https://www.43rumors.com/olympus-wi...new-8-25mm-f-4-pro-lens-added-to-the-roadmap/
After the
major downer announcement about Olympus imaging being sold and likely downsized, this announcement was really a pleasant surprise. I can't help but wonder if these are sort of the "last gasp" products from the original imaging group, and after this everything will change... I'm sure everyone has already seen this and has been talking about it, but I didn't see any threads about the new wide angle zoom, so I thought I'd start a thread to see how others reacted.
A longer macro and a another more compact wide angle lens for landscapes (that takes filters) are 2 Olympus lenses I have wanted to see for years, and I don't think I'm the only one... So this will affect my decision of whether and how fast to "slow down" or someday abandon Olympus. The 8-25mm f/4 especially is going to be hard for me to resist. I was VERY tempted to get the Panasonic 10-25 f/1.7, but it was
so expensive that I held off, even after it went on sale for a little while recently. Now that this smaller Olympus option is on the horizon, I will wait for it. The Panasonic lens would be better for nightscapes, but the Olympus will be much smaller and more affordable... I could see myself just leaving the 8-25mm on my camera for long periods as a general purpose lens for hikes/landscape use. And if the new macro is also a smaller f/4 lens (or f/2.8), I might just stick with Olympus for quite a while, regardless of what happens...
Glad to hear confirmation that the super expensive 150-400 is still going to happen... I don't care that it has been delayed yet again, because I really doubt I will get it. I'll more likely stick with my 300 pro +1.4X teleconverter. The "bird detect" mode for AF is was also great to see, although I don't think I will ever own the E-M1X, so I will have to wait and hope for it to trickle down to a smaller body. Personally, I doubt the "bird detect" will work perfectly in the first iteration anyway, but it was a great to see it announced.
Dave