interested to follow: More here: http://www.smallcamerabigpicture.com/workshops/
The new 75-300mm MFT lens and the XZ-10 compact camera have been announced and here is the official press release:
CENTER VALLEY, Pa., January 29, 2013 – Olympus makes high-performance super-telephoto shooting more accessible than ever before by introducing the affordable M.ZUIKO ED 75-300mm f4.8-6.7 II lens (35mm equivalent 150-600mm). Olympus has redesigned the lens to match the distinctive OM-D E-M5® and PEN® Micro Four Thirds® series cameras and added a new advanced ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) coating to keep scratches off, and eliminate ghosting and lens flare even in bright lights.
The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm 1:4.8-6.7 II telephoto lens boasts the same high focal length and first-class components as its predecessor, the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm 1:4.8-6.7, and is capable of bringing faraway subjects like children’s faces, animals and landscape features vividly to life with superb-quality close-ups. Olympus fitted a circular aperture that ensures a professional-looking bokeh with smooth and even background defocusing.
The compact size and light weight of this tiny telephoto lens make it convenient to carry. Olympus has redesigned the lens to match the distinctive OM-D E-M5 and PEN series cameras. The lens includes Olympus’ near-silent MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) focusing technology to reduce the whir that can otherwise ruin movie playback on a High-Definition TV.
The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm 1:4.8-6.7 II benefits from the 5-axis image stabilization of the OM-D E-M5 and maximizes the performance of the Olympus PEN compact system cameras for brilliant still images and high-definition (HD) video capture.
U.S. Pricing and Availability
The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm f4-6.7 II Lens will be available in March, 2013.
Estimated Street Price: $549.99
via DPreview. In french at OpenPN.
Press release about the new XZ-10 compact cameras are out at Techradar, Pocket Lint, ePhotozine, Photographyblog, Cnet Asia, OpenPN and so on… and ther eis also a new white XZ-2 (via OpenPN).
