Niche lens, but zero regrets

Like with all my gear, I wanted to give the lens a good run before I write my review of it. Now I admit, it is a niche lens intended for specific purposes, primary being portraits. So if you intend on buying it, make sure you use it. Like a good sports car, it's at its happiest when it's being used, and not stuck on a shelf gathering dust. By the time I had enough money to be able to click 'buy', I knew what I needed the lens for: live music.

Again, it's a very specific use lens. If you buy it on a whim simply from hearing all the praise heaped at it without knowing what to do with it, you'll be disappointed. So after nearly 2 years of owning the 75, I'm happy to report that I don't regret spending money on it at all.

I'm an amateur gig and portrait shooter, and I desperately needed the 75 for that extra reach in crowded clubs and pubs with so-so lighting, or at a concert when I couldn't squeeze through any closer to the stage. For portraits, I just wanted the 75 for tight headshot framing since I like to shoot cinematic-ish horizontal portraits more than vertical ones.

The 75 more than delivers in both areas. The fast f1.8 aperture is a lifesaver in dim environments. You can also get away with the odd street picture if you frame it right, but portraits and events is where the 75 really shines. The sharpness of its glass speaks for itself, nothing I can add which hasn't already been said.

On a separate note, the 75 is just nice to hold in the palm of your hand. The solid metal build gives peace of mind that the lens won't fall apart if you drop it, and I still find myself unable to keep my eyes off that sexy huge front element. When it's sitting on my E-M10 II, I feel like a pro cause the 75 just looks so badass. Even though it makes me anxious about how awfully exposed it is to scratches and smudges, thankfully the lens is still looking mint like I bought it yesterday.

So yeah, no regrets whatsoever. I'm throwing in a pics to finish off my review. Note, you can find countless portraits taken with the 75 online; below are more gig pics to show how the lens works for me personally.

random street pic I took as soon as I bought it

The 75 works great for shooting overhead from the pitch of a stadium or arena concert

Very nice concert/gig photos, that's one of the big reasons why I bought mine, tho I've even used it for landscapes and full body (outdoor) portraits. I got a chance to try the much cheaper Sigma 56/1.4 and liked it, for a lot of people it's probably a good in between all the available options; but I'm glad to have the luxury of keeping the 75/1.8 alongside my 42.5/1.7... If the 75mm were weather sealed I'd even be tempted to sell the 35-100 f2.8 that I'd bought a few years before it, I'm using the primes more tbh (and/or the slower 35-100 f4-5.6).

My 75mm is a refurb straight from Oly's outlet and has the slightest of scratchy feelings under the focus wheel at times (takes a couple turns before it shows and disappears), but I don't really focus it manually very often at all (just turning the ring when idle for the heck of it, cause it does feel so nice heh)... For $500-ish rather than $800+ I'm not complaining. It'd be nice if they included the hood in the box for the price (something they started doing years later for newer lenses, but not retro-actively).

I bought the JJC knockoff of the hood, looks like the same solid chunk of metal as the OEM... The thumbscrew is a hassle and tbh I leave it behind during events, but I like having it when I mount my GX850 + 75/1.8 to the side of my bag on PD Capture clip, for some added protection. A collapsible rubber hood would be lighter and would work as well really, tho the reversed JJC/OEM packs away smaller. That little body/75mm combo has become invaluable to me, nothing else like it in ILC land.

Any FF 85mm on an APS-C body ends up being bulkier/shorter and the long Fuji primes are all much bigger... The 75mm is definitely a niche lens but I think people sometimes overestimate that aspect and make it out to be less useful than it really is. Taking aspect ratio into account it's not really much tighter than a 135mm EFL. I might just have a soft spot for it after having avoided getting it for a long time (or better matched usage cases).

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Nice summary and great examples that emphasize where the lens excels. There are venues where I can't even take it, much less something like the 40-150 Pro, but for those places with a 3" lens limit it slips just below that.

I avoid brandishing mine at the entrance or at security as much as possible, heh, actually I don't think anyone has ever asked to see what else is in my little waist pack after I take the camera out (usually with a pancake or the fisheye body cap mounted)... I leave the 75mm and another prime rolled up in a Donkey wrap (rear cap to rear cap, like a burrito!) in the bottom of said pack and I guess they just don't call out attention like that...

They remain easy to access from each end tho since I roll them pointed at the corners of the wrap and velcro the opposite corners closed at each end, works a treat for me. The 75mm is just the right size for that, any larger (like my 17/1.2 etc.) and it wouldn't really fit in there. The 75mm is about as large a lens as I enjoy using on a GM/GX850, barring a few odd scenarios where my larger body was tied up and I've resorted to doing crazier stuff like GX850 + 100-300 II.

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Nice summary and great examples that emphasize where the lens excels. There are venues where I can't even take it, much less something like the 40-150 Pro, but for those places with a 3" lens limit it slips just below that.

Having used mine on a GM5 you don't have anything to be worried about with it dwarfing the E-M10.

Cheers,

Rick

Ha! Interesting. I guess it depends on the venue. When I went to the stadium gig from the pic above, security made a bigger deal about the size of my bag (messenger bag), they didn't allow anything in that's bigger than A4 size, so that had to go and I had to quickly find a smaller replacement at the nearby shopping mall that would fit the camera and the lenses.

sonnycsc wrote:

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Nice summary and great examples that emphasize where the lens excels. There are venues where I can't even take it, much less something like the 40-150 Pro, but for those places with a 3" lens limit it slips just below that.

Having used mine on a GM5 you don't have anything to be worried about with it dwarfing the E-M10.

Cheers,

Rick

Ha! Interesting. I guess it depends on the venue. When I went to the stadium gig from the pic above, security made a bigger deal about the size of my bag (messenger bag), they didn't allow anything in that's bigger than A4 size, so that had to go and I had to quickly find a smaller replacement at the nearby shopping mall that would fit the camera and the lenses.

This little fanny pack (worn sling style over my shoulder) is what I use for my E-M5 and a couple primes (arranged as I mentioned in the other post)... It's more of a squeeze than with the GX850 (where I can actually leave a larger lens mounted while it's in there) but it works great for me. I've tried a bunch of different packs like that from Dakine, Moment, O'Neill, etc. but that's probably my favorite for going really minimal. I've got a few larger/smaller ones I still use tho.

For the GX850 or a GM/E-PL the Jungler model works even better since it's more compact (less U shaped) but it has some mesh pockets that perfectly fit the smaller M4/3 primes, so I don't have to get creative with a wrap as I do when using the other one. I've got larger Peak Design bags that I use with larger lenses and/or when carrying two bodies (their smallest 3 or 5L sling is still far larger than these packs, I use the 10L for 2 bodies), and a Tenba Cooper shoulder bag, but I probably use that Quiksilver the most.

Being able to pack things in something that small was a big part of this system's appeal to me from the start. My Lone Walker is grey/heather rather than camo and it doesn't look like a camera or laptop bag at all since people around here commonly use those things for wallets, phones, etc. I've heard some venues or events make you use transparent bags or plastic bags, that would get trickier but I've not experienced it first hand.

I don’t think it’s a niche lens for M43. If you’ve ever used a 70-200, this is the practical replacement to get the same usefulness. 2.8 is dark on micro 4/3 and isn’t super useful without a lot of light.

Terrible Photographer wrote:

I don’t think it’s a niche lens for M43. If you’ve ever used a 70-200, this is the practical replacement to get the same usefulness. 2.8 is dark on micro 4/3 and isn’t super useful without a lot of light.

I find this argument odd. You're talking in FF terms, and comparing a long prime lens to a standard telephoto zoom. The zoom has way more flexibility than the 150mm equivalent prime in terms of practical use. And when I say it's a niche lens, it's because it's not as versatile as an equivalent 35, 50 or even an 85. I've read a lot of comments on here from people who bought the 75 and hardly ever used it because they didn't shoot enough portraits and/or didn't know how to work the unorthodox focal length. And last I checked the 75 had a f1.8 aperture, which would make it f3.6 equivalent. Not bright as a FF lens, sure, but for M43 it works for events and portraits.

Really great photograph's, sonnycsc - you have clearly mastered your gear! Very informative observations as well. Thanks for sharing.

B

Very nice photos sonnycsc.
Thank's for sharing.
The Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is one of my most used lenses and my favorite one.
The best investment I've made in photographic gear.
You can check my portraiture work with the 75mm on my signature link.

I always was told that the FF 90-100mm lens was the portrait lens.  I bought the m4/3  45mm for portraits and I just purchased the m4/3 40-150mm lens which yields very good results from 40-70mm.  Now I'll have to try them out on the local natives in tribal dress.  The compact zoom cost me <$100. The 45 was about $200.

The use case for this lens stated here pretty much matches my own. Rented one a couple of years back for a music festival, and from then it was a question of when rather than if I'd own it. Found a great deal on one last year. There's no shortage of good m43 lenses, but the 75mm (and the Sigma 56mm f/1/4) stands apart from everything else in my experience. Not necessarily better, just distinctive.

Speaking of the Sigma, I'd sometimes adapt that lens with the old B300 1.7x teleconverter to give me 95mm focal length, with very little light fall-off even wide open. Found that a good enough workaround before I had the 75mm. Am now interested in teaming up a TC with the 75mm - there's an old Sony model which fits the 58mm diameter of the 75, giving around 127mm focal length. There are some concert settings I'm in where I could make that work for sure even if I was getting a max f2 aperture or thereabouts.

With images like these, why do I have one of these for sale here and Mu-43.... dummy I guess.