The Japanese website DSLRcheck made a double focal length test comparing the [shoplink 29074]Olympus E-M5[/shoplink], the Fuji X PRO 1 and Sony NEX-7. The image on top (Click on it to enlarge) compares he three cameras at 28mm. The image below compares the JPEG results from the E-M5 and NEX-7 at 300mm. As usual keep in mind that there are so many variables when doing such comparisons. You really don’t have to take them as gods truth! The only general (and pretty obvious) conclusion I can draw from these comparisons is that when it comes to talk about image quality the lens really matters almost more than the camera you chose!

The E-M5 will ship in USA within the next days and it will may be able to dethrone the current NEX-7 besteller (at Amazon). Let’ see if Olympus will get some cahs through the E-M5 sales. They really need (and deserve) it!

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).

Lori Grunin from Cnet US (Click here) is testing the E-M5 and says that it is “Olympus’ best shot yet“. The final review will be posted soon.

The German website Digitalkamera tested the E-M5 (Click here for the not so good automatic google translation). In short they say that if you buy the E-M5 you will hardly regret it :)

An E-M5 review at DC.view (Click here for the translation). Another review at Itmedia (Click here for the translation). A model shooting at Photogenicweekend (Click here for the translation).

Damian Mc Gillicuddy (CLick here) is testing the E-M5: “I know the nay sayers will say “Oh micro 4/3’s – not enough guts”, “tiny sensor”, “quality not good enough”… blah, blah, blah!!!  There will even be people who will say, “It just doesn’t look like a professional camera”,  “its too small”… I say RUBBISH!!! ”

An E-M5 report by Phototravelasia (Click here): “It will be interesting to see how the image quality reviews but I have to say that for my purposes as a travel cam this thing looks perfect and its rugged build and out and out usability have me itching to get it on the road for a more thorough workout.”

—

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).

Kai from Digitalrev made that E-M5 review. As usual take it easy, he has his own (in my opinion nice) way to make reviews. Enjoy!

P.S.: meantime more and more US/Europe readers are sending me info saying their E-M5 will ship next week. Let me know when your test pictures are online! Thanks!

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).

OM film cameras
Here is the chronological ordered list of all OM film cameras ever made by Olympus. Click on the names to see them on eBay (ordered by first announced camera): [shoplink 28221 ebay]M-1[/shoplink], [shoplink 28222 ebay]OM-1[/shoplink], [shoplink 28223 ebay]OM-1 MD[/shoplink], [shoplink 28224 ebay]OM-1N[/shoplink], [shoplink 28225 ebay]OM-2[/shoplink], [shoplink 28226 ebay]OM-2N[/shoplink], [shoplink 28227 ebay]OM-2S/SP[/shoplink], [shoplink 28228 ebay]OM-3[/shoplink], [shoplink 28229 ebay]OM-3Ti[/shoplink], [shoplink 28230 ebay]OM-4[/shoplink], [shoplink 28231 ebay]OM-4T/Ti black and chrome[/shoplink], [shoplink 28232 ebay]OM-10[/shoplink], [shoplink 28233 ebay]OM-20 (OM-G)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28234 ebay]OM-30(OM-F)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28235 ebay]OM-40 (OM-PC)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28236 ebay]OM-77AF (OM-707)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28237 ebay]OM-88 (OM-101)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28238 ebay]OM-2000[/shoplink].

The surprising RAW Signal to Noise ration chart from Techradar. The Olympus E-M5 is the best!

If you are from America or Europe you are very likely going to receive your preordered [shoplink 29074]E-M5[/shoplink] next week! Meantime I have a new roundup of reviews for you!

Amy from Techradar (Click here) posted the full E-M5 review. She likes the “Excellent viewfinder, Tilting touchscreen, Customisable dials and buttons, High image quality at low ISOs and the New art filters“. What she doens’t like is the “Plastic unresponsive buttons, No in-built flash, Odd (sound) emitted“. But the real surprise is their RAW noise to ratio test (posted here on top of this post). The chart shows how the RAW files are clearly better than the [shoplink 26836]Panasonic GX1[/shoplink] suggesting that they may not be using exactly the same sensor. The real surprise is that it even beats the Fuji X PRO 1! As usual take those charts with a grain of salt. As I learned from my physics studies no test is perfect and always depends from the testers method :)

And below you can find the Dynamic range test results (again on TIFF converted RAW files):

But overall that E-M5 looks like a tremendous camera and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Thansk Amy for sharing this great test!!!

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).

It’s time to check how good these two new Sigma lenses are. Here are five links to the latest tests:

1) The Sigma 30mm lens got tested with the E-P3 by Pekka Potka (Click here): “I think Sigma has produced here a lens, which is optically significantly better than I expected. It gives much compared to its price and is definitely worth considering if this focal lenght is otherwise interesting.”
2) Also TheDigitalStory (Click here) tested the same lens on the same camera: “Overall, I rate the Sigma 30mm a notch below Olympus prime lenses. But if you want a mild telephoto with a reasonably fast aperture for an affordable price, you’ll probably like shooting with this glass. I’m going to keep mine.”
3) A Sigma 19mm hands-on with image samples can be found at PhotoMalaysia (Click here): “This lens is just about perfect. Optically I’d say approaches Leica…a real bargain for the asking price!!!”
4) ePhotozine (Click here) about the 30mm lens: “During testing this lens proved itself capable of producing excellent results, even at maximum aperture. The light weight, fast autofocus and excellent build should win this lens many fans, especially with the price being so competitive.”
5) ePhotozine (Click here) also tested the 19mm lens: “This compact lens should make an ideal addition to any Micro Four Thirds or Sony NEX camera kit. Its light weight, compact size and excellent optical performance are complimented by fast auto focus speeds and good build quality.”

Mea culpa Sigma for criticizing you! Doesn’t sound bad at all for these $199 (or 199 Euro) lenses!

The 30mm 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).
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).

Washing test by 20minutos (Click here / via 100nyc / Thanks Jeff)

One week to go until the E-M5 hits the stores in USA and Europe! Although in some single cases the E-M5 can be found in Europe like it is now on [shoplink 30282 ebay]eBay UK (Click here to grab one of the five E-M5 that are in Stock right now)[/shoplink]. I am really curious to see if the Olympus can surpass both current most requested cameras like the NEX-7 and Fuji X PRO 1 (at least according to A. ranking).

Meantime read some of the latest reviews of the GX1/E-M5:
Imaging Resource (Click here) posted the final Panasonic GX1 review: “Though they missed a few key features users were hoping for, like dual manual control dials as seen on the Sony NEX-7, the Panasonic GX1 is a good start toward making a camera that enthusiasts will appreciate. An increase in resolution comes with an improvement in high ISO performance too”
DC.watch (Click here for the translation) posted a set of GX1 + the new Sigma 19mm image samples.
E-M5 preview and image samples at DC.Watch (Click here). The 12-50mm lens got tested by Quesabesde (Click here for the translation).

Links to preorders of the mentioned cameras (Just click the shop name to check availability and price):
GX1 at [shopcountry 26836].
E-M5 at Amazon USA, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Sigma 19mm at Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France.

Andrew from EosHD (Click here) posted a new markIII versus NEX-7 versus GH2 video quality comparison: “In my opinion unless you really need a full frame sensor the GH2 is still the best ‘DSLR’ to do video on. If only it had the same build and pro-looks as the 5D Mark III it would be taken more seriously. It isn’t a robust camera to throw around or rent out. The articulated screen (that only consumer cameras seem to have embraced) is a must-have though and the image quality is unbelievably good.”

That’s bad news for Canon as the new 5DmarkIII really should have continued the 5DmarkII success story by setting a new standard of video quality. Add the fact that it seems that the camera has Light Leaking issues (Read more about it at Canonwatch.com) and that it is currently being outsold by the Nikon D800 (See the ranking here).

I think it’s a great chance for Panasonic to grab the momentum with the upcoming GH3. All we know for sure is that the GH3 is weather sealed and that it comes in late August/early September. Weeks ago unconfirmed rumors (from unknown Asian sources) shared these specs:

Sensor: 15.5 mega-pixel sensor
Iso: Iso 160-12800, extends to 80-51200
Speed: 6.7fps
Body: Magnesium alloy body, weather sealed, thinner and lighter than GH2
LCD: 3.2″ ips, 1050k-dots, with capacitive touch screen (multi-touch depending on final setting in firmware). LCD tilt-able
EVF: new EVF with 2.06 mega-dots

Probably too good to be true?