Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
We've been trying out a pre-production sample of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 fast prime which promises to be a great studio portrait lens as well as a low light optic for things like stage events and indoor sports action. Find out what our first impressions were.
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
That 45mm f1.8 is an awful lot better than I expected. It is almost as sharp as the ZD50 macro, which is saying something, and the fast AF speed was a surprise to me. So, if this lens is from the same stable: sharp, fast and capable, then it is a very worthy piece of glass.
No doubt there will be grumblings about weather sealing and focus scales but neither of those would be a deal breaker for me. The price however... Hmm.
Will I be saving up for one? Not at the moment. A small fortune has been spent on the E-M5 and some lenses recently. Ask again in 12 months time
Pete
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Pricing is always a tricky thing. Many will ask why the 75 is three times the price of the 45. Olympus will say that the 75 is even better than the 45 in terms of image quality thanks to the use of high refractive index glass plus ED elements and the new ZERO coatings. We're also told that the optical design requires an extra-precise construction. I personally feel that dust and splash proofing this lens would have dulled some of the price-sensitivity, but Olympus clearly see this lens as primarily being used indoors.
In the short time I had the 75mm to try I certainly loved using it and the image quality was pretty awesome wide open.
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barr1e
I think the deal breaker here is the cost of the lens cap.
I know someone who is quite a pro of origami - food for thought.
Regards. Barr1e
Yes, I was irked by the fact that the lens hood is a pricey optional extra and the posh lens cap too. But you do get an ordinary lens cap included in the basic package of course
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Hi Ian,
on the Oly Japan site are some sample shots. I wonder about that dark line along the flower and the ghost lines in the heart. Is this the JPEG machine or the IBIS or the lens? What do you think while you have the lens.
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
My first impression is that this is a very impressive lens. A lot of development time and money obviously went into making the lens sharp wide open, with beautiful bokeh and out-of-focus highlights. The small size is great as well. The whole package seems very competitive with comparable lenses in other systems, on both price and image quality. I personally don't do much of the types of photography that this lens was intended for, so I can't justify spending the money on it. But hopefully it will help entice more people into the MFT fold, which will enable Olympus to develop a wider range of great products in the future.
Re: Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Quote:
Originally Posted by dingenus
Hi Ian,
on the Oly Japan site are some sample shots. I wonder about that dark line along the flower and the ghost lines in the heart. Is this the JPEG machine or the IBIS or the lens? What do you think while you have the lens.
To me the image looks normal. I think what you describe as ghost lines are just the product of out of focus blur - a consequence of the limited depth of field.
It certainly isn't anything to do with IS; sample images like this would surely have been taken with the camera on a tripod and IS switched off, as the metadata confirms.
Ian
PS I changed the embedded image to a link to the image because it was crowding my screen
Exclusive: Hands-on preview of the new Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
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