Olympus has announced the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO lens, which they say is the world's most compact and lightweight high-performance standard zoom lens with a fixed aperture.

'The lens features superb optical performance at all focal lengths and ensures sharp images up to the edges of the frame while being packed in a weather-sealed, very compact and lightweight form.' - Olympus.

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The lens weighs 254g, and is dust proof and splash proof. The lens doesn't feature a focus clutch. The M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 PRO will be available from late March 2020 at an RRP of £599.99. 

Also announced today was the OM-D E-M1 Mark III featuring what they say is the world's best image stabilisation system. 

From Olympus:

High-performance standard zoom lens boasting the world’s most compact, lightweight design for ultimate mobility

The optical configuration of the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4.0 PRO lens is inherited from the ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens, which is well recognized for its high resolution. Effective placement of special lenses in the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm F4.0 PRO lens allow for the world’s most compact, lightweight design covering a focal length from wide angle 24mm to telephoto 90mm (35mm equivalent). A small and lightweight focusing lens enables high-speed, precise AF for any subject. The lens features a dust-, splash- and freezeproof construction with sealing in 9 places to keep out dust and rain, providing peace of mind when shooting on the go[1].

Fixed aperture value across the entire zoom range and high resolution to the edges of the frame

Effective placement of aspherical lenses and ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) coating – which provides clear depictive performance – drastically reduces aberrations, ghosts, and flares for sharp, high-definition 

image quality. Suppressing loss of light at the edges of images makes it possible to obtain bright, clear depictive performance up to the very edges. Because the aperture value is fixed across the entire focal length, it is easy to control the exposure when zooming and recording video.

Superb macro capabilities with a maximum magnification of 0.25x (0.5x 35mm equivalent)

Enjoy intense macro shooting with a maximum magnification of 0.25x (0.5x 35mm equivalent) across the entire zoom range. The closest focusing distance is 12 cm at the wide-angle end, and 23 cm at the telephoto end, delivering a wide range of macro shooting effects such as wide-angle macro shots that emphasize a sense of perspective by capturing vast backgrounds, and telephoto macro shots for more significant background defocusing effects. Diverse macro effects are possible, such as Focus Stacking, which generates a single image on the camera with a large depths of field in focus from the foreground to the background.