Panasonic Lumix GX1 preview – interview from Gordon Laing on Vimeo.

There is a new GX1 preview at Cameralabs (Click here): “The Lumix GX1 is a perfect illustration of a company listening to its customers. Many enthusiasts were perfectly happy with the physical side of the original GF1, but lamented the decision to dumb it down on subsequent generations. Why did they need to switch to the bigger form factors of the G3 and GH2 to enjoy the latest sensor and features? How about a premium GF model which satisfied the desires of enthusiasts while remaining as pocketable as possible?”

Luminous Landscape (Click here) posted a GX1 preview: “So, at this point what I can say about the upcoming (December, 2011)  GX1 is that when it comes to just about everything that I can test, the camera looks like a winner for Panasonic. If image quality turns out to be comparable or even slightly better than the G3 from this past summer, and there’s no reason to doubt that it will not, then there are bound to be a lot of GX1 cameras and X lenses in some folks Christmas stockings this season.”

Also DC.watch (Click here) posted a first GX1 preview. And a GF1/GF3 versus GX1 size comaprison on Flickr.

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Preorder are now available on Amazon Uk and Japan too. That is the new preorder link list:
Black GX1 body at Amazon (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here), and Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver GX1 body at Amazon (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here).
Black GX1 with 14-42mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here), Amazon France (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver GX1 with 14-42mm X lens at Amazon (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).
Black GX1 with 14-42mm at Amazon (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).
Silver GX1 with 14-42mm at Amazon (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here) and Jessops (Click here).

Image courtesy: Photozone.

The most popular of al lens review websites just tested the SLR Magic 12mm f/1.6 lens. Read the full review at Photozone (Click here). And the lens is certainly the best ever made by SLR Magic: “The SLR Magic Hyperprime 12mm f/1.6 MFT is an extreme lens design. This has both advantages as well as drawbacks. Technically the lens is capable of delivering a sharp image center at very large apertures but the borders are fairly soft here. In the field this is probably not a big issue regarding the typical shallow depth-of-field applications.”

There are two more reviews sent me by 43rumors readers:

Farrukh:
“Hello,
Thought you might be interested in this. I’m using a black ring SLR Magic 12mm f1.6 and used it exclusively at this event:
http://implausibleblog.com/2011/11/13/masterchef-live-2011/
I’ve also uploaded the photos from the event which are here in this folder on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamibu/sets/72157627989306003/”

Jonathan:
“Hi there.
I’ve had the SLR Magic HyperPrime 12mm for a little over a week now and put together this review and photo examples as request by some of your other readers.
Here you go!
http://www.jonnymedia.com/2011/11/12/review-slr-magic-hyperprime-12mm-f1-6/”

Other 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].

SLR Magic HyperPrime 12mm / F1.6 (black ring version) – short review from Hacky on Vimeo.

Helge Hackbarth form 3D-kraft sent me the link to his SLRmagic 12mm f/1.6 review. Why is it important? Unlike all other reviewers he tested the final production lens which is less affected by flare issues. YOu can read the full review at 3D-kraft. HIs conclusions are quite positive. This is definitely the first seriously good and interetsing [shoplink 26928]SLR Magic[/shoplink] lens!

P.S.: Ther eis one more review of the production version lens at theeditman.

Other SLRmagic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
SLR Magic 12-36×50 ED Straight Spotting Scope lens (w/ hand grip) is now available on [shoplink 25887 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].

There is a new E-P3 review written by David Lee Tong (part one and part two): “I do not hesitate recommending this to any serious buyer who’s looking for a better-than-point-and-shoot camera that offers interchangeable lenses, fast focus, and great out-of-the-box image quality. If you’re after a travel camera where all you need to do is to put the camera in the right metering mode and ISO, you’re bound to get a lot of keepers with the Olympus E-P3 Digital PEN camera.“. And Amateur Photographer (Click here) reports that the E-P3 won the Staff Gadget Award.
The E-P3 price check links at [shopcountry 23568].

There is a new Panasonic Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Zoom Lens Review at ePhotozine (Click here): “The performance of the lens is good too. Although it isn’t the highest performing lens Panasonic make, it is certainly adequate, producing sharp contrasty images“.
100-300mm lens price check links at [shopcountry 16261].

And there is one more Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens Review again at ePhotozine (Click here): “Many look to this lens as a better quality alternative to the current 14-42mm lens and although it does turn in better sharpness across the frame, and lower distortion, the difference isn’t massive. As the other lens is much cheaper when bought as a kit with the camera, that makes the decision between them much harder to make“.
14-45mm lens price check links at [shopcountry 14814].

The video on top shows the extremely fast new GX1 autofocus.

And Panasonic Japan posted a set of new image samples (Click here). And Trustedreview (Click here) performed a new ISO test: “The GX1 is able to match the more than impressive results obtained with the G3 earlier in the year. Shooting a couple of subjects outdoors in fading light and also indoors under dim artificial lights, we found the GX1 delivered excellent, virtually noise-free results up to ISO 800 with ISO 1600. Above this, ISO 3200 is actually still quite useable, despite noise becoming more noticeable“.

More GX1 news I didn’t post yesterday at Dpnow, The OnlinePhotographer and Letsgodigital. Popco posted a couple of GX1 videos on vimeo: X lens test, 20fps test, level gauge, FN control, touch&shooting.

Preorder ar now available on Digitalrev and Jessops too. That is the new preorder link list:
Black GX1 body at Amazon (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver GX1 body at Amazon (Click here).
Black GX1 with 14-42mm X lens at Amazon (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver GX1 with 14-42mm X lens at Amazon (Click here).
Black GX1 with 14-42mm at Amazon (Click here)
Silver GX1 with 14-42mm at Amazon (Click here) and Jessops (Click here).

Something I really do not like that much is how often Panasonic and Olympus keep reiterating the same camera design. I guess they need some suggestions from us what you think? :)
Of course mirrorless is a new world and you don’t have to copy the past to develop the new cameras. But there are a couple of interesting technologies that could still be intriguing in modern cameras. One of them is the [shoplink 24194 ebay]Contax G2 (Click here to see that camera on eBay)[/shoplink]. I already mentioned the camera here and there in these last three years. But today I will give you a greater idea of the camera.  The camera was really advanced at the time. It had autofocus(!) which is really something you didn’t see in rangefinder cameras before.  Top silent shutter, few and very useful buttons and superb lenses.

But there is one single feature that Olympus and Panasonic can learn from. The optical viewfinder changes magnification depending on what lens you use!  Ken Rockwell made that table:

Electronic viewfinders are the future but you still can find extremely appealing solution if you want a camera with optical viewfinders. Now dream with me. Imagine a pro Olympus m43 camera with optical hybrid viewfinder a là [shoplink 19929]Fuji X100[/shoplink] but that can change the magnification depending on the prime lens you use. The question to you know is:

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One more nice thing about the G camera are these top quality and nice lenses (there is even a zoom!):
[shoplink 26610 ebay]Contax G 18mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26612 ebay]Contax G 21mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26613 ebay]Contax G 28mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26614 ebay]Contax G 35mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26615 ebay]Contax G 35-70mm zoom lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26616 ebay]Contax G 45mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 26617 ebay]Contax G 90mm lens (Click here to see it on eBay)[/shoplink].

And of course her eis the link to the [shoplink 24194 ebay]Contax G2 (eBay)[/shoplink]. P.S.: The Contax brand is dead. Hey Zeiss, why not bring it back to live?

Contax G2 Reviews: Ken Rockwell, ePhotozine, Steve Huff and Photo.net.

Intergalactic Planetary from inhousegoods on Vimeo.

There are plenty of videos you can find on Vimeo (Click here to see the latest Driftwood GH2 video list). All GH2 owners can hack the camera by using these instructions: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/332/ptool-3.60d-topic. And to see a list of all patches (including the driftwood) go here: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/953/gh2-patch-vault-most-popular-patches-in-one-place

P.S.: GH2 price check at [shopcountry 16254] (Click on shop name to visit the GH2 search page).