Olympus President Haruo Ogawa has been interviewed by Imaging Resource (Click here). When asked about the E-5 successor he said: “We are considering several different ideas for a body that would accept Four Thirds lenses, but would also have on an acceptably compact size. At this moment, we cannot say anything for sure, because there are many possibilities — it could be Micro Four Thirds, or Four Thirds, or somehow a hybrid”
So could it be that both systems are about to merge in one single camera? A “hybrid” solution sounds mysterious, wondering how this could look like…
Two readers and Digitfoto had a talk with the guys from the German B.IG. company that developed the BIG shift lens. They confirmed that the lens is indeed directly based on the [shoplink 33839 ebay]Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f/4.5 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
Good Morning (at least here in Europe)! Let’s start the new day with a roundup of news about the recently announced Panasonic/Olympus stuff. On top you can watch a commercial uploaded by Panasonic.
Panasonic GH3:
GH3 image gallery at Popphoto.
First three hours impression by Wasabi.
Olympus E-PL5: Ming Thein posted the first Olympus E-PL3 review: “Ultimately, success at this end of the market will depend heavily on the camera’s price point. The rich feature set and overall refinement in operation make me curious to see what will succeed the E-P3; now if only they’d make one with a built-in EVF like the NEX-6…”
An E-PL5 hands-on has been posted on DC.watch (Tranlsation here).
Olympus 60mm macro:
Quick Look at the Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro at Lensrentals. They compared it with the 45mm Panasonic macro and said that: “the resolution of the two lenses is identical.”
First impression review by Admiringlight.
One more thing: A new article about the next generation viewfinder likely going to be used by Olympus in next generation cameras at ePhotozine.
Sometimes companies try to do things differently and Olympus is known for being very innovative. Back in early August the 15mm cap lens rumors I posted on 43rumors initiated huge discussions about the (non-)utility of such a lens. Now the lens is here for real and hands-on and/or first pictures have been posted at Popphoto, Photographyblog, Thedigitalstory and PetaPixel. The lens is now available for preorder at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). But the question is:
Olympus keeps sending messages about the future development. In an interview made by DigifotoPRO Toshiyuki Terada from Olympus confirmed that there will be an E-P3 successor. At that point I remind you that trusted sources that the E-P series as it was is will not continue. The new camera will be very different. Of course the first idea that will come into your mind is a PEN with integrated viewfinder. Taking inspiration from the past we can expect a sort of digital [shoplink 33877 ebay]Olympus PEN EM (they are here on ebay)[/shoplink]. A camera like that would have to compete against the very good Fuji X-E1 and Sony NEX-6.
The question is, what would you expect from a high End PEN camera to be competitive against the Fuji/Sony?
We saw this many times. And it happens always again. The companies competing with the Micro Four Thirds system are often cheating on the Micro Four Thirds size. And this time Hasselblad really invented a new kind of MFT sensor with soemthing like 27:9 size. Funny or not? Don’t think this kind of advertising will help them to sell that super expensive Nex-7 alike camera.
Note: There was an error in the Olympus and Panaosnic lens deal linking. Here are the correct links:
$200 price drop on the 12-35mm X lens at Amazon (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). If you recently bought that lens you can ask the $200 back from your store!
Olympus 75mm in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
Panasonic 12-35mm X: Photographyblog (Click here) posted the first full 35-100mm X lens review: “Optically the lens is a great performer. At all focal lengths, wide open at f/2.8 the center sharpness is perfectly acceptable, but for edge sharpness it’s best to stop down by two f-stops for optimum results. Chromatic aberrations are only noticeable by their almost complete absence, while distortions are automatically corrected on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies.”
The lens earns an “Essential” Award and has as only real problem…the high price! $1399 at Amazon (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here).
More Lens Reviews:
Panasonic 45-150mm Lens Review at ePhotozine. Optyczne posted the Nokton 17.5mm lens test. English version of the test will be posted soon on Lenstip. Lens in Stock at Amazon (Click here). Cheapest price in EU on [shoplink 33865 ebay]eBay lettland (Click here)[/shoplink]. Some 60mm amcor samples have been posted by Damian McGillicuddy on his blog and on Facebook.
Loading ...
