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Panasonic further reinforced its commitment to the Micro Four Thirds form factor when it released the Lumix GH3 mirrorless camera today, but the company also announced the development of a pair of prime lenses, set to ship next year or in 2014. Details are spotty at this point (limited to what you see in that slide above, in fact), but you can expect a 42.5mm f/1.2 optic (85mm equivalent) and a 150mm f/2.8 lens, which offers a 35mm equivalent of 300mm. There wasn’t even a hint of pricing, but we’d expect both of these offerings to be quite costly, though they’ll likely be significantly less expensive than DSLR equivalents.

Filed under: Cameras

Panasonic teases 42.5mm f/1.2 and 150mm f/2.8 MFT lenses, slated for release by 2014 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic has revealed its latest micro four thirds camera, the LUMIX DMC-GH3, targeting a more ambitious breed of photographers who demand an integrated viewfinder and other DSLR features. Packing a 16.05-megapixel sensor, good for up to ISO 12,800 (25,600 extended), Venus Engine processor, WiFi, 3D noise reduction and onboard HDR photo creation, the GH3 includes both a positionable 3-inch 614k dot OLED touchscreen and a 100-percent field-of-view OLED electronic viewfinder.

The viewfinder also includes an eye sensor, which can automatically shut off the main display when it recognizes that it’s being used, thus saving battery life. There’s also 6fps burst shooting at full resolution (rising to 20fps in 4-megapixel mode) and the HDR mode works in the background so that there’s no delay to taking the next shot.

As for video, up to 1080p Full HD is supported, with Dolby Digital sound, an integrated stereo microphone, and twin 3.5mm jacks for headphones and an external microphone. Footage – recorded at up to 72Mbps (ALL-Intra) or 50Mbps (IPB), with frame rates of 60p, 30p, or 24p – can be stored in AVCHD, AVCHD Progressive, MP3, or MOV formats, and there are various manual control options as well as autofocus, autofocus tracking, and face-recognition autofocus. The touchscreen can be used for touch-setting autofocus points.

The pop-up flash is GN12 equivalent at ISO 100, though there’s a mount for a separate flash if it’s not powerful enough for your tastes. Panasonic offers an external flash with wireless and LED for video, as well as a battery grip. Video output can be delivered in real-time using the mini HDMI connection, with the choice of showing solely the camera’s view, or the menus as well.

Panasonic has also baked in WiFi b/g/n, used for transferring files either to the cloud or a computer, and there’s a remote app for controlling the GH3 wirelessly. If your phone or tablet has GPS, that data can be appended to each photo or clip too. Onboard controls can be reprogrammed, with five hardware function buttons and two software presets, and the whole camera is ruggedized against dust and splashes.

Joining the LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm, f/2.8 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. lens already available is a new zoom, the LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm. That offers f/2.8  and POWER O.I.S. as well, and both are dust/splashproof. Obviously any other micro four thirds lenses will work with the GH3, though you’ll need a mount adapter.

Panasonic is yet to confirm final pricing, but expects the new model to be on shelves by the end of the year with a roughly $2,000 tag.

Panasonic LUMIX GH3 official: WiFi, OLED viewfinder and 72Mbps HD is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There are a couple new lenses out in the open today from Olympus, both of them with aspirations for greatness and a new generation of both control and limited edition coolness. The First of these is the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60MM F2.8 “Nature Macro Lens”, made with dust proofing and splash proofing together with 1x magnification and a focusing distance of 19cm. The second is the Limited Edition M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 in Black, basically the same as the original M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 large-aperture, wide-angle, single-focal-length interchangeable lens, but this time in black.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60MM F2.8 Macro Lens

The macro lens we’re looking at here is a single focal-length lens with weather-proofing along with 13 lens elements. You’ve got 13 lens elements in 10 groups of lenses inside this beast with special glass materials such as ED (Extra-low Dispersion), HR (High Refractive index) and E-HR (Extra-High Refractive index) – each added to bring you to a new level of professional greatness. You’ll be all but eliminating the chromatic aberrations you’re likely used to from other telephoto macro lenses, and you’ll be good to go for HD video as well.

This macro lens works with an Olympus developed MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) autofocusing mechanism with inner focus system for ultra quick and completely quiet focusing on the go. There are three different modes of focus range that you can work with for photography, those being the following: close-up (focusing distance between 19 and 40 cm), normal (distance from 19 cm to infinity) and far view (distance from 40 cm to infinity). There’s also an optional LH-49 Lens Hood made specifically for the macro lens at hand, and there’s also the FR-2 Macro Ring in play here which enables compatibility with the RF-11 Ring Flash and the STF-22 Twin Flash Set.

Limited Edition M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 in Black

This lens is the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 large-aperture, wide-angle, single-focal-length interchangeable lens you’ve grown to love with a lovely black color in a limited edition release. This release has a snap ring for pan focus with distance indicators in place and the unit has a wide angle of 12mm. Inside you’ve also got the OlympusMSC (Movie & Still Compatible) mechanism which allows quiet, fast autofocusing for still photography and in video. This black version of the lens is sold in a kit with the LH-48 Metallic Lens Hood (Black), the LC-48 Metallic Lens Cap (Black), and the PRF-D46PRO Protection Filter.

M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 in Development

Olympus has also let it be known that they’ve got a M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 in development, coming soon with an emphasis on snapshots and street shooting. You’ll be working with a high-quality metallic outer finish and what Olympus says is a focal length equivalent to 34mm on a 35mm camera. More details will be coming soon from Olympus as they get closer to a release date, that being somewhere inside the first half of 2013.

Pricing and Release

The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 Dust-and-Splash-Proof Macro lens is coming in October and will be available for approximately $499.99 USD. The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 lens limited edition Black unit will be out in early October (here in 2012 as well) for an estimated street price of $1,099.99 USD. Stay tuned for more Olympus action as the camera crew brings on more heat through the year!

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60MM F2.8 “Nature Macro Lens” unleashed with classic partner is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s a couple more cameras in the world today that’ve got the next level on their minds, both of them with Olympus‘ PEN branding on their back. There’s the Olympus PEN E-PL5 and the Olympus PEN E-PM2, both of them bringing superior image technology the likes of which we’ve not quite seen yet in our collective photography history – not in this combination, anyway. You’ve got ultra fast processing speeds, classic camera bodies, and super-simple controls for the point-and-shoot generation.

Both devices here work with the same 16.1-megapixel high-speed Live MOS Sensor and brand new TruePic VI image processing engine that the Olympus OM-D E-M5 has – and yes, we’ve had our own Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review opportunity too! What we’ve gotten from that camera has been amazing – with the PEN series we’ve got high hopes! The technology these devices share includes a maximum ISO of 25,600, great performance in low-light situations, and finest-ever gradations between light and dark areas.

Both PEN cameras work with the BCL-15 f8.0 Body Cap Lens, a body cap when you’re carrying the camera without its interchangeable lens, and when not, transforms into a pan-focus shapshot lens. Inside these cameras you’ve got the Olympus Image Share application compatible with both iPhone and Android devices – you’ll be able to connect using FlashAir and the built-in wi-fi connectivity between your PEN and your smartphone for ultra-quick and simple sharing abilities! These cameras also work with a lovely collection of Art Filers like Pop Art, Diorama, and Pin Hole – oddities galore!

Both models also have a 3-inch 460,000-dot high-definition LCD display with Anti-Finger Print coating over their screens. These displays can be used with your Touch AF Shutter function to take photos with a tap on your display where you want to focus, and with “FAST AF” you’ll be rocking even harder. FAST AF stands form Frequency Acceleration Sensor Technology and also exists on the OM-D to make it the world’s fastest autofocusing camera. These cameras work with a maximum frame rate of 8 fps in Single AF mode.

PEN E-PL5

This device works with an all-metal body that comes in black, white, or silver, and brings on DSLR quality images with a lovely swivel display. The display sits on a swivel that allows up to 170 degrees of movement up and 65 degrees down – and works with the AF Shutter abilities mentioned above.

PEN E-PM2

This device is ultra-compact and made to be the more entry-level of the new Olympus lineup. The E-PM2 is made to be the first interchangeable lens camera for new users and has a collection of controls that will make the first step an easy one. This camera will be available in black, white, silver, and red.

Pricing and Release

You’ll be able to pick up the E-PL5 for a body-only estimated street price of $649.99, while the body-only price for the E-PM2 will ring in at $549.99. The E-PL5 will also be available with a MSC M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED m14-42mm II R f3.5/5.6 Zoom Lens in a package that’ll ring in at $699.99, while the E-PM2 with that lens in a single package will cost you $599.99 – again, all of these prices are estimated at the moment.

Both cameras will be available in October and ship with the camera body itself, Flash FL-LM1, Li-ion battery BLS-5, Li-ion battery charger BCS-5, USB cable, AV cable, Shoulder strap, OLYMPUS Viewer 2 CD, Instruction manual and Warranty card. The PEN E-PL5 will also be shipping with the entirely lovely MCG-4 Changeable Grip. Stick around for more info as these devices roll closer to their final drop date!

Olympus PEN cameras bring world’s fastest touch AF shutter is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve been very impressed with Olympus’ first OM-D camera, the EM-5. That model’s 5-axis image stabilization and super-fast autofocus won us over, while the retro design appeased nostalgics as well. Now, it’s time for that speedy shooting to make its way to the company’s other Micro Four Thirds models — the E-PL5 and E-PM2. Both models, announced today, offer nearly identical specifications, with notable differences on the form-factor front. The E-PL5 is the premium model of this bunch, coming in at $700 with a 12-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens or $650 for the body only, while the E-PM2 will run you 100 bucks less for both configurations. Both cameras include 16.1-megapixel Live MOS sensors, top ISO of 25,600, 3-inch 460k-dot touch-enabled LCDs, 1080i video and an 8fps continuous shooting mode. The EM-5’s five-axis stabilization is absent here, though a three-axis version should suffice in low light. Each model also includes an external flash and a rebate offer for a free Toshiba FlashAir 802.11b/g/n card, which enables connectivity with the OI Share apps for Android and iOS.

We had a chance to check both cameras out just before Photokina, and were quite pleased with the design, along with that OM-D-like focusing performance, which really is as speedy as Olympus claims. The camera focused instantaneously with almost all of the lenses we tried, though it was a bit sluggish, understandably, when paired with the 60mm f/2.8 macro. The displays were equally sharp, though the PL5 packs a nifty articulating version, which can tilt up, down or face forward for self-portraits. We also enjoyed shooting with the super-slim 15mm f/8 body cap lens, which features a tiny front element with a slide-over cover — while it’s limited on the aperture front and includes fixed focus, it’s arguably more useful than a traditional cap (Olympus hasn’t confirmed pricing for that optic, though it’ll likely come in below the $100 mark). That aforementioned dust-and-splash-proof macro will retail for $500 in early October, while a new 12mm f/2 lens will ship during the same time for $1,100. The “Mini” E-PM2 will be available in silver, black, white and red, while the E-PL5 will ship in silver, black and white — both versions will be available in October. You can take a closer look at each of the offerings in the gallery below, then jump past the break for the full rundown from Olympus.

Continue reading Olympus E-PL5 and E-PM2: Micro Four Thirds cameras with OM-D-like focusing, performance boosts (hands-on)

Filed under: Cameras

Olympus E-PL5 and E-PM2: Micro Four Thirds cameras with OM-D-like focusing, performance boosts (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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