43 Rumors – Page 2092 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

For my European friends: New set of refurbished PEN cameras.

March 11, 2012
deals
11 Comments

[shoplink 29650 ebay][/shoplink] One of the items on acution is the [shoplink 29650 ebay]Olympus E-PL3[/shoplink]

We Europeans get so much frustrated when seeing the nice US deals like the [shoplink 29612 ebay]GF3+ 14-42 X lens[/shoplink] for 270 Euro :(
At least or exclusive for European created [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket (Click here)[/shoplink] is offering some nice cheap and refurbished stuff from time ti time. A new set of camera and lenses has just been put on auction and here are a few links to the most interesting stuff (Click on name to check the auction price):
[shoplink 29633 ebay]Olympus 14-150mm m43 lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29634 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29635 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29636 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29637 ebay]White Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29638 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29639 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29640 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29641 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29642 ebay]Black Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29643 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29644 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29645 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29646 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29647 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29648 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29649 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29650 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29651 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29652 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29653 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL2 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29654 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 29655 ebay]White Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29656 ebay]Silver Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29657 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 29658 ebay]Black Olympus E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink]

Good Luck!

Olympus E-M5 shows less rolling shutter video jello effect.

March 10, 2012
reviews
44 Comments

A short test made by Four Thrids User (see video on top) shows that indeed Olympus managed to considerably reduce the rolling shutter video jello effect. The trick to archive that is easy…the E-M5 sensor and circuitry has a much faster readout that reduces the rolling shutter artifacts.

The definitive solution of the problem would be the use of a global shutter were the pixels aren’t read out line per line but all toegther at the same time. If early rumors are correct than the Panasonic GH3 may be the first camera with such a sensor! let’s cross the fingers!

E-M5 preorders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Redcoon Germany, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

(UPDATED with dpreview samples) New E-M5 roundup.

March 9, 2012
reviews
76 Comments

BHphoto (Click here) just changed the availability date for the OM-5. It has been postponed to April 16th.

DPreview, Robin Wong and the E-M5 image quality:
Dpreview (Click here) just posted a low light high ISO samples. Robin Wong (Click here) posted his second part of the E-M5 review with a focus o the High ISO quality: “At ISO3200, the image actually looked very clean, and even up to ISO6400, the output is still acceptably good, on par, or possibly better than E-P3 at ISO1600. Hence, Olympus’ initial claims as they announced the E-M5 that it has at least two stops of EV advantage over E-P3 were not a joke at all.”
Robin is very positively impressed by the image quality but I hope to see soon more detailed studio tests done by Dpreview or DxOmark. The ISO tests made by Focus Numerique (Click here) showed us that the E-M5 and [shoplink 26836]GX1[/shoplink] differences in RAW are minimal. It’s the usual very good Olympus JPEG engine that makes the difference.
Ops now I am talking like a pixel peepers…back to real photography! I really don’t pay too much attention about small resolution, noise and dynamic range differences. What matters first is the usability of the camera. As some readers reported yesterday high image quality makes no sense if the autofocus on the camera won’t work appropriately (I am talking about you Fuji X PRO 1!). And in the real world the five AXIS IS from Olympus will probably help you to get real sharp images in situation were other cameras may blur away the resolution due the camera shaking. I write all this to remind you that no camera is perfect. What matters is which camera works really best for your real photographic use. That’s why I use the [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] for some of my video work, the [shoplink 28308 ebay]E-P1[/shoplink] as my “always wtih me” camera and the [shoplink 28309 ebay]Mamiya 7[/shoplink] for astonishing quality pictures which even overshadows the new 36 MPX Nikon D800 ;)

More E-M5 bits:
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Quick Hands-on in the Philippines at Ferdzdecena (Click here).
Review of the Olympus OM-D EM-5 For Street Photography on Youtube (Click here).
Preview at TheTecnoLast (Click here).
Dynamic Range OM-D vs Nex 5N vs Oly e-p3 vs Pana G3 at Dpreview forum (Click here).

E-M5 preorder:
Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Redcoon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan. The E-M5 in all his versions is present in the Amazon top ranking list.

(DEAL DEAD) GF3+14-42mm X lens for $349 on eBay!

March 9, 2012
deals
44 Comments

[shoplink 29612 ebay]

[/shoplink] That is the hottest GF3 deal ever seen! The GF3 with 14-42mm X pancake zoom lens sell for $349 on [shoplink 29612 ebay]eBay US (Click here ->limited quantities only)[/shoplink]. The camera ships to US and Canada only. That’s $150 less than the same kit on Amazon (Click here) and even less than the single 14-42mm X lens only! The eBay store is actually the same of the [shoplink 29524 ebay]GH2 $579 superdeal[/shoplink]!

As European I am now 100% frustrated that you US guys can always enjoy deals like that. At Amazon Germany and Amazon UK the price is around 600 Euro!

G5, GF5, E-M5, Super35 camcorder and Oly/Pana/Nokton/Sigma lenses. What are you waiting for?

March 9, 2012
Rumors
81 Comments

On left the current [shoplink 23109]GF3[/shoplink] and on right the new GF5!

With yesterdays GF5 and G5 leak we have a pretty good picture of the products that will be announced and/or shipped within the next two-three months. Here is a short summary and a poll:

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Reminders:
Sigma Japan confirmed the shipment date of March 16th for the 19mm f/2.8 lens.
The Voigtländer 17.5mm f/0.95 is available for preorder at German ebay stores at [shoplink 29368 ebay]Digitalhandel (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 29367 ebay]Bayern Fotoversand (Click here)[/shoplink]. Both for 1.299 Euro.

Cheap Canon advertising against Micro Four Thirds (UPDATE: Confusing Nikon 1 and m43?)

March 9, 2012
Rumors
85 Comments

The Friday, March 9 issue from the Singapore magazine “TODAY” posted the [shoplink 29545 ebay]Canon G1 X[/shoplink] advertising you can see here on top. It shows a completely false sensor size comparison made up to clearly discredit the Micro Four Thirds system. The right size comparison should look like this:

Now, in defense of Canon I know well that very often the Marketing Campaigns are created by local advertising companies and probably the head of the Canon Marketing department doesn’t even know that this is going on. But in the era of Internet such fake way to do advertising will have a viral and negative effect for them. UPDATE: As noted by many readers the sensor size corresponds to that from the [shoplink 25767 ebay]Nikon 1 system[/shoplink]. So maybe the Canon marketing guys confused the Micro Four Thirds sensor with the Nikon 1 sensor? But than again how can Canon do a mistake like that???

At least this proves that for Canon Micro Four Thirds is the main and strongest competitor :)

And click here to see the full page of the Canon page on the magazine. It was our reader Ben to find this…Thanks!

P:S.: Frank reported this on CanonWatch.

New Micro Four Thirds lens roundup (12-50mm tested by DxO).

March 8, 2012
reviews
58 Comments

It’s time for a new Micro Four Thirds lens review roundup. As you can see from the screenshot on top DxOmark (Click here) tested the new Olympus 12-50mm weather sealed zoom. I have to say that I expected a better result form a lens that is 10 times longer than one of my favorite lenses, the [shoplink 25104]Panasonic 14-42mm X lens (which costs less too!)[/shoplink]. Of course if you need a weather sealed lens an a superior economy and control than the Olympus lens is the better choice.

And here are five more m43 lens tests or image samples:
Panasonic 7-14mm Review (ePhotozine). Price check at [shopcountry 14822].
Olympus 12-50mm Photos (Photographyblog). Price check at [shopcountry 27977].
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Review (ePhotozine). Price check at [shopcountry 14794].
Sigma 30mm image samples at ePhotozine.
SLR Magic 26mm Toy Lens Review at Talkingtree (Click here). The lens is available on [shoplink 20919 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].