43 Rumors – Page 2223 – Panasonic and Olympus Digital Camera News

(FT5) No Panasonic lens announcement in May (Deleted because of the disaster in Japan?)

April 13, 2011
Rumors
36 Comments

As you know Panasonic plans to release the 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens and probably also the OIS version of the current [shoplink 14822]7-14mm lens[/shoplink]. But according to our sources the lenses will not be announced along the new Panasonic G3 (mid May). Our source told us that we can expect those new lenses in to be announced in July-August only. This might has to do with the recent Tsunami-Earthquake-Fukushima disaster. Even if Panasonic plants were not damaged the problem is the lack of continuing energy supply and issues with the raw material importation. In general most Japanese companies are planning to produce in other Asian countries but this will not happen from today to tomorrow. It needs a lot of time. I am in contact with many European and American dealers and they all do confirm that Japanese product supply shortage will hit the stores by end of April. And it’s impossible for them to know when they can buy new stocks of cameras and lenses. That’s why we can expect some price increase too! If you plan to buy some lens or camera I suggest you to not wait to much time.

The Panasonic G3 introduction has been confirmed but a wonder when it will be available for worldwide shipment. I also got info about a possible Olympus product announcement delay. I will post more about that soon. Stay tuned on 43rumors!

UPDATE: The news is based on rumors and speculations. Panasonic officially didn’t announce any delay or production issue. Hope that’s clear that we are a rumors website.

One more thing:
I am going to develop 43rumors to a sort of readers network. I am planning to slowly add features like:
– readers picture showcase
– extend the forum features (Check out the new forum at https://www.43rumors.com/forums/)
– I am playing with the idea to accept guest posts on 43rumors
– I also have a “image contest battle” idea.
– I would like to meet some of my readers during my frequent trips (I will be in Antwerp, Barcelona, NYC and Montpelier the next 2 months).

All those features will be made by professional designers and to support that effort you might help me to cover the costs by shopping whatever product you want by clicking on those links: [shopcountry 16254]. Thanks!

BHphoto sells the Nokton 25mm f/0.95 for $815. Europeans now can fly to NYC almost for free :)

April 13, 2011
deals
22 Comments

[shoplink 15659 eBay]

[/shoplink]

I noticed that in Germany the price of the [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] went up from 875 to 899 Euros (Source: Idealo). And you can’t find it cheaper on [shoplink 15659 eBay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. But there is on store selling the Nokton for a very good price. You can get the lens for $819 at BHphoto (Click here).

For us European readers 819$ is an incredible price of 565 Euro. A flight from Frankfurt to NYC costs you 420 Euro (Source: Kayak.com). Summa summarum if you fly to NYC and buy the lens at BH you pay 85 Euro only extra for the flight! :)

And if along the Nokton you buy the GH2 which costs 1.429 Euro in Europe and 1034 Euro ($1500) in US Than you save 310 Euros!

There are only two problems with that story:
1) Theoretically you have to pay taxes for imported products
2) Bhphoto doesn’t have the lens in Stock right now.

So you might take a look on [shoplink 15659 eBay]Nokton eBay auction anyway (Click here)[/shoplink] :)

Huge GH1 deals for US! + GH2 in Stock at Adorama

April 12, 2011
deals
8 Comments

And here we are with some new GH1 US deals (yes GH1 and not the GH2).

The Panasonic GH1 ody only costs $399. But it’s even cheaper when you buy it with a Panasonic lens. Check out:

1) Panasonic GH1 with 14mm lens for $699 at Amazon (Click here). The lens alone costs $364. and if you would buy it separately with the GH1 it would cost you a total of $764. With that deal you save $64!
2) Panasonic GH1 with 20mm lens for $699 at Amazon (Click here). The lens alone costs $399. You save $99!
3) Panasonic GH1 with 45-200mm lens for $649 at Amazon (Click here). The lens alone costs $349. You save $100!
4) Panasonic GH1 with 14-45mm lens for $649 at Amazon (Click here). The lens alone costs $359. You save $90!
5) Panasonic GH1 with 14-42mm lens for $499 at Amazon (Click here). The lens alone costs $199. You save $100!

More deals:
The GH2 with 14-140mm lens is in Stock at Adorama (Click here).
There is a $7 price drop on the XZ-1 on Amazon (Click here).
Gadgetclick is selling more than 10 RED GF1 body only cameras for $435 on [shoplink 21387 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

(FT5) Panasonic G3 with 16 MPX coming in May 11

April 12, 2011
Rumors
104 Comments

Image on top: The [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] sensor

A few weeks ago I heard from an anonymous source that the new Panasonic G3 will feature a 16 Megapixel sensor. But he didn’t tell me if the G3 would use the same [shoplink 16254]GH2 sensor[/shoplink] (that would have been a huge surprise). Finally I got the answer. No! The GH2 has a 18 Megapixel multi-aspect sensor that takes 16 Megapixel pictures when shooting in 4:3 format. The G3 will feature a “native” 16 Megapixel sensor. The G3 will of course deliver 1080i video-recording but the G3 is mainly a photographic tool (while the GH2 is an almost perfect hybrid video-still camera). I guess this is the sensor that will be used for future Olympus cameras too (like the E-P3). Some of you might argue that it would have been better to develop a new 12 Megapixel sensor with improved High-ISO performance. But you know, from a marketing point of view Megapixels is what the mass is looking for or not?

One more thing: The G3 will be announced on May 11.

Just for fun. The Mirrorless Megapixel ranking:
18 Megapixel -> Leica M9 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 17539].
16 Megapixel -> Panasonic GH2 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 16254].
14 Megapixel -> Sony NEX5 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 20638].
14 Megapixel -> Sony NEX-3 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 21021].
14 Megapixel -> Samsung NX10 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 19190].
14 Megapixel -> Samsung NX100 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 20762].
12 Megapixel -> Panasonic GF2 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 17361].
12 Megapixel -> Olympus E-PL2 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 18844].
12 Megapixel -> Olympus E-P2 -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 14830].
10 Megapixel -> Ricoh GXR + P10 Kit -> Check price and specs at [shopcountry 20713].

P.S.: Samsung is rumored to announce a NX20 and NX200 in Juy with 20 Megapixel sensor (more info at MirrorlessRumors.com)

New 43rumors features, trick to fix the layout problem, and should we make a meeting?

April 12, 2011
news
27 Comments

Just a short note about the recent 43rumors website improvements.

Some of you are might experiencing a 43rumors layout problem. To fix that just reload the website or clear the browsers cache. The layout problem is here because last week we worked on the theme to fix some issues we had with the new IE9 browser. Reload the page and everything will be fine!

There ar e a few things I worked on the last couple of weeks:
1) Member can now edit their own comments. This was a one of the features you asked me to implement.
2) I now added a basic forum. I am going to work on it to allow image posting and other features. The main reason why I added a forum is that some of our articles are source of very interesting discussions. The problem is that after 2-3 days the article gets lost on page two or three of the website. This because I do post 3-4 articles every day. The coolest thing about the forum is that comment system and forum are synchronized. That means that if you write a comment below a post it will be also displayed inside the forum. And inside that forum the latest comment is always on top. This should make you easy to follow interesting discussions. The forum is available here: https://www.43rumors.com/forums/. You need to be a member to post inside the forum.

Future roadmap:
1) We are currently developing an advanced cache systems + Ajax loaded content. This should speed up the website by a 25-40%.
2) A reader images pool. I would love if members could share their best images on 43rumors.

The meeting idea:

Starting from May I will travel a lot because of work. I have planned trips to Antwerp (my second home), Barcelona, New York City and Montpelier. I thought it could be an idea to organize some meetings in a nice informal place like pubs :) We can talk about the website about m43 and about whatever else you want. Let me know if you are interested. I am in Antwerp from 17 to 28 April.

—
All they work on 43rumors is done by a professional designer and a professional servers assistant. And as you already now you can help me to cover this costs by simply using our affiliate links to purchase your products. We earn a small commission for everything you buy. Example: If you click on of these links [shopcountry 16254] you are free to buy whatever product you want (Cameras, books or whatever) and we will earn a small commission for it. Important: You pay the normal price not any penny more! And the cool thing is that you will support us!

New Olympus E-PL2 and full Micro Four Thirds linup reviews

April 12, 2011
reviews
5 Comments

[shoplink 18844]

[/shoplink]

There are two new [shoplink 18844]Olympus E-PL2[/shoplink] reviews.

The polish website Optyczne (Click here to read the english translation) tested the E-PL2. In their final score the E-PL2 earns 52 points which is much more than what the Samsung NX100 (45 points) and the Sony NEX-5 (45 points) earned.
Also Peterwestphoto (Click here) tested the E-PL2: “How good is the E-PL 2? For my wife, it’s a 10 out of 10. She puts the camera in AUTO with the standard 14-54mm lens and she’s a happy camper. For me, I start with the camera on AUTO (but I’m ready to go to APERTURE, SHUTTER PRIORITY or PROGRAM mode) with the 17mm pancake lens and the 9-18mm and 14-54mm plus the 40-150mm (80mm to 300mm 35mm equivalent) telephoto and maybe the 9-18mm and 150-300mm super zoom and I’m ready to travel.”
Click those diretc links to check the E-PL2 price at [shopcountry 18844].

Neocamera (Click here) made a full Micro Four Thirds lens test: “In terms of performance all is not perfect though, nor did we expect it to be for such extreme compactness. What we see is that is most M.Zuiko lenses are really strong performers at the center of the frame, even at their maximum aperture. Corners softness is a notable problem which is consistently more pronounced near wide-angle, probably a side-effect de designing lenses with such narrow barrels. It is important to know that any form of softness is visible in proportion to display size. So, corner softness which can be seen at 24×18″ may not be visible at 12×9″.”

Reminder: Those are the current Olympus m43 lenses:

Zuiko 9-18mm F/4-5.6 ED ([shopcountry 14818])
Zuiko 14-42mm F/3.5-5.6 ED ([shopcountry 14816])
Zuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 ED ([shopcountry 14800])
Zuiko 17mm F/2.8 ([shopcountry 14798])
Zuiko 40-150mm F/4-5.6 ED ([shopcountry 15864])
Zuiko 75-300mm F/4.8-6.7 ED ([shopcountry 15861])

A Fuji X100 review made by a GH2 owner (First X100 on Amazon for $4,000)

April 11, 2011
deals, reviews
52 Comments

I just noticed two things on Amazon. First a third party reseller is trying to cheat you by selling the Fuji X100 for….$4,000!!! Click here to see that on Amazon. The second news is that a current Panasonic GH2 owners posted a Fuji X100 review made from a m43 user perspective (Click here to read the full review on Amazon). You might be interested to hear what he thinks!

“The [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink] was my first exposure to an electronic viewfinder (EVF) and despite its real limitations when working in sub-optimally lighted conditions, I appreciated the ability of the EVF of the GH2 to display information that an OVF could not display. I decided to add a [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] and [shoplink 16258]14mm f/2.5 lens[/shoplink] and was happy with the resulting setup which was even more compact and lighter than my [shoplink 21426]Nikon D3100[/shoplink] and [shoplink 21427]35mm f/1.8G DX[/shoplink] lens. While the image quality of the Nikon D3100 was still better than the GH2, the smaller lighter size of the GH2 and its excellent video capabilities made it my choice for many situations.

Then came the [shoplink 16841]Fujifilm X100[/shoplink]. Combining the small compact size of the GH2 and its compact prime lenses plus incorporating the advantages of both the optical viewfinder of the D3100 and the electronic viewfinder of the GH2, I became seriously interested in the X100. The fact that the lens was not interchangeable was not an issue for me as the X100 lens is a 23mm f/2.0 – the perfect focal length as far as I was concerned. The 35mm equivalent of 35mm would have been my favorite focal length with the D3100 and the GH2 but neither Nikon nor Panasonic makes a compact and light prime lens that has a 35mm equivalent focal length of a 35mm. That the X100 lens was also a fast f/2.0 lens was definitely an ace in favor of the X100. While cleaning the sensor of my [shoplink 21428]D700 [/shoplink], I realized another reason why the non-interchangeable lens nature of the X100 was a non-issue. With a non-removable lens, the X100 will likely not need any sensor cleaning at all, I happily realized. Yes!

Viewed sideways, the X100 was considerably smaller and thinner than the D3100 with the 35mm f/1.8GDX lens and still substantially thinner than the GH2 with the 20mm f/1.7 lens. The X100 wins against the two others on this point.

The GH2 ranks lower than the X100 and D3100 in image quality and with the X100 being thinner and having both OVF and EVF and with my preferred focal length lens, the X100 is now my first choice for a small and light compact camera.”

P.S.: The first non asian Fuji X100 is sold by the French dealer Selecttoy on [shoplink 21430 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Hope this is a good sign that the X100 will be soon in Stock in eruopean and american stores too.