(FT5) Leaked E-m1III and 12-45mm japanese price info

A source (Thanks!) just sent us the pricing of the new Olympus gear in Japan:

OM-D E-M1 Mark III Body: 217800 yen
OM-D E-M1 Mark III 12-40mm F2.8 PRO Lens Kit: 283800 yen
Audio cable KA335: 1300 yen
Shock mount adapter SM2: 3500 yen
M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-45mm F4.0 PRO: 74800 yen
Lens hood LH-61G: 3520 yen

The E-M1III and 12-45mm lens will be announced after tomorrow on February 12!!!

Reminder: UK pricing and full E-m1III press text can be read here.

Olympus 17mm f/1.2 PRO review at Opticallimits: “A real highlight is the quality of the bokeh”

17mm at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and GetOlympus.

Opticallimit tested the Olympus 17mm f/1.2 PRO lens and writes:

The Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.2 PRO may not be quite as stellar as the 45mm f/1.2 PRO but it doesn’t mean that it’s a dud. It’s far from it. The resolution characteristic doesn’t show any weaknesses but there is a drop between the center and border/corner quality. The center is very good to excellent at f/1.2 whereas the borders are more in the good to very good range. That’s actually impressive at f/1.2 just to stress this. Stopping down boosts the center but the outer image field … not so much. Lateral CAs are low though so this contributes to the high sharpness perception. Auto-correction takes care of image distortions which are clearly present in RAW files. The original vignetting is quite high at f/1.2 but, once again, auto-correction will come to the rescue here for most users anyway.A real highlight (no pun intended) is the quality of the bokeh which is very smooth and that’s especially impressive considering the wide-angle nature of the lens. That’s for the technical bokeh at least. If you had a look at our sample images, you may, however, recognizes that the sheer ability to produce a shallow depth-of-field is rather limited. On the 45mm f/1.2 this isn’t so much of an issue simply because of its relatively long focal length but the 17mm f/1.2 doesn’t have this advantage. In terms of depth-of-field we are talking about a “34mm f/2.4” (in full format terms) here so keep that in mind.

The build quality of the Zuiko is excellent thanks to a tightly assembled all-metal and sealed construction. It’s even freezeproof down to -10C which is something few other manufacturers can claim for their professional-grade lenses. Whether you like the focus-clutch mechanism for switching between AF and MF is a matter of taste. It is quite inevitable to shift the focus when doing the switch. However, the clutch does give you a mechanical focus coupling with a distance scale which is rare on mirrorless lenses. Most will still prefer to use the MSC autofocus and both its speed and accuracy are very high.
The Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.2 PRO is a pricey lens. If high speed and a great bokeh are your priorities, it is an obvious mainstream choice. As far as sharpness goes, there are more affordable options available that can give you just as much.

(FT5) Some more E-M1III info: Improved face detection and same 2.36M OLED EVF of the E-M5III

On February 12 Olympus will announce the E-M1III. The full press text can already be read here. And two sources shared some additional tidbits:

Source 1:

E-M1iii will have the same 2.36M OLED EVF as the E-M5iii.

Source 2:

It is a small+light version E-M1X without grip and AI. The face detection improved over the E-M1X. CAF and focusing accuracy seem like better than E-M1Mark2 too.

 

Olympus released the Q3 financial report


(Click on image to enlarge)

Olympus published the Q3 financial report and once more we have the same narrative: The compnay as a whole is doing very well but the Imaging Business is still unprofiteable.

  • Revenue decreased by 9% year on year to ¥34.7 billion while this segment also posted an operating loss of ¥7.4 billion.
  • The decline in revenue was due primarily to difficult business environment alongside a lack of new product introductions in the first half of the fiscal year, caused by the restructuring of manufacturing base.
  • Although loss was reduced due mainly to the absence of expenses for the restructuring of manufacturing base recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year and to increased efficiency in SG&A expenses, this was insufficient to improve profitability as much as expected.
  • Nonetheless, looking solely at the third quarter, revenue was up 6% due to the introduction of new mirrorless products, and profitability improved together with gross profit.
  • While the tough business environment continues, including a shrinking of the camera market, we will strive to improve profitability by expanding sales of new products and appropriately controlling SG&A expenses.

Olympus also revised down the forecast in the Imaging Business:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Olympus promised to release a Imaging Division restructuring program sometimes in Spring. Let’s hope they can figure out a way to increase sales…