SLRmagic just sent us this: “There is a photo of the Spotting Scope mounted on the GH2 for digiscoping of wildlife videography. It is a prototype but it is close enough to what the final version will look like.
The effective focal length is 420-1260mm. In 35mm terms it is 840-2520mm. We recommend using this scope at lower magnification for best results. Due to long focal length a tripod should be used to reduce camera shake.
The SLR Magic 12-36×50 spotting scope has extra low dispersion optics for the best image quality. The micro four thirds version comes with an adapter that has to be bought at the time the spottting scope is purchased. The adapter is an objective that is compatible with the spotting scope and will mount directly in mFT mount. Traditional spotting scopes require a universal adapter wich require complicated horizontal and vertical alignment. Depending on the brand it is a trial and error process as universal adapters are actually not so universal since there is another trial and error process as to which lens and which eyepiece to match with the camera. Some adapters have a hole cut out for setting adjustment. We have decided to leave that out to prevent light leak for the best image quality as well as less controls so the bird photographer can just concentrate on shooting. Ours is an all in one solution aimed for ease of use and at an affordable price for leisure bird photographers.
The 50 size is good for portability. The scope looks big but it is actually quite compact as the built-in metal lens hood is fully extended in the photo. The lens is weather sealed and weather resistant but we will not advertise it that way as the camera mounted to it is not! Some readers suggest it is a rubber scope with duct tape. We usually prefer metal body but we made a rubberized outer design to protect the scope from accidental fall, light rain drizzle, and comfort when used in cold weather.
Please kindly tell your readers we are offering the first 30 units at a discount as we wish to have some sample photos from our customers. People interested may email us for details and price at support@slrmagic.com.”

These are the links to the other current lenses:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Adobe announced a new update for Lightroom and Camera RAW. You can download it here: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/. Finally following m43 cameras are supported:

• Olympus E-P3; E-PL3; E-PM1
• Panasonic DMC-G3; DMC-GF3

Techradar (Click here) had a small chat with Mark Thackara (national marketing manager, consumer products for Olympus UK). They talked about the new Nikon mirrorless system: “There will be the usual debates about the various performance pros and cons relating to image quality, flexibility and so on, but my view is that it will be the overall system that is vital to success and battle lines are drawn“. And “It is not size however that Thackara believes will be paramount to compact system success, but the quality of the system as a whole“.

The probably most interesting news is coming via Imaging Resource (Click here). They interviewed MR. Masahiro Suzuki (General Manager R&D, Nikon). He said the Nikon 1 system development started four years ago; just before the Micro Four Thirds announcement. They worked quite a long time on it!

Redrock announced the new LiveLens MFT’s control touchpad that allows the full control of EF lens aperture! The aperture ring can be open and closed in increments as small as 1/3 stop. (Imaging Resource). That is definitely a more advanced (but also much more expensive) solution than using the manual Kipon adpater ([shoplink 20746 ebay]click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).

P.S.: And Birger will also announce a new product soon (Maybe a new Eos to m43 adapter?).

SLRmagic sent out a press release for the new 12mm f/1.6 Noktor lens.

PRESS RELEASE:

“Here are samples of the Noktor HyperPrime 12mm F1.6 by SLR Magic. For the first time ever we decided to design a lens based on a public vote. Many people helped us on this forum http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=36104678 . We would like to thank all who has participated in the thread on Aug 2010 by putting their “most wanted micro four thirds lens” into production.

We had requests such as:

1) 12mm Wide Angle Prime
2) Make the aperture as wide as you can for creative possibilities
3) Low distortion
4) Macro
5) Round aperture opening
6) Depth of field scale
7) $500- Budget

It sounded like a lens no one has ever seen before but here is what we have to offer!

1) 12mm Wide Angle
2) F1.6 Max Aperture (Best performance is at F4 but we were told to make this lens as wide aperture as possible)
3) ~2% distortion (optical distortion correction for natural perspective when taking photos of people)
4) 0.15m Minimum Focus Distance
5) 12 Step less Aperture Blades for always round aperture opening like a cinema lens for better compatibility with GH2 and AF-100
6) Depth of field scale included
7) $499 MSRP

Here are some sample photos to compare bokeh quality at different aperture openings. We have attached one full sized photo sample as well.
The Noktor HyperPrime 12mm F1.6 by SLR Magic will ship around the end of October 2011.
Kind rgds.,
Andrew Chan
SLR Magic Product Manager”

And those are the full size image samples at different apertures (Click on it to enlarge):

There are no available preorders yet but you will find them soon on eBay. These are the links to the other current lenses:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Rolling shutter comparison, Sony Nex FS100 vs Canon 5D mark II vs Panasonic Lumix GH2 @ identical panning speed, shutter roll, jello effect

Olympus XZ-1 versus Pentax Q image comparison at RiceHigh.

And now a gallery published here in NZ today – all pics in the gallery shot with the GH1: See them at nzherald.co.nz.

Amos Chapple contacted me to share the following news:  “Recently my UK agent Rex Features distributed some images from a trip of mine to the living bridges of northeast India – all the pictures were shot with a Lumix GH1. The pictures have been bought widely in the UK including the Guardian newspaper (a full A2 double-page spread!), Wanderlust magazine (A3 double-page spread on magazine stock paper), Hello Magazine, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and, I’m told many more print publications. Additionally the images have gone viral in the blogosphere, with one of my images of the bridges on Flickr receiving 38,000 hits in the space of three days. The images have now been picked up by Associated Press so hopefully some American usage will follow! One image which might be of particular interest is in the Daily Telegraph gallery: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2035520/Meghalaya-villagers-create-living-bridges-training-roots-river.html
The second image (“Nature’s incredible engineering”) was shot at 800 iso, with an aperture of F1.4 and SS of 1/25th of a second. The image seems to have been tweaked slightly by a very skillful image handler, but as you can see the IQ is superb, and pretty much definitively proves these cameras are usable professionally. The lens was (my favourite of all time) the old 4/3 Leica 25mm F1.4. with a 4/3 – m4/3 adapter. I wonder how many lenses of any kind would look that good shot at 1.4.
Some other samples of images:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/picture/2011/sep/15/living-bridges-inda-big-picture
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/theweekinpictures/8753598/The-week-in-pictures-9-September-2011.html?image=13
http://issuu.com/wanderlust/docs/sampler_13_pages (page 5)”

And Wee sent me this: “Hi, I’m from Thailand. Any user feedback about E-P3’s mode dial fall off? Mine is this one: http://www.thaidphoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236175&page=1
The camera is really new, only bought it a few weeks before taking it on a trip. Another one, the owner said his body is 16 days old:
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/camera/topic/O11103535/O11103535.html.
As you see from both cases, it is a design flaw and poor assembly. The mode dial only has a tiny dent to align it in the right position under iAUTO mode and is glued to the knob underneath. The way this dial is cheaply built doesn’t look like a $900 camera to me! I was on my vacation in the UK and had bad experienced with Olympus distributor in Thailand, so I decided to stick it back in its place with super glue. What better can the service center do? Put extra glue on it? Bah!”

Las Olympus Pen se dan un respiro entre monólogos, secretitos y miradas cruzadas (Quesabesde).

(Click on the image to enlarge)

SLRmagic announced a new digiscoping solution for micro four thirds bird watchers. With this solution micro four thirds users may easily take photos or video of birds at great distances. The current options by other brands with ED glass offerings cost from $1000-$5000. The longest micro four thirds lens for now only reach 300mm and cost between $500-700. The SLR Magic will be a 12-36×50 ED Spotting Scope. The photo of the Flamingo is shot at 420mm and the photo of the bird is taken at 840mm. The lens will be released in October for $250 and SLR Magic 12-35×50 ED spotting scope for micro four thirds should be released in November for $400.

That is the fifth Micro Four Thirds lens made by SLRmagic. The most famous lens is the redesigned [shoplink 25691 ebay]Noktor 50mm f/0.95[/shoplink] lens:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens you can preorder on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Noktor 50mm f/0.95 lens on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]