Sony and soon, Panasonic are rolling out new miniscule bodies for their NEX and GF series, respectively. The NEX C3 has hard specs, notably the body is less than 8 ounces with battery. Pretty amazing for an APS C camera. The Lumix GF3 has only been leaked in photos, but it reduces the form factor to more resemble the NEX and we can expect a similar weight.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/sonynexc3/page2.asp

http://www.43rumors.com/ft5-new-full-size-picture-of-the-gf3/

It's hard to conceive of these system bodies shrinking further and the shaved form comes at a cost: no hotshoe and therefore, no accessory EVF. That last is a big deal to me but not to everyone. This category continues to advance quickly and later this year we'll see a relative flood of new bodies and more importantly, lenses.

Cheers,

Rick

Edited by halfturbo on 06/08/2011 10:37:18 MDT.

Wow, 8 ounces is impressive. With that weight, I might not mind carrying half a dozen extra batteries.

Half a dozen batteries, good God why would you need so many!? The rechargeable lithium batteries on these new compact dslr and m43 system cameras is really excellent, even shooting RAW and taking HD video, 2 or 3 should cover you for at least a week on the trail, or more.

I take lots of pictures as part of a project I'm working on. The Sony NEX-5 is rated at 330 shots. If that's all I got, I'd need at least two batteries per day, but up to five.

Olympus are also rumoured to be announcing their new MFT cameras at the end of the month as well. These are the ones I am most interested in seeing. If the new EP3 is half decent I am most likely going to get one together with a Panasonic 14mm f2.5 lens, Panasonic 100-300mm lens and Voigtlander 25mm f0.95 lens. :)

Panny officially announced the GF3, 7.9 oz.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonicdmcgf3/

And in this corner, the new Leica Summilux 25/1.4.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1106/11061305panasonicleica25mm.asp

Game on!

Rick

"With the GF3, Panasonic continues to court the mass market, with a camera that furthers its trend of simplification and new-user befriending. It's a gentle refresh of the GF2 but one from which even more features and controls (as well as size and weight) have been removed."

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonicdmcgf3/

Guess I'll keep lugging my 37-ounce DSLR for a while longer.

Keep in mind that <8 ounces is body only; in the case of the NEX the lens bumps weight up to 20 ounces unless you're willing to limit yourself to an ultrawide lens.

Edited by WillWeb on 06/13/2011 06:33:14 MDT.

Other than size and weight, there really doesn't seem to be much reason to grab the new GF3, especially for someone wanting any sort of intuitive and quick manual control over the camera. I have the Pan GF2 and I'm pretty happy with it so far as a replacement to my point and shoot- I'm pretty familiar with it now, ISO, focus settings, aperture/shutter speed adjustments can me made quickly on it... especially when compared to the Sony NEX system cameras I tried out when looking for a four thirds camera which were slow and fussy.

I'm shooting with the 14-42mm kit lens however, it's not a very fast lens at 3.5-5.6, and I don't see myself getting into a prime lens for this camera until the prices drop considerably. Next to pick up will either be the 14mm/f2.5 or 20mm/f1.7 lumix... if I can come across one at a reasonable price in the future.

A GF3 video, which I can't understand a word of but it communicates the camera's size and basic functions quite well. Paired with the 14/2.5 lens it would be 10 ounces, directly competing against high-end compacts. Touchscreen controls? I don't know, still becoming accustomed to them with GPSs.

http://youtu.be/qGuiCJU-zc8

Announcement of three new Oly µ4/3 bodies is rumored for later this month. Most interesting is the added rumor that Oly has devised a new CDAF system that's as fast as an SLR. That would be nice, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Cheers,

Rick

I am almost ready to jump in to wither a Pani or olympus but they really need 1 more lightweight lens to get me to make the jump.

The 14mm and the 20mm are a nice pair at great weights at 1.9 and 3.5 oz but they made the 45 a macro doubling both the price and weight at 7.9.

I suppose you could go with one of the 14-42 kit zooms from olympus at 4 oz but then picture quality suffers. The speed of the zooms leaves alot to be desired and if you are just bringing the kit lens the ne Olympus high end P&S ends up having an almost equivalent sent up in terms of quality because of the terrific fast lens on it.

So I am weighting until either olympus or pani release 6 oz 50mm 2.8 or faster non-macro lens in the $500-600 dollar range and a body with at least one control wheel. Then I think a fantastic light weight kit would be the camera body 10oz 14mm 2 oz, 20 3.5 oz 50 mm 6 oz for a total of 1.5 lbs you get great flexibility in lens choice, good lens speed, and acceptable low light performance. I would rather their be a 12 instead of the 14 but I think that would be close enough for me to invest in the system.

The new 25 doesn't interst me as as soon as pansonic slaps leica branding on it the price and weight double with a marginal increase in quality.

Edited by GregF on 06/16/2011 12:45:43 MDT.

How about a 45/1.8 Zuiko?

http://www.43rumors.com/ft5-olympus-makes-it-right-45mm-f1-8-lens-coming-and-for-299-eurodollars-only/

The 25/1.4 could be a special lens if it's anywhere near as good as the recently discontinued 4/3 version, which is very highly regarded. Price is not for the faint of heart or wallet, however.

µ4/3 is maturing quickly as a viable system, filling in some critical gaps. I've been content to sit on the sidelines until that occurs, and it's looking like this is the year. There are no reliable rumors of an Oly pro body, though, which I thought we'd see by now.

Cheers,

Rick

Yeah, a 45mm f/2 would be a nice addition. In the meantime I use an old Canon FD 50/1,4. It's too big, and heavier than it needs to be, but it works pretty well.

That said, my wife has the 14-45 kit lens (the original Panny, since discontinued for the 14-42) and it is excellent. The aperture is a little slow, but for landscape and general use that's not a big deal. Having the entire range of "classic" focal lengths in one lens makes shooting easier and faster, and prevents dust spots on the sensor from repetitive lens changes. For travel and hiking this lens makes a good combo with the 45-200 (also a very nice lens, especially given the low price), and the 20mm for good measure.

If you need a very wide aperture for creative depth of field control, or just low light shooting, then the 14 and the 20 are a nice combo. I carry both -- one on the camera and one in my jacket pocket, or in a small waist pack when hiking.

That 45 1.8 would be exactly what I want. And it looks like they are talking about a 12mm 2.0 as well though the 12 sounds like it will be big and out of my price range.

My only requirement on the Body end is a DLSR style main control wheel and not a flat wheel that has buttons incorporated into it that the new models seem to be featuring.


I just don't see the point of just using the kit lens. The Olympus XZ-1 sesnor is roughly 1/4 the size of the 4/3 sensor. so the 1.8f stop is roughy equivalant to 1.8*root2*root2 = 3.6 and the 2.5 is roughly 5. This is essentially the same as the kit lens plus you get extra range on the long end.

It appears that this might be the year to buy though if Olympus as resisted turning that 45 into a slow focusing macro.

Currently I'm using solely Pana 7-14mm for hiking...

Now thinking to change lens lineup...

Pana 8mm Fisheye -> using fisheye in outdoor seems fantastic...
Pana 14-45mm -> sharp "base" lens, I like 28-90mm range...
Oly WCON-07 Converter -> Sharpest generic wide angle converter out there? could get 18mm EQV
Raynox Macro Converter -> Useful for flora macros... critters also if lucky

And three more?

The steady drip, drip of Oly µ4/3 body rumors continues with three: an E-P2 replacement, E-PL2 replacement and the tiny new E-PM1, along with the new 45 and 12 primes. Official "events" are scheduled for June 30, so we'll hopefully know all within a week or so.

All the bodies supposedly share a reworked 12.1MP sensor with new dual-core engine and very fast CDAF focus speeds (evidently requiring new lens technology to reach their potential). Hands-on reports confirm the zippy focus response that, if true, changes the mirrorless playing field versus dslrs.

Finally, DPreview has test photos taken with a production Summalux 25/1.4. It's best to just not look ;-)

Cheers,

Rick

p.s. For something completely different, Leica has announced an M9-P. My wallet has a coronary just from my typing this.

Edited by halfturbo on 06/21/2011 14:12:15 MDT.