43 Rumors – Page 2018 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

Blackmagic announces a new Micro Four Thirds Cinema Camera!!!

September 7, 2012
news
49 Comments

The current Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF model.

As you may know Blackmagic released a fantastic little camera that shoots in 12-bit RAW, ProRes and DNxHD Formats (Price and specs here at BHphoto). Until now the camera was available in EF and ZE Lens Mount but today Blackmagic issued a new statement saying that they will soon release a “second model of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera that features passive Micro Four Thirds lens (MFT) mount“. Passive means that there is no electronic control of the lens and you can use manual aperture and focus only.

Click the link below to read the full press release:

September 7, 2012
news
53 Comments

Eiji Shirota responsible for product planning of M.ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses wrote a short text on facebook (Click here). He also hints that: “We are currently involved in planning and development of unique lenses with ever greater focus on high image quality and usability.” I hope he was not thinking on the 15mm f/8.0 lens when writing this :)

P.S.: The Olympus 75mm lens is in Stock in UK at Wexphotographic and in France at [shoplink 33262 ebay]PhotoVideo[/shoplink].

Zeiss will release AF lenses for mirrorless systems in 2013 (And Fuji X-E1 announcement)

September 6, 2012
news
56 Comments

Zeiss makes fast lenses for mirrorless systems:
There is an interesting new press release from Zeiss (Click here): “Another highlight will be the presentation of a design study, with which Carl Zeiss will offer a sneak preview of a new family of autofocus lenses for mirrorless system cameras (CSC) that will most likely be available in mid-2013. Due to their performance and high speed, these new lenses will be ideal for deliberate photo composition, making them perfect for more sophisticated photographers as well. Carl Zeiss plans to initially offer fixed focal lengths in the wide angle and standard range as well as a macro.”

Zeiss currently offers high quality and expensive “video-optimized” lenses, the CP.2 for Micro Four Thirds (a list is here at BHphoto). I hope the new lenses will have the quality and price of the famous [shoplink 24401 ebay]ZM lens range (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

New Fuji X camera/lenses:
Meantime today we have a new announcement from Fuji. The X-E1 camera (Click here) and the 14mm and 18-55mm X lenses have been announced. A full coverage with reviews is available at MirrorlessRumors.com (Click here).

(FT4) E-PL5 will be priced at around 599 Euro/Dollars with kit lens (and there will be a “large kit”)

September 6, 2012
Rumors
97 Comments

[shoplink 23567][/shoplink]
Image on top: The current [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3[/shoplink].

As you already know the new E-PL5 (and E-PM3) will have the same [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink] sensor. A source shared some more E-PL5 info. The camera plus 14-42mm kit lens will be priced at around 599 Euro/Dollars which is exactly the price of the current [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3 (Click here to check)[/shoplink]. The source also “heard” that there will be a “large kit” version and it’s easy to guess that this will include the soon to come 15mm f/8.0 lens too! The major changes on the E-PL5 are the new sensor and a better ergonomy.

For my European colluegues: If you don’t care about getting the latest stuff and want to save some money there is a new bunch of refurbished PEN cameras at [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket[/shoplink]. This includes for example:
[shoplink 33244 ebay]Olympus E-P3 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33246 ebay]Olympus E-PL3 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33245 ebay]Olympus E-PM1 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33247 ebay]Olympus E-P2 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33248 ebay]Olympus E-PL2 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33249 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with lens (CLick here to see the auction)[/shoplink].

P.S.: The E-PL1 is used by my friend Elena to tell you stories about the greek life (greekdiaries.com).
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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

Cheap Olympus 75mm hood now on Amazon (UPDATE: E-P3 deal at Adorama).

September 5, 2012
deals
23 Comments

Rainbowimaging is now selling a cheap alternative at Amazon US (Click here) which they say 100% replace the original Olympus LH-61F (Click here). If you click the two links and than compare the images of the hoods you wills ee that they are pretty much identical! The lens itself is in Stock via third party resellers on Amazon (with a not so nice $200 extra to pay).

Wlcastleman (Click here) posted a full review of the lens: “It is difficult to write about this lens without using superlatives. It is incredibly sharp wide open across the image field and produces very high quality bokeh with evenly illuminated out of focus specular light. It can be shot wide open in portrait applications to produce sharply focused subjects and excellent background blurring.”

Olympus 75mm in Stock status check: [shopcountry 31284].

UPDATE: There is a new E-P3 deal at Adorama!
Olympus E-P3 PEN 12.3MP Digital Camera with M. Zuiko Digital 14-42mm II R f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens now with a $50 price drop in Black, Silver and White. And for the same price there is also “Special limited time promotion” with 8GB card, spare battery, case, software. Again in Black, Silver and White.

(FT5) UPDATED: First picture of the new Olympus 15mm f/8.0 lens!

September 5, 2012
Rumors
155 Comments

Image courtesy by the mysterious “nanoloop” :)

An anonymous source sent me this pic of what he claims to be the back of the new Olympus 15mm f/8.0 lens. As I told you before this is not a pinhole lens like the [shoplink 32795 ebay]SLRmagic m43 pinhole (here)[/shoplink]). This has three lenses inside (you see them on the picture). Right now the smallest m43 lens is the [shoplink 16258]Panasonic 14mm[/shoplink] that is 2.06 cm thick and weights 55g. The “Plastic” and “supercheap” 15mm f/8.0 lens will be announced along the new PEN cameras. I am not sure yet but I think it will be part of the kit lens on the new E-PM3 and E-PL5. These are the specs:

Focal lenght: 15 mm (equivalent to 30 mm on a 35 mm camera) :
Aperture: F8 fixed
Dimensions :Max.dia.Ø56(2.2in.)× length 9 (0.4 in.) mm
Design: 3 groups, 3 lenses
Focus: 0.30 m (11.8 in.) to infinite. Manual Focusing (Three settings)
Weight: 22 g (0.8 oz.)

UPDATE: One more picture:

P.S: Similar in size is the famous [shoplink 32796 ebay]Leica Perara Triplet (you can find some of them here on eBay)[/shoplink].

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Something else: My friend Elena posted E-PL1 Pictures from a ‘panigiri’ (greekdiaries).

a little bit of everything and ebay madness….

September 4, 2012
reviews
19 Comments

Lumix G X Vario 12-35 F2.8 Lens Test from Erik Naso on Vimeo.

Time to catch up with some reviews posted the last week:

Reviews:
Panasonic 14-42mm X pancake lens (Soundimagesplus).
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens Review (ePhotozine).
Test du flash Olympus FL 600 R (partie 1 at Lepidi).
Olympus OM-D E-M5 vompared with Sony NEX-7, Fujifilm XPro1 and Canon Rebel T4i/650D at Ronmartblog.
Phil Rudin: “My review for the E-M5 and Nauticam NA-EM5 underwater housing is now available at Underwater Photography magazine, UWPMAG.com. This magazine has over 20,000 subscribers that are hard core U/W photo fans. The cover shot is also mine and was taken with the same system using the Panasonic 45 mm macro lens.”
E-PL1 Pictures from a ‘panigiri’ as promised (greekdiaries).

eBay Madness:
Olympus E-P3 Pen Digital Camera Black w/M.Zuiko 17mm f/2.8 45mm f/1.8ED VF-2 by [shoplink 33167 ebay]Adorama on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
The so called “french” Noctilux. The Cetor 35mm f1,3 on [shoplink 33168 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Next cheater price. Nokton 17.5mm for OVER $6K on [shoplink 33169 ebay]eBay Suisse (Click here)[/shoplink].
Olympus E-M5 for $939 by [shoplink 33190 ebay]CameraLand (Click here)[/shoplink] Very Rare Dallmeyer Super-Six Anastigmat 1.9/2 1/2″ 63.5mm (63mm) in C-Mount on [shoplink 33191 ebay]eBay Austria (Click here)[/shoplink].
Most expensive pancake is the Boyer Paris Saphir 1.9/75 Alvar #585907 [shoplink 33192 ebay]eBay Slovakia (Click here)[/shoplink].
Fastest tele lens is the Hasselblad 1:1,3/250mm Zoomatar [shoplink 33193 ebay]eBay Germany (Click here)[/shoplink].
Fastest and most expensive 0.95 lens is the Angénieux Paris M2 35mm 0.95 Ultrafast C Mount Lens [shoplink 33194 ebay]eBay France (Click here)[/shoplink].