WOMANHATTAN teaser, a creative documentary about New York, past loves and technological obsessions from Seb Farges on Vimeo.

I have to catch up on the reviews front and here is the post that contains them all :)

A special mention goes to my friend Tyson that  wrote a couple of “must-read” articles:
Lumix G3 vs the mighty might GF1, or why I chose to upgrade my MILC (tysonrobichaud): “the G3 provides enough of an argument to not be ignored.  It ends up, in my mind, as the poor man’s NEX7 or GH2, and I’m happy I saved my money.“. And there are two more articles from Tyson you have to read. One is about the “Holy Trinity” of m43 (Click here) and the second is a GX1 vs GF1 sensor comparison (Click here).

More reviews:
My final thoughts on the Panasonic GX1 vs E-P3 (Steve Huff).
Field Test of the Panasonic Lumix GX1 at The Digital Story (Click here): “Overall I’m very satisfied with the GX1. It feels great in the hand, has lots of external controls, an intuitive menu system, and excellent RAW image quality (albeit JPG just so-so). Overall I’d rate it at least 4.5 stars (out of 5).”
Olympus E-Pm1 tested at Diwa (Click here). Lots of charts for experts!
Panasonic 14-42mm kit lens test at Camerastuffreview (Click here): “Few users will be dissatisfied with the optical qualities of this lens. You can already take surprisingly good shots in terms of image quality with this lens. Simple instructions for the Panasonic 14-42 mm: put the lens on aperture choice, choose aperture 5.6 and try to avoid the highest focal length.”
Panasonic 100-300mm kit lens test at Camerastuffreview (Click here): “The Panasonic 100-300 mm surprises with high optical performance almost over the entire zoom range. At focal lengths above 250 mm (500 mm @ full frame) optical performance rapidly becomes less.”
Olympus 12-50mm review at Fengniao (Click here).
Olympus 12mm review at Sansmirror (Click here): “Absolute pixel peepers will have some problems with the corners wide open, but as fast wide angle primes go, the 12mm f/2 is actually a very good lens.”

P.S.: There is a new 12mm f/1.6 SLR magic lens is now on auction on [shoplink 28386 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

The new Panasonic GX1 just got DxOmarked! The results aren’t that much different from the G3 which has the same GX1 sensor. There are only minor differences as you can see from the image on top. Hope the new year will bring us some kind of major improvement on the Panasonic sensor quality!

Click here to play with the DxOmark camera comparison tool!

Panasonic GX1 preorder links: [shopcountry 26836].

The new super tiny 14-42mm X pancake has been tested at SLRgear (Click here): “the lens offers excellent performance, and provides a very small package in the process. Unless you’re hooked on zoom and focus rings, there’s not much to argue about with this lens.”
In Stock status: [shopcountry 25104].

Full Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 review at Steve Huff (Click here): “The IQ is superb, the lens focuses about as fast as the 20 1.7 and I had no issues focusing in low light with the E-P3. Overall I’d say if you don’t mind the size, go for the 25.”
In Stock status: [shopcountry 23110].

Deals:
The Panasonic GX1 body is back in Stock at Amazon (Click here),
Panasonic GF2 for $345 at Amazon (Click here). E-PM1 super kit for $459 at Cameta (Click here). E-PL1 for $222 at Cameta (Click here).

That amazing looking high quality body still makes me say WOW when I see it. And it’s also one of the favorite cameras of Carl Gerrard (Click here to read his review). He just posted a full test of the camera he owns: “The [shoplink 23692 ebay]L1[/shoplink] was never designed to compete with the likes of the standard DSLR (if there ever was such a thing), rather this camera was something entirely new and different in many respects and that fact alone was grossly missed. What a pity, a real pity. I don’t consider the new [shoplink 26836]GX1[/shoplink] or previous [shoplink 14828]GF1[/shoplink] to be successors to the L1 or L10 because neither have a built in viewfinder of any kind. I don’t like accessory viewfinders generally speaking.To my eyes the DMC-L1 is a Panasonic classic that might be just a victim of being born in the wrong era- it was never as popular as I think it should have been. To me, the L1 is still a gem.”

Yeah it’s a real gem, and that’s why it still costs a lot in new condition (Check the price here at Amazon) or iused on [shoplink 23692 ebay]eBay (Click here to see all L1 auctions)[/shoplink]. A wonder how long it will take until Panasonic will make a m43 version of it.

World Premiere !!! SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE T0.95 / 50mm Part II : The Day Tests from Seb Farges on Vimeo.

Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1 review at Cameralabs (Click here): “Although it lacks the E-PL3’s mode dial and flip-out screen as well as some of its other physical controls, the E-PM1 is as capable in most other respects as its larger more expensive sibling, so don’t rule it out if you’re looking for an affordable DSLR replacement or companion.”

Lumix X 45-175mm lens test at m43photo (Click here): “The newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens is a good improvement over the existing Lumix G 45-200mm lens. It is better optically, and much more compact and light. It also feel more solid, without any extending section when zooming.”

Olympus 12-50mm user experience review at Robin Wong (Click here): “At the center of the frame, I find the image quality of the 12mm end being shot wide open to be more than adequately sharp. I dare to say that it is slighty, yet noticeably sharper than all iterations of the previous M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit lenses, at 14mm widest end.”

Lens bokeh “battle” at aleefede (Click here). Surprise, the Samyang 85mm wins! As you know this is a Four Thirds lens and honestly I absolutely love their lenses! But they should get rid of the multiple brands they are using for their lenses. You can find Samyang Four Third lenses on eBay under the following names:
[shoplink 20647 ebay]Samyang [/shoplink] [shoplink 20684 ebay]Walimex [/shoplink] [shoplink 20649 ebay]Rokinon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20650 ebay]Opteka [/shoplink] [shoplink 20651 ebay]Falcon [/shoplink] [shoplink 20653 ebay]Vivitar [/shoplink] [shoplink 20652 ebay]Bower [/shoplink] You really don’t need that! Makes me not eays to find a lens :)

ULB for CSC’s from CrockettCo Technology on Vimeo.

Photographyblog (Click here) posted the full Panasonic GX1 review: “The new GX-series unfortunately doesn’t quite slot into place between the GF and G ranges, costing as much as the G3 with the same 14-42mm lens, so it’s more of a direct alternative rather to our favourite compact system camera of 2011. We’d still just give the edge to the G3 thanks to its built-in EVF and rotating LCD screen“. Even if the conclusion sounds a bit disappointed they gave the GX1 a “Highly Recommended”.

David Babsky posted a GX1 hands-on review at Steve Huff (Click here): “For a little micro-four-thirds ‘system’ camera, with many different lenses to choose from, the GX1 is the absolute best value available today“.

Also the german magazine Colorfoto (Click here) tested the camera.

The GX1 is in Stock at… (Click on shop names to check price):
USA&Canada: Amazon, Adorama.
Europe: Amazon UK, Jessops.
Asia: Digitalrev, Amazon JP.

The Olympus E-P3 got tested at Letsgodigital (Click here): “The 12.3 megapixel sensor has remained the same and the new ISO 12800 is simply unusable. This does not mean that the camera shoots bad photos, there are competing models available that capture more detail. It does depend on what you need/want. Overall, the Olympus PEN E-P3 is a fine camera to shoot with.”
Olympus E-P3 price check at [shopcountry 23568].

ThePhoBlographer (Click here) tested the Olympus E-PL3: “The E-PL3 does face some tough competition from less expensive and equally or better specced cameras like the Sony NEX-C3 and the Panasonic GF-3 which offers a very user friendly touch interface. If you are considering purchasing this camera for yourself or as a present, I would suggest that you take a look at some of the other offerings on the market before you pull the trigger“.
Olympus E-PL3 price check at [shopcountry 23567].

Panasonic GX1 versus E-P3 shootout part two at SteveHuff (Click here): “if you are looking for a great JPEG camera and do not like shooting RAW then the E-P3 would be the better bet between the two“.
Panasonic GX1 price and in Stock check at [shopcountry 26836].

New Olympus 12-50mm lens IQ comparisons at PekkaPotka (Click here).