First Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 to be shipped in less than two weeks!

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[shoplink 15659][/shoplink]

The german store Bayern-Fotoversand is selling three new [shoplink 16903]Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95 for Micro Four Thirds on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. They told me the lens will be available in “in den nächsten 10-14 Tagen” which means 10-14 days! They only ship to Europe. I didn’t find any bigger online store having the lens available for preorder and usually Germany is one fo the first place where one might get Voigtländer stuff. If you [shoplink 15659]perform a worldwide search for the lens on eBay[/shoplink] you will only find germans resellers.

UPDATE: One of our readers just told us that Robert White (UK) is accepting preorders!

The Flickr user “Itemsis” just sent us an email to his latest images samples taken at Photokina using the new [shoplink 15659]Voigtländer 25mm f/0.95[/shoplink] on a Panasonic G1. You can see two more pictures here at Flickr.

We already posted some images few weeks ago (https://www.43rumors.com/voigtlander-nokton-25mm-f0-95-preorders-on-ebay-and-in-australia/)

If you want the new Voigtländer instead of the Noktor you can preorder the lens on:
– [shoplink 16903]Bayern-Fotoversand (Click here)[/shoplink] – Fotomundus
– Robert White (UK)
– Mainlinephoto Australia
– Cameraquest (one of my favorite shops!)
– The classic camera

Let me know if other stores do accept preorders! Thanks!

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First Panasonic AG-AF100 footage!

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Panasonic AG AF-100 01/02 evaluation footage by CREWS.TV from Yves Simard on Vimeo.

Finally we have a first AG-AF100 sample footage! The video has been posted by CREWS.TV on vimeo and that’s what they have written:

“This is an independent evaluation by members of CREWS.TV of the [shoplink 16841]Panasonic AG AF 101/102 micro 4/3 camera[/shoplink].

This test was done purely as an experiment to evaluate its performance as a Film making /Television production tool. We did not test it against charts or other cameras, we simply took it for a test drive in what we thought would be its optimal conditions. Our goal was not to find its faults or decide its place in the market nor was it to choose sides in the ever political best camera debates. We are cinematographers who love their craft and love the tools that give us this ability.

We only had the camera for a few hours so we decided to keep it simple.

The camera is capable of 35mm lenses, so we used a [shoplink 16898]PL adapter[/shoplink] and [shoplink 15756 ebay]Zeiss Ultra Primes[/shoplink] , choosing from our set as we saw fit on the day. We chose to record on the on-board SD cards with the AVCHD codec at 24 mbs but we also opted to use the HDSDI output, recording at 100 mbs on the AVC Intra HD codec to P2 cards. We opted to do this rather than recording to Nanoflash simply to keep it all Panasonic native.

We chose this work-flow as we simply wanted to see this camera in the very best light possible.

We also had a sound recordist on location who used a dual channel radio link to the camera via its standard XLR inputs.

This is a prototype, so there were some technical issues, Panasonic assured us that it would be rectified in the production model. Our test scenes had to be limited to indoor locations as a consequence. It was a temperature related issue.

This footage is edited from the 100mbs files, ingested and edited natively mainly because it was easy. This footage was not graded, altered or manipulated, straight off the files and exported to Vimeo for your viewing pleasure. In fact we even used the natural sound rather than using music so that you can evaluated the footage for yourself.

A full report on our website crews.tv

Click here to read it AF-100 storm gathers. crews.tv/​blog/​2010/​10/​12/​af100-storm-gathers/”

Reminder: [shoplink 16841]BHphoto has an exclusive preorder offer on the AG-AF100 (Click here)[/shoplink]!

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(FT5) No new GH2 18 Megapixel multiaspect sensor for the Panasonic GF2

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A fake GF2 created by blog.livedoor.jp

In an interview with DSLRmagazine Sven Dabelstein, Anne Guennewig and Monica Puértolas from Panasonic confirmed that the upcoming Panasonic GF2 will not have the new GH2 18 megapixel multiaspect sensor. They also said that they didn’t want to give that sensor to Olympus for the Olympus E-5 because “each firm should reserve a space to develop differentiated products with unique technologies.“. They cannot say now if the Micro F0ur Thirds 25mm f/1.4 will be a Leica labeled lens like the current [shoplink 16340]Panasonic/Leica 25mm f/1.4 for Four Thirds[/shoplink]. They are also playing with the idea to make Tilt-Shift lenses.

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Why not get the Olympus E-P1? A cheap good camera in US and Europe!

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[shoplink 16885][/shoplink] As you might now I am a happy Olympus E-P1 owner. So let me make some free advertising for that camera :)

It’s my opinion that unless you need a specific camera for work it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money to buy a digital camera. You don’t make better pictures only because you buy an expensive camera. Your ceativity is what matters! I also do believe that it is better to save money on a body and spend more for lenses. A good lens last for years if not decades!

And now you have the chance to get a Micro Four Thirds cameras for cheap. The Olympus E-P1 is a real bang for the buck! I also noticed that the E-P1 is on of the few products that doesn’t charge an extra price for europeans. The US-EU prices are almost equal (Thanks Oly!).

Let’s start with the E-P1 deals in Europe:
A friend of mine was looking for the white E-P1 and found a great deal on Pixmania Italy. The white E-P1 + 14-42mm lens for 390 Euro at Pixmania Italia (Click here to see the deal). The lens alone costs almost 300 Euro! And the same deal is also available at Pixmania France (Click here).
Pixmania Deutschland is offering the E-P1 + 14-42mm lens for 389 Euro and for both WHITE and SILVER kits (Click here to check this deal). But Germany is full of online stores and you can find it even cheaper here at EG-electronics (349 Euro). Also Pixmania Spain has both colored E-P1 kit for 399 Euro (Click here)
Our UK readers can get the WHITE E-P1+14-42mm lens for £319 at Pixmania UK (Click here to see this deal).

Please undertsand that I have no time to check all online stores in all diferent europeancountries. My goal is only to give you an idea about the current E-P1 prices. You can also check [shoplink 16885]eBay to see current E-P1 auction (Click here)[/shoplink] to see a more large palette E-P1 deals.

And now the E-P1 deals in US:
Adorama is selling refurbished SILVER E-P1+14-42mm kits for $429.95 (Click here to see the camera at Adorama). Notice that the lens alone costs $251.95! So basically the camera body costs $178 only!!!
The same package (but new) is in Stock for $547.50 at Amazon (Click here).
If you are looking for the WHITE E-P1 good luck! Not one of the stores I checked has it in Stock…not even eBay (Click here to see current E-P1 auctions)!

As you see Mirrorless cameras are becoming cheaper and they are not more expensive than a high-end compact with small sensor like the [shoplink 16886]Panasonic LX5[/shoplink] or a an entry level DSLR like the Canon Rebel. Panasonic and Olympus should make a huge marketing campaign to promote the Micro Four Thirds cameras in that price segment!

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(FT3) Will Zeiss make the 15.5-45mm f/2.6 Zoom for the AG-AF100 Micro Four Thirds camera?

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Two sources told us that Zeiss is taking into consideration to make a Micro Four Thirds “version” of the current 15.5-45mm f/2.6 Zoom lens. The sources told us the lens could be available by mid 2011.
That would be a very nice lens to use on the new AG-AF100 (Click here to preorder the camera at BHphoto). Anyway the price is really far too high and the the focal length not so optimal. Only a professional filmmaker will consider to buy it. I guess for us “poor” IndieFilmmaker’s the Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 is a far more affordable choice. It covers a much more interesting focal lenght, it has autofocus and it’s damn cheap ([shoplink 16864]check out current auctions on eBay[/shoplink]). If you need a faster zoom you can get the Olympus Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 Lens. And finally Panasonic itself promised us to make a bright zoom lens (to be announced in February-March 2011?).

Note: The fastest Zeiss zoom lenses are the 6-24mm f/1.9 ($47,460.00 at BHphoto!) and the 17-112mm f/1.9 lens ($48,860.00 at Bhphoto!).

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New Olympus E-5 reviews…

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The new Olympus E-5 has been a heavily criticized camera since it was announced. Now Olympus Marketing wants to prove that the E-5 camera has indeed a top image quality. So almost every known website published image samples and first Hands-on.
Steve Digicam’s published a long list of image and video samples on his website. Robin Wong published his E-5 conclusions and published a lovely request to the Olympus community: “Let the world see who we are, and what we can do with Olympus.“. Noisycamera also found a user review inside the dpreview forum. Zone-10 published the first and second part of the camera comparison. And Brandoneu published his first part of the personal E-5 review.

To find more E-5 news and reviews just click here: https://www.43rumors.com/?s=Olympus+E-5

You can support this website by preordering the camera click here: Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama and in Europe at Amazon Deutschland.

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Panasonic AG-AF100 news by Barry Green (and preorder at BHphoto!)

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The Panasonic AG-AF100 is the first professional Micro Four Thirds camcorder. According to [shoplink 16841]BHphoto[/shoplink] the camera will be in Stock within 6-10 weeks. The price without lens is $4,795.00 ([shoplink 16841]Click here to preorder the AG-AF100[/shoplink]).

We collected some of the recent comments made by Barry Green at DVXuser forum:

– In PH (24Mbit/s) mode the AF100 supports uncompressed LPCM audio in addition to the AC-3 audio supported by the HMC series.

– Three chips still deliver superior color to a single-chip system. The reason everyone’s going with a single chip is NOT increased color fidelity; a Bayer chip is inferior to three chips for color fidelity, and that’s why every broadcast camera on the market has three chips and a prism. But there are some things that just can’t be done with three chips — primarily, emulating the way a film camera works and the ability to use lenses that have been developed for film cameras. A single sensor directly emulates the way a film sensor works, and you don’t need to make accomodations in the lens design for a beam-splitting prism.

– I expect we’ll see many comparisons just like the 5D vs. Red comparisons, where people show a whole bunch of shallow-DOF headshots and say “see, the 5D is just as good as the Red One.” If people shoot AF100 vs. 5D/7D and they limit themselves to those kinds of shots, then they’ll probably look quite comparable and there won’t be any “blowing away” going on. Where the AF100 will be hugely superior is in wide-angle deep focus shots, in terms of actual resolved detail, and in features and usability.

– So, is AVCHD a “step down” from DVCPRO-HD? In some ways, yes, in some ways no. It’s 4:2:0 instead of 4:2:2. And it’s long-GoP instead of intraframe. However, it’s also 2001-era technology, vs. 2010-era technology. So would it be fair to say that AVCHD can deliver comparable images as compared to DVCPRO-HD? Possibly. An intriguing question.

– DVCPRO-HD is 4:2:2, but it also prefilters the recording resolution down from 1920×1080 to 1280×1080. AVCHD is 4:2:0, but it retains the full 1920×1080. So DVCPRO-HD will have twice the color resolution but only 2/3 the horizontal resolved detail.

– And DVCPRO-HD is bulletproof as far as motion artifacting, whereas AVCHD is a long-GoP codec. However, as a long-GoP codec, it’s really good; I compared it against XDCAM-EX and found AVCHD to be much more robust regarding motion artifacts from cases where the codec gets overloaded. So while it isn’t a true intraframe codec, it’s much less susceptible to the issues that caused long-GoP codecs to get the reputation they got in the early days of HDV.

Reminder: You can read his initial report at DVXuser (Click here)

And don’t forget. You can support this website by preordering the [shoplink 16841]Panasonic AG-AF100 at BHphoto clicking here![/shoplink] (Thanks!)

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