New Patents: Olympus stereo lens and Panasonic liquid lens

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The japanese blog Egami (Click here) keeps looking for new patents and found that weird Olympus stereo idea. The second stereo lens gets attached on the hot shoe and works together with the “normal” m43 lens to create a stereoscopic image. I am not aware of the advantage such an idea can give to you. The only thing that comes to my mind is that you can sue any m43 lens to create a 3D image.

And Panasonic published a patent which describes a Liquid Lens (Click here). Also Olympus filed such a patent a few months ago.
Reminder: These are the advantages of liquid lenses: -non-movement glasses for zoom or AF
-less glasses inside the lens
-faster electrical response
-non-motor on the glass
-silence AF mode

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New Panasonic GX1 review and Q&A session (+Olympus 5mm review)

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[shoplink 26836][/shoplink]

As you may know Imaging Resource had a Q&A session about the GX1. If you missed it you can see the history here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/GX1/GX1A.HTM#live-qa. And Photoreview Australia (Click here) tested the new Panasonic GX1: “Our Imatest tests provided similar results to those from the G3. Raw files were well up to expectations for a 16-megapixel camera; JPEGs were slightly below expectations.”
GX1 preorder search links: [shopcountry 26836].

Photographyblog (Click here) posted a full Olympus 45mm f/1.8 review. The lens gets highly recommended: “the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 represents excellent value for money to anyone on the lookout for a fast short telephoto lens for their Micro Four Thirds camera.
Olympus 45mm portrait lens links: [shopcountry 23577].

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(FT3) Panasonic manager says: 12-35mm and 35-100mm will not have Powerzoom and no f/2.0 aperture.

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The Taiwanese Panasonic manager (Mr.Yuasa) told at ePrice (Click here to read the translation) that the upcoming new 12-35mm and 35-100mm X lenses will not have powerzoom! If that is true than I am very surprised! These lenses are supposed to be ideal companions for filmmakers too or not? I hope this is not a mistake by the manager. He also said that it is very unlikely that the new lenses will have a f/2.0 constant aperture as this would make the lenses too big.

Hmmm, take that with a grain of salt ok? All I know from my sources is that the lenses will have a constant aperture and be weather sealed. Let’s see if I can get some feedback from my sources soon…

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

 

Here are the links to the two amazing Olympus Four Thirds zooms:
Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 at [shopcountry 25320] Zuiko 35-100mm f/2.0 at [shopcountry 25119]

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Sky news cameraman uses the AG-AF101 and GH2 for work (+ownuser GH2 battery grip)

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EXTRACT Sky News Chinese Hackers and Baby Buying stories from Andy Portch on Vimeo.

DSLRnewsshooter (Click here) posted an interesting article about using the AG-AF101 and GH2 for reportage work. Definitely worth to read it!

Something else. There are also some unboxing pictures of the Ownuser battery grip for the GH2 at Mobile01 (Click here and then on the green links inside the first post). You can usually find this grips on [shoplink 27770 ebay]eBay (Click here to search)[/shoplink].

Two more 43rumors readers work with the GH2:
Brian:I wanted to share a promotional video that I shot on a Panasonic GH2 for Anime World Chicago. No hacks or expensive toys. Just my camera, the 20mm pancake lens, and a tripod.  http://vimeo.com/29159618
Seb Farges: “This is the end of the friday morning, here it’s the holidays in France. My daughter is playing and reconstructing her own home. http://vimeo.com/33444906
Objectivo Sevilla: “What a typical Sevillian this Monica! Despite the difficulties of life, if you don’t stop her to do what she wants, this genuine Andalusian never abandons her smile and her good humor. http://vimeo.com/33502906
Travis: “I shot a bunch of video and stills at the regional bouldering competition my son competed at this weekend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02r6ArAnvHY

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E-PM1 with kit lens now for $399. New review at Pocket Lint

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Pocket-Lint (Click here) tested the Olympus E-Pm1: “Though this is a digital Pen for those on a budget, the cheaper price has thankfully not meant a whole host of annoying compromises.

And now you can get the E-PM1 with lens even cheaper than usual. For $399 only at Adorama:
Black E-Pm1 with 14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442111
Brown with  14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442112
Pink  with 14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442113
Purple  with 14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442114
Silver with 14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442115
White with 14-42mm lens (Click here) use coupon code S1442116

P.S.: daily deals homepage at Amazon (Click here).

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Olympus president Takayama mulls merger option. Camera sales +15%!

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Amateur Photographer reports that “Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Takayama told reporters that a merger was one of the options on the table after Olympus was forced to reveal the true state of its business in the wake of a £1.1 billion accounting scandal dating back to the 1990s.

Bloomberg reports a Takayama statement: “We’ll review our management structure, corporate governance and our business plans as we prepare for the shareholder meeting (March-April). We’ll be reborn as new Olympus so that we can provide value to all our stakeholders including shareholders, customers, banks and our employees.

The last weeks we heard about Samsung, Fuji and Hoya being interested in a possible Olympus acquisition. Of course these are all rumors only. As I told you yesterday I would prefer if Olympus would remain an independent company. But I really don’t know what kind of “obscure” powers are now deciding the destiny of Olympus. I can only cross my fingers for Oly!

UPDATE: The good news is that betwenn April-September 2011camera sales rised by 15% from the same period the year before (4.2 million units manufactured).

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P.S.: Today Olympus shares went down 20% (Source: Bloomberg)

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