Gosh, I would like to know how many of you canceled their E-P5 preorder when they read the rumor about the new Panasonic GX camera. But at leats accoridn to the new test you can read here…reviewers are quite positively impressed:

1) DPreview updated their first imrpession review and writes: “Frankly, we’re impressed – it looks as though the E-P5 is the camera we’d always hoped the PEN series could be, and Olympus has another winner on its hands to follow the E-M5.”
2) Pekka Potka (Click here) posted the second part of his ongoing E-P5 review.
3) Damian McGillicuddy (Click here) has taken delivery of the new Olympus EP5 straight from the Olympus factory and is testing it in Berlin as we speak! Initial thoughts are that it is a bit of a game changer.
4) Federico Cabrero (Click here) posted some ncie B&W image samples.
4) ePhotozine (Click here) posted a Hands-on preview and also a set of image samples.

So what do you think now about the new PEN?

P.s.: And when will the new E-P5 ship? Amazon says June 14, Bhphoto says June 27. I think the latter is right.

Links to all newly announced Olympus stuff:
E-P5 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 White at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Silver at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
E-P5 Black with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon UK.
E-P5 White with 17mm f/1.8 lens and VF-4 at Amazon UK.
E-P5 Black with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and Wex UK.
E-P5 White with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany and Amazon UK.
E-P5 Silver with 14-42mm lens at Amazon Germany, Amazon UK and at Wex UK.
17mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
45mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys. In Europe at Amazon Germany.
75mm f/1.8 Black at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.
VF-4 viewfinder at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Samys.

We have two new Panasonic G6 reviews at WhatDigitalCamera and at Trustedreviews.

WDC gave the camera an overall score of 90/100: “Image quality is strong, delivering plenty of detail, and while it might not be quite a match for DSLRs at the higher sensitivities, it’s still more than adequate – especially if you shoot Raw – while the video performance will also appeal.”

TR rated the camera with 9/10 points and writes: “Throw in some strong image quality performance and its compact proportions, as well as a selection of compatible lenses that continues to grow, and it’s safe to say that the Lumix G6 is one of the best CSCs on the market.”

The camera will ship worldwide in one month from now. Preorders are up at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and at Wex DE, Technikdirekt, Wex UK.

The cheapest of all MFT cameras with the Sony 16 Megapixel sensor got tested at Dpreview (Click here). The camera earned a Silver award with the following motivation: “The Olympus PEN-EPM2 is a point-and-shoot mirrorless camera which does exactly what a novice will need it to. For more adventurous users, there’s a lot of functionality hidden beneath the skin (including the image quality of the OM-D) making the E-PM2 a potentially very attractive second camera.”

A couple of weeks ago there was a deal on the camera+lens. While it’ gone form large US online stores it’s still available at NYC 17thstreetphoto on eBay: In [shoplink 38948 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 38947 ebay]Silver (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 38946 ebay]White (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 38945 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink]. The “older” E-Pm1 with lens sells for $285 at Amazon (Click here). And 199 Euri on Finland at Rajalacamera…lol :)

Editor’s note: Overall I still think Olympus should narrow the PEN range. The E-PL should be the entry level camera and the  E-P the more advanced camera. And the E-P5 should cost at least $100 less too. Now it has the same price of the OMD while the OMD has built-in EVF. Of course the E-P5 has some new Bells and whistles. But it will not convince many to buy it.

Image courtesy: EosHD

Andrew Reid from EosHD (Click here) is the first user testing the soon to come Speed Booster for Micro Four Thirds. And soon Philip Bloom’s test will be online too. He just got the same adapter and is testing it on the BlackMagic Camera (see his pic on Instagram).

Back to EosHD, the version Andrew got is the Leica R to MFT mount adapter. Here are some key findings:

• The MFT adpaters are different form the Sony E-mount adapters
• Build quality of Speed Booster is excellent
• Speed Booster increases sharpness in the centre of the frame but not at the edges
• Micro Four Thirds is a 2x crop but with the Speed Booster that becomes more like 1.5x

He tested it on these lenses:

• [shoplink 38869 ebay]28mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38870 ebay]35mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38871 ebay]50mm F2.0 Summicron-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/1.4 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38872 ebay]90mm F2.8 Elmarit-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.0 on the Speed Booster
• [shoplink 38873 ebay]28-70mm F3.5-F4.5 Vario-Elmar-R (here on eBay)[/shoplink]. This becomes f/2.5-3.5 on the Speed Booster

ThE MFT Speed Boosters will come in late Summer and will available at Metabones Shop. You can save this search on Slidoo to get notified when they will be for sale one Bay (here is the How To if you don’t know what this is).

Photographer Giulio Sciorio shoots Miami with the Lumix G6

Let me catch up with some G6 and GF6 links:

Giuglio Sciorio also posted a Focus Peaking Lumix G6 test on youtube. Another peaking during recording test has been posted by Digitfoto on youtube. New G6 vs GH2 test made by Digitfoto on youtube. GF6 connectivity test at DSLRmagazine (google translation here).

Panasonic GF6 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Technikdirekt, Wex UK,
Panasonic G6 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and at Wex DE, Technikdirekt, Wex UK.

Panasonic fixes the strange 12-35mm lens shake? from Tim Hashko on Vimeo.

43rumors reader Tim tested the new 12-35mm X firmware 1.2 (download here): “I believe Panasonic finally fixes the shake issue in their 12-35mm f2.8 lens. anasonic has just released firmware 1.2 update for their 12-35mm lens which improves its stabilization system. Until now, this lens has been plagued with the infamous “shake issue”: when on a tripod and angled down, the image would shake. This was a well-known issue documented in numerous videos online. I did a quick test with the new firmware, and it does indeed look like the shake is completely gone. Here is link to my test on vimeo. https://vimeo.com/66329224 (video also embedded on top of this post). Not sure if this is newsworthy, but I was super thrilled to discover this and thought I’d spread the word.”

Thanks Tim!

Lens Price check at [shopcountry 31225].

–

Photoreview (Click here)  posted the very first full test of the brand new Panasonic 14-140mm lens. And their conclusion contains also a negative finding: “While subjective assessments of test shots and video clips showed them to be acceptably detailed, with natural-looking colours and an adequate dynamic range in outdoor lighting, our Imatest tests revealed the new lens suffered from the same performance issues as most extended-range zoom lenses. At no point did the resolution recorded in our tests reach expectations for the 16-megapixel sensor in the GF6. Interestingly, corner and edge softening was less than we found with the original 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 lens”

Gosh! Worse than the older lens? I just hope they got a non perfect prototype lens!

Panasonic PZ 45-175mm lens for $299 at Amazon (Click here).
New Panasonic 14-140mm lens links at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and at Wex UK (Click here).