Nauticam just announced the NA-EM1 Housing for the Olympus E-M1. Full details can be found here: http://www.nauticamusa.com/

SLR Magic officially released their next new MFT lens. It’s the 17mm T/1.6:

PRESS RELEASE

NEW: The SLR Magic 17mm T1.6
SLR Magic expands its micro four thirds lineup with new wide angle lens
Hong Kong, China (December 13, 2013) – SLR Magic expands the micro four thirds lens lineup with the new SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 wide angle lens. With this latest addition, the portfolio of lenses for the micro four thirds system is now comprised of seven focal lengths.
The field of view of this new lens corresponds to a 34mm lens in 35mm format and this fast wide angle of view opens up many new creative composition opportunities, particularly in the fields of interior, architectural and landscape cinematography and photography. Additionally, a fast max aperture of T1.6 makes the SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 ideal for available-light photography.
We place our highest priority in the development on our lenses to fulfill the demands of professional cinematographers and photographers. The design and build of the SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 is solid and reliable.
The SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 will be available from authorized SLR Magic dealers starting end of December 2013.

Technical Data
SLR Magic HyperPrime 17mm T1.6
Lens Type: Fast wide-angle lens
Compatible Cameras:All micro four thirds mount cameras
Optical Design: 12 elements in 10 groups
Distance Settings: Distance range: 0.17m to ∞, combined scale meter/feet
Aperture: Manually controlled diaphragm, 10 aperture blades , Lowest value 16
Bayonet: micro four thirds
Filter Mount: Internal thread for 52mm filter; filter mount does not rotate.
Surface Finish: Black anodized
Length to bayonet mount: approx. 78.65mm (approx. 3.10in)
Largest diameter: approx. 56.3mm (approx. 2.21in)
Weight: approx. 340g (approx. 12oz)

Andrew Chan
Product Manager

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Current SLRmagic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
SLR magic 11mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 22154 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR magic Cine 12mm T/1.6 Lens at Adorama (Click here).
SLR Magic 25mm T0.95 at Adorama (Click here).
Toy Lens 26mm f/1.4 lens on [shoplink 18603 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC lens on [shoplink 14881 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Noktor SLRmagic 50mm on [shoplink 25691 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] SLR Magic Pin Hole Lens at Adorama (Click here)..

The last year unveiled Ibelux 40mm f/0.85 lens has been finally officially released! It comes in MFT mount and is prices at $2,080! They claim it’s the world fastest lens althaugh there are some weird faster lenses liek the [shoplink 43373 ebay]Leica Leitz 65mm f/0.75 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

The Ibelux will sell from February and to learn more about it just read the full press text found via MirrorlessRumors:

Adobe released the new Camera Raw 8.3 and Lightroom 5.3 for Windows (Click here to download) | Mac (Click here to download). It adds RAW support for the new E-m1, Stylus 1 and GM1. And it also adds Camera Matching color profiles (Natural, Muted, Portrait, Vivid) for the following Olympus cameras:

• Olympus E-5
• Olympus E-M1
• Olympus E-M5
• Olympus E-P1
• Olympus E-P2
• Olympus E-P3
• Olympus E-P5
• Olympus E-PL1
• Olympus E-PL1s
• Olympus E-PL2
• Olympus E-PL3
• Olympus E-PL5
• Olympus E-PL6
• Olympus E-PM1
• Olympus E-PM2
• Olympus STYLUS 1
• Olympus XZ-1
• Olympus XZ-2
• Olympus XZ-10

Finally!

Keisuke Honda with the E-M1

A couple of days ago I told you that Panasonic hired famous Japanese actress Haruka Ayase to promote the GM1. Well, it looks like also Olympus has quite some money to spend! They hired Japanese Football Star Keisuke Honda to promote their Olympus E-M1 (Source: DC.watch). There is also a video on youtube showing him talking about the E-M1. But it’s Japanese and I do not understand a word. But can a Football Player really tell us something seriously interesting about the camera? :)

E-M1 Store Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.

Mr. Yukihiko of Olympus Imaging Development Division has been interviewed by DC.watch (google translation here). I highlighted the key info in the hope google translation tool didn’t fool me as it happens sometimes:

1) Worldwide DSLR+Mirrorless Camera Sales went down by 15%. But Mirrorless alone is till on expansion (Sales are growing for both lens and cameras).
2) The PEN series is not selling as expected in USA and Europe, but the E-M5 sold very well in Europe. (PEN and OMD are selling well in Asian countries).
3) The manager is confident that the E-M1 will sell better in EU and US than previous MFT cameras.
4) Future focus is on premium products (New OMD camera and lenses, and so on).

Note, there was a lot of talk about OMD and absolute zero talk about PEN. Probably Olympus marketing is betting on OMD cameras (and less on PEN’s) to increase their sales in 2014.

CIPA data of cameras shipped by Japanese companies (October 2013)

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It wasn’t really a secret but now you can see it on a nice graph (Thanks to Personal-View). As you see Asian countries are rapidly switching from DSLR to Mirrorless cameras. Europe’s mirrorless market is also slowly growing. But it’s in North America where Mirrorless cameras still cannot come closer to DSLR sales. Hard to say for me why it is so. Wrong marketing, different culture., or something else…you guess :)