Anyone know if there really is a difference between these 2 lenses besides the colour - the black is AWESOME The "normal" 12mm is $599 and the "Limited Edition" is $899 (pomo prices on the Oly site)
Optically, there's no difference. The black one comes with a metal hood and lens cap, whereas the silver one does not.
Honestly, this is right up there as one of the biggest rip-off's I have seen in all of my photography years. Charging $300 more for a lens colour and lens hood.... Wow, Olympus. Just wow. But yeah to answer your question OP, no difference except the lens hood + colour. I was actually surprised not see this Oly 12mm announced in black when the rest of the Oly primes were...
The 45mm was in silver only at first, IIRC. When they released the black I believe it had a slight premium over the silver.
No. MSRP for silver and black 45/1.8 was the same. Ditto every other lens save the 12/2. Most places list the black version of the 12/2 as discontinued. My guess is that Olympus is going to wait a bit and eventually release a black 12/2 at the same price as the silver one (or perhaps a 12/2 version II in both black and silver).
AFAIK, all the limited edition are made in Japan; while the standard one is not always now, which used to be made in Japan at the beginning and moved to China later. Not sure if you care about this.
I have said for some time that increasingly photography is priced by caché not functionality or cost to develop and market. Usually at those times people have retorted that it was somehow worth it to them Besides Olympus isn't a charity, so if some wally reckons "pride of ownership" counts more ... well I suppose more power to Olympus
Just wait until the 12/2 LE sell out. Olympus will replace it with a new black SKU guaranteed, without the extras. I would only care to get the black lenses that are plastic, 45/1.8, 25/1.8. Because the faux silver they have is kind of lame. That being said I have a silver 45/1.8.
So it's just a total rip-off....wonder how on earth Olympus thought they could get away with it. Would love to know what the sales vloumes are since release...
My own limited edition cost no more than the silver version in December 2012 because it was heavily discounted by amazon.co.uk. After an initial lack of interest, many of the European sets would have been sold that way. Mine was therefore a bargain, but I certainly wouldn't have paid the full price for it.
I don't know why Olympus doesn't make the 12mm in black a regular option! All their other lenses are now black or silver. Personally I hate the look of a silver lens on a black body.
Is it stupid that Olympus charges more for the black 12mm than they do for the silver 12mm? Absolutely. However it was indeed a success, since the initial allotment of them sold out. Recently, they made another small batch and it too sold out rather quickly. I believe this was a test by Olympus to see if there was a market for black and silver versions of their lenses. Obviously there is, which is why Olympus offers every lens in either silver or black, with the exception of the 60 f/2.8, which only comes in black. The 12mm is a wonderful lens, and I'm very happy to have one in black. It would have looked quite odd to have 2 black primes and 1 silver one, especially on my all black Panasonic G6. {}
black absorbs more light and thus higher potential for thermal-induced physical distortion j/k although ive heard this is why Canon went White with their long lenses
I kind of like having Oly 12 in silver and Oly 17 in black, since their shape is quite similar, I can spot them easily based on the color Massimo
Price a lens hood for an Olympus 4/3s 90-250mm or the Nikon HK-38 for the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm VR lens. Many may consider the price for the 12mm SE outrageous - but it seems as if some people do not.
