Olympus fast zooms may be coming in 2013

amvrvd wrote:

What use is there for 14mm as starting point ? just get a kit zoom then and raise the ISO.

Also, I don't see why everyone keeps repeating the same mantra about fast zooms needing to be HUGE and EXPENSIVE. Why should Oly's be huge ? there's no IS, they'll be software corrected, m4/3 flange distance is shorter than 4/3, the sensor is smaller than APS-C, etc...How come Fuji already has a fast zoom for APS-C, a smallish one at that, for only $699!? I'm convinced that people here WANT this unnecessary compromises just for the sake of status...if it ain't expensive it ain't worth it. This isn't leica guys, your lenses will devalue faster than Leicas so stop trying to MAKE m4/3 into an expensive format. Most people who go m4/3 are regular consumers, rising prices above Fuji, Sony or Canikon DSLRs is just going to put m4/3 into a niche. When this format was first announced it was advertised as having the advantage of cheaper manufacturing costs (less glass, more compact, less expensive), this is the oldest mirrorless format in the market yet we're still paying the R&D cost, how come ? Why is Fuji's fast zoom so cheap if their system is so new ? they're no bigger than Sony or Canikon, so why should Olympus be any different in its price ?

The idea that we should pay through our noses for these kind of lenses was only put forward by Pany, you don't need to validate them, specially when those lenses are nowhere near the quality of Oly 4/3 offerings, those were justifiably expensive, Pany's are expensive because there's no alternative. Weren't X lenses supposed to be ¨premium¨ ? well, besides their fast zooms (which are only just better than the kit zooms) there is no justification for their ¨premium¨ status. It's just marketing.

Just make it 12-45mm f2.5-4 for $699 and be done with it, Oly and Pany have already proven that they can do superb fast optics for reasonable prices (45mm 1.8, 20 1.7), there's nothing to justify their upcoming lens either being expensive nor huge.