Panasonic 8mm fisheye lens for micro four thirds announced

[scottg]

Panasonic announced an 8mm fisheye lens for the micro-four thirds cameras. This will work with the Olympus E-PL1 camera.



It's a F3.5 lens with a 180 degree field of view (diagonal), closest focus distance of 4 inches (10cm) - which is not as good as the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, which has a closest focus distance of less than half of that. I estimate the USA price will be around $900, it's 730 pounds in the UK - quite pricey! It should come out sometime this summer.

More importantly, let's see if there is a camera/housing that will support this underwater. 10bar is making a housing for the Oly E-PL1 with interchangeable ports (unlike the Oly housing).

Panasonic press release

[Ryan]

We are developing a line of PT-EP ports for the Zen Underwater label. The first release is a 100mm diameter wide angle dome for 9-18, shipping July 15 or so. This was shown at the Seattle/Tacoma dive show last weekend. We are evaluating demand for a port for Panasonic 45, and will build a version of our DP-100 for PT-EP01 assuming there is no physical obstruction that makes 8mm fisheye impossible.

[James]

I sure hope that the M4:3 format continues to grow, I really like this concept and the new lens despite being only f3.5 is just what the doc ordered up though I would prefer a fisheye 8-14 zoom.

Please Ikelite, support this lens and format with a compact, purpose made housing.