Olympus announce E-PL1s and 14-42 Mk II – only in Japan

efix — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:32:49 +0000

Olympus have officially announced the new E-PL1s Micro Four Thirds camera, a slightly upgraded version of the E-PL1, together with a new 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Both camera and lens will only be available in Japan for now.

The new Olympus E-PL1s + 14-42mm Mk II kit lens. Picture courtesy of Olympus.

The camera is essentially the same as the E-PL1, but now features shooting at 6400 ISO, and uses a different battery. The lens, on the other hand, is a completely new design, labeled “Movie and Stills compatible”, which means it now has the same [...]

Picture of the day (August 29, 2010)

efix — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:50:40 +0000

“Life ain’t a movie!” Marburg, Germany, old market. Processed in Lightrom 3.2 RC, using the “CP3″ cross-processing filter.

"La vita non è un film" | Olympus E-P1 + M.Zuiko 14-42/3.5-5.6 @ 34mm, f/5.1, 1/50 sec, ISO 1250

Back from vacation with news and pictures!

efix — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:13:35 +0000

Hi everyone, I’m back from vacation in Tyrolia, Austria, and have brought with me huge amounts of pictures! In fact, I’ve taken so many pix I still have some left to process.

We’ve had a wonderful time there, and even though the weather was mixed and unstable, we enjoyed a few sunny days and did a lot of hiking. Emil had the greatest fun having all his grandparents around, and learned a lot of new things. We’re back refreshed and with loads of new energy!

As I announced earlier, I’m going to write a guest article for

Picture of the day (July 15, 2010)

efix — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:43:16 +0000

Saw this guy clinging to the coffe machine this morning. After taking a couple shots, I caught him with a glass and a piece of cardboard and released him to either freedom or life as prey. Guess I’ll never know … b&w conversion in Lightroom 3 beta 2 (yup, still running the beta, but planning on getting the final soon!)

"The visitor" | Olympus E-P1 + Zuiko 14-42 @ 42mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO 1250

Picture(s) of the day (April 29, 2010)

efix — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:29:30 +0000

Dandelions! Or is it dandelia? Or dandeliones? Whatever. The first picture is straight out-of-camera, with only some minor tweaking in curves and color applied. The second one is from RAW and was heavily processed, as you will see. I like both!

Oh, and Amy, this was by no means intentional!

"Dandelion #1" | Olympus E-P1 + M.Zuiko 14-42 @ 42mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO 200

"Dandelion #2" | Olympus E-P1 + Cosmicar/Pentax 25/1.4 @ f/1.4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200

What baffled me with this picture is how 3D it looked after processing – this is [...]

Picture of the day (April 26, 2010)

efix — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:17:35 +0000

Black and white again. This time not from camera, but from Lightroom. Added some grain and vignetting, though I think it’s hardly noticeable in the downsized version …

Olympus E-P1 + M.Zuiko 14-42 @ 31mm, f/4.9, 1/125 sec, ISO 200

They’ve made it quicker AGAIN!

efix — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:11:14 +0000

Received the USB connector cable for my E-P1 today and finally got to updating my E-P1′s firmware. Yes, it’s true what they say – AF speed has been considerably improved AGAIN! After firmwares 1.1 and 1.2, both of which came with tweaked AF algorithms, this is now the third AF improvement iteration for Olympus’ PEN series, and one wonders if it can get any better from here. dpreview’s testings have shown the E-PL1 to be on par with the Panasonic G1 – I can’t do a similar test for the E-P1 as I don’t own a Panasonic [...]

Olympus PEN firmware update tested by dpreview

efix — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:57:23 +0000

dpreview have taken the time and tested the autofocusing performance of the E-PL1 with the latest firmware update for Olympus’ PEN series. Their result: The E-PL1 with firmware 1.1 is on par with the Panasonic G1 when used with the M.Zuiko 14-42/3.5-5.6 kit zoom, and about 20% faster than the E-P2 with firmware 1.0. Paired with Panasoic’s kit zoom, the Lumix G 14-45/3.5-5.6, the E-PL1 focuses another 20% faster.

You can read the full article here.

This gives hope that the E-P1 and E-P2 also perform considerably better with the new firmware. Also, this means [...]

A day at the zoo

efix — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:44:37 +0000

Last sunday, we went to the zoo toghether with my father and his spouse. It was a very nice day and all of us were having great fun. As promised, here are some pictures.

See the similarity? | Olmypus E-P1 + Cosmicar/Pentax 25/1.4 @ f/1.4, 1/125 sec, ISO 200

"Da!" | Olympus E-P1 + M.Zuiko 14-42/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO 200

I must say I don’t like the PEN series’ kit zoom very much. It’s my wide-angle compromise lens until I can afford the new 9-18/4-5.6. It lacks contrast, hasn’t got very pleasant colors [...]

Had to part with my 20/1.7 – but not for long hopefully

efix — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:14:07 +0000

I just brought my beloved Lumix 20/1.7 MFT pancake lens back to my local dealer from whom I bought it. The lens already had some minor dust particles on the inside when it was new, but now a really huge (i. e. visible) dark piece of whatever has managed to intrude into the lens, leaving its traces in highlight bokeh when shooting wide open – I don’t think that’s supposed to be happening to a half-year old 350 € lens, right?

Anyway, now I have a reason to use that kit zoom some more I hope Panasonic [...]

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