Amarcord: The PEN F

Share
[shoplink 37006 ebay]

[/shoplink] Olympus PEN history is very long and plenty of nice cameras have been created. And let’s check what kind of design could be used for the future PEN models. And if you dream of a digital PEN with integrated viewfinder than you cannot avoid to talk about the superbly made [shoplink 37006 ebay]Olympus PEN-F (here on eBay)[/shoplink]!
And the viewfinder isn’t juts a “normal” viewfinder. Camerapedia writes: “The Pen F is a quite compact camera with a porro prism viewfinder, which completely avoids the traditional SLR prism bulge because the reflex mirror flips sideways, resulting in a compact viewfinder arrangement.” You can see the back of the PEN-F here. Another unique feature was the rotary focal-plane shutter that has the advantage that you can sync with the electronic flash at all shutter speeds.

But overall the camera shines because of the clean and extremely elegant design. Maybe its just me, but I would love to see the same design on a future PEN with integrated viewfinder! And with the same [shoplink 37005 ebay]cult lens cap (they are here on eBay)[/shoplink].

More about the camera at Cameraquest and Camerapedia. PEN-F acutions on [shoplink 37006 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

So let me know…

...would you like a digital PEN-F designed camera?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
Share

GH3 best camera at Stiftung Warentest.

Share

–

Yesterday I reported that Consumerreports said the “GH3 scored higher than all the SLRs tested in this group”. Some of you didn’t trust their report. So if you need one more proof than check out today’s news at Panasonic Germany (found via Photoscala). They proudly announced that the German Institut “Stiftung Warentest” gave them the best rating of all DSLR or DSLM (mirrorless) cameras! I speak German and know Stiftung Warentest very well and I know that we can 100% trust them. They judged the overall quality of the camera (image quality, features and so on) and gave them the best note with 1.8 (the lower the score the better). And guess who came second….come one you will not believe it…the Panasonic G5!

That’s a truly remarkable result for Panasonic! And with $499 the G5 is a total bargain and with merit the hotseller at Amazon (Click here to see the ranking). The GH3 is in Stock at Samys (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

One more curiosity: The camera with the best image quality was the Canon 6D and the camera with the worse image quality was the Canon EOS-M! Canon really can’t do serious mirrorless stuff :)

One more deal: Panasonic SZ7 for $89 as [shoplink 36999 ebay]deal of the day on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

 

Share

Olympus-Sony partnership now completed.

Share

AP reports that “Sony has today become the largest shareholder in Olympus as the firms complete a £400m deal first announced last year.” Only in the years to come we will see how far the Olympus and Sony partnership will go when it comes to develop their digital cameras. For now there is no doubt that Olympus will keep reinforcing the MFT system and Sony will do the same with the NEX system. But they may share some tech like sensors, OLED technology and more.

Their first main goal has been defined last year by Olympus President Hiroyuki Sasa “the company might need further collaboration with Sony to turn around Olympus’s unprofitable compact-camera business.” (Source: Wall Street Journal).

 

Share

Olympus refurbished roundup for EU readers.

Share

European readers can grab a new long list of refurbished Olympus cameras offered by [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket[/shoplink]. There are plenty of different PEN’s with different colors…even pink ;)
Latest added auctions are on top (Click on the name to see the auction):

Olympus E-M5:
[shoplink 36981 ebay]Black E-M5 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-P3:
[shoplink 36963 ebay]Silver double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 36965 ebay]Silver E-P3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36974 ebay]White E-P3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36976 ebay]Silver E-P3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36977 ebay]Silver E-P3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36982 ebay]Silver E-P3 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-PL3:
[shoplink 36964 ebay]Black E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36971 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36972 ebay]White E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36980 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36984 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-PL2:
[shoplink 36987 ebay]Black E-PL2 14-150mm lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-Pm2:
[shoplink 36985 ebay]White E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-Pm1:
[shoplink 36961 ebay]Brown E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36962 ebay]Silver double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 36966 ebay]Silver E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36967 ebay]Pink E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36968 ebay]Brown E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36970 ebay]Black E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36973 ebay]Brown E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36975 ebay]White E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36978 ebay]Silver E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36979 ebay]Brown E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36983 ebay]Black E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 36986 ebay]Brown E-PM1 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus E-PL1:
[shoplink 36969 ebay]Black E-PL3 with kit lens[/shoplink]

 

Good Luck!

Share

GH3 outscores SLRs in Consumer Reports’ lab tests! And in Stock at Adorama and Samys.

Share

Last week we hit hard on Panasonic because of the two small issues with the 12-35mmX long exposures steady shot problem and the unreliable Intervalometer of the GH3. But today we can reports some very good news for Panasonic and I hope this will bring them to love me back again :)

The usually very sever Consumerreports website (Click here) just posted an extremely positive report about the GH3! They write: “We recently tested a number of new SLR-like (mirrorless) cameras, and we were surprised to find that one, thePanasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, scored higher than all the SLRs tested in this group.” and also  “So if you’re in the market for an advanced camera, you’re not restricted to models with mirrors in them—SLRs, that is. The age of mirrorless SLR-likes appears to have arrived.”

And for US readers: Finally the GH3 is in Stock at Samys (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

Share

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases