Ignoring any sadness and speculation about his future after his sale to Japanese private equity firm JIPOlympus has announced a whole host of products and updates … but you still can’t have them all.
We have more news about the upcoming M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f / 4.5 TC1.25x IS Pro, which means that it will have been almost two years since it was first announced in early 2019, but first there is a new Blade of Olympus lenses path to digest.
Olympus lens map and two new lenses
We have reproduced a diagram of the new Olympus lens roadmap below, and there are two major points of interest.
The largest is a new ED 8-25mm F4.0 Pro lens, which covers the equivalent of a 16-50mm focal range in terms of the full-frame camera. In other words, it goes from wide-angle to standard viewing angle, a new focal range that we can’t wait to try because for travel and street photography it looks like a single lens that can do the job of two (one zoom). normal kit and ultra wide angle zoom).
(We’re equally excited about the announcement of the Panasonic Lumix S 20-60mm f / 3.5-5.6 full-frame L-mount lens for the same reason, and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4.0 Pro will do the same for Olympus MFT cameras, but are further expanded).
The second new lens is a mysterious new macro lens somewhere in the 60-75mm, or 120-150mm (approximately) focal range in terms of the full-frame camera. We don’t know anything else about this lens, except that it will be part of the Olympus Pro line.
M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f / 4.5 TC1.25x IS Pro will arrive this winter
This lens is still a long way off, considering we first reported on it in March 2019. Olympus says the design has now at least been finalized, but the lens won’t ship until the winter of 2020.
Why all the fuss over a telephoto zoom? Because the 2x crop factor of the Micro Four Thirds format means this is effectively a 300-800mm f / 4.5 lens. That’s not just a very powerful telephoto lens, but a very fast aperture for that focal range.
When the built-in 1.25 teleconverter is taken into account, this brings the range down to an effective range of 375-1000mm, and even with a maximum aperture of f / 5.6. No wonder we keep talking about this goal, if we didn’t have to wait for it too!
Olympus OM-D E-M1X to receive bird recognition
A firmware update that adds birds to the list of objects that can be identified by the E-M1X Subject Recognition System is also slated for winter release.
This seems like a long way to go for a firmware update announcement, but Olympus is probably eager to assure fans that development is moving forward and planning for the future in the long term.
And now you can use your Olympus as a webcam
Lastly, Olympus has released a new webcam application that will allow you to connect your camera to your computer and use it as a streaming and video conferencing webcam, and will not require any hardware widgets, just a USB connection.
The software works with Olympus OM-D E-M1X, E-M1, E-M1 Mark II, E-M1 Mark III and E-M5 Mark II. Just download the free Olympus webcam software, connect the OM-D to your PC via USB, turn on the camera and set it to tethered mode, turn on a web conferencing application and select “OM-D Webcam Beta” in the application settings. However, please note that this is beta software and not a finished product.
Much of this Olympus news is about products that are still a long way off, but it’s encouraging for Olympus fans that the company is pushing with new products and the development of the Olympus lens range.
Read more:
• The best Olympus cameras
• The best Olympus lenses
• The best professional cameras.
• The best mirrorless cameras
