Olympus has unveiled two new lenses in its M.Zuiko PRO series, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO.
The new Olympus m.Zuiko PRO 45mm f/1.2 lens. (Source: Olympus.)
The first lens to be released will be the m.Zuiko PRO 45mm f/1.2 lens, which is due to go on sale in November 2017 at an RRP of AU$1,799. Covering an angles of view equivalent to a 90mm lens in 35mm format, it is ideal for portraiture and its fast maximum aperture provides great potential for selective focusing. Its optical design consists of 14 elements in 10 groups and includes one aspherical, four HR and one ED element. This lens has a minimum focus of 50 cm with a magnification of 0.1x. It weighs only 410 grams. Details can be found at www.olympus.com.au/45mm-F1-2-PRO.
Cutaway view of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO lens. (Source: Olympus.)
The M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO lens will be released in January 2018, also at an RRP of AU$1,799. It covers an angle of view equivalent to 35mm in 35mm format and is suitable for a wide range of genres including landscapes, street photography and architectural and interior shots. The optical design comprises 15 elements in 11 groups and includes six 6 ED lens elements, the most of any M.Zuiko lens. Among them is a newly developed ED-DSA lens, which incorporates the features of both ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and DSA (Dual Super Aspherical) lenses. This construction effectively compensates for unfocused colour bleeding (axial chromatic aberration) which is a common problem on large-diameter lenses, and colour bleeding (magnification chromatic aberration) at the image periphery. This lens has a minimum focus of 20 cm and weighs 390 grams. Visit www.olympus.com.au/17mm-F1-2-PRO for more information.
The two new f/1.2 series lenses were developed with similar design philosophies to the currently available M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO. The design intentionally guides light beams passing on the outside edges of the lens to form an image in the foreground, while gradually tilting the lens as the spherical aberration moves towards the outside edge. Intentionally keeping spherical aberrations results in beautiful feathered bokeh. Optical breakthroughs from Olympus’ optical R&D focused on not only the size but also the aesthetics of the bokeh, combined with high resolution.
