{"id":832,"date":"2012-05-27T08:58:12","date_gmt":"2012-05-27T13:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=832"},"modified":"2012-05-27T08:59:42","modified_gmt":"2012-05-27T13:59:42","slug":"thoughts-panasonic-12-35-olympus-75-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/thoughts-panasonic-12-35-olympus-75-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the Panasonic 12-35mm f\/2.8 and Olympus 75mm f\/1.8"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Micro 4\/3 world this past week has seen the official announcement of two lenses that had been previewed some time back by both Olympus and Panasonic. \u00a0This week saw the official announcements and pricing information. \u00a0On Monday, Panasonic released their 12-35mm f\/2.8 standard zoom, while Olympus announced the 75mm f\/1.8 on Thursday. \u00a0You can read the press release for the 12-35 here<\/a>, and the 75mm f\/1.8 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Panasonic 12-35mm f\/2.8<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Panasonic 12-35mm f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monday finally saw the release of the long awaited fast standard zoom that Panasonic has been previewing for quite a long time. \u00a0It’s a 12-35mm with a constant f\/2.8 aperture. \u00a0The focal length corresponds to the field of view a typical 24-70mm lens has on a full frame camera. \u00a0This is a versatile range, allowing a near ultra-wide field of view on the short end and a short portrait length on the long end. \u00a0It has a constant f\/2.8 aperture and at least some rudimentary weather sealing (so those with an Olympus E-M5, currently the only weathersealed Micro 4\/3 camera, can take advantage).<\/p>\n

Then they announced the price: $1,300. \u00a0That’s pretty steep for a Micro 4\/3 lens…in fact it’s the most expensive lens for the system yet announced. \u00a0A lot of people are up in arms over the price, and I’m somewhere in the middle. \u00a0I think for the system, a price of around $1,000 makes more sense, but $1,300 isn’t insane.<\/p>\n

Early reviews are showing this lens to be a truly stellar performer, right from f\/2.8. \u00a0In fact, it’s looking like one of the sharpest f\/2.8 standard zooms for ANY camera system. \u00a0 \u00a0Now, those who feel the need to bang on depth of field equivalence will cry “but it only gives depth of field similar to f\/5.6 on full frame! \u00a0What a ripoff!” \u00a0Well, I think that’s an irrelevant argument for a few reasons.<\/p>\n

1. Users of Micro 4\/3 know we give up some depth of field control in exchange for the smaller size of both camera bodies and lenses. \u00a0There is no need for Micro 4\/3 lenses to be ‘equivalent’ in depth of field to their full frame counterparts.<\/p>\n

2. It’s still an f\/2.8 lens. \u00a0Exposure values will be the same as on any other format. \u00a0(And yes, I know that less total light hits the sensor than an f\/2.8 lens on full frame just because of the area of the sensor…again, this is inherent in the format.)<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Name an f\/5.6 standard zoom that has anywhere near this level of performance. \u00a0Can’t come up with one? \u00a0That’s because it doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I will likely not ever purchase this lens simply because I’ve never been a big standard zoom user. \u00a0I much prefer to use prime lenses in this range, and so I’ve generally had my standard zooms languish on the shelf (which is why the only one I own now is the super-cheap, but relatively decent, 14-42 kit zoom for my E-M5. \u00a0It does great when I do need it, but I don’t have a bunch of money tied up in a lens I rarely use). \u00a0However, this kind of lens is great to finally have for the system. \u00a0The real strength of Micro 4\/3 has been its lenses, and Panasonic looks to be continuing the trend here. \u00a0For those who need a high quality fast zoom, it’s great to finally have one here.<\/p>\n

Next, the Olympus 75mm f\/1.8<\/a>:
\n<\/p>\n

Olympus 75mm f\/1.8<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Olympus 75mm f\/1.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Thursday, Olympus announced the 75mm f\/1.8 that had been displayed earlier in the year. \u00a0This is a fast medium telephoto, corresponding to a 150mm lens on full frame, that Olympus says is the highest performing lens they’ve made for the Micro 4\/3 system. \u00a0If that turns out to be true, it will truly be a stellar optic. \u00a0I own and have reviewed their outstanding 45mm f\/1.8<\/a> and 12mm f\/2<\/a>. \u00a0If the 75mm f\/1.8 is better than those, it will be a very special lens from a technical standpoint. \u00a0They’ve priced the lens at $899, which is higher than some expected, but not out of line with their other premium lens pricing, like that of the 12mm f\/2.<\/p>\n

Looking at the official sample photos (which can be viewed here<\/a>), I think the lens looks to be a real winner. \u00a0It’s got beautiful bokeh, a lovely contrast and color signature and is quite sharp at the focal point. \u00a0It also seems to exhibit very well controlled longitudinal chromatic aberration and fringing, which is usually a big problem on lenses of this focal length and aperture.<\/p>\n

The downside for some with this lens is that the focal length of 75mm is a little longer than the ‘standard’ portrait lengths (corresponding to 85-135mm on full frame). \u00a0For some this will not make sense as a portrait lens, and in fact it will likely be somewhat of a niche lens. \u00a0I think it would be great for longer portraiture. \u00a0I used to own a Sigma 150mm f\/2.8 Macro when I used Canon full frame DSLRs, and it was a wonderful lens. \u00a0If the 75\/1.8 can be anywhere as good, it’ll be a truly stellar lens. \u00a0I think the 75mm f\/1.8 also will make for a wonderful lens for shooting concerts or theater performances. \u00a0Its fast f\/1.8 aperture will help keep ISO down and it’s a fast focusing lens as well.<\/p>\n

It’s also extremely well built, with an all-metal build and a the same finish as the 12mm f\/2, though lacking that lens’ focus clutch mechanism for manual focus. \u00a0On the downside, it looks like Olympus will continue to make buyers purchase their lens hoods separately. \u00a0This continues to annoy, since Panasonic includes the hood with all of its lenses, from the cheap 14-42 zoom all the way up to its high end optics. \u00a0Olympus needs to include hoods on their high end lenses at a minimum, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Overall, these two lens announcements continue to add high quality lenses to the Micro 4\/3 system. \u00a0One more lens from each manufacturer (the 35-100mm f\/2.8 from Panasonic and the 60mm f\/2.8 Macro from Olympus) is expected later this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Micro 4\/3 world this past week has seen the official announcement of two lenses that had been previewed some time back by both Olympus and Panasonic. \u00a0This week saw the official announcements and pricing information. \u00a0On Monday, Panasonic released their 12-35mm f\/2.8 standard zoom, while Olympus announced the 75mm f\/1.8 on Thursday. \u00a0You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","category-shop"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28RGq-dq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}