43 Rumors – Page 2177 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

(FT5) There will be a major Panasonic announcement for the IFA show in Berlin.

August 3, 2011
Rumors
53 Comments

According to two of my trusted sources there will be a major Panasonic product announcement between August 26 and September 1. The new products will be displayed at the IFA in Berlin (the global trade show for consumer electronics). I am not sure yet about the products that will be announced but I am sure that there is at least a new Micro Four Thirds lens. I got some info from new sources but I do hope my trusted sources can tell me more soon. Just a reminder: Panasonic officially told that they would release at least two new m43 lenses this year. And they also told that the next two cameras they would release are the GF PRO and GH3.

If you heard something about the upcoming Panasonic (or Olympus) products feel free to send me an anonymous message using the contact form you see here on the right sidebar. As you know name and email address are NOT required and no hidden data like the IP-address gets stored. Would be nice if you could send me a sort of nickname so that I can recognize the source in future! Thanks!

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

New Olympus 12mm, 75-300mm and XZ-1 reviews.

August 3, 2011
reviews
15 Comments

Olympus E-P3 and 12mm lens first look video (SteveHuff).

Check the new Olympus E-P3 availability by clicking these direct search links: [shopcountry 23576]

The Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens has been reviewed by Optyczne (Click here to read the google english translation). Unlike other reviews they noticed a little too high coma, high distortion and a lot of vignetting at maximum aperture.
Click on the shop names to check the lens price and availability: [shopcountry 23576]

The Olympus 75-300mm lens has been tested by SLRgear (Click here): “Optically the Olympus 75-300mm does very well, but not where you’d want it to – it’s super-sharp at 70mm, not at the 300mm where I suspect the grand majority of users will want to use this lens. At 300mm, it’s only above average”
Click on the shop names to check the lens price and availability: [shopcountry 15861]

Thom Hogan (Click here) tested the Olympus XZ-1: “The overall impression the XZ-1 gives is this: no nonsense. The designers showed remarkable restraint in not adding the usual kitchen sink to a high-end compact camera, and it makes for a rather pleasant experience. The lack of a few controls and the lack of customization will have you conforming to the XZ-1, not the camera conforming to you. That’s fine. It’s simple enough to pick up and adjust to.”
Click on the shop names to check the lens price and availability: [shopcountry 19904]

New sexy Metal Panasonic Lens hood. Leica 25mm shipment to US delayed?

August 2, 2011
deals
25 Comments

Some of our readers sent me the link to the new metal Pansonic lens hood you can find right now in Stock at Amazon (Click here). It fits on both Panasonic pancake lenses, the [shoplink 16258]14mm f/2.5 lens[/shoplink] and [shoplink 14796]20mm f/1.7 lens[/shoplink] By the way, there is a new discount on the 20mm lens. You can get it now for $361.97 at Amazon (Click here).

Next news (and I really hope this news is wrong). Some US readers reported that some of the US stores told them the [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] will be in Stock by very late August/early September only. As you know there are some Leica 25mm lenses in Stock at Amazon US (Click here) or [shoplink 23110 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. But you have to pay a nice extra bunch of dollars. “Normal” preorders are available at Adorama (Click here) or BHphoto (Click here).

UPDATE: The Black GH2 with 14-42mm lens is in Stock for $946 at Amazon (Click here).

Sony counterattack with three new NEX cameras and three new lenses (+ two accessories)

August 2, 2011
Rumors
112 Comments

How do we always say? Competition is good! And now there is plenty of serious new competition coming from Sony. The image on top shows two of the three new cameras (the third is the VG-20 NEX camcorder) and two of the three new NEX lenses (the third will be the 50mm 1.8 lens) that will be announced in late August. The NEX-7 could be the first camera that will make serious competition to the popular [shoplink 19929]Fuji X100[/shoplink]. Otherwise the lenses are nice, but very big! As you see the Zeiss is certainly NOT a pancake! And the worst news is that the new OLED external viewfinder will not work on the current NEX cameras. P.S: There is also an adapter with built.in translucent mirror. Something similar could come from Olympus next yea (with built-in classic mirror and prism).

What do you think about those products?

Source: SonyAlphaRumors.com

New record in Japan. Nine Olympus/Panasonic m43 cameras under the weekly top 20!

August 2, 2011
news
21 Comments

That sets a new record in Japan. According to BCNranking nine of the last week twenty most sold system cameras are from Olympus/Panasonic! As you can see from the image on top even the “japanese” E-PL1s does well! There are also two NEX cameras in the top twenty, that means that for the very first time Mirrorless cameras are the majority inside the japanese top 20! Now we know Nikon has their mirrorless system ready for the official presentation. Still now word about Canon…

P.S.: In Europe and US you cannot have such detailed reports. You can get a very vague idea about the popularity of a camera by checking the Amazon rankings:
– System camera rankings (DSLR+mirrorless) at Amazon US (Click here). Amazon has also a dedicated Micro Four Thirds ranking (Click here) where you can check which m43 camera is the most popular.
– All digital camera rankings Amazon Germany (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon Germany (Click here)
– All digital camera rankings at Amazon UK (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon UK (Click here)
– All digital camera rankings at Amazon France (Click here). Mirrorless camera ranking at Amazon France (Click here)

Nanoha lens preorders! SLRmagic Poll.

August 2, 2011
news
7 Comments

Yasuhara didn’t manage to find any supplier in in oversea countries. And that’s why they decided to deliver the Nanoha lens directly to the users. You can preorder the lens directly at Yasuhara.co.jp. The current price is 479.50 USD. The shipping cost is not included in it. This price may be revised. Reminder: he Nanonha is a macro lens for m43 with 5x magnification. On Nonoha’s website you can find a description written in English: “The magnification is much more than ordinary macro lens. The magnification is up to x5. It means 1 pixel on the picture is about 1 micrometer on the shooting target. With NANOHA, you can find small wonders easily without using microscopes. And we added some patented features for your good shooting.” Yasuhara made some really nice lenses in the past like the [shoplink 22469 ebay]MC 50mm/f2.8 (Click here to see that lens on eBay)[/shoplink]. The company went bankrupt or something around 2004 I think, and this is new starting project.

In the meanwhile we heard that the SLRmagic 50mm f/0.95 fullframe and high quality lens is under development and that there are three focusing options. I am now curious to hear what kind of focusing mode you would chose:

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Explanation: Scalloped focus ring is the one used by the Nokton f/0.95 ([shoplink 15659 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]). Focs Tab is what for example the Leica Summicron uses ([shoplink 24402 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]). Regular barrel is what Zeiss lenses use ([shoplink 24401 ebay]Click here to see it on ebay[/shoplink]).

New E-P3 review at Trustedreviews. Electronista reviews the NEX-C3 but revommends the E-PL3!

August 1, 2011
reviews
23 Comments

The E-P3 has been tested by Trustedreviews (Click here): “Image quality is the best we’ve yet seen from an Olympus PEN camera, with the new 14-42mm kit zoom producing crisp, sharp edges throughout the whole frame…Taking this into consideration, we’ve decided to award the EP-3 a standard 8/10. Had it come in £150 cheaper, however, then we’d have had no hesitation in awarding it 9/10 and a TrustedReviews ‘Recommended’ award. If you’re intent on buying one regardless, rest assured that you won’t be disappointed by it.”
Chekc the E-P3 in Stock status by clicking these direct search links: [shopcountry 23568].

Electronista (Click here) reviewed the [shoplink 23779]Sony NEX-C3[/shoplink] but recommended the readers to buy the Olympus E-PL3: “Sony’s timing isn’t ideal. We’d say the C3 is mostly safe against the Panasonic GF2 and GF3 given the NEX camera’s newer sensor. Against the Olympus E-PL3 Lite shipping from September onwards, though, this latest NEX may face trouble. For a bit more, you get a tangibly faster camera with a more advanced autofocus system, more video options (including 60FPS shooting), and a lens system that’s not confined to one vendor. Olympus even bundles in a hot shoe flash that Sony could really stand to include.”

P.S.: You cannot preorder the E-PL3 yet. BHphoto (Click here) does only list the camera but without to accept preorders.

REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at [shopcountry 22077].
Panasonic GF3 search page at [shopcountry 23109].
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at [shopcountry 23110].
Olympus E-P3 search page at [shopcountry 23568].
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at [shopcountry 23576].
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at [shopcountry 23577].