On top of that, those who switch to Panasonic bodies may be less likely to buy Oly lenses in the future due to lack of OIS.

Anyway, it sounds like they are working on it, which is great for us Oly users and for the format in general.

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my flickr

Don't agree with your assessment of good Olympus lenses. The 40-150 for example is a very very good lens (look at the review on slrgear.com), and the price is nothing but incredible. Furthermore, the Panasonic 14 is nice, but not amazing. Sharpness is comparable to the Oly 14-42 Mk2 kit zoom at 14mm and equal apertures. And, ignoring the price difference, the 75-300 is at least a match for the 100-300 if not better.

I agree that Olympus makes some good bargain lenses (like 17mm or 40-150mm), but are they really great?

Also let's compare 75-300 and 100-300.

1) 75-300 is slower (f/6.7 at the long end).
2) 75-300 doesn't have OIS and IBIS is not effective at longer FL.
3) 75-300 is twice as expensive.

Unfortunately, SLRGear.com have not tested the 100-300mm yet, but their review of 75-300 is somewhat less than glowing. Basically they say the lens needs to be stopped down to f/11 at the long end to achieve good results. Shooting at 600mm EFL at f/11 and without OIS? Good luck with that.

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As a truly great man, I hate people with delusions of grandeur.

Well, the 17mm seems to be somewhat OK, but I think the 40-150mm is really underrated. Check the sharpness graphs on slrgear.com, quite amazing imho.

Agree about the aperture and price of the 75-300. I've read that IBIS is supposed to be less effective at long FL, but I don't think anyone has said it's not effective at all?

Just tried to search Flickr for images from the Olympus 75-300 mm lens.

NO results. It seems the lens is so great that nobody is buying it.

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As a truly great man, I hate people with delusions of grandeur.

I guess that means the iPhone 4 must be a great camera ;-)

I think you need to add the 14-150 and the 40-150 on the Oly side. The 9-18 is clearly more popular than the 7-14, and the 45/1.8 has been rockin.

The P20 is probably the gold standard, and the P14 and 25 are gettting a lot of love. The 100-300 (or the 75-300 for that matter) are specialist lenses.

I think they are not that far apart in lens options/popularity, with the edge to Panny. I've never heard any major rattlesnake issue on the 20. I had that lens for 18 months on my EP1, I don't ever remember that. The 25 does make noise, but doesn't impact my shooting.

I much prefer Oly bodies -- control, ergos, looks -- and I think others do, too. I don't think this one lens issue will sink their ship (just off the coast of the Cayman Islands -- sorry; just had to)

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EM5; 9-18, PL25, 100-300 and some others.
(also, 6D + RX100)

Don't get me wrong, the 75-300 could be a very good lens. But we will never know for sure because nobody will buy it.

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As a truly great man, I hate people with delusions of grandeur.

Thanks for the update. I guess the Olympus response is boiler-plate CYA, but it's still not entirely encouraging.

DH

I've never had problem with Panny 20 rattlesnake, I can't hear it. It should not be compared to PL25 which is so much louder that it amounts to a different problem. I think it's because the aperture blades are much bigger and the lens is brighter. Unlike 14-140 HD, PL25 doesn't have stepless aperture