New Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 review and image samples.

Share

Mike Kobal posted a new set of image samples taken at f/0.95 aperture only! (http://www.mikekobal.com/blog/?p=869). Those are very nice and sharp images! It has much better results than my [shoplink 15629]Noktor 50mm f/0.95[/shoplink] :)

Soundimageplus posted the first part of his [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] review and those are some of their key findings:
– I was concerned that I may have problems focusing at f/0.95 but these fears proved unfounded.
– This lens focuses to just over 6″ or 17 CM. This is INCREDIBLY useful.
– The Bokeh is “Incredible“.
– I’ve detected very little CA and fringing

I just checked eBay again and there are [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 [/shoplink]three shops from Hong Kong and Germany selling the lens (Click here)[/shoplink]. Worldwide shipment!

Share

Panasonic GH2 news roundup

Share

Lumix On The Road / GH2 From Paris to California from Jean-Baptiste Lefournier on Vimeo.

Many of you sent me links to new GH2 videos. That post will sum all those links (and thanks for your help):

[Panasonic GH2] amusement park at night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3FbDkfJUMs
[Panasonic GH2] Nedujinja shrine: http://vimeo.com/16497211
Panasonic Lumix GH2 ISO test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3qQbdH8A9I
Some new GH2 image samples can be found on Flickr.
Panasonic GH2 hands-on at Camera.itmedia.co.jp

Panasonic GH2 price and availability check:
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and [shoplink 17526]eBay[/shoplink].

Share

Panasonic 14mm lens in Stock in Europe and on eBay!

Share
[shoplink 16258][/shoplink]

Finally non-japanese stores do have some of the new Panasonic stuff in Stock :)
Amazon Deutschland has the new Panasonic 14mm lens in Stock right now!. And so Amazon UK.
That leads us to hope that also Amazon US, Adorama and BHphoto will have it in Stock soon!

I don’t advice you to buy the japanese GH2 ([shoplink 17525]which are currently in auction on eBay[/shoplink]) because you have to deal with the japanese menu. But you don’t have that problem when you buy a lens! Japanese resellers are currently selling some of these lenses on [shoplink 17556 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

P.S: ThePublicEye posted a few Panasonic 14mm image samples.

Share

Panasonic and Olympus financial reports (making less money with cameras)

Share

The first half of the fiscal year 2010 for the Japanese company Panasonic is extremely profitable but the digital camera and mobile phone sales are in decline. The operating division’s profit is 61.3 billion yen (about € 548 million) – an increase of 481% over the previous year (quarterly figures, see table below). Panasonic attributes the huge increase in profits to reduce fixed costs and economies of scale. Source: Photoscala

The Olympus sales

In the second fiscal quarter of 2010/11 Olympus is continuing the downward trend of their photo section. Overall earnings of the “Imaging sector” decrease of 22.4% over the first half of last year. Source: Photoscala

Share

(FT3) Olympus to use a 16 Megapixel Kodak sensor with electronic shutter?

Share

For some months we received info about a possible future Olympus and Kodak partnership. Now we received small details about a Kodak sensor which could be used inside the next Micro Four Thirds cameras. We learned from one of our trusted sources that the Olympus-Panasonic sensor agreement will expire by early 2011. That agreement didn’t allow Olympus to use other non-Panasonic sensors. Once the agreement ends Olympus has the choice to renegotiate the agreement or to sign a new partnership with Kodak. That could be one of the reasons why Olympus didn’t release any new [shoplink 14830]PEN[/shoplink] (or the rumored modular cameras) at Photokina.

According to the info we received the Four Thirds sensor has 16 Megapixel and true electronic shutter. Two of our sources claim to know that there are already working prototypes!

We have to warn you that we are talking about prototypes that might will never be produced for the mass market. I am not sure yet if Olympus will give up Panasonic in favour of Kodak. But I trust my sources when they say that Olympus is currently re-thinking the future sensor partnership.

Kodak recently announced the 29Megapixel W-RGB Interline Transfer CCD which is supposed to be used with the next [shoplink 17539 ebay]Leica M9[/shoplink] successor. Although this is not the “Kodak-Olympus sensor” we are talking about, it might be of interest to see some of the features (via ImageSensorWorld):
– The TRUESENSE technology is claimed to provide a 2x to 4x increase in light sensitivity compared to a standard Bayer color sensor by adding panchromatic pixels to the standard RGB elements that form the image sensor array
– The new sensor is also available in a regular Bayer and monochrome versions (Cool!)
– electronic shutter

For all Olympus readers. We are currently collecting info about the following three main rumors:
1) Modular camera
2) Olympus-Kodak partnership
3) New Super43 camera system

If you have some info you can share please contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right sidebar. Thanks!

Share

Get the “japanese” Panasonic GH2 on eBay (shipping worlwide)

Share
[shoplink 17525][/shoplink]

The first two Panasonic GH2 cameras are for sale on eBay! They are located in Japan so you have to deal with the japanese menu :( The good news is that we have two different GH2 cameras:
[shoplink 17525]Click here to see the current Panasonic GH2 (Body Only!) auction[/shoplink] [shoplink 17526]Click here to see the current Panasonic GH2+14-140mm lens auction[/shoplink]

Time left for the auction: 5 days!

Finally also Amazon Germany has the GH2 (Gewöhnlich versandfertig in 1 bis 3 Wochen.)
Panasonic GH2 ohne OBjektiv
Panasonic GH2+ 14-140mm Ojektiv
Panasonic GH2 + 14-42mm Objektiv

Other preorder links (Cameras will be in Stock between 22 November and end of December):
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Japan.

Let me know if you find the GH2 somewhere in Stock! Thanks!!!

Share

Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 lens preview by Mike Kobal

Share

Mike Kobal made that very nice video with the GH1 and the [shoplink 15659]Nokton 25mm[/shoplink] (Source: mikekobal.com): “The aperture was set to 1.4 for all clips, ISO to 100. I like the results, the Nokton lives up to the hype, it is very sharp at 1.4 (except for the extreme corners).” He also posted one more “night” video taken with aperture set at f/0.95(Click here).

He also posted a nice set of images on flickr:

My impression of this lens so far:
@0.95 slightly soft in the center and in the corners, but sharpens up nicely in ps, extreme corners are very soft, very usable overall.
@1.4 very sharp in the center and in the corners, extreme corners are still soft.
@2.0 extremely sharp in the center and in the corners, extreme corners are still soft.

The built quality is excellent, the focusing ring is fantastic, very well dampened and it is very easy to pull focus during video takes.

Thanks Mike for your nice work!!!

If you have some luck you can find the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 on eBay ([shoplink 15659]Click here to see current auctions[/shoplink]).

Share