So, while the Interchangeable Lens Compact market has since exploded, with entries now from Nikon, Fuji, and Sony joining Olympus and Panasonic’s sorta-shared sorta-competitor Micro Four Thirds platform, Micro Four Thirds is still the most established name in the game. And if you had any doubts about that left, the announcement of popular lens makers Tamron and Tokina, as well as specialty lens maker ASTRODESIGN, hopping on board with Sigma, Olympus, Panasonic, and Leica to support the going-on-four-year-old system ought to help remove those. There’s not a lot else to announce at this point, as no one has mentioned any coming lenses, but fans of Tamron’s travel superzooms and Tokina’s incredibly popular wide-angle zooms should rejoice in this move. Press release after the jump.
› posts tagged ‘leica’
Leica Refreshes M9 Rangefinder with M9-P
Leica has today announced a small refresh to its M9 rangefinder in the form of the M9-P (P for Professional, kiddies.) Not much is new, it’s mostly the same M9 you know and love, but they’ve added that sapphire crystal coating that was optional on the S2 to the LCD, and the top plate is now free of that infamous red badge, leaving the engraved name on top the only visible branding. Unless you count the trademark body design that’s mostly unchanged after several decades. But I digress.
Like the M9 before it, the M9-P will be available in matte black or silver (chrome, actually), and you can preorder yours now.
Panasonic Announces Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 for Micro Four Thirds
Panasonic yesterday announced the Leica (anyone else confused as a result of this partnership?) DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 prime for Micro Four Thirds systems, marking their second release for the line-up. The Panasonic pres release says for its G system a lot, but it’ll also work on all the Olympus Pen bodies thanks to that standardized mount. Otherwise, there’s not much to say the name doesn’t give you. This is a Leica optic and bears that reputation behind it, and the 25mm focal length equals 50mm apparent on M43, making this effectively a 50mm f1.4, a good fast, standard prime. Pricing and availability aren’t know yet, so, we’ll get back to you.
Panasonic DMC-FX75
A new fisheye wasn’t all Panasonic had up their sleeves today, there’s also this little gem. The LUMIX DMC-FX75 is a 5x wide-angle zoom (starting at 24mm equiv.) with a fancy f2.2 starting aperture (although it slides down to f5.9 on the long end). You’re looking at 14 and change megapixels, and a 3″ touchscreen with touch-to-focus to round out that lens, not a bad compliment.
Panasonic has gotten into a groove of releasing incredibly competent and well-round shooters with good image quality, so, pending hands-on critiques we have no reason to suspect this’ll be anything but an enticing choice at its price point, whatever that might end up being. We’ll give you more word as we know more ourselves.
On Politics and Religion
Bwahahaha! Nice! I now leave it up to you, our dear readers, to discuss whether you think Nikon is the left or the right. I propose Olympus is Libertarian.
Spring Expo Starts Tomorrow
So, tomorrow is day 1 (or, for you Carmel shoppers, the only day) for this year’s Spring Expo. For those who’ve never been to one, twice a year we have a whole gaggle of our reps come in to our local brick-and-mortar Indianapolis stores and show off all their stuff, answer your questions, etc… Generally it’s a good time to get to try out some rare equipment you might not get to see on shelves normally (like Leica’s line-up, Olympus’ Top Pro Lenses, Nikon and Canon’s tilt shifts, etc).
And of course there’ll be specials, deals, sales, limited offers, you name it bouncing around, too, and I’ll be posting some of those on our homepage tomorrow. There’ll be buyers on hand to relieve you of old equipment and liberate some funds for shiny new toys, if you’re so inclined. It is spring, after all, out with the old, in with the new.
This time around you’ll be able to chat with reps for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Manfrotto, Gitzo, Elinchrom, Sandisk, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Hoya, Tenba, Lowepro, ThinkTank Photo, Lastolite, Avenger, Mamiya, Leica, Skooba, Induro, Kingston, Westcott, and more.
Expo is at our downtown store Friday and Saturday April 23 and 24 from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. It’ll be at our Carmel store Friday only 5:00 until 7:30 pm.
Panasonic To Update All Its M43 Cameras, Too
So, remember last week when we said Olympus was updating its entire Micro Four Thirds line-up? Well, Panasonic announced today that it would, too. Just, next month. What’s it going to offer? Glad you asked, gives me a good rhetorical foil to post the following:
Firmware ver.1.2 for DMC-GF1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Firmware ver.1.3 for DMC-GH1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Availability of AF performance in FHD (full HD) movie recording mode with Four Thirds lenses that are compatible with contrast AF
- Improved AF performance in movie recording with LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-ES045)
- Improved modulation accuracy of flash
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Firmware ver.1.5 for DMC-G1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Improved modulation accuracy of flash
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Again, keep your peepers peeled for that next month.
Leica Formally Announces V-Lux 20
Well, you may have heard some nasty, ugly rumors that Leica had a new V-Lux 20 coming out. Well, now they’re pretty, perfectly-OK facts and so here we are to talk about the V-Lux 20 as best as we can.
So, other than the pretty Leica badge and the corresponding price point, what’s on display this time, you ask? Well, per the press release…
- 12x Leica DC-Vario-Elmar 1:3.3 – 4.9 / 4.1 – 49.2 mm ASPH (25-300 mm) zoom lens for focal lengths from super-wide to extreme telephoto
- 14.5 megapixel sensor
- Compact, simple and intuitive handling with optical image stabilization
- Optional manual settings available
- GPS module for the registration of geographical data of the location of every shot
- 720 p HD movie function with 12x zoom range
- Use with SD/SDHC cards and the next generation SXDC cards
- Packaged with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
- 2-year warranty
Availability? Sometime? Price? Looking 700ish. You know you want one, right?
SafariLux-4 In Store
Are you looking for a limited edition item? The sort of digital camera that comes in a matte green finish with a matching water resistant bag? The sort of camera which says, “I’m one of two people in Indianapolis with this camera,” and “I have “gold” and “platinum” instead of “salt” and “pepper” shakers on my table.”
If that’s your bag, baby, give us a ring.
Panasonic Updates Firmware For G1, GH1, 45-200mm Lens
Panasonic has announced some new firmwares. The one for the lens reports it should bring better continuous AF performance and improved IS in movie mode to the table, the camera ones… well, let’s quote the wise-and-almight DPReview:
Panasonic has posted firmware updates for its DMC-GH1 and DMC-G1 Micro Four-Thirds cameras. Both updates improve autofocus performance in low contrast conditions and the stability of auto exposure (AE) for the recently released Panasonic Leica 45mm F2.8 Macro lens. The GH1 firmware v1.2 also decreases the AF operation sound of the 20mm F1.7 pancake lens for quieter video recording.
Thank you, DPReview.
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