New hacked GH2 Driftwood’s 176mb GOP1 video roundup!

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Intergalactic Planetary from inhousegoods on Vimeo.

There are plenty of videos you can find on Vimeo (Click here to see the latest Driftwood GH2 video list). All GH2 owners can hack the camera by using these instructions: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/332/ptool-3.60d-topic. And to see a list of all patches (including the driftwood) go here: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/953/gh2-patch-vault-most-popular-patches-in-one-place

P.S.: GH2 price check at [shopcountry 16254] (Click on shop name to visit the GH2 search page).

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(FT1) Very wild rumors: Samsung wants to buy Olympus shares? (+Olympus apologies).

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Before you read this. The rumor is based on non proved facts. I received that anonymous tip and have no way to double check it. So take it easy! It’s quite “strange” but I post it anyway. Here is the text of the rumor:
“Well, the OlympusDrama is taking a new dimension in Wall Street, here is a strong rumors about a requirement for Samsung Medical Device Development (a Samsung Electronic Division) to an evaluation company about the Olympus Medical Devices unit. Samsung could be looking for the opportunity to buy a good bunch of stocks.”
Just my tow cent on this: Although the rumor is talking about the interest from Samsung about the medical part of Olympus also the camera division could interest them. Samsung is heavily investing in their mirrorless system and an Olympus acquisition would help them to gain lot of technical skills and historical experience.

Back to real news:

Mr. Noda (prime minister of Japan) said that the allegations surrounding Olympus may be taken as indicative of how the whole country operates. And: “What worries me is that it will be a problem if people take the events at this one Japanese company and generalise from that to say Japan is a country that does not follow the rules of capitalism” Source: Techradar.

And the next news is that Olympus president Shuichi Takayama said: “We wish to make a profound apology for all the distress and trouble caused due to the recent series of media reports and fall in stock prices triggered by our recent change in President. The past acquisitions mentioned in the media were handled with the appropriate evaluations and procedures. These transactions were in no way improper and we are setting up an external panel of experts to examine and report on this acquisitions activity…We sincerely hope to conclude this situation as quickly as possible to restore society’s trust in us and to bring reassurance to our customers, business partners, shareholders and employees. Thank you for your continued understanding and support.” (Source: AP).

And MR. Woodford said “Olympus will survive the controversy and is a good business. There’s nothing wrong with the company. So the company will go on“. (Source: AP).

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A reminder: Months ago a rumor from one of my trusted sources said that Samsung offered Four Thirds sensor for Olympus. I still don’t know yet if Olympus will consider that option.

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

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New SLRmagic Hyperprime 12mm f/1.6 video samples and reviews.

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New Test footage Noktor Hyperprime 12 mm from Hugo Goudswaard on Vimeo.

Don Ravine (Click here) posted a full ( four pages long) SLRmagic Hyperprime 12mm f/1.6 lens review: “Perhaps the single strongest feature of this lens is it’s potential as a very special video lens. I don’t mean point and shoot home movies (many of which are excellent, of course). I mean serious, professional or semi-professional video, planned shots with careful control of all the elements“.

Also Hugo Goudswaard (Click here) posted a first impression: “My first impressions of the lens are great. It feels robust and solid. Focus and aperture ring move as smooth as butter. 12mm looks like a nice wide angle view (like 24mm on 5D Mark II) and you can get nice shallow depth of field. I bett that this will be an awesome lens, especially outside, when stopped down with ND. Lens has 12 aperture blades so nice round bokeh“.

The SLRmagic Hyperprime 12mm lens is yet not available for preorder (but it will be soon).

Other SLRmagic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Straight Spotting Scope lens (w/ hand grip) is now available on [shoplink 25887 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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$130 price drop on the GH2 in USA! New GH2 kits coming in January?

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There is a huge price drop from over $100 on the GH2-14-140mm lens kit. It’s ongoing on all major online retailers like Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and J&R (Click here). Where there is smoke there is fire and I guess that Panasonic wants to make some “price-space” for the upcoming new GH2 kits when the 14-35mm and 35-100mm X lenses will be announced in January. Hope Panasonic will not exaggerate with the price again!

UPDATE: Also the Gh2 + 14-42mm lens kit got a $100 price drop. Check at Amazon (Click here).

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(FT3) Next bad news? New Panasonic DMW-LVF2 will not work on current GF cameras.

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[shoplink 26560][/shoplink]This is a rumors website and I there are times I strongly hope my sources are wrong. Like in that case! Because according to an info I got from trustworthy source the new Panasonic DMW-LVF2 viewfinder which will be announced along the Panasonic GX1 on November 8 will not work on all current GF cameras! I have been told the LVF2 has completely different physical connections. This is pity. I don’t know yet if the reason behind that is that the “old” GF connections could not be used to transfer a higher amount of data for the viewfinder or if that is another move from Panasonic to sell more GX1 cameras. I wish Panasonic will explain the reason why the new viewfinder is not compatible with current GF cameras because otherwise people will get upset.

P.S.: The new viewfinder has 1.44k dots and is til-table. I don’t know the price yet. The current Panasonic DMW-LVF2 costs around 150 Euro/Dollars at [shopcountry 26560].

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DxOmark results of the E-PM1 and E-PL3

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DxOmark (Click here) posted the E-Pl3 and E-PM1 sensors test results. As usual keep in mind that these tests do not take into consoderation the resolution of the sensor. DxO says: “Even if these 2 new models in the PEN series don’t provide any improvement in image quality, they do offer new choices in terms of size and controls. Depending on the level of control you want, these 2 cameras could be very nice point-and-shoot cameras — portable, but with interchangeable lenses“.

As you know all three latest PEN models do use the same 12 megapixel sensor. It’s up to you whihc one fits better for you!

Links to the three new PEN cameras:
Olympus E-P3 [shopcountry 23568] Olympus E-PL3 [shopcountry 23567] Olympus E-PM1 [shopcountry 23565]

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New Olympus 45mm f/1.8 and Olympus E-PM1 reviews.

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QE Park from Michael Mills on Vimeo. Taken with hacked GH2 and [shoplink 23576]Olympus 12mm f/2.0[/shoplink] and [shoplink 23577]Olympus 45mm f/1.8[/shoplink] lenses

M43blogspot (Click here) compared the new Olympus 45mm lens with the Panasonic-Leica 45mm macro lens: “So, which lens is best in terms of sharpness? I think that the Panasonic lens generally does better. The Panasonic lens appears to render a bit better at f/2.8, in my opinion. At larger apertures, there is no comparison, of course, since the Panasonic lens cannot be opened further.”

Olympus 45mm first impression by snowhenge (Click here): “This is a fun lens to use, much more so in my opinion that the highly-rated [shoplink 14796]Lumix 20mm[/shoplink]. It is light, but well built, with a large, well damped focus ring. It looks gorgeous. And the results are pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. This is a must-have lens for and Micro Four Thirds camera owner. And an absolute bargain“.

Techradar (Click here) posted a full Olympus E-PM1 review: “The excellent build quality, fast autofocus, compact size and relatively low price all add up to a very attractive package. Beginners will love the simple control layout and image quality from the Four Thirds Format Live MOS sensor.”

Also DC.watch (Click here to read the google translation) posted an E-PM1 review. But the google translation tool makes such a bad job that I will refuse to post the conclusion.

Click on the shop names to check the price and availability:
Links to the Olympus E-PM1 at [shoplcountry 23565] Links to the Olympus 45mm lens at [shopcountry 23577].
Links to the Panasonic 45mm lens at [shopcountry 14794].
Links to the Olympus 12mm lens at [shopcountry 23576].

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