A couple of months ago Olympus officially said that they are working on the release of a new premium compact camera. They may hurry because one company after another is announcing such a compact camera and Olympus may be late to the party. After the new Fuji X100s (in stock soon) and the Pentax MX-1 today Nikon announced the very compact Nikon Coolpix A (specs here). These are three different cameras, the Fuji X100s has a superb sensor and hybrid viewfinder (and is priced at $1299). The Pentax MX-1 is the cheapest camera ($499) and the Nikon is the smallest of the three.
So the question now, how should the Olympus premium compact be to gain some considerable interest over the three? My guess is that it will be very compact with a MFT sensor and fixed fast Zuiko lens. But I admit that the Fuji hybrid viewfinder looks very nice and as we know, Olympus officially denied they would sue that kind of tech :(
Premium compact camera price and specs check:
Fuji X100s at [shopcountry 37160].
Pentax MX-1 at [shopcountry 37161].
Nikon A at [shopcountry 37162].
After yesterdays post I got feedback from more sources including some trusted sources. The new E-P5 definitely has NO(!) electronic viewfinder. Price of the camera with kit lens should be close to $1,000. It will also be announced “soon” (how soon I don’t know) and probably be in Stock by June/July. A source also confirmed that major high end Olympus cameras are coming the second half of the year.
I ask the sources if they may can give me some more hint about the upcoming new lenses and the exact release date. Thanks!
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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
Panasonic (Click here) just announced that they will release a new GH3, H-FS45150, H-PS14042 and H-PS45175 firmware update in late March of 2013. The improvements are listed on the screenshot you see here on top. The firmware will also fix the intervalometer issue we reported last week.
[/shoplink] WIll the new PEN have no integrated viewfinder like the superb [shoplink 37006 ebay]PEN-F[/shoplink]?
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There are plenty of rumors going around the web saying the E-P5 has an integrated viewfinder. And I am also one of those guys wishing to see a camera like that. But sometimes wishes just remain that…dreams. I still have no FT5 super reliable rumor yet but the only info I got is that the E-P5 actually has no integrated viewfinder! The rumor hasn’t been confirmed by a second source yet and even trusted sources sometimes can get wrong info from their sources so take it with a grain of salt. But if the rumor would be correct this would be huge disappointment for me. Although of course we have to see what the specs are…they may be so good that I will not care about the missing built-in EVF.
The source also told me that the E-P5 will come along a new external viewfinder with a 2,44 Million dot resolution.
P.S.: PEN-F acutions on [shoplink 37006 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Great cam!
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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
Before to start the new week with new rumors I have to catch up with two reviews and one news:
1) SEB Farges compared the new SLRmagic 25mm f/0.95 lens against the Nokton 25mm f/0.95. He writes about the SLRmagic: “The result is astonishing to my opinion, very sharp image at full aperture.“. The lens will be available soon on eBay. Save this search on Slidoo to get notified when it’s available on eBay (you have to login). UPDATE: One more video here: http://vimeo.com/60971533
2) Admiringlight tested the Panasonic GH3: “The GH3 is one of the most responsive cameras I’ve had the pleasure to use, and image quality is very good. Panasonic has definitely stepped up their game for this camera, creating a true pro-grade camera and one of the best mirrorless cameras on the market.”
GH3 in Stock status check at [shopcountry 33624].
3) We have the first of Quantum Qflash’s wireless TTL flash gear for Lumix GH3. Here is the introduction video made by Discovermirrorless (youtube).
Mpgxsvcd: “Here is a video that shows some of the impossible shots you can get with the GH3’s in camera RAW stacking mode. Panasonic has not said anything about the RAW stacking capabilities the GH3 has. In fact I didn’t even know it had it until I first got mine. However, I had a chance last night to really play around with it for Astro Photography. Simply put. The in camera HDR and stacking could be game changers. The GH3 already beats every single APS-C camera on DXO mark Canon makes. Canon has been the defacto camera for AP for many years. Here are some images and videos I took last night while the full moon was out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJFaw-burCI The in camera RAW stacking that the GH3 offers could finally allow us to get impressive images in camera and without ever hooking up a computer to the scope. For me that is essential. The big issue is that you simply must guide the scope. Trying to do it with tracking alone won’t work. Right now I can’t afford to guide so I did some testing with brighter objects.”
Anonymous: “Below is a single image that was produced in camera by stacking many RAW images from different areas of space together. The only thing I edited was that some of the stars show through the moon. However, I have posted the original out of camera RAW file if you want to play with it. I took the image of Orion first and then stacked for quick exposures of the moon over it. It is really easy because the GH3 shows you the original RAW image with the live view super imposed over it. http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4222674355/photos/2445623 And here is the dpreview thread where we are discussing it. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3389829”
Gregory: “I have since been working on a separate project: a photography blog where I’ve gathered the best of my street photography in Istanbul, where I live. Most of the shots where taken with a GF-1, many with the E-M5 and a handful with a Pentax K5. m43 lenses used: mostly 20mm 1.7. and 14mm 2.5 but also 45mm 2.8. and 45mm 1.8 Pentax lenses used: Sigma 17-50 2.8, Pentax 15mm 4.0 Ltd. You can check my site there: istanbulcandids.com”
Thiago: “I would just like to share my just-made blog dedicated to the BCL-15 Body Cap Lens. http://bodycap.tumblr.com/”
Romain: “A little test between Canon 5D Mark III and Panasonic GH2, with Canon 50mm F1,4 and Voigtlander 25mmF0,95 160 iso / 7500 Kelvin here -> http://vimeo.com/60832620“
