Any more on the upcoming ZD prime rumors?

My dad happened to spot the photo mag on my couch, chided me for reading that rag when another was so much better.
The one he handed me had a full spread of the planned new Oly lenses.

But being a dream, I couldn't read the specs on any of them :s
--
Art P



Select images may be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8131242@N04/
 
Last week I saw the darnedest thing on eBay - a Panasonic DMC-L1 4-thirds body with a Pentax 40mm f2.8 pancake mounted via an adapter.

Someone else obviously craved a compact lightweight 4-thirds camera and prime lens combination. And if that one worked then so would the Pentax 21mm pancake.

And anyone lucky enough to have one of those rare Zuiko OM system 40mm f2 pancakes would do very nicely too. If of course they had kept it instead of, like me, getting so frustrated with Olympus that they jumped ship.
--
IML

A camera is for life, not just for Christmas.
 
I remember when (in the distant past, when I sold this stuff) no one
interested in IQ, especially many pros, took zooms seriously at all.
I know the quality has greatly surpassed what it used to be.
Nonetheless, I think if OM wants really to appeal to the pro crowd
(and, of course me, because I matter as an amateur too) they need to
give their zoom lens design guru a plane ticket to Fiji for a six
month sabbatical! The fixed-lens spread you described would be
sweet... maybe a 9 or 10mm too. I'd love to be able to drop my 7~14
for two (maybe even three of them).
In my OM system days I carried a bag full of primes. But now I don't know if I'd want to replace my 7-14 with two or three primes.

The only reason I'd consider it is if all the primes had filter threads as it would make using my NDs and grad NDs easier.
 
I emailed Olympus some time back asking for a 45mm f/1.4 non-macro prime. I received no reply denying my request, so it must be in the manufacturing pipeline now.

--
Cheers,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado, USA

'Begin each day as if it were on purpose.' -- Mary Anne Radmacher
 
Rumors abound, but real info is not any forth coming yet ... so for now, take all guess / WAG / Rumor with somewhat lighthearted approach and then .... :)

--
  • Franka -
 
And anyone lucky enough to have one of those rare Zuiko OM system
40mm f2 pancakes would do very nicely too. If of course they had kept
it instead of, like me, getting so frustrated with Olympus that they
jumped ship.
--
IML
I use an e410 with the Olympus OM 40mm f2.0. This lens is begining to get pricey and very hard to find. I recently saw one of these pancake's on ebay for around $650 after a very long time. This is the smallest lens olympus ever made and the F2.0 aperture does give you a very nice bookeh and very sharp images.

Olympus did not seem to mention any compact or wide angle primes in their lens roadmap and a pancake did not even seem to be in the pipeline according to their news briefs. I do wish they would provide a 20mm f2.0 pancake / compact autofocus lens for the E3/e410/e510.

I doubt if you can find a smaller combination for an SLR - body or lens with images that are simply excellent. If you find one of these 40mm f2.0 pancake's, get it. This is about as compact as it's going to get for now :)
 
It soon become clear we all want different things. I want an f1.4 or faster top quality lens in the 45-50 range for portraits. Pancakes? Sorry, not wandering around stuck with one focal length, makes the camera quite useless to me. And anyway, we can't agree on what focal length.

Oh, the 100 macro that has been promised since dinosaurs walked the Earth would be nice too.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 
WTF for? We already have a 50mm f2!

Honestly, Leica and Panasonic seem to be totally screweing up in the 4/3rds world.

50mm f1.2 would be more like it...
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 
Everybody wants a prime. . .

but there is no consensus
everyone wants a different primw

some want a fast prime for portraits
this will NOT be small, folks
and frankly the 50 f2 is a terrific lens
at f2 and a FOD of 3 feet (portrait distance) DOF (total) is 0.72 inches

a 45 1.4 would reduce DOF to .05 feet or .60 inches and bve a considerably larger lens (numbers calculated by DOF Master)

some want a tiny "pancake" lens and are willing to sacrifice AF
why not just buy an adqptor and mount an older OM lens or any other brand

some want a small wide angle prime
cannot happen
disccussed many times (registratition distance)
buy the superb 11-22 or upcoming ultrawide zoom
get over it, all systems have limitations

small single prime to match 410
isn't the 35 small enough?
isn't the 14-42 small enough?
both are superb, small optically excellent lenses

the market currently offers new 25 1.4, 28, 1.8, 30 1.4, 50 f2. 100 2.8, 150 2.0, 150 2.8 and 300 2.8 primes with 1.4x and 2x converters for the E system with more promised and coming. Unlike other systems, Oly zooms show little in the way of distortion and can be used wide open and so there is little advanatage to offering primes slower than 2.8

I have yet to see a "prime thread" arrive at a consensus viewpoint on a single strongly desired prime by a majority of people posting other than what is technically virtually impossible, so how can the manu8facturers be expected to offer it?

Personally I believe the 4/3 system alreAdy offers some of the smallest combinations of lenses/bodies available in optically excellent engineering and marketable compromises in both weather protected and non weatherprotected systems.

just my 0.02

Ed Rauschkolb
 
I use an e410 with the Olympus OM 40mm f2.0. This lens is begining to
get pricey and very hard to find. I recently saw one of these
pancake's on ebay for around $650 after a very long time.
I am looking to buy an OM 40, but those Ebay prices are just too high. The same lens typically sells for $400 in excellent condition at KEH, on FredMiranda, and some other spots if one knows where to look.

--
http://aminfoto.com
http://aminsabet.com
 
And anyway, we can't agree on what focal
length.
Louis, that point has been made quite a few times, but many of us would be happy with any of a number of common FOVs. 12mm? 14mm? 17.5? 20? 22.5? 25? Any one of those would make a whole bunch of us really happy. Just as you sometimes like to take an E-3 kit because it is lighter and more compact than a D3 kit, I like to take a compact prime because it's more compact and lighter than a fast zoom.

--
http://aminfoto.com
http://aminsabet.com
 
I emailed Olympus some time back asking for a 45mm f/1.4 non-macro
prime. I received no reply denying my request, so it must be in the
manufacturing pipeline now.
It is the same with the requested Macro 85mm f/1.2
Awaiting the first sample in the next days...

cheerio ....
 
some want a fast prime for portraits
this will NOT be small, folks
and frankly the 50 f2 is a terrific lens
at f2 and a FOD of 3 feet (portrait distance) DOF (total) is 0.72 inches
a 45 1.4 would reduce DOF to .05 feet or .60 inches and bve a
considerably larger lens (numbers calculated by DOF Master)
Agree, but it would make the system more flexible to have one portrait lens with this type of background blur capability. One stop makes a bigger difference than the numbers you quoted suggest.
some want a tiny "pancake" lens and are willing to sacrifice AF
why not just buy an adqptor and mount an older OM lens or any other
brand
In my case, I'm not willing to sac AF. For those who are, one reason not to go the route you mentioned is that stop-down metering is a major drag.
some want a small wide angle prime
cannot happen
disccussed many times (registratition distance)
buy the superb 11-22 or upcoming ultrawide zoom
get over it, all systems have limitations
I put an OM 24/2 on my E-410 with an adapter, and the images are great. They could make an AF version of this lens or the OM 21/2. If that's not possible, then why not? Maybe they just need to come to terms with having a couple lenses that aren't near telecentric. No need to have such a rigid philosophy.
small single prime to match 410
isn't the 35 small enough?
Too long a focal length.
isn't the 14-42 small enough?
Too slow.
both are superb, small optically excellent lenses
Yes.
the market currently offers new 25 1.4, 28, 1.8, 30 1.4...
All are large and heavy compared with the E-410, my little E-OM =).
Unlike other
systems, Oly zooms show little in the way of distortion and can be
used wide open and so there is little advanatage to offering primes
slower than 2.8
Agree. The 14-42 is excellent for my needs other than speed.
I have yet to see a "prime thread" arrive at a consensus viewpoint on
a single strongly desired prime by a majority of people posting other
than what is technically virtually impossible, so how can the
manu8facturers be expected to offer it?
Again, why is it that my 24/2 works? Does the registration distance affect AF lenses differently than MF lenses?
Personally I believe the 4/3 system alreAdy offers some of the
smallest combinations of lenses/bodies available in optically
excellent engineering and marketable compromises in both weather
protected and non weatherprotected systems.
For zoom shooters, absolutely. For prime shooters, they can do better. They just need a young Maitani to make it happen.

--
http://aminfoto.com
http://aminsabet.com
 
It is the one thing the Oly range simply cannot do - isolate a subject at a perspective that is intimate but doesn't give them a great big hooter, and it is a dire lack.

Please sort it Mr Olympus man.

As for all these weidos with delusions of prowling the streets like a latter day H C-B, leave 'em to wait in line. You know whatever you give them will be too small, too big, too expensive, too heavy, too slow and needlessly fast.

We portrait people know what we want, we know it will be expensive (read profitable), and we want it NOW! :-)
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 
yes, I do want that smaller DoF from the 50 f1.4. One is not always 3M away.

Here's a shot where f1.4, 1,2 or even 1.0 would have been nice:



--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
 

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