Seb Farges compared the two Olympus and Noktor 12mm lenses on a GH2. Seb writes: “The Olympus seems to be sharper, but the Noktor has a more strong “cinematic” feeling. The Noktor seems to be a little more wider than the Olympus.” I think the real highlight of the Noktor is the macro function, this is really something you don’t see often on a wide angle lens. I have been also told that Philip Bloom helped the SLRmagic company to design that lens.

And ThePhoBlographer (Click here) posted the full Noktor 12mm review: “This new lens is extremely good. It’s sharp wide open, exhibits minimal distortion, vignetting very slightly, and has an excellent construction. If anything, my only major complaints are that it may be a bit too heavy for some users and that the focusing and aperture rings turn in separate directions.“.

One more news: SLRmagic is looking for 30 volunteers who can help them by creating video footage and image samples. SLRmagic will offer them a slight discount before the official release in November/December. Contact them at sales@noktor.com.

The new Noktor is not available for preorder yet. It will start shipment in late November. The other Noktor lens, the 50mm f/0.95 is in Stock on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and on the Noktor website. As you know the Noktor project is now owned by SLRmagic.

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].

Seb Farges shot the video on top with the new Noktor 12mm f/1.6 macro and cinematic lens: “This is, to my opinion, an incredible lens, fast and wide, and there is no visible distortion. The focus and aperture rings are very smooth. It is all made in metal. XXX There is in my test a small vignetting in the outside shots due to the use of a 62mm L.C.W variable ND filter (with a 58mm/62mm step up ring). To avoid the vignetting you’ll need a 67mm or a 72mm filter with the right step up ring, because remeber this is a wide lens!”

Bert Stephanie (Click here) also shared his first impressions about the lens: “I’ll leave the pixel peeping to others but at first glance, I think the optical quality, sharpness and distortions seems to fit my needs.”

The new Noktor is not available for preorder yet. It will start shipment in late November. The other Noktor lens, the 50mm f/0.95 is in Stock on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and on the Noktor website. As you know the Noktor project is now owned by SLRmagic.

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].

panasonic lumix g x vario pz 45-175mm video test from Roderick Kar on Vimeo.

Panasonic just released the new firmware for the GF2/GF3/G3 cameras. You can download it here: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index.html. The new version 1.1 added the function for using the new power zoom X lenses, the [shoplink 25104]Panasonic 14-42mm X lens[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25103]Panasonic 45-175mm X lens[/shoplink].

Our reader Roderick Kar made the video comparison you see on top and posted some image samples on Flickr (Click here). And you can see the “transparent” version of the X lenses at DC.watch (Once on the site scroll down to see the pics).

According to Panasonic both lenses should be available in October but I wouldn’t bet on that. The [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] was supposed to be available in US and European stores in August but only very few lenses have been shipped to “western” countries in late September. And are now still out of Stock at [shopcountry 23110]. Until now Panasonic cameras and lenses always have been in Stock 2-3 months after the announced availability month.

Panasonic 14-42mm X lens at [shopcountry 25104].
Panasonic 45-175mm X lens [shopcountry 25103].