mft

New Fotodiox Excell +1 Speedbooster Gets You an Extra Stop of Light on the Cheap

While not the first company to enter the speedbooster game, Fotodiox is turning some heads and dropping some jaws with their newly-released Fotodiox Excell +1 speedbooster.

Designed in two models -- a Nikon F version and a Canon FD glass version -- the Excell +1 lets you slap your ‘old’ glass on your MFT body and gives you an extra stop of light for about a third of the price of the competition.

Sensor Stack Thickness: When Does It Matter?

The first post I made on sensor-stack thickness wallowed deeply in PhotoGeekery. This one is meant to be of practical use so I’ll try to leave the Geek stuff out. We’ll start with the simple facts.

Panasonic and Leica Initiate Nocticron Line With Impressive 42.5mm f/1.2 Lens

Panasonic is looking to boost its appeal to high-end shooters with a new line of super-fast Leica lenses, starting with a 42.5mm f/1.2 model that was introduced Monday at CES.

The debut model in the newly dubbed "Nocticron" (was he a good Transformer or an evil Transformer?) line of glass is pitched as a portrait-friendly lens (35mm equivalent focal length of 85mm) for MFT Lumix cameras.

Say Hello to the Panasonic GM1, a Tiny Yet Capable Micro Four Thirds Shooter

Small interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs) usually come with small sensors and a diminutive spec list. Take the Pentax Q7 for example, its 1/1.7-inch sensor was a big (or rather a small) deterrent for serious photographers who want a small yet capable camera of their own.

Fortunately for those photographers, however, Panasonic has their back with the newly-announced GM1. It's not, as previously rumored, the world's smallest ILC, but it isn't far off, and it does grab the title of smallest Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera.

Olympus Unveils the E-M1, Its New High-End Micro Four Thirds Camera

The Olympus OM-D E-M5's retro styling drew a lot of looks when the camera was first announced back in February 2012. Glowing reviews of the camera subsequently showed that it was more than just a pretty face.

Today, Olympus has finally unveiled a followup camera to continue the new OM-D line: the E-M1.

Panasonic Lumix GF6 Photos and Specs Leaked by Review Site

Panasonic had quite a leaky day today. New details of its upcoming GF6 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera hit the Interwebs via separate sources, giving us a better idea of what should be expecting very shortly. The camera will reportedly be announced on April 9th, so we're less than a week away from hearing about this camera straight from the horses mouth.

Review: Olympus E-PM2 Is Small, Speedy, And Sleek, But Its UI is Not

Olympus first ushered its PEN brand into the digital age back in 2009 with the E-P1. Since then, the lineup has split into three distinct tiers: the E-P line for standard PEN cameras, the E-PL line for smaller "Lite" models, and the E-PM line for even smaller "Mini" models. Goldilockean photographers can therefore choose the size and feature set most appropriate to their needs (and hands).

Sigma Announces 4 New Lenses, Shows MFT and E-Mount Some Love

Sigma is making camera lovers happy today with the announcement of four new lenses. Well, actually it's one new lens and three new versions of old lenses, but it's good news all the same. All of the new lenses are part of Sigma's sleek ART product line, and were announced today at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013 in Japan.

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 Prime to Cost $500 and Hit Stores in December

Attention Micro Four Thirds shooters: there's a new speedy "35mm prime lens" headed your way. Okay, it's actually a 34mm equivalent lens in 35mm terms, but it still boasts a f/1.8 aperture. It's the new Olympus M.ZUIKO 17mm f/1.8, a lens that designed for street photography, landscapes, and shooting in low-light environments.

Olympus Announces Three New PENs: the E-P3, E-PL3, and E-PM1

Olympus unveiled a boatload of Micro Four Thirds gear this morning, including three new PEN cameras, two new prime lenses, and a flash. All three cameras pack a 12.3 megapixel sensor with ISO that goes up to 12,800, a speedy new autofocus system (the "world's fastest"), and 1080i HD video recording. The E-P3 (shown above), the flagship camera of the PEN line, features an all-metal body, a pop-up flash, and an OLED touchscreen. It'll cost you $900 when it's out in August 2011.

Micro Four Thirds Cell Phone Charm

Move aside Panasonic GF3, this is the world's smallest Micro Four Thirds camera. Olympus took its Despicable Me-style shrink ray and reduced the Olympus E-PL1, E-P2, and E-PL2 to the size of an SD card for a promotion over in Hong Kong. They're meant to be used as cute little cell phone charms, but they work nicely as tiny prop cameras for your action figures as well!

Panasonic Unveils the GF3: Small, Light, and Minimalistic

After having images of it leaked onto the Interwebs last week, Panasonic's DMC GF3 Micro Four Thirds camera is now official. Like its predecessor, the GF2, the GF3 packs a 12-megapixel sensor, has a 3-inch LCD touchscreen, and shoots 1080p 1080/60i AVCHD video. In terms of differences, it has a faster processor that allows for faster autofocus times weighs 15% less, is 17% smaller, and is also even more simple than the GF2 -- it lacks a hot shoe and has a pop-up flash there instead.

Panasonic Unveils the Lumix DMC-GF2

Panasonic has just pulled the wraps off the Lumix DMC-GF2, the company's smallest and lightest Micro Four Thirds camera. The cameras has a built in flash, employs a 3 inch touchscreen on the back, shoots stills at 12.1MP, captures 1920 x 1080 HD video, and has an ISO range of 100 to 6400. It'll start shipping in January 2011, with the price secret until about a month before then.

Wide Angle Pinhole Cap for Micro Four Thirds Bodies

The Pinwide is a new pinhole cap by Wanderlust Cameras that takes advantage of the mirrorless nature of Micro Four Thirds cameras by recessing the cap into the body of the camera, achieving a wide field of view and strong natural vignetting. The "lens" is the equivalent of a 22mm on a 35mm camera, and boasts a perfectly round pinhole "made with the same precision etching technology used to manufacture semicoductors" to ensure sharpness.

Turn Your Panasonic Micro Four Thirds Camera into a Digital Holga

If you have a Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera and a love for retro photos, the Skink Pinhole Pancake Pro Kit can instantly turn your camera into a digital Holga pinhole camera. It's a modular system that provides three kinds of "holes":

Depending on the desired effect, you can use your camera as a pinhole-, zone plate- or zones sieve camera. To a high degree the installed aperture determines how your vision is creatively interpreted in rendering an image. The traditional pinhole creates relatively sharp images with exposure times ranging from one second to several minutes. With a zone plate or zone sieve however, photos can be taken without a tripod, if the lighting conditions permit higher speeds.

Lensbaby Tilt Transformer Turns Nikon Lenses into Tilt Shifts for EVIL

Lensbaby unveiled a new accessory at Photokina called the Tilt Transformer, which allows you to use Nikon mount lenses on EVIL camera bodies as an instant tilt-shift lens with twice the tilt of normal TS lenses. It's currently available for Micro Four Thirds bodies, but will be available for Sony NEX cameras as well starting on October 28, 2010. The Tilt Transformer comes with the Lensbaby Composer in a $350 package, or separately for $250.

Panasonic Lumix GH2 Becomes Official

Panasonic announced the Lumix GH2 today at Photokina. Here's the low down: the GH2 is a 16.05 megapixel Micro Four Thirds EVIL camera with an ISO range of 160 to 12800, 23 autofocus points, face detection, a 3-inch swiveling LCD screen, and HD video recording at 1080p (60i/24p). You can also use the 3D lens Panasonic announced recently to capture 3D photos with this camera. This camera will ship by the end of this year at a price of $900 for the body only.

Panasonic Unveils World’s First 3D Camcorder, Announces 3D Lens

Panasonic just announced the HDC-SDT750, touting it as the "world's first 3D consumer camcorder". The exact claim is slightly dubious, since we featured a different one last month, but it's definitely the first 3D camcorder unveiled by any of the major camera corps.

The camcorder uses an included 3D lens to record two separate images on its standard 1080p sensor, meaning the resulting 3D video only has a resolution of 960 x 1080. If you've got a spare $1,399 lying around, the camcorder will be available starting in October 2010.