Imatest results via Lensrentals (the 20mm rules!)

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[shoplink 14828 ebay][/shoplink] Lensrentals (Click here) just posted their Wide-Angle Micro 4/3 Imatest Results. He measured the resolution at different aperture settings. He really tested ALL wide angle lenses including the new Nokton 17.5mm. And the results are once again a big praise for probably the most sold m43 lens ever…the [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens[/shoplink]! So small, so cheap and so damn good! It really shines at all apertures and it even (easily!) beats the [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm[/shoplink] lens! Of course Lensrentals only measured the resolution and there are many other aspects to consider when judging the quality of the lens. It has to be said that the Olympus 17mm is pretty dispapointing while the [shoplink 16258]Panasonic 14mm[/shoplink] lens is again doing pretty well!

The Panasonic 20mm lens is one of these lenses that wil be remembered for a long time. And I hope Panasonic will do more of that kind of lenses in future!

For US readers. The super 14mm lens got a disocunt and is in Stock for $299 at Amazon (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). And the 20mm is also available at Amazon (Click here) after it went out of Stock for a while. The second most sold lens of the moment is the $199 45-20mm lens at Amazon (Click here to get the lens or here to see the ranking).

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E-M5 dynamic range greater than on the GH2 (Admiringlight).

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I really tried hard to not write any E-M5 news today but there are some news I absolutely have to report :)
Admiringlight (Click here) compared the dynamic range (in RAW) between the OM-D and the Gh-2. He writes: “the E-M5 has significantly better dynamic range than the GH2 (or any other m4/3 cam I’ve ever used) in both the shadows and the highlights (though the difference in everyday use is bigger in the highlights). In my experience with the E-M5 so far, it’s been very difficult to clip highlights at all…you really have to almost try to do it.” Good news! Let’s see what DxOmark will tell us soon about the E-m5!
Also Digitalcamerareview (Click here) posted the full E-M5 review and gets the “Editor’s choice” mark: “The E-M5 doesn’t start as quickly as a DSLR and doesn’t offer continuous autofocus at its high-speed continuous shooting rate, so while you probably won’t see anybody from Sports Illustrated shooting one on the sidelines, just about anybody else will probably find there is not much this newest little Olympus can’t do.”

User reviews
Seeing all these positive reviews posted lately I checked the user reviews on Amazon if there is something negative to report. But I had no luck (LOL) and the 12 review on Amazon US (Click here) are almost all 5 stars. So I crossed the ocean over to Amazon Germany (Click here) were I found one “One star” review that really doesn’t count. The reviewer basically says the Nikon D40 is a better value…maybe a Nikon employee wrote it :)

And here are some messages and links sent to me by readers:
Silver + 12-50 E-M5 pre-order just shipped from B&H (Click here) STOP Black E-M5 body only available in stock in Sweden www.cyberphoto.se STOP $100 discount on that E-M5 on [shoplink 30855 ebay]eBay DE (Click here)[/shoplink] STOP Shooters report at Imaging Resource (Click here) STOP Studio samples at Photographyreview (Click here) STOP Image samples by Clausen (Click here) STOP Customizing the E-M5 by Ramon (in spanish).

Now please send Panasonic send me some GH3 rumor if you don’t want that all 43rumors switch over to Olympus ;)

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

Bestseller list. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 11/12/13 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 7 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 2/9 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 3/4 (Click here).

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Another slow überzoom patent (when are we going to see a f/2.0?)

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Egami (Click here) spotted another Olympus zoom patent. It’s a 12-120mm f/4-5.6 lens. The patent contains many variations all with the similar aperture range but with different focal lengths. As usual with patents they are mostly not made to become real products. But I hope that one day I will find some patent showing f/2.0 zooms too! :)

You 43rumors reader already expressed your opinion in favour of fast zooms like the superb (and expensive) Olympus [shoplink 25320 ebay]14-35mm f/2.0 (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25119 ebay]35-100mm f/2.0 (Click here to see them on eBay)[/shoplink] Zuiko lenses. Let’s see if Olympus will do that!

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New Adobe Photoshop in Stock. PEN deals ongoing.

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I see it at work every day that a good photo also depends from a good postprocessing. And certainly Adobe Photoshop is one of the programs that does his job pretty well. So it’s worth to let you know that the new CS6 suite is now available at Adobe (Click here) or at BHphoto (mac version here and windows version here).

P.S.: Saw once the full story of a photo shooting for Audi. The magic really came out from the post production work and not from the shooting directly. They added so many lights and shadows the real photo really looked ugly by comparison :)

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PEN USA deals (and more)
$100 price drop on all Olympus E-P3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Combine it with the 40-150mm lens and the total rebate is $150!
$100 price drop on all Olympus E-PL3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Combine it with the 40-150mm lens and the total rebate is $150!
$100 price drop on all Olympus E-PM1 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Combine it with the 40-150mm lens and the total rebate is $150!

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New E-M5 user guide from Dpreview (shipping at Amazon/E-M5 accessories)

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Video on top: I don’t know if that is a common thing under new E-M5 owners but a 43rumors reader tested the E-M5 weather sealed feature by taking  shower with the camera :)

Now it’s time for a short E-M5 news update:
First I have to report that many USA readers are now receiving their E-M5 body only preorders at Amazon (good!). Dpreview (Click here) posted an interesting article about “Getting the most out of the Olympus E-M5“. Definitely worth to read it! Review at Cecilsphotos (Click here), Image samples by Outbackphoto (Click here), Le bal des Martines, Paris, Belleville on vimeo (Click here), Low-light AF speed test youtube (Click here), Primero contacto by Ramon Clemente (Click here).

New E-M5 accessories on eBay:
Original CS-36FBC leather case for the E-M5 on [shoplink 30831 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
The super original Gariz E-M5 case are available on eBay in [shoplink 30624 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 30625 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink].
Three E-M5 batteries with charger for $39,99 ([shoplink 30785 ebay]Click here to see the auction[/shoplink]).
Two E-M5 batteries with charger for $30,99 ([shoplink 30786 ebay]Click here to see the auction[/shoplink]).
One E-M5 battery with charger for $18,99 ([shoplink 30787 ebay]Click here to see the auction[/shoplink]).
A single E-M5 battery without(!) charger for $12,99 ([shoplink 30788 ebay]Click here to see the auction[/shoplink]).

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

Bestseller list. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 7/19 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is not a top seller today (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 2/12 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 1/16 (Click here).

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UPDATED: New SLR Magic 25mm f/0.95 lens!

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The new SLRmagic 25mm f/0.95 lens is in the middle between the Voigtlander and the Leica.

So here we are with the next super fast f/0.95 lens! After the Hyperprime 50mm and the two Voigtlander 25mm and 17.5mm SLR magic will develop another 25mm f/0.95 lens! It will very likely arrive on market by end of the year and have an extimated price similar of the [shoplink 25691 ebay]Hyperprime 50mm lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

They also send me some image samples which they told “are representative of 70% of what our final lens can produce. We noticed some purple fringing and we will try to address that issue before the production model“. They will show that lens at Photokina in September (Hall 3.1 at booth B059).

Below you can find an f/0.95 image comparison (Click on them to enlarge). On the left the SLRmagic and on the right the Voigtlander. The SLR Magic lens has thinner DOF. It is because it is a T0.95 lens and not a f/0.95 lens. Images may look blurry in some comparison photos but it is just because of thinner DOF. You can see the thin plane of focus is actually quite sharp. The ISO was 200 and shutter speed was 1/15 on a manfrotto portable tripod with WB at 3000K.

Comparison at f/0.95

Comparison at f/1.4

The advantage of the SLRmagic lens over the Voigtlander is the smooth aperture ring (perfect for cinematographers), it’s sharper wide open, and less purple fringing.

Let us know what you think about the new SLRmagic 25mm lens

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This would become the fourth m43 lens with f/0.95 aperture. The other three are the:
[shoplink 15659 ebay]Nokton 25mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 30452 ebay]Nokton 17.5mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 25691 ebay]Noktor SLRmagic 50mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink]

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