Cheaper and lighter sounds already like 2 good reasons not sure if you need any more if these 2 qualify for you.

The Oly 25 comes with a lens hood.

Twice the price ? In Europe it will be 4 times the price !
400 euros for the 25mm F1.8 lens when the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 MKII sells for 100 euros... Totally crazy !
I can buy a SIGMA 17-50mm f/2.8 DC HSM EX for less than 400 euros too, and it is not an "old" lens. Well, that is not for the same usage, but the Sigma is certainly a much more complex design.
I am aware the sales volume of the Canon 50mm is certainly "stellar" compared to the Zuiko 25mm to come... Thus the price difference.
I am tempted to give the M43 system a try, but cost still keeps me away from it.

If the 25 is anything like the 45/1.8, it will be clearly better than the 50/1.8. The Lenstip reviews of the 45 and 50 show quite clearly which one is made to a lower price - the 45 does not have "loud and unreliable autofocus".

I live in one of those expensive European countries and paid around 400 bucks for the 45mm f1.8. That's including the 25% VAT.

It was worth it. I consider it one of the must haves for the m43 system.

Naveed, yes it is possible to correct the distortion:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3373069
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3150131

"It can be either of two things. They do not have the economy of scale or they are just profiteering."
It is neither of two things, it is both ! ;-)

You mean the Canon 50 1.8? This lens should come free with cereals :D

Maybe because none of the cheap 1.8 equiv. fifties are designed for digital with fast and silent autofocus suited for video.

@halfwaythere

Nikon's full-frame AF-S 50mm f1.8G is well built and less than half the price of the Oly.

The only bit of the Olympus 25/1.8 that's been "designed for digital" is the price tag.

It's partly because of the economies of scale: The more you make of a product, the comparatively cheaper it will be to research, produce and market it. It's the same reason that kit lenses are cheaper.

But it's also a matter of supply and demand. I suspect there are several other manufacturers making relatively fast, normal lenses for the Nikon mount, but for the micro four-thirds mount, the competition is limited.

@Chev Chelios

You should really compare optical formulas. The Olympus is much more complex and this is one of the reasons I bet it will be much sharper wide open, as are the other F1.8 Olympus m43 lenses.

halfwaythere, that's a good point. Let's take the Nikkor 32/1.2 lens they make for the 1 system. 9 elements in 7 groups like the Zuiko: Nikon's asking price is $900.

As we said in the main news story, the 9mm fisheye has a 140 degree diagonal angle of view, not 180 degrees.

mfj197, are you sure? That is so strange. BH tells it is EZ. Amazon lists strange 14-42 2RK, but pictures show EZ (not 14-42 II with intermittent ridges on the zoom ring).

Nikon 50/1.8G, USD 217
Nikon 85/1.8G, USD 497
Oly 45/1.8, USD 399

so Oly 25/1.8 will worth
USD 56 + alpha, using Nikon 50/1.8G as reference, or
USD 174, using Oly 45/1.8G as reference (399 * 217 / 497)

People should remember, it's a 25mm lens that may function as a 50mm on m4/3rds, but it's still a 25mm lens that has to accommodate a higher pixel density than APS or FF. Nikon's old D lens, 24mm f/2.8 costs $360.00.

what's the pixel density on mobile phones?

More rubbish from yab. M43 is excellent and many pros make money out of them so what you say exists only in the fantasy land you call a brain. More people are laughing at you yab. Do you do stand up? You'd do better at that than photography. Oh But you only do forum fantasy and not actually talking photos. Ever wondered what that shiny button that sits on the top right of most cameras? Try pressing it and you'll be amazed what happens especially when you do it to an m43 camera.

right many people make money out of rubbish. actually I went to photo a sewage treatment plant recently and it's beautiful. not a place for most of us to live though.

Don't worry about the high price of the ez retractable lens. This is the announcement price.
Take a look at the similar apsc lens by Sony. 16-50 pz retractable. On sony website and the announcement price is was: $349
I bought a brand new one on eBay from a 100% trustable seller for $159 with free shipping. There are many other vendors for similar prices.
The announcement price is for early adapters. The right price for this lens will take place in a few months.

mfj197, it is not AVAILABLE anywhere yet. But on the preorder page at B&H, it says "M.ZUIKO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ Lens"

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026114-REG/olympus_v207021su000_om_d_e_m10_mirrorless_micro.html

Yes, at $799, $100 more than body only.

What is it with you yab? The 20mm produces superb images when used for photography rather than an object of aimless statements like yours. Focus speed is lacking but image quality is fantastic.

And now you are admitting F1.7 is good for m43. Surely you mean it has to be F0.7. Changing our mind again are we yab? Next you'll tell us m43 is better than MF.

f/1.7 on 4/3" is just as good as f/3.3 on 35mm format.
no more, no less.

Don't feed the troll...

This is one area I have to agree with yabokkie on. Olympus and Pany should be pushing their standard lenses faster in speed for the DOF control. f/1.8 in m43 does not really cut it. Is ok for the tele lenses, but that is slow for a m43 standard. 1 stop faster would have made a big difference. Unfortunately, the fast Voigtlander lenses are manual focus and very expensive. Seems like a void in the m43 system between f/0.95 and f/1.8.

Now now yab don't go back on what you said even in the same thread. You said F1.8 is "not too bad" (for a prime) but now it has to be for zooms. If you aren't consistent nobody will take you seriously. Oh hang on the 9000 dumb posts a day you make has already ensured that.

And another thing yab the fact that you'd prefer a larger lens tells us you don't clucking even get the concept of m43 do you? Do you want a point and shoot with a 1DX body because you don't like little buttons and no proper grip? You don't like m43 so you have to come here to espouse your irrational little remarks to make you feel good that you have got a BIG full fat Canon with the oh so lovely 40mm . How sweet must that look. You have to ask yourself why you are being so childish because that's exactly what little children would do.

Pana Leica and Sony Zeiss are proved to be low quality. both of them are third-class makers but they are not as good as other third-class makers like Cosina.

This yabokkie character turns up all the time making irrational, negative comments. Why, for goodness sake? Go away.

@Oluuv
Why does MFT need 1.2 lenses?
Which metric do you personally think MFT shooters and manufacturers need to match to be able to take decent photos?

yeah, three f/0.95 with manual focus, thanks!

The m4/3 system is about a balance of performance and size. I think 1.8 is a great compromise. They don't need to compete with SLRs, they need to offer an alternative, and so far they're doing a good job of that.

Wait and see if X-T1's AF is much improved. There is less and less reason to consider mFT when Fuji keeps bringing out fast lenses.

As mentioned in the main news story text above, the 9mm offers a 140 degree diagonal of view, so it's not a 'true' fisheye in that sense. It almost certainly won't be optically brilliant, but it should be fun to shoot with, rather like the 15mm F8.