New sexy Metal Panasonic Lens hood. Leica 25mm shipment to US delayed?

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Some of our readers sent me the link to the new metal Pansonic lens hood you can find right now in Stock at Amazon (Click here). It fits on both Panasonic pancake lenses, the [shoplink 16258]14mm f/2.5 lens[/shoplink] and [shoplink 14796]20mm f/1.7 lens[/shoplink] By the way, there is a new discount on the 20mm lens. You can get it now for $361.97 at Amazon (Click here).

Next news (and I really hope this news is wrong). Some US readers reported that some of the US stores told them the [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] will be in Stock by very late August/early September only. As you know there are some Leica 25mm lenses in Stock at Amazon US (Click here) or [shoplink 23110 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. But you have to pay a nice extra bunch of dollars. “Normal” preorders are available at Adorama (Click here) or BHphoto (Click here).

UPDATE: The Black GH2 with 14-42mm lens is in Stock for $946 at Amazon (Click here).

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Sony counterattack with three new NEX cameras and three new lenses (+ two accessories)

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How do we always say? Competition is good! And now there is plenty of serious new competition coming from Sony. The image on top shows two of the three new cameras (the third is the VG-20 NEX camcorder) and two of the three new NEX lenses (the third will be the 50mm 1.8 lens) that will be announced in late August. The NEX-7 could be the first camera that will make serious competition to the popular [shoplink 19929]Fuji X100[/shoplink]. Otherwise the lenses are nice, but very big! As you see the Zeiss is certainly NOT a pancake! And the worst news is that the new OLED external viewfinder will not work on the current NEX cameras. P.S: There is also an adapter with built.in translucent mirror. Something similar could come from Olympus next yea (with built-in classic mirror and prism).

What do you think about those products?

Source: SonyAlphaRumors.com

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New record in Japan. Nine Olympus/Panasonic m43 cameras under the weekly top 20!

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That sets a new record in Japan. According to BCNranking nine of the last week twenty most sold system cameras are from Olympus/Panasonic! As you can see from the image on top even the “japanese” E-PL1s does well! There are also two NEX cameras in the top twenty, that means that for the very first time Mirrorless cameras are the majority inside the japanese top 20! Now we know Nikon has their mirrorless system ready for the official presentation. Still now word about Canon…

 

P.S.: In Europe and US you cannot have such detailed reports. You can get a very vague idea about the popularity of a camera by checking the Amazon rankings:
– System camera rankings (DSLR+mirrorless) at Amazon US (Click here). Amazon has also a dedicated Micro Four Thirds ranking (Click here) where you can check which m43 camera is the most popular.
– All digital camera rankings Amazon Germany (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon Germany (Click here)
– All digital camera rankings at Amazon UK (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon UK (Click here)
– All digital camera rankings at Amazon France (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon France (Click here)

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Nanoha lens preorders! SLRmagic Poll.

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Yasuhara didn’t manage to find any supplier in in oversea countries. And that’s why they decided to deliver the Nanoha lens directly to the users. You can preorder the lens directly at Yasuhara.co.jp. The current price is 479.50 USD. The shipping cost is not included in it. This price may be revised. Reminder: he Nanonha is a macro lens for m43 with 5x magnification. On Nonoha’s website you can find a description written in English: “The magnification is much more than ordinary macro lens. The magnification is up to x5. It means 1 pixel on the picture is about 1 micrometer on the shooting target. With NANOHA, you can find small wonders easily without using microscopes. And we added some patented features for your good shooting.” Yasuhara made some really nice lenses in the past like the [shoplink 22469 ebay]MC 50mm/f2.8 (Click here to see that lens on eBay)[/shoplink]. The company went bankrupt or something around 2004 I think, and this is new starting project.

In the meanwhile we heard that the SLRmagic 50mm f/0.95 fullframe and high quality lens is under development and that there are three focusing options. I am now curious to hear what kind of focusing mode you would chose:

What kind of focus ring do you like?

View Results

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Explanation: Scalloped focus ring is the one used by the Nokton f/0.95 ([shoplink 15659 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]). Focs Tab is what for example the Leica Summicron uses ([shoplink 24402 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]). Regular barrel is what Zeiss lenses use ([shoplink 24401 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]).

 

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New E-P3 review at Trustedreviews. Electronista reviews the NEX-C3 but revommends the E-PL3!

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The E-P3 has been tested by Trustedreviews (Click here): “Image quality is the best we’ve yet seen from an Olympus PEN camera, with the new 14-42mm kit zoom producing crisp, sharp edges throughout the whole frame…Taking this into consideration, we’ve decided to award the EP-3 a standard 8/10. Had it come in £150 cheaper, however, then we’d have had no hesitation in awarding it 9/10 and a TrustedReviews ‘Recommended’ award. If you’re intent on buying one regardless, rest assured that you won’t be disappointed by it.”
Chekc the E-P3 in Stock status by clicking these direct search links: [shopcountry 23568].

Electronista (Click here) reviewed the [shoplink 23779]Sony NEX-C3[/shoplink] but recommended the readers to buy the Olympus E-PL3: “Sony’s timing isn’t ideal. We’d say the C3 is mostly safe against the Panasonic GF2 and GF3 given the NEX camera’s newer sensor. Against the Olympus E-PL3 Lite shipping from September onwards, though, this latest NEX may face trouble. For a bit more, you get a tangibly faster camera with a more advanced autofocus system, more video options (including 60FPS shooting), and a lens system that’s not confined to one vendor. Olympus even bundles in a hot shoe flash that Sony could really stand to include.”

P.S.: You cannot preorder the E-PL3 yet. BHphoto (Click here) does only list the camera but without to accept preorders.

 

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].

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(FT4) GH3 with AVCHD 2.0!

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According to a trusted source the GH3 will support the just announced new AVCHD 2.0 codec with 1080p60/50 and maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s. As you know the current GH2 uses a native 60p sensor but file gets stored in 24i or 30i only (50i at 720 lines).  Below you can read the specs of the new AVCHD 2.0:

P.S:
Links to the current GH2 at [shopcountry 16254].
Links to the first GH1 camera at [shopcountry 14826].

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14-42mm Micro Four Thirds version one and version two test at ePhotozine

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[shoplink 14816][/shoplink]

There is a curious new review at ePhotozine! They tested both kit lenses, the first generation 14-42mm for Micro Four Thirds (Click here to read the review) and the second generation 14-42mm lens for Micro Four Thirds (Click here to read the review). And guess what? There is indeed a small image quality difference! ePhotozine writes: “The MkI version of this lens may provide better sharpness from edge to edge, but the enhanced design and faster focusing make the lower sharpness towards the edges penalty worth paying.”

Those are the search links to all version of the 14-42mm lens (as you know there are now three different versions!): [shopcountry 14816].

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