43 Rumors – Page 2083 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

Which is the best compact mirrorless camera? Thom Hogan gives you the answer…

December 3, 2010
reviews
18 Comments

[shoplink 14828]

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Thom Hogan posted a new “Mirrorless Shootout“. He tested four compact mirrorless cameras, the [shoplink 14832]Olympus E-PL1[/shoplink], [shoplink 14828]Panasonic GF1[/shoplink], Samsung NX100 and the Sony NEX-5.

“The Panasonic and Samsung are the two serious photographer-friendly cameras in this bunch, while the Olympus has a little more compact gimmicky and the Sony is way over the top in changing the way you interact with a camera.”

Thom also explains why you shouldn’t wait for Canon, Pentax and Nikon to enter the mirrorless battle: “At the moment, neither Nikon nor Canon have chosen to play in the mirrorless arena. Nikon is likely to be the next entrant, and I expect to see their model hit the shelves by about March 2011. Ditto Pentax. No word on Canon. Frankly, I think waiting for a maker to enter this market is probably a waste of time. Why? One word: lenses.”

Conclusion? “I can wholeheartedly recommend the Panasonic GF-1” and there is a surprise: “I can’t really recommend the Sony NEX-5 directly“.

Read the full review at http://www.bythom.com/compactmirrorless.htm

(UPDATED) Panasonic GH2 in Stock in Europe (France, UK and Germany)

December 3, 2010
deals
17 Comments

Good morning and good news for us europeans folks! Thanks to our very observant readers we now know the GH2 is in Stock in some shops in France, Germany and UK.
Amazon France (Click here) has two GH2 in Stock. In UK Mathers of Lancaster already shipped a few cameras. In germany www.audiophilfoto.de has a few GH2 in Stock. A lucky german guy was informed by Amazon Deutschland that his GH2 has been shipped:

“Lieferung voraussichtlich: 7. Dezember 2010 – 10. Dezember 2010
Voraussichtlicher Versand dieser Artikel: 6. Dezember 2010 – 7. Dezember 2010
1 “Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH 2 Kit mattschwarz + 14-140 mm”
Elektronik; EUR 1.550,00”

UPDATE: Amazon.de has no GH2 in Stock yet. But at leats they shipped a few cameras to those guys that preordered it a few weeks ago. It looks like also Amazon France has no more GH2 in Stock!!!

For US guys. I was informed that Amazon US will start shipping the GH2 next week!

Help other 43rumors readers to find stores where the GH2 is in Stock by commenting this post! Thanks!

UPDATE2: The GH2 is REALLY in Germany (Foto Video Rutten in Wuppertal)

Incredible E-P2 price: Is BHphoto clearing their E-P2 stocks?

December 2, 2010
deals
12 Comments

We just noticed that BHphoto is selling the Olympus E-P2+17mm lens for $529.95 only (Click here)! Officially BH says the price is $799 but if you add it to the cart the final price is $529.95. That’s $270 less than the usual price!
And there is an even better deal when you add the Olympus E-P2+with 14-42mm lens to your BH cart (Click here). The final price is $506.19!
We received some rumors about a possible E-P2 replacement in February. So maybe that’s the reason for the price drop…

And an interesting deal is back: Panasonic GF1 with 20mm Lens in Stock for $599 at Amazon (Click here).

And here are the other current deals:
Panasonic 7-14mm for $908 at Amazon (Click here)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 with 14-42mm Lens (Black) for $518 at Amazon (Click here)

Diwa Labs tested the new Panasonic 100-300mm lens and the Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7

December 2, 2010
reviews
12 Comments

Diwa labs compared the two new Micro Four Thirds tele-zooms:
– Click here to see the Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 test results
– Click here to see the Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 test results

After a quick look on the graphics I can’t see any big difference between the two lenses. The Olympus lens has more Chromatic Aberration and Geometric Distortion. The Panasonic has more Luminance Blur. Resolution is quite similar. So now it is up to you to choose between the two lenses!

Panasonic 100-300mm direct shop links:
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK

Olympus Zuiko 75-300mm direct shop links:
Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE, AmazonUK.

Panasonic GH2 vs GH13 (+Canadians are happy and Brits also)

December 1, 2010
news
28 Comments

Hunter Richards posted a very interesting GH2 1080/24p codec vs GH13 codec (44mbs 1080/24p hack) image comparison at DVuser.com. The [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] is definitely resolving more detail and at 3.200 ISO the image is almost clean! And Panasonic guru Barry Green explained why the 24Mbs AVCHD codec is better than the 44Mbs: “Even then, this isn’t as good as it gets. The AVCHD in the Gh2 is much better than the GH1’s version, but it’s still not up to the standards that the [shoplink 16841]AF100[/shoplink] can do. Bigger hardware, bigger memory buffers, more efficiency. Even at the same bitrate. I really do hope this dispells once and for all the notion that “more megabits = better footage” because, very frequently, that just isn’t correct. It’s the type of megabits, and how they’re used, that determine the efficiency and how good the final pictures look. The only way you can say “more = better” is if you’re talking about the exact same thing (i.e., AF100 at 21mbs vs. AF100 at 17mbps… in that case, yes, more = better).”

Meanwhile our canadian 43rumors readers are sending me many mails because they received the GH2 from Henrys, Downtown Camera in Toronto and other shops. You guys have to explain me why you are the first (non-japanese) to get stuff form Panasonic. I hate you ;)
British readers are the next! Mathers of Lancashire, Amazon UK and other known stores should have the GH2 in Stock next week.
US readers are using the guerrilla strategy with the hope to get the camera sooner or later. They simply preorder at any online store that has the GH2 on list :) Panasonic is now accpeting preorders and so Amazon and Adorama.

P.S.: Let me know if you find the GH2 in Stock in Europe! Thanks!

(FT4) Olympus will go “PRO” within the first half of 2011!

December 1, 2010
Rumors
132 Comments

I received quite a few emails from trusted and new anonymous sources. Finally something is happening around Olympus ;)
According to my trusted sources Olympus will release a few new “PRO” Micro Four Thirds product within the first half of 2011. They confirmed that between January and March Olympus will announce the three new pancakes you can see on the roadmap on top. One Fisheye lens, a 12mm(?) and the 50mm pancake. I hope to get some detail about those lenses (and maybe other lenses) as soon as possible. After that Olympus will release the first Micro Four Thirds “PRO” camera with TruepicV+ engine, new Panasonic sensor, Built-in Viewfinder and weatherproof body. I don’t know yet if the camera has a Rangefinder design (à-la Fuji X100 and [shoplink 17020]Panasonic DMC-LC1[/shoplink]) or DSLR design (à-la [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink]). The camera should be in store by Quarter 2 (between April and June). I am are currently “collecting” info about the camera so if you want to help me feel free to contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right sidebar. I really need every little help you can give me to avoid mistakes and confirm the other rumors I received. Thanks!

There is one more unconfirmed rumor: (FT3) According to two new sources the PRO camera should be announced by late January-early February and be in Stock bye end of Quarter 2. The camera itself could be named “E-PS1” (The “S” stay for super where with the [shoplink 14832]E-PL1[/shoplink] the “L” stays for lite).

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

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UPDATED: New Panasonic GH2 review at Letsgodigital (and first HDMI captured video!)

December 1, 2010
reviews
9 Comments

The video has been made with the GH2 using the Blackmagic HDMI capture.

Letsgodigital reviewed the [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink]: “Panasonic is creating a point of reference with the GH2 with which the competition can measure itself. Panasonic’s years of video experience are clearly visible and is very effectively integrated into an existing concept.” The camera gains the “Excellent” rating with 84%.

P.S.: You can download a few RAW image samples at megaupload (dpreview forum)

P.P.S.: A 43rumors readers is selling his [shoplink 16582 ebay]Apollo High Speed Lens 25mm F/0.85 lens on eBay[/shoplink].