To go with the E-P1 digital PEN camera, Olympus also announced two new Micro Four Thirds lenses – the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f2.8 wide-angle pancake lens and the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 standard zoom lens.
The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f2.8 and M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 are interchangeable lenses compliant with the Micro Four Thirds System standard announced in August 2008. Olympus said lenses compliant with this standard will be deployed under the series name, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL. The “M” stands for “Micro” indicating that all lenses in the series are compliant with the Micro Four Thirds System.
The Micro Four Thirds System retains the telecentric property (it allows light to strike the image sensor at a near-perpendicular angle) characteristic of the Four Thirds System, but the mount diameter has been reduced by about 6 mm and the flange back (the distance between the mount and image sensor) by about 1/2. Overall, this makes it possible to manufacture much smaller lenses, Olympus said.
[Site: Olympus America]