Olympus today announced a bevvy of new products in its interchangeable-lens Micro Four Thirds lineup. Headlining is the compact, snapshooter-oriented Olympus Pen E-PL8. The company also announced a trio of lenses—a 30mm f/3.5 Macro, a super-fast, low-light specialist “normal” focal length 25mm f/1.2 Pro lens, and a superzoom 12-100mm f/4.0 zoom—and the Olympus FL-900R, a high-intensity, weatherproof, wireless flash.
Olympus Pen E-PL8
When Olympus revived the Pen line as an interchangeable camera built around a Four Thirds sensor, the company broke new ground with compact interchangeable lens photography, and has expanded and refined the concept ever since. The Olympus Pen E-PL8 may be the most stylish pen yet, with its embossed logo, familiar classic retro lines, dials, compact grip and matching strap which will appeal to fashion-forward photographers. But a state-of-the-art camera lies under the surface.
Key Features:
- 16MP Four Thirds Sensor
- ISO range 100-25,600
- 8.5fps burst rate
- 3-inch, 1,040k dot flip-down touch-panel LCD monitor
- Self-portrait mode and features
- Art Filter with Live View
- Movie Icon and Clips recording
- Photo Story
- Old Film Effect
- Built-In Wi-Fi
The E-PL8’s controls are designed for intuitive use and are easy for non-technical users to understand and operate. For instance, instead of prompting changes in aperture, the user is given the opportunity to control background blur (essentially the same thing) using an on-screen slider. Similar controls are available for color saturation, hue, brightness, and motion. A Shooting Tips option explains the camera’s settings.
A major part of the E-PL8 is its advanced flip-out monitor. When it is flipped under the camera facing forward for selfies, several selfie-friendly touch controls are automatically activated, including video recording, brightness adjustment, and a Clips button, as well as an e-Portrait option. In this Selfie Mode, if there is an electronically controlled zoom lens is attached it will be automatically be zoomed out to the wide-angle setting. Special effects are also available in Selfie Mode.
Image sharing is easy to set up thanks to onboard Wi-Fi, by scanning an on-screen QR code with one’s smartphone and using the OI.Share app. With the app you can remotely control the camera or record video, as well as control camera settings from your smartphone or tablet.
Despite its ease of use, the camera has several powerful features, including claimed lightening-fast autofocus–touch the screen and that spot snaps into focus–and 8.5fps burst rate. The ISO ranges from 100-25,600, and the 16MP sensor continues to deliver outstanding image quality. The camera can record movie clips as well as full HD at 30p, and art filters are available for both stills and video.
14 art filters include: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale and Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Cross Process, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, Watercolor, Vintage, and Partial Color. You can browse the effects while composing your shot in Live View. Nighttime Live Composite Mode lets you view the progress of light trails in Live View as well. Finally, Photo Story lets you composite multiple images to look like a photo album, all composed in-camera and ready to print.
The Olympus Pen E-PL8 will be available for $549 in Black or White body only, and in Black, White, or Brown in a kit with the 14-42mm 2R Lens for $649. The Olympus Pen E-PL8 will ship to dealers in late September. Pre-orders are being accepted at Adorama now and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit cards won’t be charged until orders ship.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens
Olympus today unveiled an ultrafast “normal” 25mm lens, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens. Its angle of view is like a 50mm lens on a 35mm sensor camera. The lens is packed with special lens elements to remove all kinds of aberrations. With 19 elements in 14 groups, the lens is complex but promises high rewards in the form of clear and sharp images. Color bleeding, which is common in large-aperture lenses, has been supressed via 1 Super ED and 2 ED lenses. The color-cancelling effects of an E-HR and HR lens effectively eliminates color bleeding in out of focus and peripheral parts of the lens. An Aspherical lens has been added near the aperture, which Olympus says promotes better Bokeh.
High contrast is said to have been achieved to the edges of the images for both high and low frequency components so high resolution is possible even at maximum aperture. The lens has Z Coating Nano, which reduces ghosts and flaring. Focusing is achieved via an inner focusing system that is lighter and therefore faster and more accurate, as well as silent, so this lens can be used for shooting video.
The lens is waterproof and displays a tradtional depth-of-field scale. Like many other premium Olympus Prime lenses, it has a manual focus clutch so you can snap in and out of AF. The lens can focus as close as 30cm, for a 0.11x shooting magnification.
The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens will be available for from Adorama in early October. Pre-orders are being accepted at Adorama now and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit cards won’t be charged until orders ship.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Zoom Lens
Olympus also announced a long-range 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO zoom lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-200mm. The lens offers a consistent f/4 maximum aperture throughout the zoom range, and its lens elements include 1 DSA lens to compensate for zoom-related aberrations, 5 ED lenses to supress color bleeding and chromatic aberation, as well as 3 aspherical, 2 Super HR and 1 HR lens element for a total of 17 elements in 11 groups.
The lens boasts 5-axis sync Image Stabilization, which Olympus claims offers 6 stops of stabilization. Focus ranges as close as 15cm in wide angle mode, with a 1.5CM working distance and 0.30x magnification. Construction includes a 7-blade circular aperture diaphragm. The lens is hermetically sealed against water and dust damage and accepts 72mm lenses.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Zoom Lens will be available for from Adorama in November. Pre-orders are being accepted at Adorama now and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit cards won’t be charged until orders ship.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm f/3.5 Macro Lens
The final lens is a new 30mm f/3.5 Macro lens, designed especially for advanced users as well as amateurs who want to get up really close.. It focuses as close as 9mm and has a top magnification of 1.25x. It has a circular aperture diaphragm for pleasing bokeh, and a high-speed focus system. And, according to Olympus, the bokeh is quite gorgeous.
The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 30mm f/3.5 Macro Lens costs and will be available in October. Pre-orders are being accepted at Adorama now and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit cards won’t be charged until orders ship.
Olympus FL-900R Wireless Flash
Finally, Olympus introduced a powerful wireless shoe-mount flash, the Olympus FL-900R, featuring a guide number of 58 and a zoom range of 24-200mm, which means it pairs well with the 12-100mm lens announced today. Features include charge time of2.5 seconds, continous firing at 1/32 power, and 1/128 power available. It is sealed against dust and splashes, and can be operated wirelessly. An LED light lets you light continuously for video.
The Olympus FL-900R Wireless Flash will cost and will be available from Adorama in October. Pre-orders are being accepted at Adorama now and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit cards won’t be charged until orders ship.
