43 Rumors – Page 2189 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

New G3 and Leica lens review at Luminous Landscape (+ new E-P3 tests)

July 5, 2011
reviews
42 Comments

[shoplink 22077]

[/shoplink]One of my favorite cameras gets a field review at Luminous Landscape (Click here). They tested the [shoplink 22077]G3[/shoplink] and the new [shoplink 23110]Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink] lens: “The new G3 may well be one of the best Micro Four Thirds camera yet. And, except for those that need more versatile video capability, the G3 may in fact be a preferable camera for some users than the top-of-the-line GH2…Overall image quality was very good indeed. The jump from 12MP to 16MP has not detracted from IQ in any visible way. At ISO 160 and 200 the camera is as clean as one could wish. ISO 400 and 800 start to show noise, but no worse that similarly priced cameras from Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc. A bit of luminance smoothing in Lightroom and the images are certainly usable for most any purpose. Beginning at ISO 1600 noise begins to be problematic, and though it can be reduced, detail resolution starts to suffer.”

And about the 25mm lens: “I found little to fault and a lot to like. The lens’ resolution wide open is very good in the center, and naturally softens toward the edges, though by less than one would imagine. Vignetting is modest and I rarely bothered to correct it in post processing. Flare is minimal, even wide open.”

As you know the G3 is finally shipping everywhere in the world and you can find first kits in Stock in at [shopcountry 22077]! The Panasonic Leica 25mm lens is only available for preorder at Adorama, B&H, J&R, Digitalrev and [shoplink 23110]eBay[/shoplink]. Both the G3 and 25mm lens are highly recommended!

P.S: There is a new E-P3 hands-on at SystemKamera-Forum.de (german) image samples at Fourthirds-user.com and a Olympus EP-3 vs Olympus EP-2 comparison at ThePhoBlographer

Thom Hogan thoughts about the new Olympus products (some Marketing mistakes?)

July 4, 2011
news
148 Comments

I have been told that Olympus did show mockups of E-PM1 and E-PL3 cameras at the various Olympus events that toke place in different parts of the world. And those cameras will be available in autumn only. To me it looks like Olympus were in hurry to show their [shoplink 23109]GF3[/shoplink] and NEX-C3 competitor (the E-PM1)! And price of the cameras is also unknown. What do you think about the Olympus strategy to announce products without to mention the price and with an availability that si still far away? Something could be wrong or not? An example: who will buy the E-PL2 (still available everywhere at [shopcountry 18844]) knowing that “sooner or later” and with an “unknown” price the E-PL3 will be on market?

Thom Hogan describes exactly what I am thinking about the recent Olympus product/marketing strategy:

1) “There’s surprisingly little differentiation in key features of the three cameras.” And sometimes the differences are quite confusing (See the lower 3fps frame rate for the E-P3 when the lower end models can do 5.5fps).

2) “Olympus’ press releases and Web sites aren’t much help in differentiating the models, and I found a couple of mistakes on them, as well. Worse still, OlympusUSA is now in the confusing position of marketing six different Pen models (three incoming, three outgoing), and the best different at or they really provide on their site is simply price. Of course, none of the three new models are available yet and apparently won’t be for a couple of months, further confusing customers. Olympus, like most of the camera companies, seems to be of the “keep the customer confused” mentality in terms of marketing (yes, there’s really a type of marketing that utilizes customer confusion). Either that, or they’re just confused themselves.”

But the Olympus products are definitely better than the Olympus marketing:

3) “Overall I judge this to be a nice set of products from Olympus. Focus is improved, lots of small things have been addressed, fixed, or improved, the two new lenses fill in some gaps for enthusiasts, and I’m excited to try them out. As many of you know, I’ve been using a Pen for some of my work since my Africa trip in 2009. I’m sure that will continue, given the new models’ features.”

Overall I do think Olympus made some very welcome improvements (AF, own “tweaked” sensor, interchangeable grip, the new lenses are awesome!), but they still need to get rid of some “confusion” inside their product and marketing strategy.

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Hot preorders: Olympus E-P3 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK. Worldwide shipment start soon (?).
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H and [shoplink 23576 ebay]eBay[/shoplink]. Worldwide shipment start on July 22.
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H. Worldwide shipment start in october

And GF3 preorders at [shopcountry 23109].

(FT3) GH3 with global shutter? (+ more rumor tidbits)

July 4, 2011
Rumors
88 Comments

[shoplink 23692 ebay]

[/shoplink] Image on top shows the current [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] (will be replaced within one year!)

A couple of weeks ago Panasonic officially confirmed that they are working on two new cameras, the GF PRO camera and the GH3.
Yesterday a trusted source told us that Panasonic is working very hard on a new sensor generation with global shutter. He cannot confirm if the GH3 will have that sensor but told me that Panasonic GH3 feature roadmap included the global shutter sensor. The GH3 will be here within 1 year.
There will be also a new high resolution EVF with much higher refresh rate (no surprise here). He will give me more tidbits as soon as he get more info.

One more thing: I know for sure the GF pro [shoplink 23692 ebay](Panasonic L1 styled?)[/shoplink] will come within 2011! I will soon post some details about the GF camera! Stay tuned on 43rumors!

P.S.: Around the world wide web people is starting to get (fake?) info about a possible cease of the GH2 production..like here on the GH2 vimeo group. Check the GH2 availability and price at [shopcountry 16254].

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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

Also Four Thirds and older m43 Olympus lenses do focus fast on new PEN cameras!

July 4, 2011
reviews
49 Comments

The video on top shows an AF test with the [shoplink 23681 ebay]Four Thirds 12-60mm[/shoplink] lens. It looks like the AF on the E-P3 works faster than on th older Pen cameras!
And the video below shows the AF performance with the [shoplink 14796 ebay]20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] pancake:

So what do you think?

P.S:
Check the 12-60mm f/2.8-4 ED SWD lens specs and price at [shopcountry 23681].
Check the 20mm f/1.7 pancake specs and price at [shopcountry 14796].

New Olympus E-P3, E-PM1, E-PL3 review and hands-on articles!

July 3, 2011
reviews
72 Comments

E-P3 AF speed test made by Unwire.

There are tons of new Pen and Lens articles. Thanks to everyone for sending me those links!!! Here is the list:

Olympus E-P3

Olympus E-P3 Hands-On Preview at Photographyblog: “Although we shall reserve final judgment until we can bring you a fully-fledged in-depth review, our initial impressions of the Olympus E-P3 are exceedingly positive. The camera is solidly made, very responsive, extremely fast to focus and has great manual controls (although as noted we missed the dedicated ISO and WB buttons).”
Short E-P3 review at Wired: “bottom line on the PEN 3 is it’s a real shooter’s camera, not just a designer’s desktop paperweight. It’s an easy-to-use, fast focuser and shooter that’s got a steamer trunk full of fun, functional features, lenses and accessories.”
Olympus E-P3 JPG and RAW Photos at Photographyblog.
Olympus Debuts Dazzling New Micro 4/3 Gear (TheOnlinePhotographer).
The E-P3 has been added to the Four Thirds Matching Simulation.
Olympus event in Vienna at Photoscala (german).
Mass of E-P3 image samples on Flickr.
Olympus E-P3 Image Samples at TVsmith.
Olympus E-P3 review by Robert Wong.

Olympus event in Japan at DC.watch.

Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12mm f/2.0 Sample Photos at ePhotozine: “the image quality and sharpness of this lens is very good, with excellent detail right to the corners, and very little flare“.

Olympus E-PM1

Olympus E-PM1 Hands-On Photos at Photographyblog

Olympus E-PL3

Olmpus E-PL3 Hands-On Photos at Photographyblog.
Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 Hands On Preview at ePhotozine.

Olympus new flash unit

Olympus PEN flash unit at Letsgodigital. Olympus PEN E-P3 accessories at Letsgodigital.

Olympus new camera grips and accessories

Olympus PEN E-P3 camera grip at Letsgodigital.
The new Olympus PT-EP05L underwater case for the E-PL3 (Olympus Japan).

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Hot preorders: Olympus E-P3 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H and [shoplink 23576 ebay]eBay[/shoplink] Olympus 45mm f/1.8 preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, B&H.

(Hot patent!) Panasonic working on a compact Micro Four Thirds videocamera with sliding grip!

July 2, 2011
Rumors
41 Comments

Panasonic filled a patent that descirbes a Micro Four Thirds camera (Source: Egami). The pictures on top show that camera and the new sliding grip. The camera could be priced below the current [shoplink 16841]Panasonic AG-AF100[/shoplink]. You can slide the grip to have two different “look”, DSLR or classic videocamera. You can also roatet the LCD (by 270 degrees). Cool!

More pictures here (Click on thumbnails to enlarge):

Thanks for your help! And next amazing rumor period coming (Fuji m43, Panasonic GF and GH3, Pen Pro, Sigma and so on)

July 2, 2011
news, Rumors
99 Comments

A fake Pen PRO with built-in viewfinder made by our reader BEN (UPDATE: Feel free to send me your photo-shopped ideas of a PRO model)

I want to write a post to thank all of you that helped with sending me rumors, news and links to reviews. Without your help I couldn’t have done what I did! For me the last couple of weeks have been very exciting but also very stressful. I took as much free time as I could from my real job to follow the time before the Olympus and Panasonic announcements. And I am quite tired now. But I can finally recover as I have some vacation and I am ready to make some nice trips on my mountains! And there is no Internet there…yeah! :)

But you hard core rumor readers will be amazed to know that soon a new rumor period will start! Panasonic and Olympus announced plenty of new low- and mid-level cameras. So it’s easy to speculate what’s coming next ;)

Here is the list I a working o:
1) Fuji joining Micro Four Thirds? There will be an amazing announcement in September but I don’t want to wait that long to know what it is..and you? :) P.S.: Do not expect the new interchangeable camera to have the same hybrid viewfinder of the [shoplink 19929]Fuji X100[/shoplink].
2) Sigma and Samyang lenses. There could be new lenses in September from Sigma and Samyang.
3) Panasonic GF PRO. That is confirmed…it’s coming! Sorry if I say that again but I really do hope to see a m43 version of the [shoplink 21096 ebay]Panasonic L1 (like that design)[/shoplink]! And I also got some news about the GH3 (need some time to doublecheck that!).
4) Two new Panasonic lenses + new reworked lenses. Also confirmed!
5) Olympus advanced Pen. I don’t know yet if it will be announced within 2011 but I know that is the camera coming as next! And with built-in viewfinder a là [shoplink 22259 ebay]Olympus SP[/shoplink]..what else should we expect?
6) New Olympus lenses. There will be some, one should be the 50mm macro!

So be sure to check back on 43rumors from time to time. And don’t forget that Samsung will soon annoucne the new NX20 and NX200 that’s why you should also take a look at MirrolessRumors.com.

Thanks again! Ale, 43rumors

P.S.: I also want to say sorry if I didn’t answer all your emails. I really had zero time in those last weeks. And again sorry for my English, when I am stressed and in hurry it’s even worse than you are used to read (P.S.: I am a native german and italian speaker. Plus even my spanish and dutch is much better than english).