(FT4) The Olympus 12mm f/2.0 coming in June. Already in production in Tatsuno.
A video from the Tatsuno plant.
Our Japanese friends from Digicam-info (Click here) contacted us to share a rumor they received from a reliable source. According to that source Olympus is already producing the 12mm f/2.0 lens for Micro Four Thirds. Production began in April and the lens will be announced in June. The lens production is in Tatsuno (where Oly’s high level lenses are made) and you can expect a top of the notch image quality. This is the very first Pro lens for Micro Four Thirds! It’s also one of my favorite focal lengths! So how will this lens be compared to other lenses?
1) The closest lens we can compare with is the upcoming Olympus Zuiko is the [shoplink 16258]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5[/shoplink]. The Zuiko will very likely be more expensive, bigger in size, but also be a bit faster, have a better build-quality and hopefully deliver a huge step forward in image quality. See the review of the Panasonic lens at Photozone, and check price at [shopcountry 16258].
2) The two Micro Four Thirds lenses that do cover the 12mm focal length are the [shoplink 14822]Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 14818]Olympus 9-18mm[/shoplink] lenses. But I expect the new Oly prime to be less big and to deliver a higher image quality. I do hope it will also be cheaper than the Panasonic zoom. See the review of the Panasonic lens at Photozone, and check price at [shopcountry 14822].
3) An extravagant comparison can be made with the Pentax 12mm f/1.4 C-mount lens. Unlike the Pentax lens the Zuiko lens has autofocus and much better image quality. The only advantage of the Pentax lens is the price. The Pentax sells for around $20 on [shoplink 21589 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Our sources told us that this is not the only lens Olympus will announce in June. The second lens is a portrait lens and I hope to get the specs very very very soon! Also that lens is a high quality lens. Finally Olympus!!! June will be full of new Micro Four Thirds stuff announcements (because new products are coming from Panasonic too!).
P.S.: The video on top shows the Tatsuno plant and one of the lenses made there: The Olympus 300mm f/2.8. it’s the most expensive lens ever made by Olympus. Check the scary price at [shopcountry 22138] (if you find them in Stock). There is an article about the Tatsuno plant here at Olympus Website.
One more thing: I am working on many new rumors, I am very busy with it. Sorry if in those days I missed to answer some of your emails. Please email me again if I forgot something ok? Thanks for your understanding.
Reminder -> Rumors classification explained (FT= FourThirds):
FT1=1-20% chance the rumor is correct
FT2=21-40% chance the rumor is correct
FT3=41-60% chance the rumor is correct
FT4=61-80% chance the rumor is correct
FT5=81-99% chance the rumor is correct