(FT5) The E-P3 is not the PRO camera and has no built-in viewfinder.

Share

Will not come on June 30th. The PEN with built-in viewfinder (image made by our reader Leendert)

I am finally getting top info from reliable sources. And let me kill your hopes by pressing those words with my cold fingers: The E-P3 has no built-in viewfinder!!! The E-P3 is not the PRO pen we were waiting for. And to be honest Olympus officially announced that it will come in two years only (but you know, we were hoping they would not let us wait that much). The E-P3 is a “semipro camera” and a nice upgrade of the current [shoplink 14830]Olympus E-P2[/shoplink]. Those of you that like me were dreaming a [shoplink 22799 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink] styled interchangeable mirrorless cameras should hope the more advanced Panasonic GF model will respond our needs. Let’s cross the fingers!

One more thing: I am working on many rumors. All I can say now is that there will be good news too soon! So don’t be to sad!

P.S.: A 43rumors reader pointed out that Olympus smallest rangefinder camera ever made was the [shoplink 22904 ebay]Olympus XA (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink]. That was another great design made by Maitani!

P.P.S.: Links to the Fuji X100 at [shopcountry 22799].

Reminder -> 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

Share

Olympusmarket has eleven refurbished E-P2 for sale!

Share
[shoplink 22887 ebay][/shoplink] It looks like Olympus Europe wants to get rid of all the E-P2 right before the new E-P3 announcement! There are eleven refurbished E-P2 cameras for sale on eBay:
Click here: [shoplink 22887 ebay]auction one[/shoplink], [shoplink 22888 ebay]auction two[/shoplink], [shoplink 22889 ebay]auction three[/shoplink], [shoplink 22890 ebay]auction four[/shoplink], [shoplink 22891 ebay]auction five[/shoplink], [shoplink 22893 ebay]auction six[/shoplink], [shoplink 22894 ebay]auction seven[/shoplink], [shoplink 22892 ebay]auction eight[/shoplink], [shoplink 22896 ebay]auction nine[/shoplink], [shoplink 22898 ebay]auction ten[/shoplink], [shoplink 22897 ebay]auction eleven[/shoplink].
By the way don’t worry about the wrong picture. The pic shows the E-PL2 but was gets sold is the E-P2. I guess the automatic software that puts the E-P2 on auction contains an error!
There are also E-450, E-PL1 cameras and 9-18mm lenses on auction ([shoplink 22691 ebay]Click here to see them on Olympusmarket[/shoplink]).

Share

Samyang (or Rokinon) Four Thirds 35mm f/1.4 in Stock!

Share


During the last one and half year there have been only one single new lens for the Four Thirds system and it’s made by Samyang. The new 35mm f/1.4 is a bit difficult to find in store also because it’s available under different names (Samyang, Wallimex and Rokinon). There are now two items in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Some lenses are also available on [shoplink 22782 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. I didn’t find the lens in Europe or Asia. But you might search for them on eBay or other stores because Samyang lenses are available worldwide in seven different brand names!!! Click on it to see all Four Thirds lenses from the specific brand (links to ebay):
[shoplink 20647 ebay]Samyang [/shoplink] [shoplink 20684 ebay]Walimex [/shoplink] [shoplink 20649 ebay]Rokinon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20650 ebay]Opteka [/shoplink] [shoplink 20651 ebay]Falcon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20653 ebay]Vivitar [/shoplink] [shoplink 20652 ebay]Bower [/shoplink]

Share

(FT5) New full size picture of the GF3!

Share

Look what I found in my mailbox today (thanks anonymous sender)! It’s a full-size picture of the mini mini mini GF3 camera! With that size the GF series is getting very close to the well known mini [shoplink 22877 ebay]Minox camera (Click here to see them)[/shoplink]. The GF5 could become even smaller and a perfect tool as spy camera for James bond alike special agents :) To me it looks like the GF3 is even smaller than the today announced Sony NEX-C3!

I have to say that it doesn’t look that bad. And if the GF3 really has the same [shoplink 22077]Panasonic G3[/shoplink] sensor than it might will become a hotseller!

Share

New competition from Sony (follow MirrolessRumors)

Share

There is now more new stuff coming from the competition! Sony announced the new NEX-C3, a huge 30mm macro lens and a new NEX flash. You can follow all the news on MirrorlessRumors (Click here).
UDPATE: There is a ISO comparison with the new SOny NEX-C3 versus the Panasonic G3 and Olympus E-PL2 at Dpreview, Focus Numerique (Click here).
UPDATE_2: They also tested the camera for a week and noticed that the anti dust cleaning isn’t as good as the one used by Olympus. And also the OIS system is not as effective as the one used by Olympus. And they do prefer the Panasonic G3 performance over the NEX-C3!

Here is the list of the new stuff:
Sony NEX-C3 BLACK at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-C3 SILVER at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-C3 PINK at Amazon (Click here).
Sony 30mm macro at Amazon (Click here).

P.S.: I bet nobody will buy that macro lens !!!

Share

(FT5) Leica 25mm f/1.4 costs less than $1000. More compact than the 45mm macro.

Share
[shoplink 14794][/shoplink]

Image on top shows the currently only Panasonic-Leica lens for the Micro Four Thirds system, the [shoplink 14794]45mm f/2.8 macro[/shoplink].

I am still not 100% sure about the final price of the upcoming Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 but I have two small FT5 info (FT5=almost certainly correct info from trusted sources):

1) The Leica 25mm f/1.4 costs less than $1000. I got this from very good sources. A new source told us the lens will cost somewhere between $800-900 (That’s FT3). I don’t know the price in Europe but I suspect that companies will continue to make the wrong calculation: 1 Dollar = 1 Euro :(
A quick price comparison: The Four Thirds [shoplink 16340 ebay]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] price was $1099. ANd the actual price of the [shoplink 14794]Pana-Leica 45mm[/shoplink] macro is $800.
2) The Leica 25mm f/1.4 is quite compact although not as compact as the [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] (double the length of the 20mm pancake).

If you know the price of the lens in US and in Europe feel free to contact me anonymously by using the contact form on the right sidebar. You can avoid to send me your name and email address. it also doesn’t store your IP address. Thanks for every info you can share! :)

Reminder: The [shoplink 16340]Panasonic 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] Four Thirds lens has been officially discontinued. You can still find some of them on [shoplink 16340 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Reminder -> 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

Share

Panasonic G3 studio comparison and first vimeo footage (G3 will be released on 17 June 2011!)

Share

Finding Waves – Hamburg Surffestival 2011 from Saubere Filme on Vimeo (via EosHD).

Dpreivew added the Panasonic G3 images on the studio comparison tool (Click here and than select the G3 to compare the results with the GH2). As you can see the G3 and GH2 are pretty close at low ISO. Only at 1600 you will see a small difference between the two cameras. Last week Digitalcamerareview posted the full G3 test and the camera became an “editor’s choice! And Popphoto posted a new set of G3 image samples.

And now the good news. According to Amazon UK (Click here) the G3 will be released on 17 June 2011! You can preorder the camera at Amazon US (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Amazon Germany (Click here). And some fool reseller offers eleven G3 for 2.029,00 on [shoplink 22851 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]!

Share