#Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO Lens

[sunrisecamera]

Buy Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO Lens online.

Click your best moments with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO Lens and cameras available online at "Sunrise Camera" and get the best offers price on all ranges of Olympus cameras and lenses. Buy Now!

[sworldeclectronics]

Buy the best Teleconverter Olympus M.Zuiko MC-20 2.0x Teleconverter for your Olympus Camera at the lowest price with free and fast shipping across Canada. We make 1000+ happy customers in Canada. Olympus MC-20 M.Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter doubles the magnification of an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens or an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO Lens.

[karingottschalk]

https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2018/05/11/olympus-17mm-f-1.2-pro-lens-review-best-wide-angle-for-micro-four-thirds

“Having earned the top spot as our Best Wide Angle Prime of 2017 in our annual Lens of the Year awards, we’ve now finalized our lab testing of the Olympus 17mm f/1.2 Pro lens. This 35mm-eq. wide-angle prime lens is undoubtedly a professional-level optic that offers excellent performance. Image quality is spectacular, even at f/1.2, with very low distortion and low chromatic aberration….”

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro professional-quality Micro Four Thirds prime lens with manual clutch focus rings drawn back for accurate, repeatable manual focussing at a quarter turn to go from infinity to closest focusing distance, excellent for stills photography and video production on hybrid cameras and cinema cameras.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Pro lens line-up as of late October 2017.

Commentary

With the coming release of Blackmagic Design’s Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K aka BMPCC 4K aka P4K later this year, along with the already-released Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 IBIS hybrid 4K stills/video camera and the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S high-end compact 4K video camera, attention is on affordable yet high-end professional-quality lenses capable of delivering excellent results whether manually-focussed or used with those cameras’ autofocus functionality if they have it.

After trying out prime and zoom optics from several ranges of Micro Four Thirds lenses, I have chosen to invest in Olympus’ M.Zuiko Pro range and will be adding more as availability and finances permit.

My documentary photography and moviemaking work demands gear that can withstand years of use and potentially challenging environments without succumbing, and the weather resistance, durability, quality and relative low weight and size put the M.Zuiko Pro lens range in the frame.

It is hardly surprising that the folks at Imaging Resource awarded their Best Wide Angle Prime of 2017 plaudit to the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro lens.

I have yet to have the pleasure of trying one out due to apparent local supply problems, but the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro is at the top of my lens wish list along with its 45mm and 25mm stablemates as well as the 5-stop image-stablized Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS Pro zoom lens followed by the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro wideangle zoom.

I will be adding Xume fast-on, fast-off filter holders, Breakthrough Photography brass knurled step-up rings and UV protection filters, and a full set of top-quality variable and fixed ND filters to my kit in the 82mm and 105mm sizes soon.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro

Screenshot from the Olympus 2018 financial report.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 Pro professional prime lenses.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro lens. Not shown in this photograph: retracting the focus ring activates the lens’ manual cutch focus mechanism, allowing for fast, accurate, repeatable focussing and focus pulling.

The M.Zuiko Pro 17mm f/1.2 on an Olympus Pen-F, probably not much larger or heavier than, say, the popular 12-40mm f/2.8 zoom lens.

Links

4/3 Rumors  – Olympus financial report discloses Olympus will keep focusing on high end mirrorless

Blackmagic Design – Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

Imaging Resource – Olympus 17mm f/1.2 Pro Lens Review: The best wide-angle prime for Micro Four Thirds

Olympus Global – M.Zuiko Pro

STC Optical & Chemical – Screw-in Lens Adapter For Olympus 7-14mm F2.8

Help support ‘Untitled’

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (BMPCC 4K) with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro zoom lens with manual clutch focus, great for manual focussing. I like the longer image-stabilized Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4.0 IS Pro zoom for available light daily walkabout needs for video and stills.

Clicking on these affiliate links and purchasing through them helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success’.

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K – B&H

Breakthrough Photography X4 UV and ND filters – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter – B&H

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera (Body Only) – B&H

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Xume – B&H

Imaging Resource: Olympus 17mm f/1.2 Pro Lens Review: The best wide-angle prime for Micro Four Thirds "Having earned the top spot as our Best Wide Angle Prime of 2017 in our annual Lens of the Year awards, we've now finalized our lab testing of the…

[smehtadotblog-blog]

A New Approach To Travel Photography

I've been thinking about travel photography intensely this week. I desired to find a way to take a minimum of lenses, cameras and accessories to capture the style of photography that I enjoy. My photography is in the service of painterly images. I offer an alterniative paradigm to travel photography:

Microscope +/- wide angle lens to capture the subject and its local environment

Macroscope

Painting Lens : Telephoto Zoom +/- 1.4x Teleconverter

Each of the three image capture types are their own devices. OLYMPUS makes this system of shooting possible with the following cameras/lenses:

OLYMPUS TG-4  |  FCON-T01 Fisheye  |  FD-1 Flash Diffuser  |  LG-1 LED Macro Ring Light

OLYMPUS PEN-F  |  M.ZUIKO Digital ED 30mm f/3.5 Macro Lens  |  Speciality Filters

OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1  |  M.ZUIKO Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens  |  M.ZUIKO Digital MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter  |  Speciality Filters

I can create a minimized kit to carry the above equipment in my backpack, using about half my space in the Pacsafe Venturesafe X30 backpack utiilzing 2x Tenba BYOB 9 camera cases. This is a completely different setup then using a Think Tank Photo Airport Roller Derby. Thinking about carrying a microscope, macroscope and painting lens makes me feel like I can capture the images that are important to me, not necessarily be able to capture every time of image I may encounter while traveling.

More to come...

[go2google]

#ebay #lights #2866 OLYMPUS M.Zuiko digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO zoom lens MFT micro 4/3 Panasonic http://go2google.com/product/olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ed-40-150mm-f2-8-pro-zoom-lens-mft-micro-43-panasonic/

[coldstreams]

Big discounts on #Olympus #Cameras and #Lenses

I have the original E-M10, and love it. This Mark II deal is tempting.

Cameras

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Camera Body $499 after $150 IR Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem10m2s.html Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem10m2b.html

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Camera with 14-42mm II R Lens $549 after $150 IR Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem10m3bk.html Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem10m3s.html

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body $899 after $200 IR Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem5m2b.html Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomem5m2s.html

Olympus Stylus Tough TG-Tracker Digital Camera $299 after $50 IR Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomtgtb.html Green: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomtgtg.html

Lenses below all have $100 Instant Rebates

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 “R” Zoom Lens $99 Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom40150rmb.html Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom40150rms.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f2.8 Macro Lens – Black $399 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom6028.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II Zoom Lens – Black $499 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom141502mb.html

(I own the 9-18mm lens and it is a fantastic wide angle lens).

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f4.0-5.6 Lens – Black $599 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom918mb.html

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F/2 Lens $699 Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom12m.html Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom12mb.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 75mm f/1.8 Lens $799 Black: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom7518mb.html Silver: http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom7518m.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro Zoom Lens – Black $899 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom1240b.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f2.8 Pro Lens – Black $1,199 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom714mb.html

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 Pro Lens, Black $1,399 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iom4015028b.html

Olympus Travel Lens Kit M.Zuiko 14-150mm f4.5-6.6 II and M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 black with Hoods and Cases $699 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iomtk.html

I own the 45mm f1.8 and this is perhaps one of my favorite lenses, super sharp and a nice bokeh.

Olympus Portrait Lens Kit – 45mm f1.8 Lens and ED 75mm f1.8 Lens with Hoods and Cases $899 http://adorama.evyy.net/c/77972/51926/1036?u=https://www.adorama.com/iompk.html

Big discounts on #Olympus #Cameras and #Lenses was originally published on Guide to VR 3D Photos and Video

[karingottschalk]

One camera cage and accessories maker that appears not to receive the press coverage it deserves is LockCircle, a brand of the Brain Emo company based in Lombardy near Lake Como. 

LockCircle is the only video accessories maker with its origins in Australia, specifically Broken Hill, thanks to Italian-Australian cinematographer/director Dante Cecchin, but the brand is sadly not represented in this country through an importer/distributor or resellers. 

Perhaps that situation may change some day. 

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

Meanwhile LockCircle’s products are clearly well regarded enough to be represented in other countries by respected resellers including AbelCine, B&H, mtf, P+S Technik, The Flash Centre and Vocas.

Mr Cecchin’s product design inspirations include the Bolidist Movement pioneered by Italian designer Massimo Iosa Ghini, who characterizes Boldism as “a way of narrating the transition from materialety to drawing things in which the visual and media aspect prevails with respect to the object’s functional purpose”.

Mr Ghini was involved with the Memphis Group of architects and designers during the 1980s, and perhaps the many highly coloured products Memphis members designed may have influenced LockCircle’s product materials and coatings such as the bronze, grey and black anodized surfaces of the three HiPock elements and cages and the rarer, more wildly coloured limited editions and new product colour-ways sometimes seen on LockCircle’s Facebook page.

Special anodization colours and surface finishes

LockCircle Robot Skin Sony Alpha a7III camera cage.

LockCircle Robot Skin Panasonic Lumix GH5/GH5S.

LockCircle Robot Skin GH5 Red cage.

LockCircle Robot Skin GH5 Blue Professional X Bundle.

LockCircle Robot Skin GH5 Dura-T Professional X Bundle with unscratchable Mil-Spec DURA-T finish.

Mr Cecchin’s LockCircle has been one of the first camera cage makers off the mark to come up with accessories for the soon-to-be-released Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and has come up with three different cages or cage-like devices – Minimal Plate, Essential Plate and System Cage, all under the product name of HiPock.

As with his other camera cages, HiPock integrates intimately with LockCircle’s and camera accessories including MicroMega rigging, RodRocket titanium rods and rails, NoLux “photon trap” technology matte box system, MatBox professional matter box system, LockCircle ultra-secure camera body caps, LockPort camera cable savers, Prime Circle cinema lenses and filters and the Pro M.35 System of accessories for adapting stills photography lenses to use in cinematography.

The breadth and depth of LockCircle’s product system appears to obviate the need to ever go outside it in fully equipping many popular hybrid mirrorless cameras for professional video production.

LockCircle HiPock 4K camera cage for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

LockCircle HiPock, “The Pocket 4K Camera Cage”, designed by Dante Cecchin for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

Bolidism, the driving design philosophy behind LockCircle’s products.

Due to LockCircle being unrepresented in Australia I have not had the pleasure of seeing and trying any of its products in real life and neither do I know anyone here who owns and uses them, but I certainly hope to remedy that lack some day.

Perhaps Mr Cecchin may be persuaded to pay his birth country a visit to show off his products and share his clearly not inconsiderable achievements.

Links

Chicago Tribune – Built for Speed – “… this is a story about a rising design movement called Bolidism and a rare look at its star, Massimo Iosa-Ghini.”

Cinema5D – LockCircle HiPock – A new Cage System for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

Dante Cecchin – IMDB

Dante Cecchin – website

Facebook – LockCircle Italia

Lock Circle – HiPock, the Pocket 4K Camera Cage 

Wikipedia – Massimo Iosa Ghini

Wikipedia – Memphis Group

Image Credits

Header image concept and hack by Carmel D. Morris.

Help support ‘Untitled’

Blackmagic Design’s Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K aka BMPCC 4K.

Clicking on these affiliate links and purchasing through them helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

LockCircle – B&H

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K – B&H

Blackmagic Design Mini XLR Cable for Video Assist/4K (Set of 2, 19.5″) – B&H

Breakthrough Photography – B&H – the finest brass traction-framed ND, UV and CPL filters as well as the best step-up rings (sadly only sold direct on the company’s own website at present).

Chiaro Premium UV Protection Filters – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Italian-Australian Cinematographer/Director Dante Cecchin Creates Bolidism-Inspired LockCircle HiPock Cage System for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K One camera cage and accessories maker that appears not to receive the press coverage it deserves is…

[karingottschalk]

https://www.lenstip.com/524.1-Lens_review-Olympus_M.Zuiko_Digital_ED_45_mm_f_1.2_PRO_Introduction.html

“… A long list of assets with only one more serious flaw and a record-breaking resolution performance – we don’t doubt that the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.2 PRO deserves our ‘Editors’ Choice’ badge. Our summary is exceptionally short but there’s really nothing to talk about. It’s another excellent Micro 4/3 lens. …”

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 Pro prime lens

Commentary

As our gallery below indicates, the Micro Four Thirds format is not without some notable choices in fast zoom lenses and faster prime lenses in short to medium telephoto focal lengths suitable for the traditional approach to portrait photography and for closeup and big closeup shots in moviemaking, so the LensTip Editor’s Choice Award for the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.2 Pro prime lens is noteworthy indeed.

Voigtländer Nokton 42.5mm f/0.95

SLR Magic HyperPrime Cine 50mm T0.95

Veydra 50mm T2.2 Mini Prime

Panasonic Lumix G 42.5mm f/1.7 Aspheric Power OIS

Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 Power OIS

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 II Power OIS

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro

Links

LensTip.com – Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.2 PRO

Olympus Global – M.Zuiko Pro

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on and purchasing through these affiliate links helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success’.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter – B&H

Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. Lens – B&H

Panasonic Lumix G 42.5mm f/1.7 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. Lens – B&H

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 II POWER O.I.S. Lens – B&H

SLR Magic HyperPrime Cine 50mm T0.95 Lens with MFT Mount – B&H

Veydra 50mm T2.2 Mini Prime Lens – B&H

LensTip.com: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.2 PRO "... A long list of assets with only one more serious flaw and a record-breaking resolution performance - we don’t doubt that the…

[karingottschalk]

Olympus Australia is running its Summer Bonus promotion from 1st November 2017 to 31st January 2018 for Australian and New Zealand residents purchasing eligible Olympus cameras and lenses purchased in the promotion period. Terms and conditions apply. 

Eligible Olympus cameras and lenses include the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, OM-D E-M5 Mark II, Pen-F and a range of M.Zuiko Pro professional prime and zoom lenses.

Links

Olympus Australia – OLYMPUS Summer Bonus

Olympus Australia – Olympus ‘Summer Bonus’ Promotion – Terms & Conditions – PDF

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on these affiliate links and purchasing through them helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success’.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Olympus PEN-F Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter – B&H

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO Lens – B&H

Olympus Australia Summer Bonus Promotion, Up to AU$300 Off for Eligible M.Zuiko Pro, OM-D and Pen Cameras and Lenses Olympus Australia is running its Summer Bonus promotion from 1st November 2017 to 31st January 2018 for Australian and New Zealand residents purchasing eligible Olympus cameras and lenses purchased in the promotion period.

[karingottschalk]

Micro Four Thirds rumours website 4/3 Rumors, sister site of Fujifilm rumours website Fuji Rumors, has uncovered an interview by Japanese digital camera site D.C Watch with the designers of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro prime lens about further such professional quality M.Zuiko Pro lenses to come. The interview is a good read even in its machine-translated English version. 

First f/1.2 maximum aperture prime lens in the Olympus M.Zuiko Pro professional-quality lens series, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro. Olympus has already designed the next two f/1.2 primes, with more possibly to come.

The interview’s most promising revelation is that Olympus has been actively listening to customers and so the prime lens side of the M-Zuiko Pro series will soon be gaining a second f/1.2 maximum aperture lens, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro.

The 4/3 Rumors folks previously reported that Olympus had already designed two more fast f/1.2 primes, one of them being the 17mm. I wonder what the other is?

A very quick snapshot made with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro lens wide open during an Olympus camera event in Sydney. Even a very brief hands-on with this lens and several others in the M.Zuiko Pro range confirmed their high quality, solid construction and appeal as sturdy professional-standard lenses for stills and video.

I am an unrepentant former Leica M-System rangefinder lens user from my magazine, newspaper and corporate photography days and became accustomed to the idea of mechanically superb, optically extraordinary, near-indestructible, colour-matched prime lens sets.

Although I did not manage to build a Leica lens lineup as well-populated as the one illustrated below, I came close and happily relied on them for many years. Each focal length was just right for the tasks for which I bought it and each earned its place in my lens kit again and again.

Three Well-Spaced Lens Lineups

The current Olympus M.Zuiko Pro prime and zoom lens range from 8mm through to 300mm focal lengths.

My personal benchmark for well-spaced colour-matched sets of professional-quality primes, Leica’s Summicron-M f/2 lenses with the 21mm Summilux-M thrown in at the wide end.

The current Veydra Mini Prime cinema lens lineup, from 12mm through to 85mm all at a maximum aperture of T2.2.

Contemporary videography and stills photography make more demands of lenses than stills photography as I practiced it during the analog era ever did. Now that we are in the midst of the 4K era and Panasonic’s Lumix GH5 is introducing us to 6K video through its video-based 6K Photo functionality, optics must be sharper, better corrected and more highly resolved.

I am now a zoom lens convert thanks to the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro and its f/2.8 sister zooms in the 7-14mm and 40-150mm focal lengths but they have their limitations when shooting in available darkness.

That essential three-zoom lens kit needs to be supplemented with matching high speed prime lenses when light is in limited supply and when bokeh and subject against background separation is an essential storytelling element.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro fills the gap in the middle of the focal length range and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro, with that focal length being my most relied-on of all time, will be a welcome second.

I would love to see several other M.Zuiko Pro primes make their appearance soon and the obvious focal lengths would be 10.5mm, 14mm and 42.5mm. The latter would clearly benefit from an f/1.2 maximum aperture though it would not be absolutely crucial for the wider two.

I know that Olympus makes some excellent prime lenses in its Premium lens range, but the M.Zuiko Pro lenses are a leap above as professional instruments able to endure some of the most challenging conditions in which documentary photographs and movies are made.

I have non-M.Zuiko Pro lenses for less challenging work, but my Leica days raised the bar high and the M.Zuiko Pro zooms and prime lenses approach that high standard.

Links:

4/3 Rumors – Olympus 25mm f/1.2 PRO lens designer interview: More f/1.2 lenses are coming!

D.C Watch – M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 25mm F1.2 PRO “美しいボケ”に挑んだオリンパスの意��作

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[karingottschalk]

Olympus Australia and digiDIRECT held a launch event in Sydney for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Micro Four Thirds/Super 16 hybrid digital camera recently. I am often asked when I am going to try out and write about various cameras, lenses and accessories of interest to independent digital filmmakers and stills photographers, so the launch was a rare chance to see the OM-D E-M1 Mark II in the flesh, as it were, along with some of Olympus’ reputedly excellent M.Zuiko Pro professional lenses. 

I am also often asked for the best advice I can give stills photographers and moviemakers just starting out as well as long-established professionals in both fields. Opportunities to see and try production hardware are few and far between here so my ability to provide that advice is limited by that, but one colleague in particular wanted to know my opinion of the Olympus OM-D cameras and Olympus M.Zuiko Pro professional lens series.

He is considering revamping his production kit now that small camera 4K movie production has become an affordable reality and wanted to know which lenses he should buy and what camera system in particular. He prefers primes over zooms but is happy to use zooms when he needs to.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Micro Four Thirds/Super 16 Hybrid Camera

I did not have an opportunity to try out the OM-D E-M1 Mark II at the event so the best advice I can give is to check out the plethora of product reviews and information available online.

If a review loaner is available sometime soon I will be very keen to put the OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s 4K video and other capabilities to the test.

One thing I was told about the OM-D E-M1 Mark II was a standout – it is equipped with a button on the front of the camera that is allocated to custom white balance, crucial when shooting video and yet one that makers of other video-capable hybrid cameras often seem to forget.

The Olympus Micro Four Thirds M.Zuiko Pro Lens Lineup

Left to right, the Olympus M.Zuiko Pro professional lens lineup as of January 2017, including the 7-14mm f/2.8 wide-angle zoom, 8mm f/1.8 full-frame fisheye, 12-40mm f/2.8 standard zoom, 12-100mm f/4.0 travel zoom, 25mm f/1.2 prime, 40-150mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom and 300mm f/4.0 prime telephoto lens.

For the work my colleague does, a fast 25mm prime lens – equivalent to 50mm in 35mm format – is a mainstay so he wanted to know what I thought of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro especially in combination with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II for shooing video.

My moviemaking colleague has other cameras to which M43 lenses can be attached without adapters, including those made by Blackmagic Design or via adapters such as Digital Bolex‘s D16 CCD sensor global shutter Super 16 cameras. So any new lens purchases need to work with a range of cameras, current and future, mostly in manual mode but with autofocus when advantageous.

He is a documentary cinematographer so matched manual cinema lens sets such as as those made by Veydra are not in consideration, though they certainly would be were he a feature filmmaker or specialized in the sort of pre-planned, focus-pulling style of cinematography that Veydra primes suit perfectly.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro

One of the two most recent M.Zuiko Pro lenses to appear, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro is the second prime lens to join the Olympus professional lens collection.

Although the 25mm focal length, equivalent to 50mm in 35mm format, is not one of my favourite local lengths of all time, 25mm most certainly has its uses when shooting stills and video. It is useful for full-length and half-length portrait photography, covering events conducted in available darkness as this product launch was, and is a much-used focal length in documentary and feature filmmaking.

I like 25mm lenses for face-to-camera interviews, interviewer-and-interviewee two-shots and product shots when I don’t need the immersive deep space feel better suited to extreme wide-angle lenses.

Although slower 25mm lenses have their place especially when breaking into video and stills photography, fast 25mm primes are invaluable when faced with a range of lighting conditions such as the one under which I shot the photograph below.

With aperture set at f/1.2 and my Panasonic Lumix GX8 at A for aperture priority and auto ISO, I manually focussed the lens on the eyes of the Olympus Australia staffer in the centre, allowing everything else in the image to fall into defocus aka bokeh.

One of the unknown pleasures of the GX8 is its clean HDMI-out 4:2:0 8-bit 4K video, non-DCI for sure but great for documentary moviemaking as a lightweight but powerful rangefinder-style camera, a well-kept secret that only filmmakers like Rick Young of Movie Machine seem to appreciate.

Invest in the coming Leeming LUT One for the GX8, set your camera up as recommended, shoot ETTR (expose to the right), apply the LUT in your NLE, rinse and repeat. Do the same for your other cameras. Doubtless a Leeming LUT One for the OM-D E-M1 Mark II will appear soon enough.

One of the several joys of Olympus’ M.Zuiko Pro professional lens collection is their clutch manual focus. Draw the focus encoder ring back towards the camera, spin it left and right, watch critical detail snap into focus with focus magnification or focus peaking, then shoot.

Under this focussing system the encoder ring goes from close to infinity in a quarter turn, perfect when focus-pulling or needing to snap from one focussing distance to another and back. Count me as a major fan of this form of manual focussing in contrast to manually focussing via encoder rings that spin and spin and spin.

My colleague tells me he is in the market for a fast wide-angle prime lens in the region of 12mm, and is considering the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12mm f/1.4 Aspheric lens as he is very happy with his Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 Aspheric Power OIS lens. I wonder if Olympus is planning on expanding the prime lenses in its M.Zuiko Pro collection soon?

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4.0 Pro

Although I had all bar one M.Zuiko Pro lens on my mental list to try out at the event, that exception being the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro that I have had for a while now, the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4.o Pro travel zoom was second on my list.

My interest in the travel zoom lens category had been piqued when trying out Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR zoom lens last year. Given the long focal length range travel zooms encompass, there will be compromises in optical correction and the same applies to the lenses’ maximum apertures.

I managed to snap off a couple of frames before the lens was needed the other side of the room, but in the image below one can see a certain amount of barrel optical distortion in the white columns and ceiling.

This barrel distortion can be corrected automatically with in-camera JPEGs – I rarely shoot them as I much prefer shooting raw files only – and in correction-savvy raw processors and image editors.

Optical distortion when shooting video is another matter again though. Optical correction in non-linear editors (NLEs) would be far too processor-intensive and so one must grit one’s teeth and bear it. Hence the curved parallel horizontals and vertical one often sees in television shows.

This lens is in interesting proposition, with its long focal length range, slower maximum aperture than the M.Zuiko Pro collection’s other zoom lenses, relatively small size and low weight for its reach, and Olympus’ very first attempt at in-lens optical image stabilization (OIS).

The OIS in this lens reportedly works in conjunction with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s 5-axis IBIS (in-body image stabilization) though I would prefer to test that out in practice. The big question for Panasonic users is, will this lens’ OIS also work in conjunction with the IBIS in the GH5?

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Pro

Older than the other two lenses I tried out, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Pro was also on my wishlist of lens tryouts. Fisheye lenses are a low priority – I have resisted the temptations of the GoPro camera range – but this lens has potential for special situations like time-lapse stills and video in tight, poorly-lit spaces, or extreme close-ups.

The outstanding feature of this lens is a much higher maximum aperture than other full-frame fisheye lenses of which I am aware, and its good light distribution with lack of noticeable fall-off though I was using it in poor lighting.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Pro is definitely one to try again in future.

Snapshots from the Event

Conclusions

I managed to achieve two out of three goals that night, briefly trying out the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 25mm f/1.2 Pro prime lens and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4.0 Pro zoom lens. My short play with the  Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Pro was an unplanned bonus.

Other than the  Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro which I already own, I want to give the 7-14mm f/2.8 wide-angle, the 40-150mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom and perhaps the 300mm f/4.0 prime telephoto lenses a go.

The same applies to the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, the ostensible star attraction at the event but one which I did not manage to spend time with. From its specifications list, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II looks like it is a Super 16 hybrid video camera to be taken very seriously indeed, especially given Olympus has got it right with the small but essential things like custom white balance.

I look forward to learning more about the OM-D E-M1 Mark II’s video production features soon. This year is already a very interesting one for 4K video and the question now is which new camera and which range of lenses to consider investing in.

Image Credits:

Header image by Carmel D. Morris.

Tech Notes:

Colour photographs made with Panasonic Lumix GX8 camera using three Olympus lenses, the M.Zuiko ED 8mm f1/8, 25mm f/1.2 and 12-100mm then processed with ON1 Photo Raw 2017.

Monochrome event photographs made with Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens, then processed with ON1 Photo Raw 2017 using the Bogart Cool preset.

Is the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Is Poised to Make Waves in the 4K Video World? Olympus Australia and digiDIRECT held a launch event in Sydney for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Micro Four Thirds/Super 16 hybrid digital camera…