Full Olympus 75mm lens review at DSLRmagazine….
Olympus 75mm lens on the E-m5 (Image courtesy from DSLRmagazine).
It’s already time for a new review post on 43rumors:
DSLRmagazine (Tranlsation here) just posted the full Olympus 75mm lens review. As you see from the charts posted on the website the lens provides an excellent performance in every aspect. The reviewer writes that the lens has indeed the fastest AF on the market. And while the lens has a very tele focal length he writes that it’s “ideal for “stolen” portraits and street shots from a distance, more discreet and the focal inadevertido standard documentary.” Bye bye privacy 
As noted by other before the only real flaw of the lens is that the hood is not included. For 900 Euro Dollar we would have liked to see it in our box fro free.
Some new in Stock status info. The lens will arrive in Europe within the next 2-3 weeks according to Amazon Germany (Click here), on July 31th according to Amazon UK (Click here), on July 20th according to BHphoto (Click here). If you really can’t wait you can uy it right now in Asia where it is in Stock on eBay (here and here) and at Digitalrev.
bonzo
11 months ago |The missing hood is a typical Oly rip off… What a shame.
I think they are trying to improve their financial numbers by selling “high margin” parts which are – hands down – must-haves a should be included…
Digifan
11 months ago |Sorry but I disagree. It’s not a typical Olympus rip off.
For 43 they have allways included the hood, only with recent m43 they started to leave them out.
I.e. Canon only included the hoods for just a few lenses.
It don’t mean, I like what they (Olympus) are doing now, but as I said it’s not typical Olympus.
Bob B.
11 months ago |Kindof a bad analogy…This is supposed to be the most premium quality MFT Lens Olympus has ever produced. Canon includes a lens hood with all of their “L” lenses ..which are their premium line for premium price….as it should be.
matt
11 months ago |Yes, incredibly cheap crap hoods, considering their price I would have expected better. So free cheapo hood vs not free quality hood.
Bob B.
11 months ago |Yeah…if you are referring to the Canon Hoods…U R right on yhe money!…but at least U get something .
Bob B.
11 months ago |“For 900 Euro Dollar we would like to have seen it in our box for free.” ?
Um…it would not be “for free”…the hood would (and should) be paid for with the massive $900 outlay.
…..and the cool thing is…the hood is not available anywhere anyway.
Hint:
Oly…you could have just included the hood and sold the lens for $980…
Then when we purchase the lens…we would not have this bad taste in our mouths associated with The Olympus Corporation. …also bring the needed accessory to market with the product…cause now I know you are overcharging me AND making me wait.
Not a pleasant buying experience to say the least.
Fish
11 months ago |I agree Bob. By all accounts, this lens may not be a high-volume seller anyways. Of all the ones that do sell, not everyone is going to want a lens hood. And of those who do want a lens hood, the smart ones are going to buy the third-party copies instead of the overpriced Oly version.
So how much money are they really making off this? If Olympus was smart, they would have included a cheap plastic hood for free and then they would have given the critics nothing to list in the “cons” category, and would have promoted goodwill and loyalty from their fanboys (like me). I think Olympus is losing more than they are gaining with this decision.
Bob B.
11 months ago |+100
sneye
11 months ago |Reviews of this lens are the shortest in recent history. The only meaningful criticism is the extra you have to pay for the hood.
bonzo
11 months ago |Come on! The lenshood is a piece of metal. Nothing high-tech – The price is a rip-off… There must be an astronomic margin on that hood.
SteveO
11 months ago |Someone recently posted a thread on DPR that “Olympus listens” based on a conversation with some one in the company that they had employees now reading all Olympus threads to better understand their customer’s wants and needs. I’ve done a dedicated thread on this subject (the great hood heist), and now this, a premium lens with a hood as a pricey “option”. How dumb can a company be in a search for profits while really pissing off their user base? Olympus, do you hear us now? Likely not.
sneye
11 months ago |You can buy an alternative (silver and made of metal) for $8.99. Now, you have two options: either make it a principle and keep moaning or get the cheap one. Consider those $9 as Oly’s loss.
Bob B.
11 months ago |Link pulease…..???
mister_roboto
11 months ago |http://www.ebay.com/itm/220868657294?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_764wt_1110
It’s screw in though- but should match nicely. Eventually I know there’s going to be a knock off one like the one olympus offers (though I’d prefer a screw in).
Bob B.
11 months ago |Thanks!
Miroslav
11 months ago |“the fastest AF on the market”
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any faster
. Nice, let’s hope Oly puts that system in all future lenses.
SteveO
11 months ago |I view this lens as a niche aperture, 150 mm equivalent, that I’d rarely use, and at very much a premium price. A simple mFT equivalent to either the 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 at a similar price point (around $600) or the 12-60mm f2.8-4 at under $1000 is of far greater importance to myself and I would think most mFT users. It doesn’t have to be radically smaller, just on something of a diet in size and weight, so long as it performs and AF’s well. What are they thinking?
Tropical Yeti
11 months ago |What are they thinking???
Obviously they understand the need for 14-54 or 12-60 like 4/3 HQ zooms (They built them for 4/3 format did they)
If they have not done it (yet), they might still think existing 4/3 zooms will work well on following iterations of EM-5 camera with PDAF on sensor.
Mr. Reeee
11 months ago |I thought the same thing about 75mm… niche, not very useful on a regular basis… blah, blah, blah
BUT, I have a couple of 105mm f2.8 lenses (Pentax SMC Takumar, Nikon AI-S macro) and a Pentax 50mm f1.4 SMC Takumar. 105mm is too long for general use and the 50mm never quite long enough in more than a few situations. To “fill the gap”, I got a Voigtländer 75mm f2.5 Color Heliar (Leica L39 screwmount) rangefinder lens. (85mm didn’t fit as comfortably between 50mm and 105mm)
I’ve been using it a LOT and find that 75mm is really useful. I don’t do portraits, either. It doesn’t hurt that the Voigtländer is small, compact and has extremely good color and sharpness. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to use. I’ve heard a few comments from DSLR users like: wow, that’s a really small lens. I tell them it’s 150mm equivalent to stunned silence.
And for about $300 used from KEH, a pretty nice deal, too! Lens hood included. 
Bob B.
11 months ago |NOTHING can touch the Oly 75mm…..LOL (I feel possessed with anticipation).
Mr. Reeee
11 months ago |You can’t touch it either.
I was just talking about 75mm as a focal length, not the Voigtländer lens specifically… well, maybe a little.
75mm is very useful.
Bob B.
11 months ago |I was just havin some fun with ya. Yeah..the 75mm focal length kind of defines itself…Once you own a superb lens @ that focal length…tou just find yourself using it for all kinds of things….what I am excited about with the Oly is the sharpness combined with the EXCELLENT bokeh. It looks pretty incredible.
beautemps
11 months ago |The missing hood is Oly’s tribute to the creative chineese manufacturers. And they honour their customers with joy shopping for beautifull accessoires .
will
11 months ago |never will buy it in “silver”: need the BLACK version..
when will the clever people at olympus will realize, that they miss a huge market, also with their metal/plastic mix policy with the 12 and 45 mm lenses?
thats never ever professionell..
i love my E-M5, but i also choose the older 14-45 pana standard zoom and the 7-14: because the bult quality of “standard” lenses from Oly mFT is rather cheap..
i dont believe that this is the road to the future…
also the ripp off policy with their hoods: i bought 3.rd party parts, basta.. they even miss this business..
el_diablo
11 months ago |“never will buy it in “silver”: need the BLACK version..”
+1 from me
Eagerly awaiting them to come to their senses, my money is theirs once they release a black iteration of this lens.
Paulus
11 months ago |+ 1
… only flow – silver and not weather sealed
need a black version.
Why?
The silver 75mm, 12mm and the 45mm are eye-catchers!
This is even the official statement of the Olympus marketing!
I have to admit – the silver versions are beautiful – perhaps even stylish – at least for Ladies.
If you are one of the “fishing compliments gays” or a highly narcissistic person you are certainly right with the silver versions.
But I need no lifestyle accessories but reliable work horses (weather sealed).
And not an eye-catcher everyone is looking at with the effect that each movement of the photographer is controlled by an omnipresent public.
Paulus
11 months ago |Sorry, for my typo: one of the “fishing for compliments guys” instead of “fishing compliments gays”.
Mike
11 months ago |Too bad you’re so hung up on cosmetics
and barrel finish. You’re missing out on superb lenses
that just so happen to look excellent on black or
silver bodies. But I do agree it’s disappointing a lot of companies charge extra for lens hoods even on high end lenses.
jules
11 months ago |I remember once a discussion between guitarist and a guitarist wannabe.
One would say how he needed a sun burst flame top of that specific color, etc..
the guitarist answered : dude, if you are serious, once you are on stage, which color your guitar should be is the last of your worries!
In a way, once I put my eye behind the evf, if I start worrying that the lens is silver instead of black, maybe I don’t have any pictures in mind to take. Just click and hope for something. Divine intervention, maybe. If the faces looks authentic, I’ll call it street photography.
Dummy00001
11 months ago |With a 2x teleconverter, the lens would become a 3.6/150mm (300mm eq reach). Just a thought.
Nico Foto
11 months ago |More like 300mm/2.5 or something if the difference is 1 stop light loss.
Mike
11 months ago |Same thought. Performance is on such a high level seems to me Oly could (and should) produce a matched 2X to give a very good equivalent 300 f3.5. That I would like to see.
Andy
11 months ago |Good idea using a converter! Is there any available for m43?????
mio
11 months ago |I have an off-topic question: can anybody roughly guess when I can expect the OM-D price to start falling? cheers
mister_roboto
11 months ago |Probably after the start of 2013. They’re having problems fulfilling preorders still.
Although I think it depends on what Panasonic has to offer with an eventual GH3, and G5, having those out might make the price go down faster.
Yun
11 months ago |Brilliant review from DSLR .
Everything is so positif about this lens .
The only hope I got is to get the lens before end of this July .
Nico Foto
11 months ago |But awful pictures imho. They talk about using this lens in the street for stolen portraits…Ok, then show that to me? I couldn’t see a single example where the glorious bokeh could be properly appreciated as well…
Kylberg
11 months ago |Maybe this lens it too good for m43? It is not on my shopping list. When I want highest possible quality I use my FF camera. When I want lightweight I pick my Pana G3. Many potentional 75mm buyers own more than one camera. -And the 75mm is not particularily small nor light.
scooby70
11 months ago |I bet it’s smaller and lighter than both my Sigma 85mm f1.4 and 150mm f2.8.
BLI
11 months ago |In his review, Pekka P indicated the sensor of the E-M5 might be the limiting factor.
Napilopez
11 months ago |But that’s the point isn’t it? A good lens should ALWAYS outperform the sensor. The point of the sensor is to extract as much detail from the image it’s being fed from the lens. Remember, the lens is what actually sees. That’s why lenses are always said to be better investments. Because msot sensors can’t extract the full detail from a good lens anyway.
Alfred E
11 months ago |The DSLR review is a very welcome contrast to what dpreview delivered.
Together with the sample shots of Robin Wong, one gets a real impression of this lens, and a positive one if I may say so.
Still, my bank acccount says no.
My bank account says: If there is so much air in the price of the hood, how much air is in the price of the lens?
Marcelo Guarini
11 months ago |I like what the reviewer says in the penultimate paragraph. In few words it reads:
“It is a mistake to consider this lens expensive since it has no comparison in the market (regarding to image quality)”
Regards
ulli
11 months ago |if the only con is about the missing hood, it is at least easy to solve that.
sometimes the people here sound like a bunch of sheeps lol.
Pasukun
11 months ago |Google translates..
‘Optics ideal for “stolen” portraits and street shots from a distance’
“Stolen” portraits. hahaha!
Nico Foto
11 months ago |The translation is dead on, that’s exactly what the article says. In this case “stolen” would be the same concept as “candid” i.e. a picture that was taken in an espontaneous manner, without the subject reacting specifically to the camera, and actually, without even knowing he/she IS the subject of the pic. So in a way, you’re “stealing” the subjects pic.
Mr. Reeee
11 months ago |+10
I do that all the time with my 75mm.
And +10 for your cinematic comment! That’s a great way to put it.
A longer lens can sort of compress space in a nice, interesting and yes… dramatic way!
The Master
11 months ago |If you don’t buy the hood, then Olympus won’t be able to afford the black paint, to finish off the lens.:)
Or, the other solution is not buy the lens in the first place. I don’t recall, that I’ve ever needed a 150 mm equiv lens, in 35 years of photography, so I can live without one now, specially a flamboyant silver one, with no hood, for 900 bucks.
Nico Foto
11 months ago |For several years, I’ve considered myself a “wide to normal” kind of guy. You know, most of my pics are around the 35mm to 50mm fov, with some 24mm ones when I need to show more context or add drama. But lately i’ve found myself reaching for longer lenses, and I have found that longer focal lengths seem to add something cinematic to pictures, I know this may sound silly, but next time you watch a well shot movie, take a look at how many times wide shots are used vs tighter tele ones. I find certain elegance in longer focal lengths that is not there with wide angles.
Of course, i’m not saying one is better than the other or whatever, but I’m finding new image possibilities and aesthetics with long lenses, and that is cool. I’m not sure i *need* this lens, and the price tag keeps me from actually considering it now, but in the future i might be tempted to get it, once I have covered some more important items like a good normal bright zoom for instance…
Napilopez
11 months ago |I understand what you mean, and I think that has to do with the way it compresses the scene. I’m no cinematographer, or particularly knowledgeable in this area, but my guess would be that since backgrounds are larger relative to the subject, it often makes backdrops look more “grand”. There is something almost overwhelming about looking some landscapes taken with telephoto lenses.
Ahh I found an article talking about it. The two images here are a great example.
http://digital-photography-school.com/why-you-need-a-telephoto-zoom-lens-for-landscape-photography
Similar framing, but the scenery looks MUCH grander in the former picture.
This second article has some gorgeous example detailing similar principles.
http://nd-magazine.com/telephoto-landscapes/