43 Rumors – Page 2157 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

More Voigtländer price drops. Down to 599 Euro (deal dead now)

September 18, 2011
deals
6 Comments

[shoplink 25568 ebay]

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The polish dealer “Infoto” sold six NEW(!) Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 lenses for 599 on [shoplink 25568 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Sadly they sold all lenses within a couple of minutes! But as I told you the price of the Nokton is falling and expect more such deals soon! BY the way Infoto is a well know and trusted store that is also selling the new Samyang lenses: The [shoplink 25569 ebay]7.5mm fisheye (Click here)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 25570 ebay]Four Thirds 35mm f/1.4 lens (Click here)[/shoplink].

Reminder: A full review of the Nokton is available at Photozone.

Two more new Olympus VF-3 viewfinder reviews.

September 17, 2011
reviews
18 Comments

ThePhoBlographer (Click here) tested the new [shoplink 25395]Olympus VF-3[/shoplink] viewfinder: “At the price point, you’re really much better off going for the [shoplink 25394]VF-2[/shoplink] for the quality. However, when it comes to ergonomical advantages, the VF-3 is the way to go, especially for the locking feature. With this said, the VF-3[/shoplink] is still quite good in terms of build quality and image quality, but if you’re a photographer that loves to shoot full frame, you’ll appreciate the VF-2′s brightness much more in a similar way to Full Frame vs APS-C DSLRs.”

Also the german blog Pen and Tell (google translated) wrote a VF-2 versus VF-3 comparison.

Links to the two Olympus viewfinders:
Olympus VF-3 [shopcountry 25395] Olympus VF-2 [shopcountry 25394]

Olympus refurbished deals ending this week.

September 17, 2011
deals
4 Comments

[shoplink 25486 ebay]

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There are many refurbished Olympus camera and lens auctions ending this weekend! All the products are like new and can be bought by EU citizen only. US readers can find refurbished stuff at Adorama (Click here to see the full list). Click on the products name to see the auction on eBay:

Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses

[shoplink 25486 ebay]Olympus E-P2 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25488 ebay]Olympus E-PL2 double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 25489 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25451 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 25452 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25453 ebay]Olympus E-PL2 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25455 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25456 ebay]Olympus FL-14 flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 25457 ebay]Black Olympus 17mm pancake[/shoplink] [shoplink 25458 ebay]Olympus 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25584 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25591 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25592 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25594 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25596 ebay]Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Four Thirds cameras and lenses

[shoplink 25481 ebay]Olympus 12-60mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25482 ebay]Olympus 35mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25483 ebay]Olympus 50-200mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25484 ebay]Olympus FL-36R flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 25485 ebay]Olympus E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25487 ebay]Olympus 18-180mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25491 ebay]Olympus E-5 body[/shoplink] [shoplink 25450 ebay]Olympus E-450 double lens kit[/shoplink] [shoplink 25454 ebay]Olympus E-620 with HLD5 and kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25586 ebay]Olympus 50-200mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25587 ebay]Olympus E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25588 ebay]Olympus E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25589 ebay]Olympus 18-180mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25593 ebay]Olympus E-620 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 25595 ebay]Olympus E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink]

Olympus XZ-1

[shoplink 25449 ebay]Black XZ-1[/shoplink] [shoplink 25490 ebay]White XZ-1[/shoplink] [shoplink 25590 ebay]White XZ-1[/shoplink]

Why Olympus didn’t succeed against Nikon and Canon… (Thom Hogan)

September 16, 2011
news
226 Comments

“The US$399 DSLR” from Thom Hogan (Click here): “Olympus made no in-roads to beating the Canon/Nikon duopoly with their 4/3 DSLRs and about three years ago put their eggs instead into the m4/3 basket. Every now and again we see older m4/3 cameras on clearance hitting the US$399 kit price, but interestingly, even at that price those cameras don’t climb to the top of the interchangeable camera sales list. What sits up there? The low-end Nikon and Canon models most of the time. Even in mirrorless-happy Japan that’s the case.”

Thom analyzes the price war between DSLR and Mirrorless and explains why the DSLR price didn’t drop at all. The only ongoing change is that you have more margins on Mirrorless cameras than you have on DSLR’s: “So prepare for more mirrorless cameras. As I’ve noted previously, it’s been a mirrorless summer already (Olympus with three, Panasonic with two, Sony with three, Samsung with one new model announced and/or shipping). But don’t prepare for the US$399 interchangeable lens camera. The camera makers haven’t been pressured to get there yet. The price of entry is pretty much US$599, same as it ever was.”

I am sure the future is “Mirrorless” but it will probably be a slow change at least in “western” countries. There is no single m43 camera that are inside the top 40 of the Amazon rankings :(
Click here for the US ranking.
Click here for the UK ranking.
Click here for the DE ranking.
Click here for the FR ranking.

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Lens roundup: Samyang 7.5mm, Olympus 45mm and Nokton 35mm f/1.2.

September 16, 2011
reviews
20 Comments

Jurek Ugarow sent me this video made with the GH2 and the new Rokinon (Samyang) 7.5mm for m43 ( Thanks Jurek!). The lens is already in Stock on [shoplink 25327 ebay]eBay[/shoplink]:
[shoplink 25325 ebay]Click here to buy the Black Samyang 7.5mm lens[/shoplink].
[shoplink 25326 ebay]Click here to buy the Silver Samyang 7.5mm lens[/shoplink].

Gakuranman (Click here) posted a new set of image smaples taken with the new Olympus 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens. A side note. That lens costs less in Europe than in US! That’s something we don’t see that often. It costs 256 Euro at Amazon.de (see preorder option) which is less than the $399 at Amazon US (preorder now available). UPDATE: The current Amazon.de price (Euro 293) you see is from a third party reseller. Pelase watch out the preorder option on the very right sidebar. You will see the official Amazon price.

“Iwo” sent us the following two images. On the first you see an Olympus PEN with the [shoplink 25550 ebay]Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2[/shoplink]. The second image is a portrait made with the lens. Iwo said the lens is razor sharp even at full aperture.

Summer savings! Olympus E-5 $200 discount + PEN and lens deals!

September 15, 2011
deals
13 Comments

The most expensive of all Olympus camea got a huge $200 discount which will last until Spetember 17! You can get the E-5 now for $1499 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

And there is $50 discount on the E-Pl2 too! Again available here Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

And there are price drops on some m43 lenses too:
-$50 Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm Digital at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
-$50 Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm Digital at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
-$100 on the Olympus 75-300mm at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

(FT2) The first little Sigma lens rumor :)

September 15, 2011
Rumors
45 Comments

[shoplink 18951 ebay][/shoplink]Image on top: The current very nice [shoplink 18951 ebay]Sigma 30mm f/1.4[/shoplink]30mm f/1.4 lens for Four Thirds mount.

As I told you a couple of times I still have no Sigma related trusted source. But for the first time a new source sent me a couple of info about the future Sigma products! As usual don’t get too excited about rumors coming from new sources. I hope some other source can confirm or dent the rumor as soon as possible :)

According to the Sigma source: “Sigma guys are sending to our factories some micro 4/3s prototypes, (they have an actual “sigma” character logo = prototype) reworks of current 4/3rs. There are some issues with new panasonic autofocus compatibility but they do work fine on the olympus ep3. No release date (we just have seen the prototypes, i think release depends on sigma)“.

The source also sent me more info I first want to check before to post here. Thanks for any help you sources can give to me ;)

If Sigma is really going to rework some of the current Four Thirds lenses than this is definitely good new. Some of those lenss are really amazing. I made you a list of all current 4/3 lenses (Click on lens name to see current auctions on eBay):
[shoplink 18947 ebay]Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6[/shoplink] [shoplink 18948 ebay]Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8[/shoplink] [shoplink 18948 ebay]Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6[/shoplink] [shoplink 18949 ebay]Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6[/shoplink] [shoplink 18950 ebay]Sigma 24mm f/1.8[/shoplink] [shoplink 18951 ebay]Sigma 30mm f/1.4[/shoplink] [shoplink 18952 ebay]Sigma 50mm f/1.4[/shoplink] [shoplink 18953 ebay]Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3[/shoplink] [shoplink 18955 ebay]Sigma 55-500mm f/4-5.6[/shoplink] [shoplink 18956 ebay]Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8[/shoplink] [shoplink 18957 ebay]Sigma 105mm f/2.8[/shoplink] [shoplink 18958 ebay]Sigma 135-400mm f/4-5.6[/shoplink] [shoplink 18959 ebay]Sigma 150mm f/2.8[/shoplink] [shoplink 18960 ebay]Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6[/shoplink]

Just a reminder: A couple of months ago our friends from DSLRmagazine interviewed MR. Kazuto Yamaki from Sigma. There is a part concerning the future Micro Four Thirds lens development (google translation!):

1) “The lenses will have a completely new design.”
2) “We have the challenge that some of these lenses should be optimized for taking videos. That requires a special internal mechanism. Therefore it is more difficult to achieve extreme focus, brightness and high correction. For video applications may be interesting to have change of focal power, and therefore not only optics but mechanics should be different.
At this point, we think there should be two different sets of lenses, one optimized for video and one optimized for stills.”

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