We already knew it and DxOmark confirms it. According to DxoMark there is virtually no difference between the GF2 and GF1 RAW image quality. Color depth, dynamic range and ISO performance are exactly on par. By far more worth to read is the article written by Peter van den Hamer and posted on Luminous Landscape. Peter explains how DxOmark works and how reliable it is: “Probably every image quality expert would have a somewhat different personal preference for a benchmark like this. But my impression is that the benchmark is pretty useful: I analyzed the model and the data, but didn’t find any serious flaws.”

He gives many hints about how DxOmarks works and one was particularly interesting: “It should be clear by now that larger sensors (rather than larger pixels!) can produce less noisy images. This is simply because a larger sensor area can capture more light – and for reasonable resolutions this is pretty independent of the amount of MPixels the sensor’s surface has been divided into.”

Click on the store name to directly check price and availability of the GF2: Amazon US , Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon UK, Amazon DE and [shoplink 19414 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

Letsgodigital tested the new Olympus E-5 flagship camera: “When we only look at the specifications, it seems as if the Olympus E-5 has been surpassed on all sides by most camera manufacturers. However, practice leads to a completely different conclusion.“..:”the Olympus E-5 has improved or renewed its finest details. It is very solid, very complete and very versatile. “. The final verdict is EXCELLENT! I repeat it again. It’s amazing to see how a 12 Megapixel sensor can be optimized to deliver a top image quality (at leats at Low ISO!). Read the full review at Letsgodigital!

Click on the store name to directly check price and availability of the E-5: Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR.

John Brawley tested the [shoplink 16254]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 16841]AG-AF100[/shoplink] cameras. He complains one particular issue the AG-AF100 has:
“Listen to the noise picked up by the camera mike as I change the iris on the camera. It actually sounded worse to me than what was recorded in this clip This is a test clip shot on an AF 102 (AF100). that was done using the Olympus 7-14 and a Panasonic m4/3 adaptor. I tested it with a great many 4/3 lenses from both Panasonic and Olympus. They all make the same noise. The interesting thing is that the same lenses and adaptors on the GH2 didn’t seem to make the same noise.”

More at johnbrawley.wordpress.com

AG-AF100 preorder links at Adorama or BHphoto.