(FT5) Olympus announcement tomorrow!
Image courtesy: Forumlumix.
Tomorrow (November 15th) at around 5-6am London time Olympus will release the new 17mm f/1.8 lens. The lens has been already announced at photokina. What you will get now is exact price, in Stock info, specs and image quality info. Will there be something else? For now am not sure about it. The rumored 40-150mm f/2.8 lens is very likely scheduled for a January release. As usual stay tuned on 43rumors. We will follow the official lens release and give you live updates about news and reviews.
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The current Olympus 17mm on eBay Europe (via Slidoo) and eBay US (via Slidoo).
Juraj
7 months ago |Who needs another 2.8 mid-tele zoom? I’ll be happy for 12-60/2,8-4; 100-300/4 or 300/4 around $ 1,000.
Next (>1000$): 200/2, 300/2.8, 100-400/5, 6 …
…and 1.4x TC + 2x TC
lorenzino
7 months ago |“mid tele” is 40-150 2.8? If it delivers and not too heavy, I guess many would need it. It would be a different enough choice from the pana 35-100, and if it’s optically better and not too expensive it would make m43 lens system much more versatile than many (or all) dslr aps-c systems.
The lenses you mention are indeed interesting, but not as much, at least for the majority of people shopping out there…
Juraj
7 months ago |“Mid calf” is 40-150 2.8? yes
I’m afraid it will be very expensive (more than 35-100).
Panasonic 35-100 means 70-200 in the world of FF
Olympus 40-150 means 70-200 the world APS-C…
That makes sens, but I still missing 2.8 => 200, 4 => 300M ant it is terrible. When it is, then the m4 / 3 will roll (replace) DSLR (APS-C) …
I left DSLR and I’m glad. But i miss long telephoto. I have a canon FD400 / 4.5 and I am satisfied with / for the price but it is a MF …
Anonymous
7 months ago |40-150 means 80-300 in FF, and 60-225 or so in APS-C. Point being that with a 12-35 and a 40-150, one is well equipped for many tasks in the range [12,150] (even with the hole in interval [35,40]) (compared to 12-100 with the Pana couple).
For many, a single zoom 12-60 would perhaps be a more attractive solution, though.
Mr. Reeee
7 months ago |+10 as far as a 12-60mm f2.8 goes.
I’m not a zoom fan, but there are times when one is handy and I’d love a high-quality zoom faster than my rarely used 14-140mm. Size and weight aren’t the issue.
Bob B.
7 months ago |No…. 12-60mm
1. Aperture f/1.4
2. Black
3. FREE metal lens hood
4. IS
5. Price $20.00
This is the only lens that would elininate all the cryin….WHAH!
LOL!
jules
7 months ago |I do find zooms to be extremely convenient at moments, altho, for the frequency of use, I am thus far satisfied with the 14-140. If at all, I could use a bit more reach.
Then again, I never used a fast zoom, I cannot honestly speak on how much more often it would beg for usage.
Sören
7 months ago |+1 for
300mm f/4
Alexander
7 months ago |+1
Alexander
7 months ago |+1 !
Thevoiceoverman
7 months ago |I’m enjoying looking at that original lens hood. It’ll be the last one I ever see.
amalric
7 months ago |LOL one feels that one could set a little factory in China, make a perfect replica for a few quids, and get rich in the process
Ross
7 months ago |Or just do a deal with the Chinese factory that is manufacturing them. I don’t know how it happened, but the Oly grip strap for the E3, E30 & E5 became available on ebay rather cheaply 2 years ago (maybe fell off the back of a truck).
Jordan S.
7 months ago |So, create JJC? JJC already makes essentially perfect knockoffs of the Olympus hoods. I’ve got their 12mm hood, and I will likely get their 75mm hood as well. Looks and operates just like the Original Olympus.
KI
7 months ago |I’m one that really wants an 40-150/2.8 … I would even like a 40-150/2.8-3.5 … as long as it’s weather sealed!
There are no options except for the 50-200/2.8-3.5 (35-100 and 90-250 are to expensive), but they do not work properly with microFourThirds.
40-150/2.8 weather-sealed is a dream come true for me as an E-M5 user.
amalric
7 months ago |If you think of it the 9-18, the 17mm, and the 40-150, are the royal sequence in Oly’s m4/3. Those would be the perfect match for any travel, for instance.
No wonder that they set themselves to improve them. To judge their achievement there is only one way. To measure their resolution with the 16mpx sensor. Do they limit or enhance its performance?
JF
7 months ago |I would prefer: 9-18 mm f4-5.6, 12-35 f2.8, 40-150f2.8 but I think the 40-150 f2.8 would be too expensive for me and too big for travelling…
And even better:
9 mm f2.8 tack sharp weathersealed prime, 12-35 f2.8, 40-150 f2.8
DonTom
7 months ago |Amalric, I don’t have any of those lenses. Even if I did, I would still have the 20/1.7 mounted 80% of the time! By the way, you do know that the 20/1.7 is closer to 18mm? The lens everyone is crying for has been here all the while…..
Still, you live in Rome. I would have a 9-18mm for sure if I lived in an historic European city. Hmm, I could buy the 9-18 and leave the 14mm at home in the future.
amalric
7 months ago |Don, 17mm or 20mm doesn’t make much difference. They are the ‘normal’ because they have the same length of the distance to flange, therefore they can be made good performers, or so I understand.
Everything which is between the two zooms can be managed by walking a few steps, in or out, by primes. But when you are at both ends of perspective, varying the frame despite you cannot walk it, is important – and so light zooms are much more practical.
Leica gave us primes, SLR zooms, I think that a combination of both is the best of both worlds for mirrorless – just keep flexible.
nobody
7 months ago |Sorry, Admin, I don’t get that. The 17mm f1.8 was officially announced on September 17th. See here:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/09/17/Olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ED-60mm-F2-8-macro-17mm-F1-8-black-12mm-F2-body-cap-lens#press
What exactly is going to happen tomorrow?
Anonymous
7 months ago |Copied from your link ‘Nobody’,
Photokina 2012: Olympus has launched two lenses for the Micro Four Thirds system, including the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm 1:2.8 Macro, and announced it is developing a 17mm F1.8 fast prime. It has also made an unusual 15mm F8 ‘body cap lens’ that’s just 9mm thick. The final lens is a special edition black version of its existing high-end 12mm F2.0 prime. The 60mm Macro will cost around $499/£429, and the black 12mm F2.0 will be $1099/£849.
Note the word ‘developing’, hardly an announcement.
admin
7 months ago |Price info and exact specs.
nobody
7 months ago |Allright, understood.
Jens
7 months ago |They gonna announce, that after reading this blog, they decided to change the color to black…
admin
7 months ago |That would be nice
Nico Foto
7 months ago |I bet you m43 users will have to wait for an overpriced “limited edition” to get this lens in black. What a stupid and insulting marketing ploy.
JimD
7 months ago |Ahh.
Silver on Silver with Silver trim!
Dogbytes
7 months ago |40-150 / 2.8 weathersealed would be good for me too.
djay
7 months ago |I wish the new release from Olympus is the new 4/3 body (E-50) or m4/3 body that fully compatible with the 4/3 lens that I have. Price range around USD 1K. (Dreaming…..).
Ross
7 months ago |Keep dreaming.
lacigas
7 months ago |Am I the only one who misses a 25mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens?
Nico Foto
7 months ago |Two words: pana leica.
Mike
7 months ago |+1
for a Zuiko 25mm f1.4. I’ve considered the PanalLeica but is seems needlessly chunky which I assume is due to built-in OIS. For an olympus with IBS I would prefer a smaller profile Zuiko with the 12/17/75 build quality
Anonymous
7 months ago |The Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 does not have IOS.
As for it being “chunky”, it weighs only 200 grams for christssakes. How many other f/1.4 autofocus lenses are there in this world that weigh less?
JimD
7 months ago |It looks like something left over after using a hole saw. No style or panache.
Anonymous
7 months ago |Get the Voigtländer 25mm if you’re looking for that… and superior image quality tossed in as a bonus. Built by humans, too.
All the Panasonic and Olympus lenses look pretty cheesy…
JimD
7 months ago |I have the Voigtlander 15/4.5 and the 20/4 and the wonderful oly 38/1.8 a Zeiss 50/2.8 the Oly 24/2.8, Tamron 28/2.8 and the great Tamron 90/2.5
They all look like real lenses, not hole saw cores. Next may be a Voigtlander ultron 21/18 or zeiss 21/2.8 biogon, but first sort out which bank to rob.
Marcelo Guarini
7 months ago |Yes, the pana leica 25 1.4 is superb.
Anonymous
7 months ago |You are the only one, the rest of us are already shooting with one.
lacigas
7 months ago |Well, lucky you, then Anonymous
The PanaLeica 25mm 1.4 is a bit on the expensive side for me as well as a bit on the bulky side.
I’d really prefer something like the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F/1.8 price- and size-wise.
Tim van Vliet
7 months ago |So you are compairing a 45mm with a 25mm that’s a 40/20mm difference ?!?!?
QBNY
7 months ago |-not to mention, just a $100.00 price difference.
Plus, one is silver, one is black.
Plus, one comes with a hood, one does not.
Messha
7 months ago |It’s optically superb. This lens will blow away Voigt 35/0.5 into dust.
Mr. Reeee
7 months ago |Do share what you’re smoking with the rest of us!
Nico Foto
7 months ago |This an interesting addition to the m43 line up, but i have to be honest, apart from the construction quality, i don’t feel overly excited by this lens. If it was weathersealed and/or faster (f/1.4) it might have been a different story, but, as it is, i just feel it overlaps with the panasonic 20mm for most practical uses, and brings little, if anything, new to the table.
Plus, we still have to deal with this silver only lens nonsense. It would be nice if i could at least choose black, take a look at pentax, their limited primes come in both colors, or black only. That’s the way it should be – period. I want a self deprecating, discrete tool, not a shiny blingy thing hanging off my neck, sorry.
G Gudmundsson
7 months ago |I agree, I want black lenses, It is a shame that Oly is not listening…
JimD
7 months ago |Silver on silver with silver trim. Ahh!
x_holger
7 months ago |I don’t think this rumour will come true … A 2.8/40-150 will be rather big and heavy, compare it to the Sigma 2.8/50-150 for APS-C … 1335g, 197mm long.
I’d rather guess it’ll be a 2.8-4/40-150 that would be much more compact.
avds
7 months ago |+1
michael
7 months ago |Yes, I agree. Makes more sense.
Jens
7 months ago |I guess you should rather compare it with the FT Oly 50-200 2.8-3.5 which is a “short” (15cm) “lightweight” (~1kg) version of the APS-C lens. With these lenses the advantage of the 4/3 sensor becomes really obvious.
chronocommando
7 months ago |You guys still believe it?
There will be no 40-150 F2.8!
If olympus really want to release a lens of this focal range it will be around 3.5 to 4.5 and weathersealed. This would match the 12-50 and would make a double zoom kit for EM-5 possible.
I really doubt that olypus will go for high quality zoom lenses until they officially discontinue 4/3 at all.
Hey but who am I and my understanding of what would make sense
Tim
7 months ago |I think you are right-If they will release a zoom from 40-150mm, it first will be a weathersealed Version of the existing one.
But still, thats would be good news->because then they still remember that they offer a weathersealed camera
avds
7 months ago |Yep, my bet is still on a tele zoom in that range that would complement the 12-50.
michael
7 months ago |If they produce a comparable kit to the 12-50, then the 40-150 will be more like a f6.3 – f8 … (black & sealed). LOL
Mr. Reeee
7 months ago |When will the 15mm Lens Cap lenses make it to the good ole US of A?
I’m waiting… impatiently.
Anonymous
7 months ago |Whats with the FT5? This is not a rumour, its old news. Let me know when something happens.
amalric
7 months ago |BTW to all that invoke low observability – did you ever notice that the inside of silver barrels is black? So that when the camera is pointed at you you don’t notice the lens?
Secondly, the Oriental market might have different tastes from us, they usually go for bling.
Jens
7 months ago |So, different markets different tastes. But is it really that expensive to have a few more variants. VW is able to offer over 1 billion different Golfs / rabbits, so why can’t Olympus offer 15 instead of 10 lenses??
I guess, there are these old manager guys, thinking about their youth, when they took pictures with their girlfrineds with their (analog) OM camera, and now all the iPhone kids and erverybody else gets only ‘old’ silver… 
amalric
7 months ago |Sometimes Olympus seems to me a one track mind, family sized organization.
When they have set their mind to something nobody will make them budge.
OTH they are capable of outstanding innovation, like a racing team.
Finally they must have run on very tight budgets, so not many options.
Marketing says that camera joshi want silver, and silver it must be
Mind you the Russians were doing the same in the 1950s, and the Germans in the 1930s!
Anyhow to me the important part is that the front part of the barrel is black
Anonymous
7 months ago |Japanese companies in general function a bit like an extended but close-knit family indeed. Definitely also applies to Olympus.
camaman
7 months ago |WOW! BRAVO Olympus!Even your OEM €50 hood doesn’t match the silver lens in it silver color!
Thats what you get for hiring people with no sens of esthetics and for outsourcing to the cheapest vendor and price gauging the western market
No buy for me I guess.
Hopefully their zoom will be black. I still thing they are going for zooms black and primes silver idea.
In 2 years we will have black primes as well. That way they can release something high grade every 6months for the next 4 years…
yekimrd
7 months ago |I knew a fast telezoom from Olympus was too good to be true. Though they never really laid out a roadmap, they did say that their priority was ensuring a complete prime lens lineup. So let’s see, they’ve covered the following traditional FF prime equivalents: 24mm (check), 35mm (incoming with the 17/1.8), 50mm (nope, the previously rumored 25/1.8 was a false alarm, too), 85 (check, it strictly was 90mm with the 45/1.8), 135 (I guess the 75/1.8 is close enough to this except it’s 150mm).
I think we’ll end up seeing a smaller 25/1.8 or a UWA (7.5 or 8mm) prime first before we see a fast zoom. I certainly hope I’m wrong.
TheEye
7 months ago |“I think we’ll end up seeing a smaller 25/1.8 or a UWA (7.5 or 8mm) prime first before we see a fast zoom. I certainly hope I’m wrong.”
I hope you are right!