Finally I got the news! The new Olympus high quality zoom lens will be announced on December 14! That’s Wednesday next week! Ironically that is also the last day Olympus has to present their financial results to avoid the delisting from Tokyo Exchange.

That’s all I know about the announcement: There will be a new zoom lens which has super-high-speed-AF, it has with powerzoom (it’s a video-lens!), it starts with 12mm and has NO constant aperture, it’s similar but equal to the Olympus Four Thirds 12-60mm f/2.8-4, and has a high optical quality. I hope to get more info about the specs and price soon. But it sounds like this could become a “cheaper” alternative of the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 (or brighter) zoom that will be announced in January.

http://www.43rumors.com/ft4-olympus-announcement-on-december-14-lens-has-powerzoom/

What do you think about the lens being a Power Zoom? Does this live up to your expectations? What are you hoping for in this lens?

I don't care for power zoom.  If they keep price at or near the current 12-60mm f2.8-4, then it's cool, but I won't pay extra just for power zoom.  It might be worth waiting for the Panny 12-35mm f2.8 if the price is similar.

I don't think Olympus will be de-listed.  They will get bought out before then if anything changes.

I don't think Olympus will be de-listed.  They will get bought out before then if anything changes.

I don't know... Current worth is:  as of 12-9-2011
1,206.00 JPY    =    15.5322 USD

does the powerzoom mean panny has given them their designs? is it gonna be super small?

There is nothing original about a power zoom, just about every compact and bridge camera has such a feature.

The power zoom is a dissapointment.

I don't know... Current worth is:  as of 12-9-2011
1,206.00 JPY    =    15.5322 USD

That's not too bad.  They were at a high of 2,500 back in October, the dropped to 500 after the scandal announcement.  When HP announced it was getting out of the PC business it dropped to $20 from a high of $50.  They fired their CEO and hired Meg Whitman from Ebay, now the shares are starting climb back up.  You have to figure Olympus has essentially a monopoly on the Endoscope business.  The rise in the stock price is probably activity from attempted corporate buyouts and rumors of buyout.

I don't care if it has powerzoom or not. The only thing that counts is image quality and price.
 

as above the power zoom is a fail , whats wrong with a basic fast zoom 

I think itll have a zoom ring too...

There are power-zooms and then there are good power-zooms. Power zooming in consumer cameras is at present largely a marketing exercise. We can hope that perhaps power-zooms will evolve the same way that lens stabilization has and become a useful and cost effective addition to lens designs.

The part about this that I am dying to see is how Olympus and Panasonic contend with the optical issues in a lens that is meant to hold focus and iris through a zoom range. Thats a large hurdle.