One of the most amazing lenses for the Micro FOur Thirds system is the new Voigtlander Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95. It is now shipping in may countries and it’s time to see the first user tests!
ThePhoBlographer (Click here) posted the video you here see on top and some image samples on their website. Steve Huff (Click here) also had a quick look on the lens. Two of our readers also sent me an email to shrae their experience wiht the lens:
1) “I just got the Voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95 and it is an utterly superb lens: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dckyoto/sets/72157629567579710/ There’s something about the colour reproduction and contrast in the bokeh, some of the shots look almost as if they have been taken with an ND filter. Really sweet!”
2) “Just share this with other M43 interested people. I am continuing with tests on the new Nokton 17.5mm, and it is wonderful. This shows how sharp and precise the close distance focusing is, and the creamy bokeh!!! https://plus.google.com/115255826572441766446/posts/EYWQ7Lk1oaq”

As you know the lens has some color fringe when used at full aperture. A reader (thanks!) made me notice that article at Adobe (Click here). it explains how to remove it in lightroom! Amazing!

And below you can find some direct links to stores having the lens in Stock (mostly via eBay):
In Europe at [shoplink 30684 ebay]Photoalps (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30685 ebay]Bayernphoto (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30686 ebay]Topfoto (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30687 ebay]Digitalhandel (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30688 ebay]Shphoto (Click here)[/shoplink],
In Asia at [shoplink 30680 ebay]Breguetcamera (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30682 ebay]BennyWong (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30683 ebay]ShipfromJapan (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30681 ebay]FatJump (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 30683 ebay]ShipfromJapan (Click here)[/shoplink],
In USA at Bhphoto (Click here).

Now after Dpreview everyone else is also publishing their own Olympus E-M5 review. Here is one post to rule them all!
TheVerge (Click here) writes: “The Olympus OM-D E-M5 does nearly everything right: it’s fast, gorgeous, and takes great images and video. Its biggest setback is its price: at $1099.99, you’re definitely paying a premium for the E-M5’s gestalt, even over Olympus’s own PEN line of very good Micro Four Thirds cameras.”
Engadget (Click here) says: “The $1,300 kit price will be a tad too much to swallow for some, but with a solid body and a diverse collection of lenses, there hasn’t been a better time to hop aboard Micro Four Thirds.”
Full E-M5 review at ePhotozine (Click here): “The price of the camera is relatively high compared to other Micro Four Thirds cameras, however we feel that the added performance, handling and features of the camera make it easily justified.”

And here is another list of other short tests:
Olympus OM-D First Look: Landscapes & Long Exposures at Invisiblephotographer (Click here). 40mm comparison at DSLRcheck (Click here).E-M5 versus E-PL3 at Soundimagesplus (Click here). Picture of the mini OM camera at Maccocchino (Click here). A Japanese review at Itmedia (Click here). A Hungarian review at Prohardver (Click here). E-M5 versus Nikon D700 at Lepidi (Click here).

Bestseller ->The E-M5 is on top of the sales ranking in Deutschland and Japan. Check the list (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 6/7/11/19 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 3 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/6/12/16 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 1/13 (Click here).

E-M5 in USA+Canada:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).

in Europe:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30334 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30333 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).

in Asia:
Black E-M5 body at Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).

Finally it is here! The full E-M5 review by Dpreview (Click here). In short: “The E-M5 is, without question, the most accomplished Micro Four Thirds camera we’ve yet seen and, given how well established the system has become, it vies for the title of most capable mirrorless option yet.”

Let me know what you think about the E-m5 now that it got tested! :)

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And now it’s time to share you the fastest link to the shops :)

USA+Canada:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).

Europe:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30334 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30333 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).

Asia:
Black E-M5 body at Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).

Today E-M5 Rankings (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 2/7/11/13 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 7/12 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/4/5 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 3/6/11 (Click here).

The picture on top shows the new Gariz leather case for the E-M5 which are right now for sale on [shoplink 30623 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. You can find them in [shoplink 30624 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 30625 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink]. Looks good or not?

New reviews:
More Fun Comparisons – Fuji X-Pro 1 vs Olympus OM-D vs Sony NEX-7 – JPEG by Steve Huff (Click here): “Out of the three, the most joyful and fun to shoot was the Olympus.”
SLR Magic x Toy Lens Pinhole for Micro Four Thirds at ThePhoBlographer (Click here).
GF5 versus GX1 JPEG and RAW comparison at DSLRcheck (Click here).
The Lightroom 4.1 beta (CLick here) now supports the E-M5 RAW file.
Sigma 19mm review at Photographyblog (Click here).

And here are the links to all the mentioned stuff:
SLRmagic pinhole on [shoplink 30626 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink] The 19mm lens is in Stock at Amazon US (Click here), Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Amazon FR (Click here), Amazon JP (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).

E-M5 preorders (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.

On of the positive side effects of the E-M5 new 5 axis stabilization is that it can help people to shot better pictures even if they suffer from hands tremor. The author (“Fiatopichanon” on vimeo) of the video you see here on top writes: “I currently suffer from essential tremor, causing my hands shake about 5-10 Hz, which makes my shooting both still picture and video somewhat difficult. When Olympus introduced the new OM-D E-M5 with the new image stabilization system, I thought it might help me shooting easier and I might buy it. Finally I got it and found that the new IS system is really helpful. Here is my test. Hope you enjoy this.”

Thanks Fiatopichan!!!

P.S.: Amazon Germany (Click here) has the Black body in Stock while the 14-42mm kit vesion keeps getting IN and OUT of Stock every couple of hours at Amazon USA (Click here).

Today E-M5 Rankings (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 7/10/11/17 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 3 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 5/6/12 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 2/11 (Click here).

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

The GF5 and E-PM1 size comparison from Quesabesde.

Soundimagesplus (Click here) has plenty of E-m5 testing articles. PCmag (Click here) posted a full E-M5 review: “The Olympus OM-D E-M5 is the best Micro Four Thirds camera we’ve tested.“. Sample photos at ePhotozine (Click here). E-M5 image smaples at Pantip (Click here). Another ISO test at Lepidi (Click here). E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Japanese Olympus 12mm lens review at Itmedia (Click here).

Panasonic GF5 review at Quesabesde (Click here for the translation). Full GF5 image samples at Focus Numerique (Click here).

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We are used to read comparisons between “our” Panasonic Four Thirds sensor versus other larger APS-C sensors from Samsung, Sony or Fuji. Now for the first time we can see the Micro Four Thirds sensor compared with the very similar sized Canon Four Thirds sensor. DxOmark (Click here) just published their Canon G1X test. As usual with DxOmark tests keep in mind that they don’t take into account the resolution as variable for their scores. The test shows that the Canon Sensor is more or less on par with the Panasonic. A tack better than the [shoplink 26836]GX1[/shoplink] and a tack worse than the still best result from the “old” [shoplink 14826]GH1[/shoplink]. Soon DxO will post the [shoplink 29074]E-m5[/shoplink] results and I am curious to see if it really will surpass the GH1.

Reminder: David Parry, from Canon UK explained at Techradar (Click here) why they didn’t opt for the APS-C sensor: “We managed to create a four times zoom in a very compact body, and really it has the biggest sensor that we could use and also get decent coverage from the lens. If you made the sensor any bigger, the lens would have to be a lot bigger and it would be much more difficult and expensive to produce.”

I am wondering if the upcoming Canon interchangeable mirrorles system will use the same Four Thirds sized sensor! Would be once again the confirmation that the sensor size Olympus and Panasonic have chosen is the right one for the mirrorless system. Sony has the impressive APS-C sensor but the lenses are much larger and the corner quality of the image mostly suffers with the NEX lenses.

P.S:: The Canon G1X is a fixed lens camera and costs $799 at Amazon (Click here). Probably too expensive to compete against the [shoplink 26836]Panasonic GX1[/shoplink].