Olympus 8-25 f4 PRO

[pixturethis]

Any idea of when the 8-25 will start to ship to the USA ?

 

[Alberta Dave]

Or even Canada?

 

[Holoholo55]

Any idea of when the 8-25 will start to ship to the USA ?

Apparently, you could have pre-ordered it and got it. Now showing as: On backorder. New orders expected to begin shipping in August from Getolympus.com.

 

[pixturethis]

That sucks as I did pre-order mine on June 9th from B&H.

 

[pixturethis]

B&H told me today they expect a shipment in on July 21st.

 

[getoutnshoot]

Try your local camera store that supports pros/enthusiasts. I realize that is not an option for everyone, but I live in the SF Bay area. I had called one of my local camera stores ~3 weeks ago, and I told them I wanted to buy one. They took my name and called me back today saying they had received some. So I ran out and now I have one. I don't know how many they got in or if they have any still unclaimed, but the store is "Looking Glass Photo" in Berkeley. I've also bought new gear from "Camera West" in Walnut Creek and they have another location somewhere in CA.

First new lens for me in quite a while. I don't buy many lenses right when they come out at full price plus sales tax, but I've been wishing for and then looking forward to this one for what seems like forever, so I splurged. For me, this is an ideal "single lens" for landscapes (including long exposures with filters), it also does closeup/near macro, and just snapshots. It covers ~90% of what I most want when I go hiking, and it would also be a primary piece in a very limited 2 or 3 lens travel kit.

My first impression of the build and handling on my E-M1 II is very nice. Like a lot of folks, all other things being equal, I would have preferred a lens that doesn't extend, but what matters most is how it performs, and I'm hopeful about that.

Dave

 

[getoutnshoot]

I wonder how long it will take Olympus OM Digital to do a firmware release to add support for focus stacking/bracketing with the 8-25mm? I'll be kind of anxious for that now, and I'd be really surprised if they don't do that.

Dave

 

[doady]

There is new firmware 3.5 for E-M1 II at least, just for focus bracketing with 8-25mm F4.

Vistek and Henry's in Canada still list 8-25mm F4 as a preorder item, none in stock at any location, but Camera Canada which is in London claim to have it in stock. Amazon haven't even added it to their site yet and at this point I am starting to doubt they ever will.

8-25mm F4 seems perfect for urban environments - cityscapes, street, architecture, abstract - that is most of my photography. But I will have little opportunity to take advantage of ultra-wide angle for another month, so I am in no rush, and maybe there will be a better price. I will very reluctantly and with very sad face try to keep using 12-100mm F4 in the meantime. After, my plan is to continue bringing only one lens at a time, but 8-25mm for urban environment and 12-100mm for natural or rural environment.

 

[getoutnshoot]

There is new firmware 3.5 for E-M1 II at least, just for focus bracketing with 8-25mm F4.

Thank you for letting me know! I was looking at this web site for the latest firmware, where it still showed the most current was 3.4. When I connected the camera using Olympus Workspace, I found version 3.5 available.

I agree this lens would be great for urban photography too. The main application where it falls short is subject isolation/bokeh, and of course it is not a telephoto, so not the best for candid people photos, etc. But no lens does everything without compromise.

I'm really glad Olympus is producing some "Pro" lenses with the very best image quality without the super wide maximum aperture. Of course having the speed is great, but wide aperture generally brings 3 other things: larger size, weight, and higher price. These days it seems all the best lenses force you to take those things in order to get the highest image quality. Case in point: the Panasonic 10-25mm. It is possible to design a premium lens with great image quality without making it fast and huge. Hopefully this 8-25mm is such a lens.

Dave

 

[doady]

I found variable aperture super annoying for telephoto with my previous camera, so constant aperture zoom was a must-have for me when I got into m4/3, and even F4 makes a big difference for telephoto. F4 strikes the right balance for me, but I can understand if others want F2.8 or F1.7 for low light and interiors. The sacrifices needed for F2.8 and especially F1.7 are just a bit too much for me, personally. As you say, no lens is without compromise.

 

[SrMiPhoto]

There is new firmware 3.5 for E-M1 II at least, just for focus bracketing with 8-25mm F4.
<snip>

The firmware information said that it enabled focus stacking not bracketing. Aren't all lenses compatible with focus bracketing (no assembly of files)?

 

[doady]

The firmware information said that it enabled focus stacking not bracketing. Aren't all lenses compatible with focus bracketing (no assembly of files)?

Yes, I meant to say focus stacking, not bracketing. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Holoholo55]

EM5 III firmware was also updated for 8-25 f4 Pro. Focus stacking enabled. EM1 III and EM1X not yet. There have been rumors of a big firmware update for these two, so maybe OMDS is waiting for that? Gotta be soon, because the lens is already out in the wild.

Well, whaddaya know? New firmware for EM1 III and EM1X is out. See here for details.
https://cs.olympus-imaging.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

Eh? No focus bracketing for 8-25 f4 on EM1X or EM1 III? I suspect another firmware update is coming soon. Why didn't they include it?

• Corrected the following problems that occurred when connecting to an external recorder with Monitor or Record output mode:
  • * The external recorder does not start recording when pressing the camera's record button if REC Bit is On.
  • * Time code is not transmitted to the external recorder if Time Code is On.

 

[SrMiPhoto]

EM5 III firmware was also updated for 8-25 f4 Pro. Focus stacking enabled. EM1 III and EM1X not yet. There have been rumors of a big firmware update for these two, so maybe OMDS is waiting for that? Gotta be soon, because the lens is already out in the wild.

Well, whaddaya know? New firmware for EM1 III and EM1X is out. See here for details.
https://cs.olympus-imaging.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

Eh? No focus bracketing for 8-25 f4 on EM1X or EM1 III? I suspect another firmware update is coming soon. Why didn't they include it?

• Corrected the following problems that occurred when connecting to an external recorder with Monitor or Record output mode:
  • * The external recorder does not start recording when pressing the camera's record button if REC Bit is On.
  • * Time code is not transmitted to the external recorder if Time Code is On.

Good news! Focus stacking is now supported on E-M1.3 and 8-25!
It is there, they just forgot to put it in the firmware description.
I updated E-M1.3 and I can select focus stacking with 8-25.

 

[Holoholo55]

Good news! Focus stacking is now supported on E-M1.3 and 8-25!
It is there, they just forgot to put it in the firmware description.
I updated E-M1.3 and I can select focus stacking with 8-25.

That makes sense, but why didn't they say it, as I would consider that vital information. :-O

The description of the update still doesn't say that.

 

[pixturethis]

Emailed B&H yesterday and they told me there didn’t know when my 8-25 would ship, today I see my money taken out of my account and have a shipping notice should be here Tuesday.

 

[Holoholo55]

That makes sense, but why didn't they say it, as I would consider that vital information. :-O

The description of the update still doesn't say that.

I emailed getolympus support and asked them if firmware v2.2 for the EM1X supports focus-stacking for the 8-25 f4 Pro. I also asked them why their site only shows the v2.0 update when the Joint Update Service shows that v2.2 is available. Hmm... some better coordination needed?

 

[doady]

Robin Wong just posted video review:

I will probably get this lens at end of October. I want to make more of an effort to capture the autumn colours this year and I don't need 8-25mm F4 for that. The window of opportunity is small and the excitement of a new lens will only distract me from that. November and December is a good time for desolate and depressing cityscapes, perfect opportunity to try out the 8-25mm F4, so I can wait.

I haven't seen many stores in Canada that have it in stock though. Vistek only had it for like a week, and I haven't seen it in stock at Henry's at all. Hopefully, it will be more readily available in a month or so.

 

[PakkyT]

Robin Wong just posted video review:

Nice review. Two comments.

First, just on a purely humorous note, has Robin always said "em em" instead of "millimeter"? I suppose saying "em em" is shorter but I don't think I have ever heard anyone speak the two letters rather than the word.

Second, I started to think about the whole collapsing lens design thing to make it more compact when not actually shooting. What is the point really? How much length are you saving? Seems to me when stowing the lens, clearly you save no weight by having it collapse a bit shorter and is the extra 1 cm (or as Robin might say, the extra 1 Cee Emm ), or whatever is the actual locked vs. deployed length change, really going to make a difference in someone's bag or having it hanging from your strap? As Robin mentioned in the video, in a rush to grab the shot, the extra moment to deploy the lens (especially if you forgot your collapsed it earlier) to be able to shoot could cause you to miss something.

Anyway, looks like a fantastic lens.

 

[Alberta Dave]

It certainly is a fantastic lens and it's sharp and very portable just need to get out a bit more and use it. I purchased mine and my good lady was so impressed that she called our local camera store and purchased the other copy they had on the shelf which was delivered by the store manager personally. There's great service for you