Back from vacation. New rumorstories coming (with two possible surprises).

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Just a short note for my readers. It’s my last day in France now and I had a very good vacation here. I had only good experiences and met many nice french people! I have to admit that 43rumors kept me more busy than I thought it would be. For the next time I will try to find a 100% substitute for the time I am away. As I told you months ago I will now travel a lot for work and I will need someone helping from time to time. Next week I will be on mountain trip on the Dolomites (I love to climb). And Next Month I will have a huge work to do first in Belgium than in NYC. Anyway, don’t want to bore you with my personal stories, I only wanted to let you know that I am very limited in time so please excuse me when I forget to answer your emails or when I am a bit late in posting a news.

Coming back to rumors. All I can tell you know is that both Olympus and Panasonic will have announcements in late August/September. And I heard from a possible surprise from Olympus and an almost certain huge surprise from Panasonic. I still have only few tidbits about that but as usual you should now that I am trying to post that stuff as soon as I can. The GF7 is coming (and that is not a secret anymore) and also new lenses. I got the feeling that the upcoming Sony NEX announcement (on August 24) put some pressure on Panasonic as I heard they will announce some products earlier than expected.

A very personal message: Some french friends that I met in these weeks are now reading this website. That’s a message for them: “Merci pour la journée magnifique”!!!

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Very first Olympus E-PL3 review at DSLRmagazine

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Image courtesy: DSLRmagazine

Once again DSLRmagazine (Click here to read the google english translation) is the very first website to post an Olympus product review. This time they tested the [shoplink 23567]Olympus E-PL3[/shoplink]. In short:

– it has very favorable balance between physical dimensions and overall performance.
– Although the folding screens are nothing new to the E-PL3 gives a remarkable charisma.
– they miss an enhanced grip.
– The final opinion is that the E-PL3 deserve a great success of acceptance and sales. In fact, we seem to be technologically more advanced than the [shoplink 23567]E-P3[/shoplink], despite the OLED display and most complete control of it, it simply inherits the [shoplink 14830]E-P2[/shoplink].

The tester Valentin Sama did highlight one particular problem (google translation): “why provide an index of ISO 12,800 if you have no sense to use given the poor quality it offers? A little common sense, please. Each system has its limitations and it has been demonstrated that trying to cover an APS-C sensor with a 16 mm compact is foolhardy, just will recognize that the Micro Four Thirds System offers a compromise between optical quality (image) and weight , volume and price are unbeatable, but for now, with current sensors, providing EI values ​​over 3,200, with picture quality seems just a pipe dream. And why pretend otherwise if the rest is superb?”

Yeah, that’s the power of marketing!

E-PL3 are only available at Amazon Deutschland (CLick here), Digitalrev (Click here) and notfying service at BHphoto (Click here).

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(FT5) HOT: New Panasonic GF7 camera within the next 3-4 months!

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Good news folks. I now got the product codes of the next Panasonic camera! It will be the Panasonic GF7! As you know this is a more pro version of the current [shoplink 23109]Panasonic GF3[/shoplink].

As you see I got the REAL product codes:

DMC-GF7k: This is the GF7 with 14-42mm kit lens
DMC-GF7x: This is the GF7 with [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink]!

This usually means that the camera will be announced within the next 3-4 months!!! I am sure that Panasonic will announce new products between August26 and September 1. But I don’t know if the GF7 will be one of them. Anyway, I am working to give you some more details as soon as I can. And I still don’t know yet if the GF7 will have a built-in viewfinder like the [shoplink 23692 ebay]Panasonic DMC-L1[/shoplink] to compete against the upcoming Sony NEX-7 (Check SonyAlphaRumors to get more news about that cam).

Feel free to help me if you heard something about the GF7. Contact me by using the contact form you can find on the right sidebar. You already know that it work anonymously :)  Thanks!

 

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New set of refurbished Olympus (m-)43 products.

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[shoplink 22691 ebay][/shoplink] There is a new huge set of new (m-)43 products you can buy as refurbished at [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket[/shoplink]. As you know all those items are in “Like-new” conditions and usually very cheap. But only EU citizens can buy them! I divided the new stuff in categories and the first ending auctions are on top. Click on the product name and you will see the full description and current auction price of the product (it opens a new window in your browser):

Micro Four Thirds

[shoplink 24426 ebay]9-18mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24427 ebay]14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24431 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24436 ebay]E-PL1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24437 ebay]E-PL2 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24438 ebay]E-PL2 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24439 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24440 ebay]FL-14 flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 24441 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24442 ebay]E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24445 ebay]E-PL1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24446 ebay]E-PL1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24448 ebay]E-PL1 body only[/shoplink] [shoplink 24449 ebay]14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24450 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24452 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24453 ebay]E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24454 ebay]VF-2 external viewfinder[/shoplink] [shoplink 24456 ebay]E-P1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24457 ebay]E-P2 with 17mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24458 ebay]E-P2 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24459 ebay]E-PL2 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24460 ebay]E-PL1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24462 ebay]E-P1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24463 ebay]E-P1 with 17mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24464 ebay]E-PL2 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24465 ebay]E-PL2 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24466 ebay]FL-14 flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 24468 ebay]E-PL1 underwater case[/shoplink] [shoplink 24469 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24470 ebay]E-PL2 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24471 ebay]E-P1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24473 ebay]E-PL1 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24475 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24476 ebay]E-P1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24479 ebay]E-PL2 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24480 ebay]E-PL1 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24481 ebay]E-PL1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24482 ebay]VF-2 external viewfinder[/shoplink]

Four Thirds

[shoplink 24425 ebay]E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24428 ebay]E-620 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24429 ebay]12-60mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24430 ebay]35mm macro[/shoplink] [shoplink 24432 ebay]E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24433 ebay]E-620 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24434 ebay]14-54mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24435 ebay]FL-36R flash[/shoplink] [shoplink 24443 ebay]11-22mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24444 ebay]E-5 body only[/shoplink] [shoplink 24447 ebay]E-450 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24451 ebay]70-300mm lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24455 ebay]E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24461 ebay]E-450 with kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24474 ebay]E-450 with double kit lens[/shoplink] [shoplink 24478 ebay]70-300mm lens[/shoplink]

XZ-1

[shoplink 24467 ebay]white XZ-1 compact camera[/shoplink] [shoplink 24472 ebay]black XZ-1 compact camera[/shoplink]
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Next little 20mm pancake price drop (+ US deals summary)

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The Panasonic 20mm got another small price drop at Amazon (Click here). It is now in Stock for $359 via Vanns. And as you know there is also a new metal Panasonic lens hood for the pancake you can find right now in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

US deal reminder:
The Black GH2 with 14-42mm lens is in Stock for $946 at Amazon (Click here).
White and Black E-P3 are in Stock at Amazon (Click here).
There are plenty of (m-)43 cameras and lenses at Adorama (Click here to see the full list).

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Olympus 12mm review at Lenstip

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[shoplink 23576][/shoplink]

Yesterday we linked you tot he polish review of the new [shoplink 23576]Olympus 12mm f/2.0[/shoplink] lens. Today the english version of the review is up at Lenstip (Click here). They were not so happy with the corner sharpness wide open: “The maximum MTF values could have been a bit higher and they weren’t – it is one thing that you might regret. Lower values can be forgiven in the case of “pancakes” because we know what we get instead. Although the Olympus 2/12 is not big, it is definitely not a “pancake” lens so we expected that its performance would be closer to that of the Leica 2.8/45 than that of the Panasonic 2.5/14.”

But overall this is a very good lens: “So far our summary was rather harsh. To keep the balance we must emphasize the fact that it is definitely a lens worth considering. Buying it you get a really wide angle of view, fast aperture, good image quality – everything packed neatly inside a slight but very solid, metal casing which can ensure you many years of problem-free usage.”

Click those search links to check the lens price and availability at [shopcountry 23576].

P.S.: The White and Black E-P3 are in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

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