The French website Focus Numerique (translation here) tested the Panasonic GH3 ISO performance. You can compare the ISO results with those of the Olympus E-M5 and Sony NEX-7. As expected the JPEG engine of the Olympus manages to get slightly better results at High ISO. But if you shot in RAW than there is really little difference between the two (you can download the RAW files at Focus Numerique).
ePhotozine reports that “Olympus is to investigate cracking around the screws of the screen bezel on Olympus OM-D models after many users discovered that their cameras have the fault. There is debate as to whether this is a manufacturing fault where the screws have been over tightened, causing the plastic screen bezel to crack, or whether it is down to the quality of the plastic itself. Olympus are unsure whether the problem is due to a faulty batch, and is currently looking into the issue.”
We just had these nice E-M5 deals for Black Friday….. I hope they didn’t ship you a faulty batch of cameras!
Speaking of US deals:
Four Thirds owner may be inetrested to know that there are new rebates on Samyang/Bowler lenses:
$70 off on the 35mm f/1.4 at at BHphoto (Click here).
$80 off on the 14mm f/2.8 at BHphoto (Click here).
More deals: $1039 for the 12-35mm X zoom at Amazon (via Panacam) and $299 for the G3 with lens at Bhphoto.
As you know rumors are circulating around a possible 40-150mm f/2.8 lens (P.S:: not confirmed by any of my trusted sources). But many of you said that a fast zoom in many ways similar to the [shoplink 23681 ebay]Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 FT lens[/shoplink] would also be welcome. I haven’t heard anything form my trusted sources yet some forum user at Fredmiranda wrote that:
“A little birdy told me that, in addition to the 40-150 f/2.8, there will also be a ~14-40ish f/2.8 coming next year, as well as a 300 f/4. The birdy said that the 300 will be about as long as the 75-300, but larger in diameter – no idea how it can be that tiny, but that’s what I was told.”
Can’t guarantee on the reliability…but I hope that bird is a real source :)
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P.S.: The 12-60mm FT lens on [shoplink 23681 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
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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
Reviews:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 Review at Dpreview.
Panasonic G5 review at Neocamera.
Sony and Panasonic ratings cut by Fitch (BBC).
Olympus 17mm f/1.8 test at Quesabesde (translation here).
next good news today! A couple of readers just informed me that Amazon shipped their preordered GH3 camera today! Right now the item is marked as “Temporarily out of Stock” (Click here to see). If you preordered the camera at BHphoto they will ship it soon (December 5th). And as I told you before it is also shipping in Europe via via Wex Germany and Wexphotographic UK. It’s the first time since I work on 43rumros that that Panasonic delivers the camera in time!
One more deal: Panacam is selling the 12-35mm X lens for $1030 via Amazon (Click here).
How to “trick” a sort of focus peaking mode on the E-M5
I just got a message from a source saying that there will be a new E-M5 firmware update rolling out mid-December. It adds several more options to the menu regarding EVF info and “one exciting feature that is sure to please users. ;)”
I don’t know yet what this feature is but my guess is that it is focus peaking! Or do you have another feature in your mind?
E-M5 Case:
There is the official [shoplink 31898 ebay]CS-36FBC Olympus case[/shoplink]. A [shoplink 31899 ebay]leather half case from Hong Kong[/shoplink]. A full [shoplink 31900 ebay]leather case with strap from Cina[/shoplink]. Than we have half cases from two well known producers, [shoplink 31901 ebay]Zelenpol[/shoplink], [shoplink 31906 ebay]Kaza[/shoplink] and [shoplink 31902 ebay]Gariz[/shoplink].
E-M5 Batteries, and other things:
The [shoplink 31905 ebay]Olympus GS-4 strap[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 31903 ebay]DSTE E-M5 batteries[/shoplink] you have to use with an extra charger. There is an [shoplink 31903 ebay]E-M5 car charger[/shoplink] a [shoplink 31908 ebay]new E-M5 LCD screen[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 31909 ebay]Front Cover+ Top Panel[/shoplink].
Mirrorless reviews posted that EM-5 Third Party Grip vs. Olympus HLD-6 Grip Review video
Time to catch up with a list of news I got from 43rumors readers!
Deals:
First off Stefano found that amazing deal on [shoplink 35238 ebay]eBay Italy (Click here)[/shoplink]. It’s the first E-M5 with 15mm lens kit and sold for 829 Euro (sadly it ships to Italy only). Weird to see that in Italy and France the price for the E-m5 is much lower! Just check them on Slidoo eBay (it’s our little new website so feel free to login and use it).
If you want to try to get the E-m5 for cheaper than the normal price you may check the refurbished auctions on [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket (Click here)[/shoplink]. They ahve eight of them on auction!
Reviews:
A Weekend of Extended Use With the Fujifilm X Pro 1 and Olympus OMD EM5 (ThePhoBlographer).
Shooting the SF Auto Show with the Olympus OM-D (TheDigitalStory). Zelko: “I thought you might want to know, that the OM-D has become “an important EVIL camera for underwater use.” as said in this (http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/using-the-olympus-om-d-e-m5-underwater/) article. Wetpixel is a serious website dedicated to u/w photography by professional photographers. Actually the writer Alex Mustard is a very well known one.”
Issues: Anonymous: “this is not a rumor but a kind request to evaulate the opportunity to highlight a recent discovered E-M5 manufacturing/design weakness: there are a lot of confirmations that the LCD bezel develops crack near the bottom fixing screws. This should not to be considered a trivial cosmetic-only issue, the crack, growing up, could easily compromise the weather sealing and will lower the price of an used body when sold. Please, for further details see here: http://www.mu-43.com/f42/omd-em5-crack-bottom-bezel-screen-normal-36685/index2.html and here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50330633. Your support could greatly help to put some pressure to Olympus in order to officially acknowlegde the issue.”
Some more readers mails: Robert: “I just wanted to let you know that one of the biggest Swiss electronics dealers (www.digitec.ch) currently offers a 10% discount on all Olympus products. The offer is valid until 3rd December 2012. Unfortunately, they only ship to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but still the discount is nice. Have just ordered an OM-D Kit with the 12-50mm zoom.” Pierre: “Like other sites, you missel the BEST deal available for Olympus OMD: 1049.99$ WITH 12-50 mm. A 249.99$ rebate! Link: http://www.henrys.com/68950-OLYMPUS-OM-D-E-M5-BLACK-W-12-50-LENS.aspx”
E-M5 Case:
There is the official [shoplink 31898 ebay]CS-36FBC Olympus case[/shoplink]. A [shoplink 31899 ebay]leather half case from Hong Kong[/shoplink]. A full [shoplink 31900 ebay]leather case with strap from Cina[/shoplink]. Than we have half cases from two well known producers, [shoplink 31901 ebay]Zelenpol[/shoplink], [shoplink 31906 ebay]Kaza[/shoplink] and [shoplink 31902 ebay]Gariz[/shoplink].
E-M5 Batteries, and other things:
The [shoplink 31905 ebay]Olympus GS-4 strap[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 31903 ebay]DSTE E-M5 batteries[/shoplink] you have to use with an extra charger. There is an [shoplink 31903 ebay]E-M5 car charger[/shoplink] a [shoplink 31908 ebay]new E-M5 LCD screen[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 31909 ebay]Front Cover+ Top Panel[/shoplink].
[/shoplink]The [shoplink 23681 ebay]Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 FT lens[/shoplink].