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Recently, the Olympus Tough TG-6 was discontinued, and now we know why. OM System has today announced the new OM System Tough TG-7 (buy here). It’s the latest iteration of the popular Olympus Tough series compact cameras.
At least, popular enough to survive the slaughter of compact cameras at the hands of smartphones. But how has the Tough TG-7 improved on the TG-6? Is it really worth buying? Or upgrading for existing Tough TG-6/5 owners?
OM System has discontinued the Olympus Tough TG-6 (buy here) waterproof compact camera. There’s been no announcement, but the product listing on the OM System Japan store says that (translated) “Online store sales completed”.
Obviously, this means discontinued. While the TG-6 is a 2019 camera and could do with an update, it seems odd to discontinue it now, just a couple of weeks after announcing a medical housing for it. Could this mean a Tough TG-7 is imminent?
We hear about camera housings being released for cameras all the time. Typically, though, they’re waterproof housings. And they’re generally for newer cameras that have just come onto the market.
However, OM Digital has just announced a new housing for 2019’s Olympus Tough TG-6 (buy here). And no, it’s not a waterproof housing because the TG-6 is a waterproof camera. It’s a medical housing.
Two lenses on the OM Digital Micro Four Thirds lens roadmap haven’t yet been announced. Both lenses appear to be zooms, and they both also appear to be competitors with each other. Both lenses offer zoom ranges that start at about 50mm. One goes up to around 200mm and the other to around 250mm. What’s odd, though, is that both lenses appear to be in the “Pro” lens lineup section.
Producing two similar range zoom lenses might make sense if they’re targeted towards different markets. A fast f/2.8 version with the Pro moniker and a f/slow-slower version for those on a low budget. Whatever they are, they’re on the roadmap and will be coming at some point.
OM Digital has released two new cameras in Japan. Technically, they’ve released two new versions of two old cameras. Well, I say “old”. They’re the formerly known Olympus E-M1X (buy here), released in 2019, and the E-M1 Mark III (buy here), released in 2020. The first of those two was actually listed as discontinued at retailers last October.
The two new variants are the OM-D E-M1X IR and the OM-D E-M1 Mark III IR. If the names hadn’t given it away, these are essentially infrared versions of those same cameras. Infrared from the factory. No need for expensive conversions or messing around with filtered long exposures. Unfortunately, landscape photographers may not be able to get their hands on them.
The bigger, the better, right? Well, not always. Photographer Robin Wong shares his take on why there is quite a bit of merit in smaller cameras and lenses. In fact, if you look at Robin’s Youtube channel, it is almost dedicated to small cameras.
And while Robin shoots a little bit of street photography, where small cameras shine, the bulk of his portfolio is Events, Stage, Wedding, and Food photography. So I got curious.
As expected, OM System has today officially announced the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm f/3.5 IS PRO Macro lens. As a Micro Four Thirds lens, it offers an equivalent field of view to a 180mm lens on a full-frame body with a 2:1 magnification ratio for larger-than-life macro shots. A minimum focus distance of only 22.4cm means a working distance of around 8cm from the end of the lens, letting you get very close to your subjects.
It features built-in optical stabilisation, and with IP53 weather sealing, it’s useful for all kinds of location macro work in all different weather conditions. As with most macro lenses, it features a focus limiter switch, and a floating focus mechanism maintains sharpness throughout the entire focusing range all the way up to infinity. It’s also compatible with the MC-14 and MC-20 teleconverters for 2.8x or 4x magnification, respectively.
After a little bit of a specs leak last week, photos of the upcoming OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO lens have now leaked, along with a price. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the way of new specs, but a selection of images shows what the lens looks like on its own, in a full macro rig with flash, its various accessories, along with some examples apparently shot using the lens.
The lens is still expected to be announced tomorrow, although there’s no word on exactly when it’ll be available or start shipping yet. According to the latest leaks, though, it’s expected to have a price of 231,000 yen in Japan. This seems pretty high, as that equates to around $1,750. That’s an awful lot of money for a macro lens of this focal length and aperture.
This one sure took some time to happen. Initially announced back in June 2022 as a new trigger for Leica only, the Godox XPro II has been pretty elusive as far as other camera systems go. Last month, other brand versions started popping up on Canadian retailer websites, but there’d still been no official announcement from Godox and no general availability.
Well, now, Godox has officially announced the new XPro II trigger for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji and Olympus (OM System)/Panasonic. It’s a little cheaper than we previously thought, too, with the new versions showing a $40 lower price tag than the first XPro II Leica version. Godox has made no mention of their being an updated XPro II model for Pentax, although B&H has one listed.
Development of the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm f3.5 Macro ISO Pro (wow, what a mouthful!) was announced back in September 2022 in a road map update. The spot was actually allocated a year earlier, in September 2021, in a previous road map update. Until very recently, though, there was no real news on when we might hear an announcement. Then, a couple of weeks ago, that changed.
OM System released a firmware update on January 20th for the E-M1 Mark II, E-M1 Mark III, E-M5 Mark III, E-M1X and OM-5 cameras. This firmware was specifically (and only) to ensure compatibility with the M.Zuiko 90mm f/35 Macro lens. No announcement date was available then, but now OM System has announced an event on February 8, and specs for the new lens have leaked ahead of that announcement.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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