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

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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.

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

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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).

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(FT2) The first little Sigma lens rumor :)

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[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

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a little bit of everything…

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Micro 4/3 vs High-end Compact (Panasonic GF3 vs LX-5)

Panasonic GF1 review at Wetakepictures: “I have been very happy with the Panasonic as my main (only!) digital camera, it is very capable, and is a good companion to my medium format camera when i am setting out to take pictures, and great on it’s own as well. For me, I don’t especially like SLR cameras, and find the handling and style of the Panasonic a lot nicer to use. It does almost everything that I want a digital camera to do.”

Street Photography with Olympus 17mm and Optical Viewfinder (TheDigitalStory).

Richard Franiec says E-PL3 accessory grip also suitable for PEN Mini (Dpreview).

Enthusiast camera review by C.Garrad (with the E-P3 and E-PL3).

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Olympus 45mm lens now available for preorder on Amazon.

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The new Olympus 45mm f/1.8 is now available for preorder on Amazon US too (Click here). This means one thing, that the lens will be in Stock soon! And probably a couple of days before the [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] which has been announced three weeks before.

The Olympus 45mm is one of those lenses that are easy to recommend. Relatively low price, well thought specs and top notch image quality! Read the reviews at Lenstip or DSLRmagazine to get impressed by this lens!

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Waiting for signs about the GH3. Big GH2 price drop in US.

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As you know Panasonic officially stated that the next two camera to be announced will be the PRO GF and the GH3. I got some rumors about the GH3 from unknown sources but still almost nothing from trusted sources (a part the global shutter rumor). While waiting to get my first more reliable news about the GH3 our reader noticed that there is a big price drop in USA on the current GH2! The GH2 body price felt down to $809 at Panasonic store (Click here).

I ask my unknown and first time rumor sender to be patient. I always try to double check rumors to avoid bigger mistakes. If I will not get any answer from my trusted sources I might post the rumor with a low credibility ranking. Thanks!

And if you have some rumors to share feel free to contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar. Thanks again!

 

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New Olympus reviews

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[shoplink 23567][/shoplink]

Techcrunch (Click here) tested the Olympus E-PL3: “Coming at this from an amateur’s standpoint, I find the E-PL3 slightly lacking, especially when compared to its slightly larger cousins. However, it was a dream to carry around on vacation and it’s surprisingly easy for almost anyone to use, making it a good second camera for the home. While I believe something like the E-P3 gives entry-level DSLRs a run for their money, the E-PL3 is a more subtle camera, requiring real buy-in and understanding before it becomes clear why you would spend $700 on this versus a Canon Rebel.“. E-PL3 price and availabiltiy check at [shopcountry 23567].

Photoreview Australia (Click here) tested the Olympus E-P3: “Overall performance for the review camera was similar to the E-P2 unit we tested, which isn’t surprising since the sensors of both cameras are very similar. The new camera appears to have a wider dynamic range than its predecessor, although the Digital ESP metering remained slightly biased to recording shadow detail.“.
Also CNET Asia (Click here) reviewed the E-P3: “Overall, compared with its predecessor, the Pen E-P3’s improvements definitely impressed us, especially its fast autofocus speeds as well as saturated yet pleasing color reproduction. Our only gripes with the camera would be its high ISO noise performance and the wobbling effect in videos, which we hope Olympus will be able to fix in the form of a future firmware upgrade.“. E-P3 price and availabiltiy check at [shopcountry 23568].

P.S.: Imaging Resource tested the GF3 rolling shutter effects.

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