New Voigtländer reviews (I received my Nokton!)

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First I have to say that I just received my Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 and I had that nice WOW feeling when I opened the box. It’s extremely well built lens and I love to play with the smooth focus ring and I already love that nice “tic” sound when changing the aperture ring. The first thing I noticed is that you have to make a 1 and 1/2 turns to move from a close focus distance (17cm) to infinite focus. I will try the lens this weekend and compare it with the other wide open king, my Noktor 50mm f/0.95. For the record: I bought that lens from [shoplink 15659]Foto Mundus on eBay[/shoplink].

There are two new reviews:

Peter Lueck reviewed the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm lens. Also ThePublicEye published a short test. And a few image samples can be found at dpreview forum.

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Why you should become a 43rumors member…

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Dear readers!

I invite you to become 43rumors member because of the following reasons:

1) To avoid spamming I usually have to allow your comments manually. That’s why sometimes you don’t see you comment displayed for many hours. But once you become a 43rumors member every comment you post will be instantly displayed!

2) Within the next 2 weeks I will install a complete new camera/lens user review system. Every registered user will be able to rate the product displayed inside the camera database (on the top of the website). See the examples at SLRgear or Dpreview. There will be 5 rating categories:

– body/lens quality
– usability
– features
– image quality
– price

You rate the product for every category and you can add a comment with links to your work. Readers will be able to comment your review and/or send you private messages on 43rumors. If you have more (or better) ideas feel free to contact me!

3) Within 1 month I will add the ability for every member to post images or link to their own flickr and youtube pages. That will make it easy for every 43rumors reader to see your work!

Click here to register: https://www.43rumors.com/register/

Reaminder: 43rumors runs on Buddypress. It’s still not a very mature software but it has a huge potential.

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Panasonic G2 new firmware update (Version 1.11)

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[shoplink 14834][/shoplink]
  1. added a function for recording 3D pictures.
  2. added a function for playing back 3D pictures.
    *1 The 3D interchangeable lens(optional) is required for 3D recording.
    *2 A 3D compatible TV is required to view 3D images.
    *3 To comfortably view 3D images in the correct way, be sure to read the safety precautions in the operating instructions of 3D lens.
  3. Improved operability of AE lock by maintaining the setting even when touch shutter function is used.
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First detailed Panasonic GF2 review at Photographyblog

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Photographyblog just published their veeery long Panasonic GF2 review (6 pages!). “Cheaper than the GF1 was on launch, the new DMC-GF2 takes Panasonic’s compact system cameras in a new direction, aiming to appeal to a wider base of users who are looking for DSLR-like results from a simpler and more compact design. While it’s certainly not a logical upgrade for current GF1 owners, the GF2 deserves to make a big leap forward both for Panasonic and for the Compact System Camera market as a whole.
Photographyblog gives a very positive rating for the GF2 but the GF1 is still a very tempting camera and very cheap now ($599 at Amazon)

P.S.: Amazon just changed the status of the new Panasonic lenses from “usually ships in 1-2 months” to “temporarily out of stock“. This usually means that they started to ship the first preordered lenses :)
Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 (Click here to check status on Amazon)
Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 (Click here to check status on Amazon)

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(FT5) New battery grip for the GH2 to be announced by early 2011

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[shoplink 17581 ebay][/shoplink] According to some of our very best sources Panasonic will announce a new battery-grip for the new GH2. The sources could not share us any specs but I was told that the grip should be announced within a few months (February?).
Editors note: The picture on top shows a reworked [shoplink 17581 ebay]grip for Panasonic cameras sold on eBay[/shoplink].

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UPDATED: Panasonic GF2 preview at Systemkamerforum (+ more GF2 news)

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Hands-on at Systemkamera-forum.de. You need to be registered to download the pdf file. The most important news is that „ Mein persönliches Fazit nach einigen Stun- den und mehr als 200 Bildern mit der LUMIX GF2: Ich vermisse Tasten und das Modusrad in keiner Weise – mit erweiterter Touchscreen- Bedienung und Quickmenu hat Panasonic einen vollwertigen Ersatz geschaffen.“ Translated… “I don’t miss the buttons and wheel they removed from the GF1, the touchscreen works very well.

Meanhwile ThePhoBlographer gives you “7 Reasons Why I’m Not Buying the Panasonic GF-2“. Hmmm…do you agree with all his critiques?

And finally there is a Panasonic GF2 preview at Imaging Resource.

UPDATE: Photoradar posted ISO-charts results.

GF2 shop links (preorders available on Amazon UK only):
Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon UK

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Double Panasonic 14mm review

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[shoplink 16258 ebay][/shoplink]

The polish website Optyczne (Impossible for me to spell it!) published the Panasonic 14mm lens review. Thanks to the magic help of the google translation tool I can post you the lens pro and cons list:

    Advantages:

  • robust and exceptionally compact design,
  • very good image quality at the center of the frame,
  • well corrected chromatic aberration
  • decent image quality in bright light,
  • negligible astigmatism.
    Disadvantages:

  • monstrous distortion,
  • a lot of vignetting,
  • image quality at the edge of the frame could be improved.

But we also have a native english review at m43photo.blogspot.com! Conclusion? “This is a very capable, fast focusing, sharp and compact lens. What’s not to like?

Ok, I like that lens but we europeans (and you americans too) have to wait a few weeks before to have the lens in Stock. Click on those direct links to check price and avilability:
Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Deutschland,Amazon Japan.

You can’t wait that much? Get the lens from japanese eBay resellers. They have all three new Panasonic lenses in Stock (but don’t forget taht you have to pay import taxes!):
[shoplink 17556 ebay]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 eBay acutions[/shoplink] [shoplink 17618 ebay]Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 eBay acutions[/shoplink] [shoplink 17620 ebay]Panasonic 3D 12.5mm f/12 eBay acutions[/shoplink]

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