Several manufacturers waited until the last day before the opening of Photokina to announce their latest products, including Canon and Samsung, which we mentioned in earlier posts. In addition, we received announcements from Olympus, Sony, Profoto and Panasonic.
Olympus
When Olympus announced the OM-D EM-1 a couple of years ago, it was my favorite MFT camera to date: fast, compact, an nicely designed. This morning, Olympus announced an updated “Silver” edition, with an updated body design and version 2.0 firmware which allows for tethered shooting, keystone correction in camera, and some additional in-camera editing options, plus a more responsive electronic viewfinder.
The original OM-D EM-1 is still available for $1299, while the new silver version will be available in the near future for $1399.
More important, though, is the release of the M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens. According to the manufacturers MDF charts, this lens is remarkably sharp for a zoom and should provide higher resolution than many prime lenses. The lens is heavily weather sealed (Olympus even suggests using it in the rain), making it a nice compliment for the professional photographer who is already shooting with a 12-40mm f2.8 Pro. The Zuiko 40-150mm should also be available within the next few months at a cost of $1499. It can be pre-ordered now.
SONY
Sony announced a new wide-angle zoom lens for their full-frame cameras such as the awesome new a7 series cameras: the Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS. This ultra-wide to wide angle zoom offers image stabilization and a moderately fast f/4 aperture, along with its sharp Zeiss optics. If you pre-order the lens now for $1348, it should ship on November 18th, according to Amazon.com.
Profoto
Profoto’s B1 portable 500ws strobes are some of the coolest monolights around, and today they become the first ever to be have TTL compatability with both Canon and Nikon! Profoto’s Air TTL trigger for Canon was released earlier in the year, but today they announced an Air TTL trigger for Nikon, which can be used with the same B1 strobes. The Air TTL triggers for Canon and Nikon cost $395, and are both currently in stock at B&H. The B1 monolights themselves cost $1995 each, and are also available at B&H.
Panasonic
I don’t usually mention compact cameras, but Panasonic has released one that is getting some well deserved attention.
The compact Panasonic Lumix LX100 has been fitted with a Leica 24-75mm (equivalent) f/1.7-2.8 lens for excellent performance in low light. What’s really getting attention this year, though, is the camera’s ability to shoot UHD and 4K video… very impressive in such a small package, especially when coupled with such a sharp lens. The Lumix will cost $899, and can be pre-ordered now.
