Rumor has it the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 will be shipping in December with a price tag around €550. Another recent "premium" Olympus lens, the M. Zuiko 75mm f/1.8, was introduced simultaneously for €949 in Europe and $899 in the United States, so I'm guessing that the new 17mm lens will come in close to the $550 mark in the US.

For those who didn't see the other thread, M43.eu posted full size images as well as RAW files for download from a production version of the new 17mm f/1.8 lens (link, translation).

The M43.eu writer was disappointed by the performance of the new Zuiko wide angle lens, but I came away from the samples with a positive impression and will look forward to buying if the price comes in under $600.

Sources:

• (FT5) Rumor upgrade: Yes, the Olympus 17mm is coming! | 43 Rumors
• Olympus 17 mm f/1,8: pierwsze zdj

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Amin
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I was hoping Olympus would be able to hit the $499 price point. But $550 is not bad, it could have been a lot worse.

I hope this lens will be good. Looking forward to real reviews.

M43.eu listed as a INITIAL PRODUCTION, is this not different than just a production run? I assume initial, to be a test run and not the final product so any assumptions made would be preemptive? Correct me if I'm mistaken.

I guess that's my mistake. I was reading the Google translation and thought it was a production version.

The US pricing hasn't been announced yet. 43 Rumors said 550 Euros and based on that they guessed $710 for US pricing. I'm guessing between $499 and $599.

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Amin
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Amin, for the record I read the google translation as well, but it did say initial production...so being a translation it may be open to interpretation. Hence my comment of correct me if I'm mistaken, I know as much or less than you on this lens based on a few sentences and some very amateur shots. My take from amateur review and a translation is that initial may mean pre-production run, hopefully I'm right and the final product will be even better. Either way, I know I'll be adding this to my collection and finally not feel bad for ditching the 20.

So long winded as my explanation was, I'm sorry if my initial statement offended you in anyway, that was not my intent.

Looks nice. I wonder what the dimensions of it are. I hope it's not too tall.

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At 500, I'm in. At more than that, I'm really struggling.

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No offense taken - I think your Google translation interpretation was better than mine .

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Amin
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Looks to be fairly compact: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 Hands-On Photos | PhotographyBLOG

When I use the E-PM2, even the PL25 starts to feel bulky, mostly because it's wider than the mount. The new 17/1.8 and the old 45/1.8 will make a great, compact two-lens combo.

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Amin
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I had guessed this would land at 699US, so seeing the 499-599 rumor is encouraging.

However, hoping those samples are pre-production runs. It seems rather lackluster (tho, the samples aren't great either).