UPDATE: For the first time the Black E-M5 with 12-50mm kit lens was(!) in Stock at Amazon (Click here). You can now find it still in Stock at Adorama (Click here). Posted this on 13:57 Berlin time and sold out at Amazon after 30minutes. Let’s see how long it lasts at Adorama until they are sold out again! 😉
P.S.: Sorry for the broken links to the new Zelenpol cases. Here are the corrected links: New carbon case on [shoplink 31139 ebay]eBay (Click here to see the auction and more pictures)[/shoplink] and the classic Black leather case for sale again on [shoplink 31138 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
21 Responses
I still don’t get the Olympus planning department. Why launch this camera with such a mediocre dim zoom. Luckily for Olympus, there is Panasonic that makes the really fine lenses this body needs and with which lenses the m43 system is becoming better and better.
Have you actually used the lens? I would certainly not call it mediocre. Dim…I suppose, but the camera is so good at ISO 1600 that it isn’t really that much of an issue. Optically it’s superb, and the handling is very nice. I had a fantastic time this weekend doing flower and bug macros with it – I found it much easier to use than the 50/2 because it focuses *so much faster* – and to my eye, the results were just as good. Better in most cases, actually, because I was actually able to get it focused quickly & accurately enough to get the shot. On paper, yeah, it seems pretty mediocre. But it isn’t all about the numbers. I paid way more for this lens and camera than I should have had to (I’m on a US military base in Japan, and there’s a new postal regulation that prohibits sending lithium batteries through international mail – so I had to buy it from a Japanese store, where the silver body wasn’t available as a kit, and the exchange rate killed me) – and it was still worth every single yennie.
Kind of one-eyed? Olympus also makes some very good lenses. The 12-50 a mediochre kit lens? Which manufacturer/camera ships with a high quality zoom in the kit? Canon? Nikon? Panny? Sony? Pentax?
Shipping a camera with a high quality kit zoom such as the 12-35/2.8 ($1300) will add *at least* $8-900 to the body price. So we are talking about a kit in the range of $2000. Such a kit will only sell to the rich few.
This is a little misleading.. it’s in stock at Adorama… and also being sold by them through Amazon. Amazon itself isn’t in stock yet.
Snagged one from Adorama via Amazon, ship date is 29 May, only price premium was the $22.95 shipping. Yaaay ! Probably sell the lens and get the X factor when it ships.
Did the exact same….lucked out I think.
Canceled my stupid Amazon order.
I feel abit sorry for the US-crowd in this case, got mine about a month ago from a webshop in norway (although at a higher price than you get)
Yeah, if I were Olympus, I would also first supply the countries where I get around €300 more for the body.
But then again, if I were Olympus, I would not make the same product €300 more expensive in some countries and then offer freebies in the countries where it is already cheaper…
Since it is actually sold by Adorama does anyone knows whether this means that they will fill any backorders through Adorama?
That opening didn’t last very long as Adorama is back to back-order again. Amazon never posted an estimated shipping date for either the EM-5 with or without the 12-50 lens even with orders from early April. Considering the popularity, I’d guess upwards of 1000 units on backorder. Edit: Amazon charged my CC so I guess it’s for real 🙂 Sort of happy to have Amazon as the vendor, never an issue with their service.
What was the date of your pre order?
Originally 14 April for just the body, 26 April for body and lens as there was a rumor that the kit would be shipping earlier. Now I need to find the Olympus HLD-6 grip and some extra batteries, hopefully OEM.
I had an April 2nd Order on black 12-50. Got no message from amazon, immediately canceled my Amazon order and switched my order to Adorama. They’ve hit my card, and given me a estimated date of next week.
So if Amazon gives you an estimated shipping date, is that legit, or not necessarily? I got an e-mail from Adorama afterwards saying it was backordered.
I got the same email from Adorama. Put in a call to them. The guy was extremely helpful on the phone, said that they had an order in to the company and were awaiting shipment details from Olympus. Gave me an idea of how many pre orders were in the queue.
They already hit my card for the charges, but I don’t care…they said it could be 1 to 4 weeks.
This is WAY more information than Amazon EVER gave me.
Hello All,
Just called unique photo to see if they had any updates on the EM5.
They have no idea when it would be in stock.
I’m waiting until Friday to cancel my order.
Order the 12-50 kit and the 45 portrait lens, thinking about it, I spent lots of cash for something I’m not using,and that I have no idea when it will be available, and it really makes no sense.
Honestly, I’ve been tempted by the NEX7, the only reason I wouldn’t buy it is the lack of in-body image stabilization… I’m looking at different options…
This really sucks.
I called Adorama yesterday just to check, since their website immediately said “this item not yet available” as soon as I read this post. As I was talking to the salesman he said that a shipment of 64 just got checked into the warehouse SECONDS before I was about to hang up. I put my card down immediately. There was a bit of confusion after the initial euphoria, as I had a long-standing pre-order at B&H that I didn’t want to cancel until I got confirmation from Adorama, and I hadn’t received my order confirmation as promised.
After a call, I immediately had an invoice but more confusion! The customer service rep said that the camera was on backorder and that I didn’t actually have one coming, but they would probably ship one within the month. My heart sank (since they had already billed me) as I began to feel like I had been buffaloed, but as fate would have it I received my shipping confirmation later last night and will have the camera by Thursday. I guess I was just too fast for their system. So here’s to Adorama!
Can I ask about what time you called yesterday? Time / Timezone?
I called around 11:30 central and got the same info as you did, felt slightly bamboozeled, but felt better as they gave me a good time frame as opposed to amazon giving me no time frame at all.
I have not yet received a shipping confirmation though.
I called around 9:00 am central time. Like I said, when I called customer service (I started with sales) they didn’t seem to know that they had any cameras and their website never showed them as in stock at all. I actually got an automatically generated e-mail saying it was backordered before I got my shipping notice. But, like you said, they gave a time frame and it wasn’t unreasonable, so that’s something.
Just got off the phone with Adorama, the Amazon order is crap, and I have no estimated delivery… Awesome!
Just got off the phone with Adorama, Amazons ‘in stock’ apparently means nothing, and I have no estimated delivery… Awesome!