Olympus Launches Unique Ultra-Wide-to-Normal Zoom

2021.06.09

This morning OM Digital Solutions, new owners of the imaging division that was acquired from Olympus, made their first two product announcements. The hand-off happened in January and the lack of concrete news has been worrying fans of the Olympus brand. Speaking of brand, OMD will continue to use the Olympus name in their products for an undisclosed amount of time. New releases this morning are certain to ease worries since two new products were launched, one of them among the most innovative in the optics industry!

The big news is the first lens with a focal-range that includes both ultra-wide and normal focal-lengths. The unique M.Zuiko 8-25mm F/4 PRO is a Micro Four-Thirds lens equivalent to a hypothetical 16-50mm Full-Frame lens! No such lens exists which is why this new offering is so incredibly interesting. Most zooms stay within one type of focal-range or go from normal to telephoto but this one can zoom from ultra-wide to normal.

Unsurprisingly, the new 8-25mm is part of the PRO series of premium optics from Olympus and now OM Digital Solutions. Its high-end status translates into a weatherproof lens that is IPX1 rated. It is officially splashproof, dustproof and freezeproof down to -10C. A mechanism allows the M.Zuiko 8-25mm F/4 PRO to switch its focus ring between fly-by-wire and mechanical mode, something that Olympus pioneers years ago. This acts as an instant switch between AF and MF mode since focus is always manual with the ring in mechanical-position. New to this lens is a collapsible design that makes the lens more compact for storage.

The M.Zuiko 8-25mm F/4 PRO really looks like a great continuation of the legacy that Olympus sold to OMD. With a constant minimal focus-distance of 23cm, this lens achieves a 0.21X magnification at its telephoto end. The zoom range spans any angle-of-view between 47 and 107°. This promising and ultra-versatile lens is scheduled to arrive next month for $1100 USD or $1400 CAD.

Along with the camera news OM Digital Solutions issued a limited release for their first camera. Building upon the PEN legacy yet with a simplified layout, the new Olympus PEN E-P7 is launched in the European market. This model looks like a convergence of the E-PL and PEN lines. Like the low-end series, there is no EVF on this camera yet it offers dual control-dials and more controls.

The new Olympus PEN E-P7 carries in the spirit of Micro Four-Thirds be delivering an extremely slim mirrorless with high image-quality. Like previous Olympus cameras, this one is quite full of features for its level.

A familiar 20 Megapixels Four-Thirds CMOS sensor with a 121-Point Phase-Detect AF system built right into the sensor itself. A miniaturized 5-axis IBIS system makes it possible to compensate for 4½-stops of shake in a very compact camera body that is just 38mm thin and weighs a mere 337g. It manages to pack a tilting LCD screen in its svelte frame. Expect all the usual exotic Olymous functions such as Live-Bulb and Live-Composite.

The E-P7 has a hybrid-shutter that can freeze action at 1/16000s or capture one minute timed-exposures. In its electronic mode, the camera manage to sustain 15 FPS for 49 JPEG or 42 RAW images. Mechanical mode is also quite fast at 8.7 FPS with unlimited capture in both JPEG and RAW formats. The camera can assemble a 4K Time-Lapse directly in-camera captured with its highly flexible Intervalometer. Multiple-Exposure mode is also supported. 4K Ultra-HD video can be captures at 30 FPS, Full HD at 60 FPS and 720p at 120 FPS.

The Olympus PEN E-P7 will be available this month from European dealers for $800€.

• Digital Camera
• Lens