The Samsung NX30 is a new APS-C compact system camera. The traditionally-styled NX30 features a 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor, tiltable electronic viewfinder (XGA, 2,359K-dot resolution), 3.0-inch Super AMOLED swivel and touch display, 1/8000 sec shutter speed, 9fps continuous shooting, and NFC and Wi-Fi capabilities. The price and availability of the Samsung NX30 are still to be announced.

Samsung have also unveiled two new lenses, the premium ‘S’ Series 16-50mm F2-2.8 S ED OIS lens, and the more consumer 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS.

The Fujinon XF10-24mmF4 R OIS is a new, optically stabilised wide zoom for X-mount compact system cameras. Equivalent to 15-36mm in 35mm format, the Fujinon XF10-24mmF4 R OIS from Fujifilm has an optical formula that comprises 14 lens elements arranged in 10 groups, including 4 aspherical and 3 extra-low-dispersion elements. The lens features Fujifilm's unique High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating to minimise ghosting, and boasts an iris diaphragm with 7 rounded blades. Its high-speed AF is achieved via its inner focusing system which drives smaller lenses in the middle or rear lens groups without moving the larger lenses in the front lens groups. Thanks to light weight internal lenses and the addition of a stepping motor, the XF10-24mm lens is also very quiet to use. Going on sale in March, the lens is expected to retail for £849.99.

Two months ago, Samyang announced that it planned to release five of its full-frame lenses with Sony E mount. The company says the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC, 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC, T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC Tilt-Shift, 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC and 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC are now available for purchase. All of these are manual-focus lenses originally designed for SLR cameras.

In reply to a question raised by a commenter on the company's lens-themed microsite, Zeiss has confirmed that "[t]he next lens of the ZEISS high-end lenses family will be the Otus 1.4/85." Posted via Facebook, the enquiry originally concerned the company's plans on wide-angle lenses but the company would only confirm the planned release of the Otus 85mm f/1.4 - saying it "will be available at your local dealer in the course of the year 2014" -, declining to comment on "possible other focal lengths."

Tamron has announced the launch date of the new Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD ultra-telephoto zoom lens. This all-new ultra-telephoto zoom lens features Vibration Compensation, an Ultrasonic Silent Drive focus motor, eBAND coating and a 4x zoom ratio. Mounted on APS-C DSLR cameras, it has a 35mm equivalent focal length range of 233mm to 930mm. The optical formula incorporates 20 elements arranged in 13 groups and an iris diaphragm with nine rounded aperture blades. The Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens will be available in the USA on 17 January 2014.

SLR Magic has announced the latest addition to its portfolio of Cine lenses, the SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 prime lens. Designed exclusively for the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount, it offers a 35mm equivalent focal length of 34mm. The optical formula includes twelve elements in ten groups, and an iris diaphragm with ten aperture blades. Other highlights include a minimum focus distance of 17cm and a 52mm filter thread that does not rotate on focus. The SLR Magic 17mm T1.6 Cine lens will be available from  the end of December 2013. Pricing has yet to be confirmed.

An entry for the upcoming Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 lens has appeared on the Fujifilm UK website. This super-fast portrait lens will offer a focal length of 84mm in 35mm terms. Details are still scarce, but apparently the exciting new Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 prime lens will be available sometime in Spring 2014.

Source: Fujifilm UK

The Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS is a new manual-focus, rectilinear ultra-wide angle lens for cameras with APS-C and FourThirds sized sensors. With an optical formula comprising fourteen elements in ten groups, the Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS offers an angle of view of 109.5° on Fuji, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung and Sony bodies, 105.9° on Canon DSLRS and CSCs, and 93.4° on (Micro) Four Thirds models. Other key features include a nano-crystal anti-reflex coating, a manual aperture ring, an integrated hood, one extra-low dispersion and two aspeherical lens elements, a close-focus point of 25cm and a six-bladed iris diaphragm. The lens will be available from the end of January 2014. The suggested retail price for the Nikon version, which has a CPU to enable open-aperture metering and the use of various non-manual exposure modes, is £469.99. All other fittings carry a suggested retail price of £429.99.

Toda Seiko has announced a diagonal fisheye lens for Fujifilm X-mount and Sony E-mount cameras. The Toda Seiko 12mm f/7.4 is a manual-focus lens with a fixed aperture, seven-layer muticoating and 4 lens elements in 4 groups. Weighing in at 220g, the lens has a total length of 58.5mm and maximum diameter of 65mm. In Japan, the Toda Seiko 12mm f/7.4 Diagonal Fisheye lens will be available for 24,800 yen.

Via Digital Camera Japan

Olympus has announced firmware updates for the OM-D E-M1 compact system camera (read review), the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ lens (read review) and the Stylus XZ-2 premium compact camera (read review). Firmware version 1.1 for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 improves Live Bulb image quality while noise reduction is on, enhances AF operation including C-AF, improves image stabilisation in the Sports and Children scene modes, and corrects chromatic aberration caused by the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. Firmware update 1.3 for the Olympus Stylus XZ-2 improves AF performance when you use a single target in a low-light situation. Finally, the firmware upgrade for the 12-50mm lens improves stability when using electronic zoom in combination with Panasonic cameras. As usual those updating their firmware should use the company's free Digital Camera Updater utility.

Kenko Tokina USA has announced the availability of the Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 Type-II lens for Sony's A-mount cameras with APS-C sized sensors. This compact ultra-wideangle zoom, which features 13 elements in 11 groups and a 9-bladed iris diaphragm, will go on sale in January 2014. The main features include an angle-of-view range of 104° to 82°, a minimum focus distance of 30cm, a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:11.6, and a one-clutch focus mechanism that allows the photographer to switch between AF and MF simply by snapping the focus ring forward for AF and back toward the lens mount for manual focusing.

Sigma has issued an update to Sigma Optimisation Pro, the dedicated software for the Sigma USB Dock (pictured), providing a fix for a couple of compatibility issues with five of its lenses and the new Nikon D5300. Owners of the Nikon-mount versions of the Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM, 30mm F1.4 DC HSM, 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM and 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM optics are advised to update their lens firmware via Sigma Optimisation Pro if they plan on using their lenses on a Nikon D5300 body.

Sigma has issued a product advisory stating that the current firmware of its Nikon fitting interchangeable lenses may not work properly with the Nikon D5300 digital SLR camera. More precisely, the Optical Stabilisation (OS) and Live View Auto Focus functions do not work properly when it is used with the Nikon D5300. For those customers who own Sigma lenses in Nikon mount, Sigma is going to provide a free firmware update service.

Fujifilm has posted new firmware updates for the majority of its  X-mount lenses. The Fujinon XC16-50mmF3.5-5.6 OIS gains phase-detect AF compatibility when used on a Fujifilm X-E2 compact system camera. The Fujinon XF60mmF2.4 R Macro, XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, XF35mmF1.4 R, XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS and XF14mmF2.8 R also benefit from this enhancement, plus a "Lens Modulation Optimiser" function when used on the X-E2. You can download these firmware upgrades from the website below.

Website: Fujifilm Firmware Updates

Tamron has just announced the development of a new long telephoto zoom lens for full-frame cameras. The Tamron SP150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens features VC image stabilization, speedy USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) auto focus and state-of-the-art eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) lens coating. The optical formula incorporates 20 elements arranged in 13 groups and an iris diaphragm with nine rounded aperture blades. The lens will be showcased at the Tamron booth at Salon de la Photo 2013.

The HD Pentax-DA 20-40mm f/2.8-4 ED Limited DC WR is a weather-resistant wide zoom lens designed for Pentax K-mount digital cameras. The first zoom lens in the acclaimed Limited Lens series, this zoom lens features an in-lens AF driving motor and offers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 30.5-61.5mm. The Pentax 20-40mm f/2.8-4 lens has been treated with the PENTAX-developed HD coating, a high-grade, multi-layer coating that reduces reflection in the visible light spectrum to less than 50% of that of conventional multi-layer coatings. It also incorporates an ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass and a super-low-dispersion glass element in its optical formula. Other highlights include a quick-shift focus system, Super Protect coating and an iris diaphragm with rounded blades. Available in black and silver, the HD Pentax-DA 20-40mm f/2.8-4 ED Limited DC WR carries an RRP of £849.99.

Pentax has just announced the world's smallest and lightest interchangeable wide-zoom lens. Designed exclusively for use with Q-mount compact system cameras, the Pentax-08 Wide Zoom offers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 17.5-27mm and incorporates a moulded-glass DSA (Dual Super Aspherical) element two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and one super-low-dispersion glass element in its optical formula. Other highlights include an internal focusing mechanism with a quick-shift focus system, and a built-in lens shutter equipped with an ND filter and an iris diaphragm. The Pentax-08 Wide Zoom carries a recommended retail price of £429.99. 

Zeiss has announced an Instant Savings Promotion for its Touit lenses.  The value of the instant saving for the Touit 2.8/12 lens (pictured) totals $251 and effectively reduces the list price on the lens to $999. On the Touit 1.8/32 lens, the instant saving totals $180, reducing the list price to $720. The Instant Savings Promotion is valid on all purchases from an authorised Zeiss dealer from 24th October 2013 through 31st January 2014. The third lens in the Touit family, the Touit 2.8/50 Macro, will begin shipping at the end of 2013.

PrimeCircle has designed a special Silver Series of its PrimeCircle XE cine-style lenses for Blackmagic Production Cinema Cameras. Incorporating world-class Zeiss optics, these lenses feature calibrated cine-style expanded focus scales for precise follow-focus work, electronic aperture control and standard cinema 95mm Front Mounts with an anti-reflective surface. Available focal lengths range from 15mm to 100mm.

Sigma USA has announced the pricing and availability of its new 24-105mm f4 DG OS HSM Art lens. Featuring an optical construction that comprises 19 elements in 14 groups, the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art is a full-frame standard zoom with optical image stabilisation and a quiet "hypersonic" focus motor. The lens will be on shelves next month, starting with Canon mounts, for the street price of £849.99 / $899.