In a statement, Olympus Japan confirmed that, from today, Sony Corporation is the largest shareholder, holding nearly 35 million shares and giving Sony 11.46% of overall voting rights.

Speaking in September 2012, Olympus president Hiroyuki Sasa said the agreement would give Olympus 'greater business synergy in the core business domains of medical and imaging'.

He added: ‘In the field of digital cameras, we will seek to achieve collaboration in a manner that further improves the competitiveness of the two companies.'

I was being stupid and tried to remove the SD card that got stuck in the card slot of the 3 year old GH1 by a little force and a pin. The camera is now dead and the Panny service center told that the main board has been damaged and need replacement. It will cost in excess of $350, but parts are not available either. There is no way I am going spend that much on a GH1 now. So I am in need of a camera and need it before 10th March before I go on vacation.

GH1 was my first serious camera and it was Vitaliy's hack that kindled this passion. I have the following lenses now:

Lumix 14-140mm Lumix 20mm Samyang 85mm MF (Nikon) Nikon 50 mm 1.8 MF Vivitar 55mm 2.8 Macro MF (Nikon)

I am a casual shooter and shoots mainly family, nature etc., especially while on holidays. I was sold out by the GH1 videos and I have almost used the camera 80% for videos. Now that is not to say I don't use it for stills. Well, stills are not so much fun with the GH1 (peace, in a more capable hands they sure can be). Of the lenses I use, I almost always use 14-140 for video and by virtue of being having AF and myself being lazy, use it for stills as well. This a not a very ideal solution. I had always wanted a quality lens that can can do AF, video etc. day/night. The MF lenses while excellent, had me working more and I always found myself missing the fun while in the middle of changing lens, adapter and doing manual focus etc.. All this combined made sure the GH1 was mainly a video camera. I often wondered changing format and going for a Nikon or Canon for stills and have some AF lenses for them. The bulk and costs kept me at bay. Where I live the m4/3 is almost unheard of. Even the Panasonic service engineer had not heard of the GH1 when I spoke to him. So Panasonic lenses may be of little resale value here. So that was another factor in looking at m4/3 solution as a replacement camera.

Having been an avid follower of these forums, I took a break for almost an year as I was trying to learn other things like Adobe CS6 etc. Now the sudden demise of GH1 made me search and there was this GH3 with almost universal praise. I hoped the GH3 would solve my problems with the still photography if were to mate it with a good AF lens like the 12-35 or 35-100 from Panny. In a moment of excitement I back-ordered a GH3 body+ battery + 2 year B&H SquareTrade warranty for about $1550. The lenses have to wait for now. However now there is a possibility that the camera may not be delivered by 10th March deadline...

It is then that I read about the Olympus OMD EM-5. I had totally missed the noise around this one. The IBIS and image quality seemed quite a match for the MF lenses that I had (was planning on a Samyang 35mm cine lens, but now the budget is gone). Video seem inferior to Gh3. I also feel it may not be comfortable to hold the body with big lenses sans the grip. The camera is available right now and cheaper and...I could not make up my mind.

So I am now looking at options as an after thought..I think I can change my order with the B&H.. I would appreciate suggestions what would be a best camera GH3, OMD EM-5 or any other. Any suggestions welcome.. Thanks in advance

But now we tried the equally fantastic Pana 12-35 and same DP found the same Issue with this lens as well. Is this something well known? I have not heard it from other sources.

Is there any workaround that someone knows about or other zoom that can be used.

Now with an even better Gh3 Coming up and our AF101 still performing well it is à shame not to be able to find good tools. Prime - wise the situation is fantastic ... But Video zoom?

Now THE slow 14-140 does not behöver in this way. But focus by wire is not really good.

THE new Pana zooma just must work... But How can one prevent the aperture to change while zooming?

Leif

Thanks for watching.

• B+W 46mm 010 UV Haze 1x MRC F-Pro

• B+W 46mm 102 ND 0,6 2 BL 4x MRC F-Pro

• JJC lens hood (replaces LH-48)

• soft fabric bag

Unfortunately, I need to invest heavily in new gear and can't keep all my gems and must set priorities :(

I ask 499 Euro for it. Shipping not included (I live in Germany, FYI). I think that it is a great price considering what you get for it.

these are some short films I've found on the net..

What do you think about it?

Random fun test with GH2, Olympus 38mm 1.8 and Sedna AQ1 at 2am in Silverlake after a film shoot.

Graded in Colorista II

Other gear I am selling: - Sekonic L758Cine lightmeter - Swit S2000 LED videolight with Anton Bauer Powertap

Get in touch with me about pricing.

According to a report by Kyodo News on Wednesday which cited unnamed sources, the deal between Panasonic and Olympus was valued at 30 billion yen (US$382 million) to 50 billion yen (US$637 million), which will make the former the biggest shareholder in the latter company.

A separate Reuters report stated that Panasonic, which has been hampered by its loss-making TV business, have been exploring the idea of entering the healthcare business as it offers more stable revenues. Olympus would benefit as it would have access to funds for its restructuring and marketing efforts, it added.

Last week, Olympus was reported to be in talks with Sony and Panasonic to decide which company could become its capital partner, with the investment figures said to be in the "tens of billions of yen" for a more than 10 percent stake in the endoscope maker. The report also noted the plan calls for 2,500 employees to be laid off.

http://www.zdnetasia.com/report-panasonic-to-invest-up-to-637m-in-olympus-62305032.htm

The video codec settings sure could use some hacking! :)

Other things like IBIS with video when using an adapted lens might be interesting to hack in as well. The IBIS works with adapted lenses for stills - but not video as I understand it. Big bummer! I guess there are other areas which need improvements as well. And the OM-D is certainly a camera worth hacking IMHO.

Now I really do like the look of the 12mm 1.6 (flare I could get used to) and I like the 12mm f2 apart from the fact that it is so very sharp.. I like the rendering of fd lenses through my experiments. I just wondered about other's experiences with either the 12mm (f2 or 1.6) or other alternative wide options? Has anyone tried the 12mm f2 with Sedna C or blackmist?

Interested in any wide thoughts :)

UK users maybe interested in the olympus cash back deals on lenses and cameras: http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-electronics/shops/olympus/PEN_Lens_Accessory_Cashback_Mar12.V138174725.pdf

PS. The 45mm 1.8 is currently £260 with £70 back! - Not affiliated in any way.

UPDATE - On closer inspection the cashback for lenses is only if you've bought a camera... Back to the drawing board! Still interested in peoples thoughts on wide angle for the GH2 :)

Lenses that qualify are:

FourThirds:

OLYMPUS : ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 SWD http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/standard.html#i_012-060mm_f028-040_olympus

Panasonic : LEICA D VARIO-ELMARIT 14-50mm F2.8-3.5 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/standard.html#i_014-050mm_f028-035_panasonic

OLYMPUS : ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/standard.html#i_014-054mm_f028-035ii_olympus

MicroFourThirds:

OLYMPUS : M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50mm F3.5-6.3 EZ http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/standard.html#i_012-050mm_f035-063_olympus

Panasonic : LUMIX G VARIO HD 14-140mm F4.0-5.8 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/standard.html#i_014-140mm_f040-058_panasonic

I focused on the Olympus/Panasonic lenses for now. I think that the Panasonic : LEICA D VARIO-ELMARIT 14-50mm F2.8-3.5 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. and OLYMPUS : ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 SWD are good candidates. Especially the Olympus has a very long range (24-120mm in 35mm terms) while still offering a F2.8 wide-angle (and constant F/4.0 over entire range). Documentary shooting is about making trade-off and I will always have my primes for really dark situations (Voigt 50mm/.95, SLRMagic 12mm/1.6 and Olympus 45mm/1.8).

Does anyone here own one of the above lenses? Please share your opinions with me. I probably wait until the Panasonic X 12-35mm and 35-100 are announced as they could be good candidates too, although 12-35mm is a more limiting range.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360446185677

Going fast.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Micro-Digital-Camera-Black/dp/B003E47XR2/

Does it have 24p? Does the stabilization work with Panasonic lenses? (i.e. the 7-14mm f4.0 and the 20mm f1.7) Would you use this over your GH2? (If you have one)

This next one is for Vitaliy. Do you plan to hack the firmware for this camera?

BTW I also tested with a chart on the center and another on the corner but the diffraction settles in equally as expected, so I'm publishing this test where I zoomed in on the chart and it's easier to see the differences.

A zip file with all images is also here: http://www.mediafire.com/?hwotq64ixux4z9k