Olympus Imaging Corporation (President: Masaharu Okubo) is pleased to announce the introduction of the “ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8mm F3.5 Fisheye”, the first fixed-focal fisheye lens in the ZUIKO DIGITAL series. The new lens will go on sale in January 2006.

ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses, designed specifically for use with digital SLR cameras, comply with the Four Thirds System, and are able to exploit the full power of the CCD in the E-1 launched in 2003 and E-300 introduced in December 2004.

The “ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8mm (*16mm) F3.5 Fisheye” has a 180º field of view diagonal to the image sensor. This high-performance lens is perfect for photographers wishing to enjoy the special creative possibilities, including powerful deformation effects that can be achieved with a fisheye lens.

Another feature of this lens is its super-close-up focusing capability, allowing photography as close as 2cm from the lens front to the subject. This ability to approach the subject aggressively is essential to the creation of images with exaggerated perspective effects.

For professional-standard underwater fisheye photography, this product can be used in conjunction with the optional PT-EO1 underwater case (to go on sale in June 2005), which is specifically designed for the E-300, and the optional PPO-EO4 underwater lens port (to go on sale in July 2005) for this lens. This underwater system can withstand pressures at depths of up to 60m. The unique expressive qualities of fisheye lens photography can now be achieved in underwater settings as well as on land.

Read More >>