(FT4) New Micro Four Thirds lenses coming in June (not from Olympus/Panasonic)

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The (Micro-) Four Thirds group listed at www.four-thirds.org.

I am three weeks in the Alps and plan to climb many mountains. But I really have to keep an eye on my iPhone because one of my trusted sources just told me that there will be a new Micro Four Thirds lens announcement from an associated Micro Four Thirds group company. It’s not Panasonic and not Olympus. As you see from the list on top there are so many candidates (and Samyang is not listed) that I leave it up to you to guess what’s coming :)

Just a guess (no rumor!): I hope it’s a Samyang prime lens. A Micro Four Thirds version of the superb [shoplink 31320 ebay]35mm f/1.4 Four Thirds lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink] would be a nice addition! For my needs this would be a better portrait lens than the just announced Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens!

P.S.: The Olympus 75mm lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). In Europe at Amazon UK (Click here), and in Asia at Amazon JP (Click here). And Adorama has also the accessories: Olympus LH-61F, Metal Lens Hood (Click here) and the Olympus LC-61, Metal Front Lens Cap (Click here).

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Financial report: Olympus keeps losing money, but sells more Digital Cameras.

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Olympus released the latest Q4 financial report (Click here to download the pdf). Olympus lost 49 Mrd. Yen (491 Mio. €). While Olympus Camera Business can’t still bring any profit Olympus managed to sell more digital cameras (+0,6%). Results would have been better without the Thai Flood that affected the whole camera industry production.

Olympus didn’t release any forecast but my very irrational feeling says that things will go better for Olympus this year. It cannot go worse than last year or not? :)

UPDATE: Thom Hogan analyzed the Olympus financial results on Sansmirror.com (Click here).

One more thing: Michael Woodford sues Olympus for $60m (The Telegraph). Damn is that a long going story!

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$99 for the Panasonic zoom lens (and new Gariz USA ebay shop).

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Panasonic US deals:
It’s not a spectacular lens but for $99 it’s nice to have a walk around zoom like the Panasonic 14-42mm. You can get it now for that price at Amazon (Click here) or Adorama (Click here). And two more Panasonic lens are now priced cheaper than usual. The super nice 14mm f/2.5 pancake is now in Stock for $269 at Amazon (Click here). And the 14-42mm X pancake is in Stock for $345 again at Amazon (Click here). There is no big deal on the camera front. Just a new couple of dollars price drop on the GX1+x lens kit at Amazon (Click here).

Gariz US store:
The Korean company Gariz was the first to offer the [shoplink 31306 ebay]E-M5 leather case (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. But as you know it’s always a hurdle to shop from other countries (because of the importation taxes and long delivery times). But finally Gariz opened a US located ebay store and you can buy the [shoplink 31307 ebay]E-M5 genuine leather case (Click here)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 31309 ebay]E-M5 textured leather case (Click here)[/shoplink]. Hope they will open a store in Europe too!

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New Panasonic 12-35mm X lens reviews roundup!

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Popco (Click here) posted a nice set of sexy 12-35mm X lens pictures including a “weight comparison”! And they made a autofocus speed test you can see on vimeo (Click here). A new set of image samples can be found here at Flickr. And there is another full review at Camerastuffreview (Click here). The conclusion are very positive like it was at Photographyblog, ePhotozine, SLRgear and DSLRmagazine. The only flaw of that lens may be the missing powerzoom (hey I am a film maker, for me that would have been a nice addition).

Lens preorders:
in USA at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
in Europe at FotoHanzKeuzekamp (Click here).
in Asia at Amazon Japan (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).

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Silver E-M5 shipment in June only. And new reviews roundup (E-M5 has super color accuracy)

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Silver E-M5 delay
Olympus heavily understimated the demand of the Silver E-M5. Because of that today Amazon reports that the Silver body will ship within 1-2 months only (Click here to read). And 43rumors readers that preordered the Silver body on February 7 have been notified that shipment has been delayed to “June 27, 2012 – July 24, 2012“. A reader from UK also wrote that his preorder has been canceled by Amazon UK. Olympus usually isn’t known for that kind of delivery delays. It’s really to larger than expected succss of the camera that is pushing forward the shipment of your cameras.

Meantime you can enjoy some new reviews and tests (Thanks to all reader for sending me those links!!!):
Digital Camera Magazine posted the E-M5 color accuracy test and you can see a screenshot at Imageshack (Click here).
Lori Grunin from Cnet US (Click here) posted the final E-M5 review: “You don’t have a lot of choices if you’re looking for something rugged under $1,000 that’s better than most of the point-and-shoot alternatives. There’s the forthcoming Pentax K-30 dSLR, but it’s bigger and clunkier. While you don’t get best-in-class photo quality with the OM-D E-M5, it’s a not-unreasonable trade-off for the rest of the package.”
Photographing the streets of Paris with the Olympus OM-D at Dearsusans (Click here): “The JPEG engine is so good I really doubt there would be any point in using the RAW option – at low ISOs – unless you’re a pro shooting on assignment with strict orders.”
Using the Olympus OMD EM5 on a Cosplay Photoshoot at ThePhoBlographer (Click here). E-M5 versus NEX-5n on youtube.
Ticket zu verlosen: OM-D Workshop in Münster (1.-3. Juni 2012) at SystemKameraForum (Click here). Une occasion unique de tester le nouvel Olympus OM-D à paris (Focus Numerique / Lepidi).

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev. Don’t forget you can buy plenty of cheap [shoplink 31278 ebay]third party E-M5 batteries on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

The E-M5 keeps to be present in the Amazon Bestseller list(changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 5/6/12 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 3/7/9 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/12 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 13/14/16 (Click here).

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Olympusmarket refurbished camera list

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[shoplink 31192 ebay][/shoplink] Can’t wait to see the day until our European [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket (Click here)[/shoplink] store will offer some E-M5 cameras. But meantime you can find plenty of last generation PEN cameras and all the accessories like the PenPal module, Flash, converters and so on. Just click on it to see the auction:
[shoplink 31189 ebay]Silver Olympus E-P1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31190 ebay]Silver Olympus E-P1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31191 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31192 ebay]Black Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31193 ebay]Olympus 75-300mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31194 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31195 ebay]Olympus VF-3 external viewfinder[/shoplink] [shoplink 31196 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31255 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31256 ebay]Black Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31257 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 31258 ebay]Olympus E-5 body only[/shoplink] [shoplink 31259 ebay]Olympus MAL-1 macro light[/shoplink] [shoplink 31260 ebay]Olympus MCON-P01 Macro Converter[/shoplink] [shoplink 31261 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31262 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 31263 ebay]Olympus FL-14 external Flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 31264 ebay]Olympus PenPal[/shoplink]

Goog Luck!

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New Olympus 75mm preorders (with hood) and preview.

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Dpreview posted a first lens preview impression: “The build quality is impressive” and the lens “showed really impressive levels of sharpness” with “smooth bokeh with only a hint of the axial chromatic aberration you’d expect on a lens like this“.
I have no doubt the lens is good, it’s just that expected a bit lower price :)  But than again, you get what you pay for! Speaking of price here is the updated list of lens preorder (with Adorama) and accessories:
Olympus 75mm lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). And Adorama has also the accessories: Olympus LH-61F, Metal Lens Hood (Click here) and the Olympus LC-61, Metal Front Lens Cap (Click here).

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