43 Rumors – Page 2149 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

(FT3) Olympus will make a Fuji X100 clone?

October 13, 2011
Rumors
91 Comments

[shoplink 19929 ebay]

[/shoplink]

Almost one year ago a well known source told me that there is some Olympus technology behind the [shoplink 19929 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink]. Olympus and Fuji are long time friends and working close on some projects. But as of today neither Fuji made a Four Thirds camera nor joined the Micro Four Thirds system. But what I got in these days is a real surprise, and it’s coming from one of our very top source! According to them Olympus will launch a “sort of Fuji X100” competitor. The sources didn’t unveil us when Olympus will make the announcement but they are all sure it’s coming for real! There are two big questions I have to find an answer:
1) Does it have a fixed lens design or will it use m43 lenses?
2) If the lens is fixed, will the sensor be APS-C?
3) Will it have a hybrid viewfinder?

I hope you sources can send me the answer soon :)
Thanks!

Links to the Fuji X100: [shopcountry 19929].

New 45mm, E-PL3, AF100 reviews and Noktor 12mm hands-on.

October 13, 2011
reviews
7 Comments

EosHD (Click here) tested the Noktor 12mm f/1.6 lens: “So far I love the lens but one area for improvement that I can see at this early point is to reduce the amount of distortion which can be quite noticeable on very straight horizontal lines right across the frame. But given how wide the lens is that is pretty much to be expected.”

Cnet (Click here / via noisycamera) reviewed the Olympus E-PL3: “The E-PL3 isn’t the best at anything in its class. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is faster, smaller, and cheaper; the Sony Alpha NEX-5N has better photo and video quality. But I like the E-PL3 for its balance of features, performance, photo quality, and design that makes many of the tradeoffs worth it for the enthusiast.”

Monumentphoto (Click here) tested the new Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens: “From my quick and dirty review, this lens is a must have for any M43 user. In my opinion if you have M43 and you don’t have this lens, you are not maximizing the system’s potential. I would have to agree with many who have reviewed this lens that indeed it is one of the best lenses in the M43 lineup at this time.”

Travis (dpreview forum) tested both new Leica 25mm f/1.4 and Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lenses: “I think they did just fine for both video and stills. However, I did have issues with getting the 45mm to focus for both stills and video at one point. Restarting the GH2 resolved those issues.”

Philip Bloom (Click here) shot a documentary with the Panasonic AG-AF100: “We also used the AF100 for all the handheld work? Why? Well because the handheld work was actuality following people around so a good zoom lens was needed with nice range. I didn’t have one for the F3 or the Epic so we used the AF100 as Kessler have the rather lovely Olympus 14-35 F2 lens. Perfect for handheld work. Using a Zacuto rig at first then a new Shape rig which I was just sent to try out Preston shot the actuality stuff beautifully with this camera.”

Shoplinks to mentioned cameras and lenses:
Olympus E-PL3 [shopcountry 23567].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 23577].
Olympus Zuiko 14-35mm [shopcountry 25118].
Panasonic AG-AF100 [shopcountry 16841].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 [shopcountry 23110].

US and Europe deals: Micro Four Thirds cameras for $300/Euro or less.

October 12, 2011
deals
15 Comments

[shoplink 26086 ebay]

[/shoplink] With so many new cameras announced by Olympus and Panasonic the first generation cameras liek the E-PL1/2 and GF2 are now aailable for $300 (Euro) or less! I made a list of all new(not used!) cameras you can find for that price:

Olympus E-P2

The Olympus E-P2 body is in Stock for $299 at Amazon (Click here) and [shoplink 26079 ebay]Cametauctions (eBay)[/shoplink].
Black E-P2 body for 285 Euro at [shoplink 26077 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black E-P2 body for 239 Euro at [shoplink 26078 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).

Olympus E-PL2

White E-PL2 body for 284 Euro at [shoplink 26085 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Red E-PL2 body for 284 Euro at [shoplink 26086 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).

Olympus E-PL1

Champagne E-PL1 with 14-42mm lens for 249 Euro at [shoplink 26084 ebay]Fotoexperte (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black E-PL1 body for 211 Euro at [shoplink 26082 ebay]Gwcameras (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black E-PL1 body for 205 Euro at [shoplink 26083 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black E-PL1 body for 179 Euro at [shoplink 26080 ebay]Fotoexperte (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Red E-PL1 body for 190 Euro at [shoplink 26081 ebay]Softwings (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).

Panasonic G2

The camera body is in Stock for $299 at BHphoto (Click here).

Panasonic GF2

Silver GF2 with 14-42mm lens for 309 Euro at [shoplink 26071 ebay]FotoMundus (Ships worldwide from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black GF2 body for 249 Euro at [shoplink 26072 ebay]FotoMattioli (Ships worldwide from eBay[/shoplink]).
Black GF2 body for 217 Euro at [shoplink 26073 ebay]Softwings (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).
Silver GF2 body for 193 Euro at [shoplink 26076 ebay]SrsMicrosystems (Ships in Europe only from eBay[/shoplink]).

P.S.: The french website Openpn announced via Twitter (Click here) that there will be a a 50 Euro cashback action for the GF3 (coming soon!).

Patent: New 18-175mm m43 lens from Panasonic (+ rumored lens summary)

October 12, 2011
Rumors
87 Comments

The 18-175mm lens design

The japanese blog Egami (Click here to read the google translation) found a new Panasonic patent that describes the 18-175mm f/3.5-5.6 m43 lens. The patent has been filled in March 2010. If the google translation tool didn’t mislead me than this should be a new X lens (motorized zoom). There are also charts showing the aberration, distortion, astigmatism and coma performance. The lens is weak at the very wide angle. That lens will be a perfect cheap travel lens.

In summary those are the rumored lenses that are on Panasonic’s roadmap:
7-14mm X lens (rumor)
12-35mm fast X lens (confirmed by Panasonic)
16mm f/1.4 (patent from Panasonic)
18-175mm f/3.5-5.6 X lens (patent from Panasonic)
35-100mm fast X lens (confirmed by Panasonic)
New 40 or 45mm pancake X lens (rumor)

The new 45-175mm X lens is in Stock in some stores. Check these links to see where you can get it: [shopcountry 25103].

And now just for fun:

Loading ...

a little bit of everything…(Nanoha lens unboxing and image samples)

October 12, 2011
reviews
1 Comment

Salton Sea shot with the hacked GH2 and Nokton 25mm and Olympus 12mm lens.

You can see the very first Nanoha macro lens unboxing and image samples at Mobile01. You can read more about the lens at Yasuhara.co.jp.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Review at Neocamera.

Building the perfect Micro 4/3 Camera kit for under $2500 (Steve Huff).

Le salon de la photo de Paris 2011, c’est parti! (Openpn).

Sharpness comparisons @ 100mm and 200mm (m43photo).

Olympus E-P2 for $299.

October 11, 2011
deals
4 Comments

Dealers are now clearing the E-P2 stocks and you can find the body only for $299 at Amazon (Click here) and Cameta (Click here). That is the lowest price ever seen on the E-P2!

Other US deals reminder:
Panasonic GH2 with 14-140mm lens for $1488 at Amazon (Click here).
The new Silver Panasonic 45-175mm X lens is in Stock at Amazon (Click here).
The GF2 with 14mm lens price dropped by $100 and is now in Stock for $499 at Amazon (Click here).
The GF2 with 14-42mm zoom lens is in Stock for $449 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
The Panasonic 7-14mm price dropped down to $888 at Amazon (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here).

(FT4) GF1 successorcoming in Nov/December and available in Spring (FT3) with GH2 sensor?

October 11, 2011
Rumors
124 Comments

The imaginary GF1 successor from Blog.Livedoor based on the current [shoplink 23692 ebay]Panasonic L1 (See that cam on eBay)[/shoplink] design.

I am now almost pretty sure that the new GF1 successor will be pretty soon in November/December. The “bad” news is that I just heard from a couple of sources that the camera will be available in Spring only! So like it happened for the GH2 and the Leica 25mm lens we will have to wait for a very ling time before to get our hands on the new Panasonic camera. I am not sure that is a smart “strategy”. It gives plenty of time for the competition to adjust their product specs and prices and + many potential buyers will get upset with the long waiting and delays.

The second rumor I got from one single source is that the new GF1 successor will get a “tweaked” [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] sensor. I don’t know yet what we should imagine with the word “tweaked” :(

One more thing: We know Panasonic is using two new names for upcoming products, the GF7 and GX1. I don’t know if the GF1 successor will be called GF7 or GX1 yet.

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