New Olympus E-5 tests…

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Robin Wong (Click here to read) posted a new E-5 test. This time he tested the Low Light performance: “What I can tell you is that, there is a noticeable improvement. At ISO3200, the noise level was evident, but still the details are well maintained. Overall sharpness was very good too, but of course that was due to the presence of luminance noise all over. One good news is how the JPEG engine handles the chroma noise. Up to ISO3200, I almost did not detect (yet again, some people have super magnifying eyes that can spot pixels 6 feet away from the computer screen) any chroma noise. Even at ISO6400, the majority of the noise is luminance, and I do not mind much luminance noise, which was of course, again my preference.”

Great work Robert!

One more E-5 test: Fotopolis.pl (google english translation) previewed the E-5.

High quality ISO 3200 E-5 RAW filed developed by OlympusClub user ‘qbic’ – using Lightroom 3 (2shared.com)

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Private message: Thanks for your help at Photokina!

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During Photokina I received tons of mails from you with links to news, rumors and deals. With over 600 mails and comments per day it was impossible to answer every single message. That’s why I am writing to thank you for your help on this website. Without you 43rumors would not be alive.

In general 43rumors has a big role in my life now. There are many reasons why it is so. First it takes me several hours per day to work on it. And to find the balance between 43rumors, my real work as documentarist/photographer and my private life has been not easy! I always travel with my iPhone in my pocket and when there is some important news I write the article during coffeabreaks! That explains some of the misspellings, because I am always in a hurry. And when I am at home I am often in front of my laptop trying to chat with my rumor sources (I have 20-25 sources), to answer emails, check for news and fix issues. There are times (like Photokina) were I really had no time for my private life. But all works fine now, I have taken some rest, I will make some nice trip with my girlfriend (We will be in Barcelona soon) and in a few days I will know if I can shoot a documentary in Africa (Malawi).

There are so many stories I could tell you about the work behind 43rumors. There is so many people I am in touch with that I never met (and I wish to meet one day). There are so many mistakes I made so many things I learned and so many new ideas I have. I really like it to work on 43rumors and without you I could not do that. So once gain, I thank all of you!

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(FT3) Will the Olympus compact camera feature a 26-100mm(35mm equiv.) f/1.8-2.4 lens?

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The japanese blog Egami just discovered a new Olympus patent that could referr to the lens used for the new High-end compact camera shown by Olympus at Photokina. As you know the compact camera will not feature a classic FourThirds sensor but it could share the same Panasonic LX5 sensor. The real highlight could be the new 26-100mm(35mm equiv.) f/1.8-2.4 ZUIKO lens.

Those are the specs (google translated)

  • Patent Publication No.2010-217478
    • published 2010/09/30
    • filled 2009/03/17
  • Embodiment1
    • focus distance f=6.06-18.76
    • Fno=1.85-2.39
    • angle of view 78.41-27.50°
    • back focus 7.33-9.19mm
    • length 60.49-62.17mm
    • zoom 3.88x
  • 4 groups of +-++
    • get zoom magnification
    • compact
  • optimize 3rd group
    • It is effective
  • optimize 3rd group
    • adopt a plastic lens
    • cost down

P.S: I would love to see such a bright zoom lens for MicroFourThirds!

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Tons of new Panasonic GH2 videos and news. Preview by videoaktiv!

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Bruce Dale posted three new GH2 videos on Vimeo (link 1 –2 –3)


Panasonic GH2 Bike Ride in Park 720p Full auto at 50% speed


The german magazine videoaktiv (google english translation) tested the GH2.

Philip Bloom had the chance to make a quick-test of the new GH2

Akihabara photographed the Panasonic booth (andthe GH2) at CEATEC 2010

And finally the updated list of shops with the GH2 available for preorder (Click on store name):
Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon France.

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Panasonic Lumix phone announced!

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Everything is written in Japanese and the website is in flash (google translation doesn’t work here). Some japanese 43rumors friend can help us to translate the text? Thanks!

UPDATE_2: Akihabara has some real world pictures of the new Lumix-phone (and so Engadget)

UPDATE_1: There is a first hand-on at mobile.cz

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Olympus US new instant rebates (E-P2 with lens and EVF for $814)

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We just received a document which shows all Olympus instant rebates planned for October 2010 in US only. Download the document here: http://www.4shared.com/document/u2UTF8pc/Olympus_Oct_IR_Promotions.html. You can easily notice how deals are focused on current FourThirds cameras and lenses.

Anyway, in those weeks a lot of Panasonic and Olympus got discounts. This is a list of the most interesting camera/lenses with disocunts:

1) The newest deal is the E-P2 with 14-42mm lens and Electronic Viewfinder for $814 only at Amazon (Click here). The little sister, the black Olympus E-PL1 is in Stock for $509 only at Amazon (Click here).

2) Both Panasonic GF1 kits are in Stock for $660-670 at Amazon (Click here). That’s a $50-100 price drop compared to the price before Photokina. ANother good GF1 deal is available at BHphoto where they offer a free EVF with the GF1+14-45mm lens (Click here). P.S.: I do not expect a GF1 replacement till February.

3) The Panasonic GH1 with 14-140mm lens is still in Stock for $999 at Amazon (Click here). Let’s hope Vitaly can hack the new firmware as soon as possible because this is really a great deal! Keep in mind that you have to pay $500 more for the new GH2 with the same lens at Amazon (Click here)

4) The Panasonic G2 also gets a discount and is in Stock for $649 at Amazon (Click here).

5) The very good Olympus M ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 Micro Four Thirds Lens is in Stock for $591 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto

6) A non-m43 dela: Pansonic LX5 (Black and White model) are discounted at Amazon (Click here)

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