Give me the 12mm oly, 20mm pana, 45mm oly, 75mm oly and the pana 100-300 and i can die happy, although im pretty sure i will be dead before i can afford them all lol

The cheap & excellent 45mm f/1.8 made it hard to justify legacy 50mm's, so off they went to eBay. But the price tag on the 75mm is so high for me--given how I often I use that focal length--that it's rekindled interest in lenses like the Jupiter-9 which will do the job at a fraction of the price. No, the J-9 won't be as sharp as the new Oly, and it doesn't AF . . . but for my needs it's good enough.

That's what I think about the price tag on the new 75mm f/1.8.

__________________
E-PM2 & OM-D in sunny Florida

I'm probably one of the few that appreciate Olympus is making a lens of such quality. I haven't really use this focal length before but I'm usually able to adjust and find a use for it.

Having the Voigtlander 25mm and some old glasses make me really appreciate the feel, the look, and robustness of these metal constructed lenses provided of course they have good optics and takes good pictures. I know a lot of people don't really care about the look and feel as long as it takes good pictures. I personally like to have both.

In terms of build and feel, the Olympus 12mm and 75mm are closer to Leica, Voigtlander, Zesis, etc. than the counterparts of like plastic Panasonic, Canon, Nikon. In addition, it provides autofocus which Leica, Voigtlander, etc. do not. At this focal, I would prefer autofocus.

So this probably sums it up. There ain't too many lens that I know of that is small, good metal construction build, looks great, autofocus, (and also assuming it takes great pictures) like the 12mm and 75mm.

I mean of course I wish it was cheaper. But I rather pay this price than paying something cheaper for the build of 45mm. Nothing wrong with the 45mm. I have it and use it often. But picking up the 12mm and comparing to the 45 just feels different in a way I can't really explain.

Hopefully I don't get flame for this, but that's what I feel. I already pre-ordered it so we'll see. I think few years ago I would never spent so much on a lens. My budget back then was like under $100 so I got cctv lens and canon fd to play with

I appreciate it and love that they are making high quality lenses, its just that i cant afford them, especially since the prices in iceland are INSANE thanks to taxes, the 12mm here is about 1200-1300$ for example.

But wait. You haven't used it. So how do you know what the build and feel are like?

And as for feel, that is intimately tied to the ability to smoothly focus MANUALLY. The Olympus 12mm has this, but so far it's the only MFT lens with that special choke mechanism. Is the 75mm going to have this too? I didn't see it on the spec sheet.

Oh, and it isn't metal. It just has a metallic finish, when most of us would prefer to be black.

So, no, it is not comparable to Leica, Voigtlander or even Pentax. If it had the MF choke, black finish, and came with a proper hood, then it might well be worth it. As it is, it seems to only be pretending to be a premium lens. Very unfortunate.

__________________
Listen to my new album "The Drones" free on BandCamp. Visit my Flickr images, website, or blog. Cheers!

Maybe this will clear up some misinformation.

The M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm lens is a high-grade fast aperture portrait lens featuring metallic construction and a light weight of just 10.7 oz. With a 35mm equivalent focal length of 150mm, it is suitable for studio portraits, theatre stage and indoor sports photography. A large bright 50mm front lens element compliments a sophisticated optical design of 10 individual lens elements in 9 groups, including a total of 3 ED lenses and 2 HR lenses.

Clear and sharp image quality starts from its largest f1.8 aperture, and a 9 blade aperture unit produces beautiful circular defocusing. MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) AF drive assures fast and nearly silent focusing. Lens elements feature Olympus’ ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) coating technology. Close focusing down to 29.5 inches is possible.

- High-Grade Portrait Lens (150mm 35mm equivalent)

- High-speed, single-focal-length telephoto lens that is optimized for studio, stage, indoor sports and portrait photography.

- High-quality, compact, stunning metal body.

- Nine-blade circular aperture unit 10 lens elements in nine groups Just 2.7 inches Large 50mm diameter glass front.

- MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) auto-focusing mechanism

Item # V311040SU000

Everything I have read has said metal body, where did you see otherwise?

__________________

This is probably my biggest gripe with Oly (and anyone really). This should be included with every lens made. I'll forgo wanting everything reversible in storage, but c'mon people, it's not rocket science. Ok, I get a metal hood costs money. Sell it separately. I'd honestly be happy with a plastic hood if they just included something (I know I'll get flak for this last bit, heh).

I think this lens will produce really amazing pictures. For me though, aside from the price, the main issue is that with an unstabilized prime of this focal length one should really use an Olympus body with it to take advantage of the in-body stabilization, right? Since I don't have one at this point, I'll just stay on the sidelines for now

Image stabilization should rarely/never be the difference between purchasing or not-purchasing a lens ... just as an included/excluded hood should not make a difference in purchasing.

G

__________________
"Everywhere you look there are photographs, it is up to us photogs to see them."- Gary Ayala
My Snaps are Here: Unsharp At Any Speed
Critiquing my images is welcomed and greatly appreciated.