Micro Four Thirds fans, listen up! The Olympus E-P2 digital camera has landed and Olympus sent me one to check out for a few days before they made the announcement! Its predecessor, the Olympus E-P1 was one of the surprise hits of the summer. The Olympus E-P2 is more or less the same camera as the E-P1 with a few important new features. The most obvious difference is the sexy new black finish. But it goes deeper than that. Most important is the new Accessory Port and included Articulating EVF (electronic viewfinder). The rest of changes are internal. They include auto focus tracking (yes - it works in Movie Mode, too!), manual exposure control in movie mode, two new Art Filters and a new Picture Mode.
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Panasonic has announced their third Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix DMC-GF1. Obviously an answer to the well-received Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix GF1 is about the same size as its Olympus cousin, but adds a built-in pop-up flash and optional electronic viewfinder (EVF). Like previous Micro Four Thirds cameras, the new GF1 uses a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor. And like the Olympus E-P1, it captures HD video at 1280 x 720 (720p) resolution. Along with the GF1, Panasonic is introducing two new Micro Four Thirds lenses, a compact 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens (40mm equivalent) and Leica’s first Micro Four Thirds lens, the DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH/MEGA O.I.S. (90mm equivalent).
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Today, Olympus introduces their first Micro Four Thirds camera – the E-P1. The compact new Olympus E-P1 has a 12.3-megapixel sensor and it’s Olympus’ first changeable lens camera to offer a movie mode (720p HD). The Micro Four Thirds format was announced last August and since then I’ve been anxiously waiting to find out what Olympus would do with it. Panasonic has introduced two Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Lumix G1 and the GH1 with HD video. But until now, the only Micro Four Thirds action we’ve seen from Olympus was behind glass at tradeshows. But now there’s an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera we can bank on – and it’s not just a list of specs and features, either. I was lucky enough to get a pre-production E-P1 last week so I could get a feel for the camera, make my own product photos and shoot a hands-on video preview of the new Micro Four Thirds camera.
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Panasonic has announced a price for the forthcoming Lumix GH1 Micro Four Thirds HD-capable digital camera. The Panasonic Lumix GH1 will be available in June with an MSRP of $1499.95. That price includes the new image-stabilized Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 10x zoom lens. The 14-140mm lens was specially developed for the Lumix GH1 camera. It has a silent auto focus motor to work with the camera’s HD video capture.
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Olympus didn’t introduce their hoped-for Micro Four Thirds camera at PMA this year, although they did have a concept camera behind glass in their booth. This is the same camera they showed behind glass at Photokina, last year. There’s not much to learn from looking at the Olympus Micro Four Thirds concept camera except that it doesn’t have an EVF (electronic viewfinder) or even an optical viewfinder. It’s definitely a different concept from the Panasonic Lumix G cameras – now a pair with the introduction yesterday of the high-def video hybrid Lumix GH1. With its clean retro styling, the Olympus concept camera is more reminiscent of a classic rangefinder than an EVF superzoom or DSLR. It looks like Olympus plans for their first Micro Four Thirds camera to compete with the Canon PowerShot G10 and Panasonic Lumix LX3 instead of with the Lumix G-Series or digital SLRs.
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Today, Panasonic made what is likely the biggest announcement at this year’s PMA tradeshow. They introduced the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Micro Four Thirds camera. The GH1 adds high-def video capability to Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds line. The GH1 captures 1080p HD video at 24 frames-per-second or 720p at 60 frames-per-second. The GH1 has a built-in stereo mic on top of the pop-up flash, a connector for an accessory mic and it also supports 5.1 surround sound. The GH1 also introduces a new 10x 14-140mm kit lens (28-280mm equivalent) with MEGA O.I.S. optical image stabilization. For the most part, the GH1 is the same camera as the G1, but with the addition of HD video capture. It still has a 12-megapixel Live MOS sensor, tilt-swivel LCD, electronic viewfinder and Panasonic’s excellent iA Intelligent Auto shooting mode.
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Today, Panasonic introduced its latest Micro Four Thirds camera and member of the Lumix G Micro System, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1. This creative HD hybrid DSLR is compatible with the Micro Four Thirds System standard and delivers professional-level performance and features in a compact and easy-to-use body.

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A few days before the end of 2008 I started to think about choosing the 2008 Camera Of The Year. I had a camera in mind and figured I’d wait until after the New Year and then publish an article with my camera choice. Then I had the bright idea of posting a Quick Poll to find out which camera the photography community thinks should to win. That opened up a big can of juicy, wiggly worms. It’s come down to a battle between digital SLRs with video and the new Micro Four Thirds format in the form of the Panasonic Lumix G1. I have to admit I am surprised by the results - the Panasonic G1 currently has a solid lead with 22% of the votes. Digital SLRs with video - the Nikon D90 and Canon EOS 5D Mark II are tied for 2nd place - each has 18% of the votes. The results are bouncing around with about 1% of variation. But it looks like the world’s first Micro Four Thirds camera is going to keep its lead.

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It seems that people like my Camera Review Roundup articles. They’ve been getting a lot of visitors and I’m finding more and more camera review fodder to write about. This is the third installment of what looks like it will become a regular feature on PhotographyREVIEW.com. The concept is a little bit of editorial inspired by new products, camera reviews and/or equipment discussions found on the Web. If you write or discover an interesting camera review, article, or discussion on digital cameras, feel free to post in the comments here or send an e-mail to john -at- photographyreview.com. This time I’m covering the new Nikon D3X, the Panasonic Lumix G1, and some more on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
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Panasonic has announced pricing for the first Micro Four Thirds digital camera, the LUMIX DMC-G1. The Panasonic Lumix G1 will be available for $799.95 in mid-November as a kit with the LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH/MEGA O.I.S. kit lens. You can choose from red, blue, and black G1 camera bodies. A 45-200mm f/ 4.0-5.6 LUMIX G VARIO MEGA O.I.S. Micro Four Thirds telephoto zoom lens will also be available for $349.95. Today’s press release also says that Panasonic has more lenses and a second Micro Four Thirds camera with HD video capability in the works for 2009. A Micro Four Thirds camera with HD video could be the ultimate high-end consumer camera!
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Olympus Four Thirds Digital Camera Under Development

Olympus has announced that they are developing a Micro Four Thirds digital camera and released some images of a concept camera they’ll be showing this week at the Photokina tradeshow in Germany. They haven’t offered any potential features or specs in their press release but they do have some Micro Four Thirds concept camera photos.

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At the beginning of August, Panasonic and Olympus made a joint announcement about Micro Four Thirds, a brand new camera standard. The goal of the new camera format is a smaller, lighter camera with changeable lenses, built around the Four Thirds digital SLR sensor. The smaller camera size is achieved by eliminating the mirror system used in all SLRs. I’m always interested in smaller, lighter pro-level camera gear that’s easy to travel with and I’ve been anxiously waiting to see the first Micro Four Thirds camera. On Friday, Panasonic introduced the first - the Lumix DMC-G1.
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