New image samples of the Voigtlaender Nokton 42,5mm lens.

The German Blog Photography-YouAndMe (Click here) posted some brand new image samples taken with the new Voigtlaender Nokton 42,5mm f/0,95 lens. The author writes: “Feeling as good as the two before but I felt it is much better in image quality. Even with open aperture it has a wonderful sharpness an bokeh. Death of field is outstanding. But this was preseries.

The first images we posted on 43rumors were from Kakaku: f/0.95 image, f/1.4 image and f/2.0 image.

The lens price is still not know. But shipment is scheduled for summer. Save this search on Slidoo to be notified when the lens will be available for preorder on eBay.

For the record. These are the five f/o.95 lenses:
Nokton 25mm f/0.95 ([shoplink 36580 ebay]here one Bay[/shoplink]).
Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 ([shoplink 36581 ebay]here one Bay[/shoplink]).
Nokton 42.5mm f/0.95 (not in Stock yet, save this search for notification).
SLRmagic 50mm f/0.95 ([shoplink 29455 ebay]here one Bay[/shoplink]).
SLRmagic 25mm f/0.95 (not in Stock yet, save this search for notification).

MFT sensor better than the $5,500 Leica FF sensor!

Today DxOmark (Click here) published the full Leica M-E test results and the 18MP Full Frame sensor cannot match the newest MFT sensor quality. A pretty good result if you consider the price of the Leica M-E ($5,500 here at Amazon). Do you still want Panasonic/Olympus to go Full Frame? :)

One more US deal: Today also the Silver GX1 with X lens kit got a price drop and now sells for $499 at Amazon (Click here).

DxO news found via Lepidi.

SLRmagic 25mm and GH3 reviews. First Qflash’s wireless TTL flash gear for Lumix GH3).

SLR Magic 25mm T0.95 VS Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 : The Exclusive Fight ! from Seb Farges on Vimeo.

 

Before to start the new week with new rumors I have to catch up with two reviews and one news:

1) SEB Farges compared the new SLRmagic 25mm f/0.95 lens against the Nokton 25mm f/0.95. He writes about the SLRmagic: “The result is astonishing to my opinion, very sharp image at full aperture.“. The lens will be available soon on eBay. Save this search on Slidoo to get notified when it’s available on eBay (you have to login). UPDATE: One more video here: http://vimeo.com/60971533

2) Admiringlight tested the Panasonic GH3: “The GH3 is one of the most responsive cameras I’ve had the pleasure to use, and image quality is very good. Panasonic has definitely stepped up their game for this camera, creating a true pro-grade camera and one of the best mirrorless cameras on the market.
GH3 in Stock status check at [shopcountry 33624].

3) We have the first of Quantum Qflash’s wireless TTL flash gear for Lumix GH3. Here is the introduction video made by Discovermirrorless (youtube).

New SLRmagic 25mm f/0.95 tested on the GH3 (along three other 0.95 lenses).

We need speed we love speed! And 3D-Kraft satisfied our need by testing four f/0.95 lenses on the new Panasonic GH3 (Click here to read the test). These are in short the qualities and drawbacks of the lenses:

SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 25mm T0.95
Vignetting and distortion are almost invisible which lets me speculate that the usable image circle might be significantly larger than what a FourThirds sized sensor requires. The lens will be available soon on eBay. Save this search on Slidoo to get notified when it’s available on eBay (you have to login).

Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95
A tiny bit less shapr than the SLRmagic and a tiny bit more vignetting. Price check at [shopcountry 36580].

P.Angenieux Paris 25mm Type M1 f/0.95
The lens produces some geometric distortion and vignettes already quite strong on mFT sensors. These characteristics are probably the reason why some people tend to say this lens produces a very cinematic look. [shoplink 37092 ebay]Click here to check out the price and auctions on eBay[/shoplink].

Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 25mm f/0.95
Sharper than the Angenieux and with less Vignetting and distortion. [shoplink 37093 ebay]Click here to check out the price and auctions on eBay[/shoplink].

 

Overall this SLRmagic sounds like an impressive piece of glass! And it’s almost half of the price of the Nokton ($799 but with an initial rebat $649 only). Chapeau!

Current SLRmagic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Straight Spotting Scope lens (w/ hand grip) is now available on [shoplink 26994 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
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 SLRmagic 50mm on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Amarcord: The PEN F

[shoplink 37006 ebay]

[/shoplink] Olympus PEN history is very long and plenty of nice cameras have been created. And let’s check what kind of design could be used for the future PEN models. And if you dream of a digital PEN with integrated viewfinder than you cannot avoid to talk about the superbly made [shoplink 37006 ebay]Olympus PEN-F (here on eBay)[/shoplink]!
And the viewfinder isn’t juts a “normal” viewfinder. Camerapedia writes: “The Pen F is a quite compact camera with a porro prism viewfinder, which completely avoids the traditional SLR prism bulge because the reflex mirror flips sideways, resulting in a compact viewfinder arrangement.” You can see the back of the PEN-F here. Another unique feature was the rotary focal-plane shutter that has the advantage that you can sync with the electronic flash at all shutter speeds.

But overall the camera shines because of the clean and extremely elegant design. Maybe its just me, but I would love to see the same design on a future PEN with integrated viewfinder! And with the same [shoplink 37005 ebay]cult lens cap (they are here on eBay)[/shoplink].

More about the camera at Cameraquest and Camerapedia. PEN-F acutions on [shoplink 37006 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

So let me know…

...would you like a digital PEN-F designed camera?

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GH3 outscores SLRs in Consumer Reports’ lab tests! And in Stock at Adorama and Samys.

Last week we hit hard on Panasonic because of the two small issues with the 12-35mmX long exposures steady shot problem and the unreliable Intervalometer of the GH3. But today we can reports some very good news for Panasonic and I hope this will bring them to love me back again :)

The usually very sever Consumerreports website (Click here) just posted an extremely positive report about the GH3! They write: “We recently tested a number of new SLR-like (mirrorless) cameras, and we were surprised to find that one, thePanasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, scored higher than all the SLRs tested in this group.” and also  “So if you’re in the market for an advanced camera, you’re not restricted to models with mirrors in them—SLRs, that is. The age of mirrorless SLR-likes appears to have arrived.

And for US readers: Finally the GH3 is in Stock at Samys (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).