Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Olympus Announces Three New Zuiko Lenses

Olympus has introduced three new Zuiko lenses that implement its Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD). According to the company, when used with the E-3 SLR, also announced today, the lenses will offer extremely fast and quiet autofocus, with the new 12-60mm optic providing the fastest autofocus performance in the world. The three compact, weatherproof lenses have Four-Thirds standard mounts, and are designed for use with digital SLRs only. Olympus has also introduced a new teleconverter for use with its Four-Thirds lenses, the Zuiko Digital EC-20 2x Teleconverter.

The new optics include the Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD, the Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD, and the Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm f2.0 SWD. Four-Thirds cameras have a 2x lens conversion factor, making the 35mm-equivalent focal lengths of the lenses 24-120mm, 100-400mm, and 28-70mm. The new teleconverter doubles the focal lengths of any Four-Thirds lens attached.

Olympus notes that the 14-35mm lens is the world's first standard zoom with a constant f/2.0 maximum aperture. That spec makes it part of the Olympus Super High Grade (SHG) lens series. It also offers splash- and dust-proofing, a mechanically interlocked manual focusing mechanism, and a large, petal-shaped hood with a polarization filter control window.

The new lenses and teleconverter will be available as follows:
Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD: November 2007 for $999.99.
Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD: December 2007 for $1,199.99
Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm f2.0 SWD: first quarter of 2008 for $2,299.99
Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter EC-20: December 2007 for $479.99

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