43 Rumors – Page 1895 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

New Canon 5D and Old Panasonic LX5 are the hotsellers :)

March 2, 2012
deals
19 Comments

I am working on some LX5 successor rumors and checked the US price to see if there are current Price drops on the LX5. So it came to a big suprrise when I saw the current Amazon US ranking (Click here to see it). Only the just announced 5DmarkIII beats the LX5 :)

Anyway, all I can say now is that the LX5 and Olympus XZ-1 successor are due for early summer. Should get more details soon…

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P.S.: On Monday I will introduce you to my first real write-partner named “Frank” (not his real name). He owns and writes on canonwatch.com which uses the same theme as 43rumors but is completely owned by him alone.

Full Frame battle reloaded. A no way to go for Panasonic/Olympus?

March 2, 2012
news
230 Comments

Make no mistake! We can be pretty sure Olympus and Panasonic will not launch any new system with larger sensor in the near future. There is still a lot to do in the m43 world to defend the primacy also against the future Canon mirrorless system. But the Full Frame battle just restarted after a long time of silence. Today Canon announced the Canon 5dmarkIII ($3500 at Amazon) and Nikon announced the Nikon D800 and D800E a couple of weeks ago.

So just for fun I made a short list of advantages and disadvantages of a hypothetical “Macro Four Thirds” system with FF sensor :)

PROS:
– Currently only Leica are offering a Full Frame digital mirrorless system. But the [shoplink 22857 ebay]Leica M9 is incredibly expensive (Click here)[/shoplink] and there is plenty of room below that price range.
– You could make Full Frame lenses backwards compatible to the m43 system. One lens to rule them all :) -> Disadvantage the lens would be bigger
– Marketing: It gives a kind of magical and professional aura if you can offer a Full Frame system. Sounds stupid but it is not. I know of many people that buy new and more expensive cameras just to feel like a “hero”.

CONS:
– It’s expensive to build up a new system. And Panasonic/Olympus have limited resources.
– Also the service has to be improved to satisfy the professional needs.
– The profit margin is larger on small sensor systems than on Full Frame camera systems.
– Lenses would be bigger and one of the main advantages (size!) over the FF DSRL market would be less visible.

Now it’s up to you to let us know what you would do:

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My two cent: 99% of us don’t need Full Frame. If you need absolute image quality for special work like studio photography or big prints than it may be better for you to go medium format. Or if you want that nice 3D depth of field feeling than buy a camera like my [shoplink 28309 ebay]Mamiya 7[/shoplink].

New SLRmagic 50mm anamorphic video by Seb Farges.

March 2, 2012
reviews
25 Comments

I like Seb Farges creative way of testing m43 stuff. The video on top shows the [shoplink 29455 ebay]SLR magic 50mm f/0.95[/shoplink] lens used with the [shoplink 25880 ebay]Berthiot Tiny Cinemascope 2X[/shoplink] lens. Great work!
I take the chance to ask you to send me your best work from time to time. Tomorrow I am going to post an article with a list of links to readers work. If you have something special to show to our 43rumors readers drop me a message at 43rumors@gmail.com! Thanks!

P.S.:
The Berthiot 2x lens can be found on [shoplink 25880 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Same thing for the SLR magic lens on [shoplink 29455 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

After the GF2 also the GF3 could be hacked soon…

March 1, 2012
news
43 Comments

[shoplink 23109]

[/shoplink]I consider the hacking possibilities one of the strengths of the Micro Four Thirds system. A not so popular camera like the [shoplink 17361]Panasonic GF2[/shoplink] suddenly became an appealing camera because of the recently released hack (Click here). The hack adds identical GH2 features on the GF2 (except 24p)! Mix that with the current very low price of $375 for the camera with kit lens (Click here!) than we have an explosive little jewel. And it doesn’t stop here!

The hacker Vitaly Kiselev (Click here) reports that he got the GF3 and will start to work on the hack soon! At that point I want to say thanks again to Vitaly for what he is doing. And I hope Panasonic and Olympus understand the power of his work!
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Shop search links to the three hackable Panasonic cameras:
Panasonic GH2 at [shopcountry 16254].
Panasonic GF3 at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic GF2 at [shopcountry 17361].

Olympus E-M5 versus E-P3 by Pekka Potka!

March 1, 2012
reviews
132 Comments

On left the image quality of the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]. Ont he right the [shoplink 23568]Olympus E-P3[/shoplink].

Pekka Potka is doing an amazing job in these days and keeps us posted with all his findings about the new [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink]. The latest post includes an image comparison between the E-M5 and E-P3 (Click here to see it): “E-M5 is markedly better in every regard: sharpness, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range… . At higher ISOs E-M5 gains about two stop improvement. This result comes from new sensor with more resolution and better pixel per pixel quality, thinner low pass filter and impoved JPG processing.”

Of course these is a JPEG image comparison but Pekka promised to post some RAW comparison soon too! But looking at the results I really hope Olympus will update their PEN line soon. The difference is huge! Pekka also tested the Af speed with 4/3 lenses a (Click here) and explained the dial configuration on the E-M5 (Click here).

More E-M5 bits: A japanese test at Nikkei (Click here). Image samples at Itmedia (Click here) and Flickr (Click here). And first music clip made with the E-M5 on youtube (Click here). The video quality is good but the music is terrible :)

And here is the Full E-M5 Preorder list (Update with J&R links):
1) Black E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
2) Silver E-M5 body at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
3) Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and J&R.
4) Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
5) Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
6) FL-600R wireless flash at
Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
7) MMF-3 Four Thirds adapter at
Amazon and Adorama.
8.) HLD-6 power battery holder at
Amazon, Adorama and Amazon Japan.

New DXOmark and other lens reviews

March 1, 2012
reviews
44 Comments

DxO is heavily testing our m43 lenses and the Leica really looks like a stellar performer:
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 review at DxOmark (Click here): “Our measurements of the Panasonic-Leica lens confirm that micro 4/3 lenses are quality optics, with results at least as good as those for entry-level APS-Cs.”
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 review at DxOmark (Click here).

More lens reviews/news:
Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 Review at Admiringlight (Click here) and Damian (Click here).
Crazy test – Pansonic 20mm f/1.7 vs. Olympus 14-35mm f/2 (Dpreview).
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 MEGA OIS Lens Firmware Update (ePhotozine).
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Shop search links for the mentioned lenses:
Panasonic-Leica 25mm at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus 45mm [shopcountry 23577] Panasonic 20mm [shopcountry 14796] (out of Stock in ALL US stores).
The superb Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0 on [shoplink 25320 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

New iPad App from Panasonic. Sigma for m43 in Stock.

February 29, 2012
news
60 Comments

Our reader YouDintYouDo noticed that yesterday Panasonic launched a new free iPad App (Click here to see the app). I haven’t an iPad so I cannot tell you if that is something useful and interesting or not. So may you download it to see what it looks like. The description says that this is what it contains:
• A matter of size – find out about the LUMIX G Camera System
• Learn all about the LUMIX G models GF3, G3, GH2 and GX1
• Discover the range of available lenses
• Find out all about the technologies behind
• Enjoy real stories with professional photographers using LUMIX G

Anyway, If you are a dynosaur like me and don’t have an iPad you may look at normal paper books for Panaosnic. Like the GH2 guide (Click here).. :)

P.S.: Photoshop launched the new App for the iPad (Click here to see it on iTunes).

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The new Sigma 30mm f/2.8 lens is now in Stock at BHphoto (Click here). And for the third week now the E-Pl1 is the king of the mirrorless camera sales at Amazon (Click here to see full ranking).