MTF charts of the new Tokina 300mm for m43. Costs 370 Euro (over $400).

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Tokina (Click here) published more info about the upcoming new 300mm f/6.3 lens. One of my japanese readers translated the text (Thanks!):

The good: Still looks good and under 300grams.
The bad: Still a month away.
The ugly: 40000YEN (370 Euro/$490)!!!! WTF. I have a [shoplink 30536 ebay]500mm T-Mount from Bower[/shoplink] for 120usd.

Yep, it looks good and it performs good but if you don’t care about using big lenses and adapters you have plenty of other options: [shoplink 30536 ebay]Bower mirror (Click here to see on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30537 ebay]Minolta mirror (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30538 ebay]Centon Mirror (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30541 ebay]Spiratone Mirror (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30542 ebay]Opteka Mirror (here on eBay)[/shoplink]….

Below you can see the MTF chart of the Tokina

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Panasonic GX1 and G3 to be hacked soon!

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After the Panasonic GH2, G2, GF2 and GF3 also the GX1 and G3 could be hacked soon! All Vitaly need is some little help from you to buy the two cameras (Click here to donate). It’s so great to know we can count on him to improve the camera performance! I wish he (or someone else) could hack the Olympus cameras too!

P.S: It is also great to know the price of the current Panasonic cameras is falling down (great that we have some presure from Sony and Nikon!).
The GH2 is now for sale at $849 (with lens) at Amazon (Click here).
Panasonic GF3 with 14mm pancake for $414 at Amazon (Click here).
Panasonic GF2 with kit lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here).
The Panasonic GX1 body sells for $549 again at Amazon (Click here).

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(FT2) Another extended GH3 spec list from Asian source.

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A fake image of the GH3 of course :)

Take that with a grain of salt. It’s coming via a new Asian source! This is an extended GH3 spec list (some part were already posted weeks ago). As usual I would be happy if other sources can confirm or deny the spec list. Just send me a message through the anonymous contact form you see on the right or contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

And here it is the GH3 spec list (reminder, not coming from trusted sources!):
Sensor: 15.5 mega-pixel sensor
Iso: Iso 160-12800, extends to 80-51200
Speed: 6.7fps
Body: Magnesium alloy body, weather sealed, thinner and lighter than GH2, overall design evolves with improved ergonomics
LCD: 3.2″ ips, 1050k-dots, with capacitive touch screen (multi-touch depending on final setting in firmware). LCD tilt-able
EVF: new EVF with 2.06 mega-dots
Card: double SDXC slots
Flash: wireless flash trigger (pending new flagship flash gun)
Video: 1080p60, 24Mbps AVCHD, super slow-mo:480p @ 220fps (reduced FOV)
Battery: battery life >500 CIPA
GPS: in-camera GPS
Wifi: optional wifi accessory
Other features: firmware is not finalized. in-cam HDR, multi-frame night scenes will go into production units once qualified.
X kit: GH3 + 12-35X

What do you think about it?

Let's assume the specs are real. Do you like them?

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Meantime the hackable GH2 is becoming cheaper and cheaper. You may check for a decent deal: [shopcountry 16254].

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

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(UPDATED) E-M5 at Amazon! E-M5 dynamic range test explained…

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The Black E-M5 with 14-42mm kit lens is now in Stock for the normal price at Amazon US (Click here to grab the deal). And it’s selling that good that is damn close to dethrone the NEX-7 from the first place of Amazon mirrorlress ranking (Click here). While it already dethroned the NEX at Amazon Germany (Click here).

UDPATE: It is now alreayd SOLD OUT :(

And now an updated about the Techradar E-M5 test results I linked last week:

The surprising RAW Signal to Noise ration chart from Techradar.

Last week I posted the graph from Techradar showing that the E-M5 has the best RAW dynamic range and noise handling. yes, even better than the Fuji X PRO 1. But as I told you many times you always be aware that there are so many variables that influence test results that you really have to be very careful. I asked Techradar to explain me their test procedure and they gave me that link (Click here).

I have two more doubts:
1) The super German experts from Digitalkamera DIWA lab (Click here for the translation) discovered that the real sensitivity of the E-M5 starts with ISO 120 (when the camera is set at ISO 200) and ends with ISO 14.200 (with the Olympus setting being at 25.600).
2) It’s known that there are not decent RAW converters for the Fuji X Pro 1.

Anyway, we are talking about small differences. The E-M5 is a damn good camera and it will not change the essence of your photography skills to know that it is a tack better or a tack worse than the Fuji :)

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UPDATED: E-M5 in Stock in Germany and in US (overpriced).

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If for some reason you need the E-M5 now than Willoughby’s has four of them in Stock through Amazon (Click here). But we aren’t that desperate or not? :)

UPDATE: The camera is now in Stock at Amazon Germany (Click here).

But here is the next and more important tip if you are still a film camera user like me. Fuji Japan (via FujiRumors) reports that starting from May 1 there will be a double digit price increase on all photographic films! So buy a large Stock now! Here are some links:
Fuji Velvia at [shopcountry 30509].
Fuji Provia at [shopcountry 30508].
Fuji Superia at [shopcountry 30510].
Damn, it’s getting tuff for us film useres. Kodak dropped the slide film production and Fuji increases the price :(

More interesting US deals:
E-Pl2 with 14-42mm and 40-150mm lens for $499 at Amazon (Click here).
Panasonic GF3 with 14mm pancake for $414 at Amazon (Click here).
Panasonic GF with kit lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here).
Nokton 17.5mm is now available for preorder at BHphoto (Click here).
Olympus E-P2 black body for $229 at Amazon (Click here).
The current most sold m43 camera at Amazon (Click here to see rankings) is the E-PL1 kit (Click here). The body only is in Stock for $149 (Click here).
The Panasonic GX1 body sells for $549 again at Amazon (Click here).
The Panasonic 45-175mm X lens sells for $389 at Amazon (Click here).

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E-M5 vs X PRO 1 vs NEX-7 (help needed on the Olympus E-M5 sensor patent).

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Before to read the next E-M5 reviews you may help me with this: Egami (Click here) posted the info about a new Olympus patent describing a sensor technology. Egamis claims that this could be alreayd in use in the E-M5. But the google translation tool does a messy job and I really can’t get into the details of this. Do you understand it?

And now back to reviews! In these days you can read many comparisons between “our” Olympus E-M5 and the other two advanced mirrorless cameras, the Fuji X PRO 1 ($1600 at Amazon) and Sony NEX-7 ($1199 again at A.). After ThePhoBlographer (Click here) and Dslr-check.info (Click here) also Kai from Digitalrev made it. You can see it on the video I posted here on top. And Blog Paran (Click here) compared the E_M5 against the…Samsung NX200 which isn’t really known to be a good performer! And to finish, a hands-on report by one of our readers at Weisserth (Click here).

Today E-M5 Rankings:
USA: E-M5 on position 5/7 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 23 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 5/10 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 4/5/9 (Click here).

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

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