E-M5: EosHD tests video, Chassimages the sensor, Clubsnap the third party battery!

E-M5 video quality
My friend Andrew from EosHD (Click here) agrees that the E-M5 is an absolute great camera. But he focused on the video quality of the camera and writes: “The Olympus approach to video on the other hand is the opposite of masterstroke. If this camera was hacked to support high bitrate 24p it would be a GH2 beater. Given the shear responsiveness of the camera, the speed of the AF, the fast scan of the sensor for minimal rolling shutter and the high resolving power in video mode – it clearly packs some powerful hardware under the hood and a very capable sensor. It is just a shame we yet again don’t see the best of it in video mode because of decisions made in firmware.“. Agree, Olympus could have done better! They could make it good by releasing a firmware update which increase the video quality. Are you listening Oly? :)

E-M5 sensor with moirè?
The french magazine Chassimages claims to have found the answer about the E-M5 sensor. Pierre Lepidi (Click here) posted the text from the magazine (you can’t find the Chassimages text online): “its the same GX1 sensor but what changes is that the E-m5 sensor has a lighter Anti Aliasing filter. Images are sharper although you have a higher risk to find moiré“. This seems to be confirmed by the comparison posted by DSRLcheck (Click here). There is visible more reoslution and moirè when comparing the E-M5 with the GX1.

E-M5 news roundup:
TVsmith (Click here) has been asked at the race track if the OM-D can do action… The pictures may show you the answer ;) OM-D in-body stabilisation versus Pana OIS @ 300mm at Snappydiablog (Click here). OM-5 initial reaction at Footlessfish (Click here). The latest Apple RAW update brings support for the E-M5 and GF5!

E-M5 third party battery:
A review of the third party E-M5 battery at Clubsnap (Click here): “These batteries will only hold 84% of the charge of a real Olympus 1220mAh battery. (Assuming you get 250-shots out of an original battery, this will give you 209-shots before it gives up on you.) It is also only 70% of the claimed 1450mAh.“. You can buy those batteries on eBay:
[shoplink 30960 ebay]One Olympus batteries and NO(!) charger (Click here to check the price on eBay). You need to have a compatible charger![/shoplink] [shoplink 30954 ebay]One Olympus battery + 1 chargers (Click here to check the price on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 30955 ebay]Two Olympus batteries + 1 chargers (Click here to check the price on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 30961 ebay]Three Olympus batteries + 1 chargers (Click here to check the price on eBay)[/shoplink]

James: “Hi, I see you have a lot of love for the Olympus Om-D, so do I. If your readers like they can subscribe to my facebook as I’m travelling around Europe for the rest of the year with my OM-D, 7-14mm, 12mm, 25mm & 45mm. I’m trying to post photos for my friends and family as much as possible. Just thought it might be something your readers could be interested in. the url is www.facebook.com/coxy84”

E-M5 orders (Click on the names of the stores to see the product page):
Black E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Warehouse UK, and Amazon Japan.
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto , Digitalrev and J&R.
Black E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland , Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
Silver E-M5 body with 12-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, J&R, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Deutschland and Amazon Japan.

 


Depth of field equivalence “ripoff thoughts” by Admiring Light (Olympus 75mm to ship late in Europe?).

According to Amazon UK (Click here) the Olympus lens will be released on July 31! That’s a lot later than the rumored late June early July release. But as usual, keep in mind that this is just an indicative date. Amazon US (Click here) says it will ship within 1-2 months. But now let’s read Admiringlight (Click here) because he posted some thoughts about the two new Micro Four Thirds lenses.
1) About the Olympus 75mm lens, he writes: “I think the lens looks to be a real winner. It’s got beautiful bokeh, a lovely contrast and color signature and is quite sharp at the focal point. It also seems to exhibit very well controlled longitudinal chromatic aberration and fringing, which is usually a big problem on lenses of this focal length and aperture. The downside for some with this lens is that the focal length of 75mm is a little longer than the ‘standard’ portrait lengths“.
2) About the Panasonic 12-35mm X lens, he writes: “Early reviews are showing this lens to be a truly stellar performer, right from f/2.8.  In fact, it’s looking like one of the sharpest f/2.8 standard zooms for ANY camera system.   Now, those who feel the need to bang on depth of field equivalence will cry “but it only gives depth of field similar to f/5.6 on full frame!  What a ripoff!” Read the full post to read the reasons why he says that this is an irrelevant argument. I 100% agree with him :)

Preorders:
The Olympus 75mm lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). And Adorama has also the accessories: Olympus LH-61F, Metal Lens Hood (Click here) and the Olympus LC-61, Metal Front Lens Cap (Click here).
The Panasonic 12-35mm X lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).

New Panasonic 12-35mm X lens reviews roundup!

Popco (Click here) posted a nice set of sexy 12-35mm X lens pictures including a “weight comparison”! And they made a autofocus speed test you can see on vimeo (Click here). A new set of image samples can be found here at Flickr. And there is another full review at Camerastuffreview (Click here). The conclusion are very positive like it was at Photographyblog, ePhotozine, SLRgear and DSLRmagazine. The only flaw of that lens may be the missing powerzoom (hey I am a film maker, for me that would have been a nice addition).

Lens preorders:
in USA at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
in Europe at FotoHanzKeuzekamp (Click here).
in Asia at Amazon Japan (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).

Silver E-M5 shipment in June only. And new reviews roundup (E-M5 has super color accuracy)

Silver E-M5 delay
Olympus heavily understimated the demand of the Silver E-M5. Because of that today Amazon reports that the Silver body will ship within 1-2 months only (Click here to read). And 43rumors readers that preordered the Silver body on February 7 have been notified that shipment has been delayed to “June 27, 2012 – July 24, 2012“. A reader from UK also wrote that his preorder has been canceled by Amazon UK. Olympus usually isn’t known for that kind of delivery delays. It’s really to larger than expected succss of the camera that is pushing forward the shipment of your cameras.

Meantime you can enjoy some new reviews and tests (Thanks to all reader for sending me those links!!!):
Digital Camera Magazine posted the E-M5 color accuracy test and you can see a screenshot at Imageshack (Click here).
Lori Grunin from Cnet US (Click here) posted the final E-M5 review: “You don’t have a lot of choices if you’re looking for something rugged under $1,000 that’s better than most of the point-and-shoot alternatives. There’s the forthcoming Pentax K-30 dSLR, but it’s bigger and clunkier. While you don’t get best-in-class photo quality with the OM-D E-M5, it’s a not-unreasonable trade-off for the rest of the package.”
Photographing the streets of Paris with the Olympus OM-D at Dearsusans (Click here): “The JPEG engine is so good I really doubt there would be any point in using the RAW option – at low ISOs – unless you’re a pro shooting on assignment with strict orders.”
Using the Olympus OMD EM5 on a Cosplay Photoshoot at ThePhoBlographer (Click here). E-M5 versus NEX-5n on youtube.
Ticket zu verlosen: OM-D Workshop in Münster (1.-3. Juni 2012) at SystemKameraForum (Click here). Une occasion unique de tester le nouvel Olympus OM-D à paris (Focus Numerique / Lepidi).

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev. Don’t forget you can buy plenty of cheap [shoplink 31278 ebay]third party E-M5 batteries on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

The E-M5 keeps to be present in the Amazon Bestseller list(changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 5/6/12 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 3/7/9 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/12 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 13/14/16 (Click here).

New Olympus 75mm preorders (with hood) and preview.


Dpreview posted a first lens preview impression: “The build quality is impressive” and the lens “showed really impressive levels of sharpness” with “smooth bokeh with only a hint of the axial chromatic aberration you’d expect on a lens like this“.
I have no doubt the lens is good, it’s just that expected a bit lower price :)  But than again, you get what you pay for! Speaking of price here is the updated list of lens preorder (with Adorama) and accessories:
Olympus 75mm lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). And Adorama has also the accessories: Olympus LH-61F, Metal Lens Hood (Click here) and the Olympus LC-61, Metal Front Lens Cap (Click here).

Olympus 75mm f/1.8 resolution comparison and hands-on video

Click on the image on top to enlarge the size and see the resolution comparison posted by Olympus. As you see it easily beats the already good [shoplink 23577]Olympus 45mm f/1.8[/shoplink] lens and it has about the same performance of the Four Thirds 150mm lens (Damn, $3500 here at Amazon!!!). Not bad, not bad…if it only would be avaialble in Black and with hood (for no extra price).

And the first hand-son video has been posted by Snappydiablog (Click here).

P.S.: There is still some confusion about the final European price of the lens. If you know of any preorder with the final price drop me a message! Thanks ;)

Overpriced Silver E-M5 in Stock and reviews roundup (first battery grip review)

As I told you last night Olympus didn’t expect to sell the Silver E-M5 models as well as the Black models. And if you are lucky you will find just a couple fo them in Stock here and there. I found two (overpriced) Silver models at Amazon US (Click here) and in Europe at uw-photo.ch (Click here). 43rumors readers told me that February Silver E-M5 preorders are now shipping from different stores. I hope you can get your soon too!

And now let’s check the latest E-M5 news roundup:
Golftoimpress (Click here) tested the Konica Hexanon f/1.7 on the E-m5: “I have to say I love this lens, how can I not considering its price and its performance. It is not hard at all to manually focus on the E-M5 which makes it a great choice for those photo enthusiasts who own a stash of legacy lenses“. You may wonder ow much this lens costs? A used Hexanon costs between $30 and $60 only on [shoplink 31171 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
E-M5 impressions by John Brawley (Click here). Test charts at Pixelmania.nl (Click here).
Admiringlight (Click here) is the first to revie the E-M5 battery grip: “The well thought out control placement and solid build make it worth the price in my opinion.  While it’s a shame the horizontal grip blocks the battery door, it’s a tradeoff I’m glad to make for the two piece construction.”

E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

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