Olympus E-M5 gets tested by germans. Beats Samsung APS-C sensors!

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At least according to B&H (Click here) we are exactly one month away from the first Olympus E-M5 shipment. But seeing that the E-M5 still remains within the top list at Amazon (pre-)order rankings (Click here to see it) I doubt you will get the camera on that day :(

Anyway today we have a very interesting new review:
The German testers from Digitalkamera DIWA lab (Click here for the translation) tested the Olympus E-M5 with the new 12-50mm lens.
They first tested the lens and they were satisfied with the results with the only major issue being the high Chromatic Aberration at the wide end.
And now let’s talk about their E-M5 Labortest. First they discovered that the real sensitivity 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). This means that the E-M5 has a 2/3 stops difference from the official Olympus ISO value. The signal to noise ratio corresponds to a decent 40db at low 200 ISO (120 real ISO). It goes down to 35db at 1600 ISO. At high ISO the luminance noise is strong while Olympus handles the chrome noise much better. Digitalkamera says that up to 1600 the performance is good and from that point upwards the image quality visible decreases. Same thing happens for the dynamic range which up to ISO 1.600 reaches 11 stops (very good result). At ISO 3.200 it goes down to 10 stops, at ISO 12.800 it has 9 stops and at ISO 25.600 8 stops only. The sever German reviewer is positively impressed by the results that are better than the ones reached by the [shoplink 29758 ebay]Samsung NX200[/shoplink] which uses a larger APS-C result.
To see the full graphs and test you have to pay a couple of Euros :(

More E-M5 bits: Olympus E-M5 video at Quesabesde (Click here). A finish hands-on at Sulanto (Click here). Another full German review at Chip (Click here).
Olympus 12-50mm test: Photographyblog (Click here) posted the full Olympus lens review: “Photographers who require maximum sharpness and resolution will of course be better served by one – or more – of the excellent, fast, sharp Micro Four Thirds primes; but the Olympus 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 is hard to beat on versatility and price-performance ratio.” Lenstip (Click here) also posted a full review of the lens.

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E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

 

 

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(FT4) Panasonic X lenses will not arrive any time before summer :(

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One of my good sources just told me that the new Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8 X lenses will not be in Stock any time soon. Not yet, not in late spring not in early summer :(

As you know Panasonic showed this lenses for the very first time in September 2011. While it’s ok for me if Panasonic shows mockups at shows it’s pretty frustrating to wait so much time until they get finally announced. This means that if you need a fast zoom lens now you have to go for the amazing Olympus [shoplink 25320 ebay]14-35mm f/2.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25119 ebay]35-100mm f/2.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink] Zuiko lenses.

I don’t know the reason for the delay, all I know is that Panasonic (like many other companies) is facing serious financial losses and this may have slowed down the product release roadmap.
One more thing: These lenses are weather sealed and so will be the new GH3 which will be announced at the Photokina event in September.

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New Panasonic 12-60mm f/4.5-5.6 patent.

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Egami just discovered a new Panasonic lens describing a quite unspectacular new micro Four Thirds lens. It is a 12-60mm f/4.5-5.6 with inner focusing, inner zoom and O.I.S. zoom. While the zoom range is certainly interesting I don’t get it why Panasonic wants to make it that slow. The only reason would be if the lens would have the size of the 14-42mm X pancake but it’s it not the case here (lens length is 10cm!). Pana/Oly just try to get inspiration from the [shoplink 23681 ebay]Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink] if you don’t know how to do it right :) The lens is that much loved that is has an average review of 5 stars out of 5 at Amazon US (Click here).

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Your new M43 lens suggestions!

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Over one year ago we conducted a POLL to see what kind of lens would be needed for the new Micro Four Thirds system (Click here to see the results from the December 2010 poll). During that time (December 2010 until today) Panasonic and Olympus announced many new lenses:
The [shoplink 23110]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] The [shoplink 25104]Panasonic 14-42mm X lens[/shoplink] The [shoplink 25103]Panasonic 45-175mm X lens[/shoplink] The upcoming new Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 X lens
The upcoming new Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 X lens
The [shoplink 23576]Olympus 12mm f/2.0[/shoplink] The [shoplink 23577]Olympus 45mm f/1.8[/shoplink] The upcoming new Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens
The upcoming new Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Time has come to prepare a new poll. Please comment this post with your Micro Four Thirds lens suggestions! To facilitate my job I kindly ask you to use a uniformed format that will allow me to easily copy and paste your lens description:

XXmm f/X.X -> price info (can be “low price”or don’t write anything if it doesn’t matter for you), size info (can be “pancake”, “collapsible”, “compact” or don’t write anything if it doesn’t matter for you), features (“high optical quality, “power zoom”, “smooth aperture ring”, “weather sealed”, “macro”, “manual focusing” or anything else you want to write.).  I make you an example by writing my own wish-list:

10.5mm f/3.5 -> low priced,pancake.
12mm f/1.2 -> high optical quality, weather sealed.
12-50mm f/2.0 -> powerzoom, smooth aperture ring.
17mm f/1.4 -> pancake, high optical quality.
25mm f/3.5 -> low priced,pancake, macro
42mm f/1.4 -> high optical quality.

You got it? Than start with your list!!!

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New Sonnetar 25mm f/1.1 image samples

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Click on image to enlarge

KTF-Turbo posted many new image samples of the SOnnetar 25mm f/1.1 Micro Four Thirds lens: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ktf_turbo/28265046.html. As you can see the image quality drmatically increases at f/1.4 aperture. F71.1 has a creamy effect and may be used for emrgency (or creative) reaosns only. I think it’s an impressive performance for such a tiny lens.

Reminder: The designer of the lens is designer Mr. Miyazaki. He is the creator of the well known [shoplink 29386 ebay]Leica Triplet lenses (here on eBay)[/shoplink] and already made a Sonnetar lens for [shoplink 29387 ebay]Pentax Q mount which costs $650 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

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Special US/Canada deal: Buy the new E-M5 and get one accessory for free!

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Good news for USA/Canada folks. Olympus is now offering a free accessory of your choice between the FL-300R wireless Flash, the MMF-3 or the MMF-2 adapter. It works like that:
1) First you buy the new Olympus E-M5 at your preferred store. Here are some of my usual links t the most known ones: Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
2) Than you have to download that form: http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/rebates/e-m5_accessory_mir_form.pdf
3) Fill it and send it to Olympus!

In UK and Japan the battery grip comes for free with the E-M5. Now I hope that also other countries can enjoy some deal like these!

More USA deals:
The most sold m43 lens ever is now finally back in Stock at Adorama (Click here).
The E-P2 is back in Stock at Amazon (Click here) for $249 only.
And the E-PL1 reigns supreme at Amazon ranking (Click here).

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Robin Wong final E-M5 review. Damian McGilliCuddy does E-PL2 nude photography!

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Robin Wong (Click here) finalized his long and very discussed Olympus E-M5 review. No matter how much you like Robin work, you should give him a nice credit for doing a job that none of the big websites has done! In short what he liked about the E-M5 is the image quality,  the 5 axis IS and the handling. But he also listed some smaller issues. Interestingly the viewfinder gets foggy when shooting in rainy conditions, 3D tracking misses a lot of focus points and the electronic viewfinder still is not on par with the “real light” experience of the optical viewfinder.

Meantime Damian MCGilliCuddy had to return the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] to Olympus but he now keeps shooting some nude portraits with the [shoplink 18844]Olympus E-PL2[/shoplink] (Click here to see his pictures here). Those are nice shots taken with the supertiny [shoplink 14798]17mm f/2.8[/shoplink] and the super good and cheap priced [shoplink 23577]45mm f/1.8[/shoplink] lens. Amazing what you can do with these two little cheap lenses!

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E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

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