And suddenly, the universe seems right again... O25/1.8

[mh2000]

Just got my Oly 25/1.8 ($281 from Henry's in Canada)!

Of my lenses that matter, the Oly 17/2.8, 25/1.8 and 45/1.8, my kit now seems complete and pretty much perfect!

I bought into the m43 without recognizing that at the time there was not a 25mm prime for the system. I got by.

Now, unboxing my new 25/1.8, I have to say that for the m43 system, the lens is still kind of large and heavy for the miniature system, but still nice. (I always felt that the P25/1.4 was too big). Makes me appreciate the diminuative O17/2.8 for when I want a small light snap shot lens.

Regarding the hood, I really don't like it... sure, it's nice that they included it, but I will order a collapsible rubber hood. Anyone with the lens, how do you find it handles flare conditions?

I don't use a hood on my 17 because I don't like stressing the AF motor by pulling on the floating lens block and the lens handles flare really well enough without a hood anyway. Is the 25 as good or better?

Anyway, this is just one of those excited "unboxing" comments. Not going to do any lens testing since I'm sure that lens is great so just be taking it out for shooting photos.

Best all!

Any comments on your experiences with the 25 would be appreciated! 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

Good price!

You seem to be going for 'as small as possible' where I have different goals in selecting my gear. To me, the difference in size and weight between the Oly and Pana-Leica lens is irrelevant. Which body do you use this lens with? Right now, I have both the E-PL1 and E-M1. I will likely upgrade the E-PL1 to an E-PM2 or E-PL5(?) sometime soon.

I *always* use the manufacturers' lens hoods on my lenses. Yes, they make the lenses bulkier, but they fit perfectly, they work beautifully with the lenses, and they do not cause vignetting. In all cases, regardless of how good a lens is at holding back flare, the hood improves upon it.

G

 

[GaryLH]

Just as an FYI

It looks like Panasonic is going to up its game in the future in terms of f1.8 lenses. A recent patent shows 5 possible lenses in fixed f1.8 from 12mm to 50.

http://www.43rumors.com/panasonic-patent-discloses-f1-8-prime-lens-series/

Gary

 

[mh2000]

I'm still shooting my E-P1... lovely camera, a joy to hold... but since I just ordered my daughter an E-PL5, I might end up with some gear jealousy soon!

Besides wanting small gear, I'm also cheap! For $281 I couldn't resist the new Oly 25, but I've never seen the P/L 25 go for much less than $500 when I was interested.

I used to like my Canon hard lens hoods, but this one is kind of fiddly it seems. I use a rubber hood on my Oly 45 and it is really fast and convenient and I use it all the time. The Oly 45 really needs the hood IMO, but with respect to the Oly 17, I never saw much improvement when I used a hood... same kind of was true with my Sigma 30.

I like rubber hoods! 🙂

Didn't you buy an Oly 25 Godfrey? Thought I read that somewhere. Every thing I've read is that both the Oly 25 and P/L 25 are excellent lenses... and I don't care which one is "better," but if you tried the Oly, what were your thoughts?

 

[mh2000]

Blinders up! As I said, my lens universe is now complete.... well.... unless a sale goes on for the Sigma 60...... maybe.

🙂

 

[BillBingham2]

Congrats on bringing the universe into balance. Us folks out here in the fringes appreciate it!

I never got into rubber hood, but then I never had any AF glass.

Enjoy and share some shots from time to time please and thank you!

B2

 

[mh2000]

Hahaha Bill! I guess I should have said *my* universe! 🙂

Will do with the photos! (I post photos even without having a new lens to show off!)

The only MF lens I ever shot seriously on my m43 was the sweet little C/V Color-Skopar 50mm and it already has a built in hood. Wish my I knew how to get a lens hood on my Industar-69! That's the lens that really needs one!

 

[mh2000]

Regarding my daughter's E-PL5, I've already promised her that I would give her my Holga 25 and my adapted Super-Tak 50mm. That should be a good start along with the kit zoom I think!

Told her she can't touch my 17, 25 or 45 though! (I don't even swap lenses with my girlfriend!)

 

[Godfrey]

...
Didn't you buy an Oly 25 Godfrey? Thought I read that somewhere. Every thing I've read is that both the Oly 25 and P/L 25 are excellent lenses... and I don't care which one is "better," but if you tried the Oly, what were your thoughts?

No, I'm pretty happy with the Summi and other lenses I've got already. My base kit is the 14/2.5, 25/1.4, 45/2.8, and 75/1.8.

G

 

[BillBingham2]

Hahaha Bill! I guess I should have said *my* universe! 🙂

It's the same universe we share my friend! 24hr news channels, the internet, we are all aware and connected. Problem is few of us understand the implications of it all. Hope we learn before it gets too late.


Back On Topic.....

....The only MF lens I ever shot seriously on my m43 was the sweet little C/V Color-Skopar 50mm and it already has a built in hood. Wish my I knew how to get a lens hood on my Industar-69! That's the lens that really needs one!

I have some ideas in the back of my mind but I have to get some cash flow generated before I can convince the wife to plunk down the cash for a new toy/cash generator.

If I remember right the I-69 had a very small thread way next to the lens. I'm not even sure if there ever was one for them. Gotta add it to the list of ideas, thank you Sir!

B2

 

[mh2000]

No, I'm pretty happy with the Summi and other lenses I've got already. My base kit is the 14/2.5, 25/1.4, 45/2.8, and 75/1.8.

G

Guess I was mistaken, yes, a nice set of lenses! The 75 is too rich for my blood and not a FL I'd use very much. Wonder if my 14 will get more use now that I'm swapping my Sig 30 for the Oly 25... farther seperation of FoV.

Giving my girlfriend my Sig 30 since I think it will make a nice companion FL to go with her P20.

 

[JoeV]

For my generation 1, Lumix 20-1.7 lens I went with a step-up ring and round rubber collapsable lens shade. The shade has additional filter threads on the front, so I'll sometimes have installed a ND4 neutral density filter, for shooting wider open in bright light.

But the original step-up ring had threads a bit too short, causing the lens autofocus to seize up if tightened onto the front threads all the way. I went around for several years this way, keeping the rubber hood partially loose on the lens, thinking this was the way it was meant to be. Until I brought the camera into my local repair shop to get the sensor cleaned, and she pointed this problem out to me, and sold me the right step-up ring with threaded section long enough to keep the lens from jamming up.

Just something I had to learn the hard way, there are differences between step-rings.

~Joe

 

[Godfrey]

Guess I was mistaken, yes, a nice set of lenses! The 75 is too rich for my blood and not a FL I'd use very much. Wonder if my 14 will get more use now that I'm swapping my Sig 30 for the Oly 25... farther seperation of FoV.

Giving my girlfriend my Sig 30 since I think it will make a nice companion FL to go with her P20.

I didn't know whether I'd use the 75 as much as I end up using it in fact. It's a terrific lens for a lot of things.

The nice thing about mFT is that I swap in and out of use the favorites of my FT SLR system lenses when needed. I mostly use compact prime lenses, but the FT system included some of the best zoom lenses ever made—I haven't found a match for the ZD 11-22/2.8-3.5 yet in mFT native lenses, which is my all time favorite zoom lens.

G

 

[Bille]

Just got my Oly 25/1.8 ($281 from Henry's in Canada)!

Of my lenses that matter, the Oly 17/2.8, 25/1.8 and 45/1.8, my kit now seems complete and pretty much perfect!

Im not good with numbers and dont know much about Olympus. Would the 25/1.8 be equivalent to a ~50/2.8 on 35mm? I am talking equivalent field of view and depth of field.

 

[mh2000]

Im not good with numbers and dont know much about Olympus. Would the 25/1.8 be equivalent to a ~50/2.8 on 35mm? I am talking equivalent field of view and depth of field.

I'm not getting into a "what should the *correct* equivelent aperture be" when comparing cross-format digital cameras, but the FoV is roughly equivelent to 50mm on a 35mm film camera.

That said, for shallowness of DoF, I guess if you need to state something about it, I guess you are roughly correct.

I appreciate the seemingly greater effective DoF I get from m43 lenses.

 

[mh2000]

I didn't know whether I'd use the 75 as much as I end up using it in fact. It's a terrific lens for a lot of things.

The nice thing about mFT is that I swap in and out of use the favorites of my FT SLR system lenses when needed. I mostly use compact prime lenses, but the FT system included some of the best zoom lenses ever made—I haven't found a match for the ZD 11-22/2.8-3.5 yet in mFT native lenses, which is my all time favorite zoom lens.

G

Hahaha! I'm sure I'd use the 75 more than I think if I had it too! I just can't come close to justifying a $900 lens though!

The slightly shorter Sigma 60 is also by all reports a terrific lens too... more likely for me.

Really, I want the Oly 17/1.8 for the scale focusing... my next possible purchase... though really, I think I'm just getting gear crazy wanting the lens for the scale focusing. Even more than being sometimes useful, I think I just like the coolness of having scale focus!

🙂

 

[mh2000]

Joe, I don't like attaching things to the front of lenses that have floating lens blocks because it is easy to damage the AF mechanisms. The 17 would bind up similarly to the what you experienced with your 20. The 20 seemed to be more proned to collecting green polygons from side lighting than the 17/2.8.

 

[traveler_101]

I bought the 25mm back in March during a trip to the States. Wish I could have gotten it for $291 (good going mh!), but at the time I had to pay the full (American) price for it at $399, which is still a considerable saving over what one is paying even today here. And I got the lens right away!

I really love the lens: it gives nice punchy colours, is quite sharp, operates silently and most importantly it focuses instantly. I can use it to take great snapshots--which I couldn't do very well with the Panasonic 20/1.7. So overall I am very happy with the lens.

Last fall I bought a E-PM2 and put my E-P1 into storage. Is the 25/1.8 too big/heavy for the E-PM2? Well, the weight tips the camera forward when resting on a table but otherwise it is not too heavy. As a kit it feels good in the hand and the added weight compared to the pancake lenses probably improves steadiness. The length . . . well, taking 2-3 cm off the length would have improved its appearance on the camera I think. But heck it's a minor point.

The lens controls veling flare very well. I am not one who generally likes hoods. So far I haven't seen need for one.

 

[mh2000]

Maybe I'll post some examples when I get around to it, but from the first outing, I've compared the flare patterns from the 25 to the 45 and they are nearly identical! Interesting. Really, at 100% I can't tell the difference! That's a good thing. Overall, the lens seems to render very similarly to the 45. I'm glad I got the lens! Yeah, $281 was a steal!

🙂