(UPDATE) SLRmagic 11mm Toy lens

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[shoplink 20919 ebay][/shoplink]Image on top shows the current [shoplink 20919 ebay]26mm f/1.4 ToyLens[/shoplink].

A short update about the upcoming new Toy Lens from SLRmagic. We have been told that it is a fast 11mm wide angle lens. Don’t know yet how fast the lens is. I guess there will be soon more news on their Twitter (Click here).

SLRmagic currently offers to manual, cheap not high quality lenses. They have the (only) advantage that you can use them without the use of any adapter:
35mm f/1.7 [shoplink 20923 ebay](Click here to see that lens on eBay)[/shoplink].
26mm f/1.4 [shoplink 20919 ebay](Click here to see that lens on eBay)[/shoplink].

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Olympus postpones the new product launch (Olympus converters)

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Image on top: The fisheye, wide and macro converters.

Olympus officially postponed the launch of the recently announced products (Source: DC.watch). That includes the new compact cameras and the three Micro Four Thirds lens converters.
We all have understanding for this!

If you want to make a donation to help the japanese people click here: http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Reminder: The other two PEN accessories are already on market:
– MAL-1 Led Light at [shoplink 20217 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.
– PenPal bluetooth module at [shoplink 20218 ebay]eBay[/shoplink], Amazon Deutschland, Amazon UK, Amazon France.

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My Olympus 17mm gets reviewed :)

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[shoplink 14798][/shoplink]Almost 80% of my pictures have been taken with that cheap and unspectacular lens. It’s not as fast and as good as the [shoplink 14796]Panasonic 20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] but it’s cheaper, lighter, tinier and has a more interesting wider view angle (that’s just my personal opinion). I am glad that someone finally reviewed the lens. That “someone” is Photographyblog (Click here): “Its sharpness and resolving power are pretty good, especially in the centre of the frame, but they are hardly exceptional for a prime lens“…”Overall, we enjoyed shooting with the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/2.8 a lot – there are few lenses out there that beat it on the portability front, while its angle of view and fast maximum aperture make it an excellent walk-around lens“.

Click those links to check the Olympus 17mm price at [shopcountry 14798].

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(UPDATE 2) Fuji X100 on eBay (but X100 factory has been damaged and production stopped)

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[shoplink 20939 ebay][/shoplink]

UPDATE_2: The X100 is in Stock at Digitalrev (Click here).
UPDATE_1: BHphoto now takes X100 preorders (Click here). They will ship it soon (so they told us).

Right now you can find one single [shoplink 20939 ebay]Fuji X100 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. It’s a unique chance (and I bet it will expensive also) to get the camera also because Fuji officially announced that they had to stop the X100 production! The factory that currently produces the X100 is in Taiwa-Cho (Miyagi) which is 30 km from Sendai. Good to hear that there were no injured people!

Other (Micro-) Four Thirds member like Sigma and Cosina/Voigtländer had no or very little damages in their factories that will not affect their current production. Reminder: Cosina makes the [shoplink 15659 ebay]Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 for Micro Four Thirds[/shoplink].

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(FT4) Panasonic G3 and new lens release in late April

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According to last minute rumors we got from our trusted sources the new Panasonic G3 will be announced in late April. Earlier rumors “speculated” with a release in late March/early April. For some reasons (earthquake?) the announcement has been delayed for a few weeks. We have been told the G3 will be in Stock in May. Take that rumor with a grain of salt even if it is coming from our very good sources. The recent earthquake disaster could change everything again and of course this doesn’t matter right now. It’s by far more important that Panasonic and Olympus employees can have the time to overcome the shock. And It’s so good to know that no Panasonic/Olympus employee has been hurt!

P.S.: The 25mm f/1.4 should be announced along the G3 but unlike the [shoplink 14959]Four Thirds version[/shoplink] the lens will not be Leica branded and cost a little bit less ($700 instead of $850).

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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Olympus XZ-1 gets an “Editor’s choice” at Photoreview Australia.

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[shoplink 19904][/shoplink]

It looks like the most popular Olympus camera is not a PEN and not a the E-5 but the [shoplink 19904]Olympus XZ-1[/shoplink]. As you know it features also a PEN-type accessory port that can use PEN system accessories, including the clip-on VF2 EVF or the FL-14 and FL-36R flash guns and the external stereo microphone adapter kit (SEMA-1): “Image files from the review camera were a cut above those from most other digicams we’ve reviewed, including those from Olympus. Files were clean and not over-processed and colour saturation was restrained for a small-sensor camera. Autofocusing was comparatively fast for a contrast-based TTL system and when face detection was engaged, the camera was able to pick up and track human faces almost instantaneously.”. The only real drawback is the video quality.
The camera gets an oveall score of 8.8/10 which is pretty high!

You can get the camera in Black or White at [shopcountry 19904] (Clcik on shop name to directly visit the XZ-1 product page).

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A little good news. No injuries in Olympus facilities

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On picture: Olympus facility in Japan

I just got good news from Japan. All Olympus employees are safe, nobody was injured and all facilities are secure. There will be of course some problems with the current activities and production but that’s just a temporary and not so important issue in those days.
Meanwhile Panasonic made a 300 million yen monetary contribution and in-kind donations of 10,000 units each of radios and flashlights and 500,000 dry batteries to aid victims and support the recovery of areas affected by the strong earthquake that struck Tohoku area on March 11.
P.S.: Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

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