**** NEWS 2009 ****
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**** NEWS 2009 **** |
NOVEMBER 2009:
Olympus have published their MicroFourThirds lens roadmap. I'm interested in seeing the quality (and price) of the MZ14-150mm. Will the company simply duplicate the popular 4/3rds lenses for MFT?
NEW 4/3rds LENS ROAD MAP 2009/10. Olympus have recently updated their Four-Thirds lens roadmap. It's a bit disappointing with only the 100mm Macro Lens shown to be delivered after 2009. They must be concentrating on MicroFourThirds!
OLYMPUS E-P2 OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. The 5th of November brings fireworks to the UK. Olympus also sent up a brilliant rocket in the shape of the new PEN MicroFourThirds camera. The second iteration of the PEN line has a twist - a plug-in Electronic Viewfinder. Take a look at the new camera here . OCTOBER 2009:
LATEST UNDERWATER GALLERY FROM CHRIS SMOLEWSKI. My apologies to Chris for not getting his latest gallery poster earlier. Chris sent me the images many months ago but I have been unable to process them until now. All these images are from the ZD11-22mm lens with the E-420 and underwater housing. Take a look at this stunning gallery for yourself here . SEPTEMBER 2009:
In a surprise and very subdued statement, Olympus announce a slightly downgraded version of the popular E-620, the new E-600 which will be available only through certain retailers such as Currys and PC World in UK. I was in my local PC World very recently and saw the new camera in the flesh. Take a look at the new camera announcement here . JULY 2009:
OM ZUIKO LENSES ON E-P1 - 8mm to 600mm. As there are appearing many reviews of the new E-P1 Digital PEN all over the Internet, I decided to first of all try my stable of OM Zuiko lenses on the new camera to take advantage of its innate abilty to better exploit them. Does it work? See for yourself here . I am taking my time to review the PEN.
VOIGTLANDER FOURTHIRDS ADAPTER ANNOUNCED (click to go to Cosina Japanese website)
OLYMPUS MASTER 2.2 and STUDIO 2.3 UPGRADES AVAILABLE Following the launch of the new Olympus E-P1 camera the company has just announced their recent upgrades to image developing software, Master and Studio. New improvements provided by the latest software updates include: * The ability to develop RAW images shot with the E-P1. * Enhanced art filter options with the possibility of testing the filters at home rather than when shooting. * Improved use of e-Portrait and Beauty Fix through possible function and level selection later on a computer. * A novel Video Editor allowing for movie creation, including HD videos created with the E-P1. You can obtain the software here. If you are already using OLYMPUS Master 2 or a registered version of Studio 2, you can simply use the built-in “Update Software” function to benefit from the improvements.
JUNE 2009:
NEW MICRO FOURTHIRDS SECTION (MFT) As Micro FourThirds is going to be run in parallel with normal 4/3rds I've created a section of the site specifically for MFT. All MFT articles will be moved to the new section; I'll put a navigation link to MFT on the bottom of each page soon.
OLYMPUS E-P1 (DIGITAL PEN) REPORT I've now put together a report about the new digital Pen. This is NOT a review, but a report of my findings after 5 hours of using the new camera at the press release in Berlin.
PDF IMAGES OF NEW EP-1, THE NEW MICRO FOURTHIRDS CAMERA FROM OLYMPUS: I can now reveal I was invited to Berlin for the spectacular launch of the new digital Pen. While I put together a web report with some images taken using the new camera, please download these product PDF's to browse.
MICRO FOURTHIRDS - BE AMONG FIRST TO DISCOVER THE SECRETS: LINK DEAD - DO NOT USE! Have you been waiting for the announcement or holding back to see what Micro Fourthirds has to offer? Well, here's a great opportunity to win an invitation to a very special VIP product preview of Olympus' version of Micro FourThirds to be held in the UK very soon. All you have to do is sign up to a Micro Fourthirds information service in the days leading up to the big European launch in Berlin, early next week. If you register and are based in the UK, you could be one of a select few members of the public invited to the special VIP product preview event soon after the actual European launch. Registration is easy: Simply visit the special Olympus page and follow the instructions here . You've got to be in it to win it! Good Luck.
MAY 2009:
Martin from Adelaide, Australia designed this useful test chart/target for any visitor to BIOFOS to download and use. Very handy - just print out at actual A4 size. Zip file (650KB) for safe downloading.
Following my test of the new E-620 in March I had several requests to produce a customization/set-up article for the new camera. Well, although it's taken a lot longer than anticipated it's now ready for your perusal here .
As part of my desire to update the very popular but rather long in the tooth 'OM Zuiko lenses on an E-1' article, I decided to purchase a DANDELION AF confirm adapter to try with my OMZ lenses on the newer bodies. Wow! Was I impressed! Read my findings here.
APRIL 2009:
There's no doubting Olympus' committment to the Four-Thirds system. This is the 3rd new DSRL in 5 months; E-30, E-620 and now the E-450. Plus the fact there are suspected to be two new micro-four-thirds machines later in the year. What does Olympus know about the world recession that we don't? Read the announcement here.
MARCH 2009:
In mid March I received from Olympus UK one of the few E-620's in the country. Due to other commitments finding time to review the camera has been extremely difficult. The review is 99% complete but there are a couple of topics yet to cover. I thought it important to post my impressions as there is a huge amount of interest in the camera. This interest is totally justified as the E-620 release is a defining moment for 4/3rds development. Read why here.
FEBRUARY 2009:
24th February 2009: Olympus announces an entirely new line of DSLR camera - the E-600 series - with the E-620 as the first in a long line. The new camera is slightly larger than the E-420 (Olympus' best selling camera) and smaller than the E-520. Is this camera set to replace one or both of its production siblings? I'm trying to work this out myself! Read the official announcement here .
JANUARY 2009:
26th January 2009: I recently purchased an E-420 and Pancake Kit. I was looking for a pocketable digi-cam with good quality output but after a couple of false starts with Panasonic and Canon compacts decided on the tiny Olympus DSLR instead. I documented the set-up process for the benefit of any readers with an E-420. Read about it here .
MYOLYMPUS.ORG MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN My old friend Alfred Molon who has run the MyOlympus Group(s) since 2002 is currently running a membership campaign for his famous and independent Olympus user groups. Alfred's groups are two fold; there's MyOlympus - The Photographic Community for Users of Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E30, E300, E330, E400, E410, E420, E500, E510, E520, E1 and E3 Digital Cameras, and a supporting forum, the Yahoo (MyOlympus) Group which is very friendly and informative. You can join either or both and will be very welcome. For more details and/or to sign up for the MyOlympus Photographic Community please go to the website here . To register on the Yahoo (MyOlympus) Group Forum sign up here . If you use any advanced Olympus compact or DSLR the website offers space to show off your work and the forum is available to answer any technical or photographic technique questions you may have. Both are highly recommended.
CHANGE OF HOSTING FOR BIOFOS.COM Following the unexpected cessation of my UK hosting package contract referred to below, I have moved the site to US servers via www.powweb.com. I had signed up for a VPS in UK but could not complete this because of withdrawal of all email facilities. I had no choice but to go with www.powweb.com a company highly recommended by Andrzej Wrotniak.
LOSS of SERVICE 21st JANUARY 2009 My host, itstudiohosting.co.uk switched off this website without warning and in contravention of an agreement between myself and the owner not to disconnect until I found another host. My so called 'unlimited' webspace and bandwidth package proved to be completely misleading despite claims to the contrary. My modest 8-10GB/day proved too much for their servers (or accountants) and on the 21st January (two months before end of contract) they pulled the plug! More annoying was they left me with no email service making the task of organising an alternative host more difficult still. So much for itstudiohosting.co.uk; do not be fooled by their advertisements or what the owner may tell you. In the light of my experience I simply cannot recommend this company. My thanks to Andrzej Wrotniak for posting my predicament on his website and for publishing the temporary url.
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CUSTOMIZED TEST TARGET