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The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Printable Version

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The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Sylvain - 09-09-2013

Same here, the 12-35mm seemed to be frankly a mixed bag. I'd rather get a slightly heavier lens that won't let me live constantly in doubt.

 

Fuji has claimed they designed their new 23mm to be 100% optically corrected. Olympus' bulky 12-40 will probably still resorts to digital corrections but hopefully less than Panasonic. I'm confident Olympus intends to make a hit tomorrow.




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Guest - 09-10-2013

Quote:The first picture of the combo:

 

http://www.43rumors.com/ft5-first-picture-of-the-new-12-40mmf-2-8-olympus-mft-lens/
2200 Euro for the combo, 1500 Euro for the E-M1 body only.



The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - frank - 09-10-2013

Quite bulky next to EM5: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympus-om-d-e-m1/images/sidebysideem5Fr.jpg




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Brightcolours - 09-10-2013

Quite expensive lens.... For a 24-80mm f5.6 FF equivalent. If the price I read is correct: $999. Nice lens for the platform, but not really competitive across platforms then. 




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Guest - 09-10-2013

Quote:Quite expensive lens....
Indeed. The MFT stuff gets better and better but at these price levels I am not willing to participate.




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - frank - 09-10-2013

Olympus lens roadmap: http://www.ephotozine.com/articles/olympus-pro-lens-roadmap-22867/images/highres-olympus-lens-roadmap-2013-2014_1378468775.jpg




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - felix - 09-10-2013

Quote:For a 24-80mm f5.6 FF equivalent. [...] Nice lens for the platform, but not really competitive across platforms then. 
 

While you are correct with regard to the FF equivalence, I don't think it does this lens justice.

As I see it, the main purpose of fast standard zoom lenses is not minimal DOF, but versatitiy with respect to both focal lengths and lighting situations (indoor photography without flash etc). With f/2.8 and a usable ISO of 3200 (maybe even 6400 in a pinch) on the OM-D cameras, this lens offers just that.

Another thing to be noted is that this is Olympus' first standard zoom that you can actually stop down without being limited by diffraction. I expect to see some very good performance at 40mm f/5.6 with this lens. 

 

As far as competiveness across platforms is concerned, I don't think that MFT ever will be (nor wants to be) competitive with FF cameras in terms of high ISO performance & shallow DOF. It's just a matter of what you consider "good enough" in those areas and how you value other aspects of the systems (e.g. size, weight, and whatnot).



The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - Brightcolours - 09-10-2013

Quote:While you are correct with regard to the FF equivalence, I don't think it does this lens justice.
Why not?

Quote:As I see it, the main purpose of fast standard zoom lenses is not minimal DOF, but versatitiy with respect to both focal lengths and lighting situations (indoor photography without flash etc).
And as being equivalent to a 24-80mm f5.6, in what way is it more versatile to a 24-70mm f4 on FF (or 24-80mm f5.6 on FF, if such a thing would exist), a 17-55mm f2.8 on APS-C?

Quote:With f/2.8 and a usable ISO of 3200 (maybe even 6400 in a pinch) on the OM-D cameras, this lens offers just that.
That is the same thing as saying with f5.6 and a usable ISO <setting> of 12800 on the D600/6D cameras... 

Quote:Another thing to be noted is that this is Olympus' first standard zoom that you can actually stop down without being limited by diffraction. I expect to see some very good performance at 40mm f/5.6 with this lens. 
It is a nice lens on the platform, as I said. But not so nice when you look cross platform. Anyway, I am pretty sure that at 16mp on the MFT sensor, you will already have loss of resolution due to diffraction at f5.6. Just like you have loss of resolution due to diffraction on FF at f11 (and on APS-C at f8).

Quote:As far as competiveness across platforms is concerned, I don't think that MFT ever will be (nor wants to be) competitive with FF cameras in terms of high ISO performance & shallow DOF. It's just a matter of what you consider "good enough" in those areas and how you value other aspects of the systems (e.g. size, weight, and whatnot).
As I said, nice lens on MFT. But it is not a lot smaller than "f4" lenses on APS-C, is it?




The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - thxbb12 - 09-10-2013

Quote:Why not?

And as being equivalent to a 24-80mm f5.6, in what way is it more versatile to a 24-70mm f4 on FF (or 24-80mm f5.6 on FF, if such a thing would exist), a 17-55mm f2.8 on APS-C?

That is the same thing as saying with f5.6 and a usable ISO <setting> of 12800 on the D600/6D cameras... 

It is a nice lens on the platform, as I said. But not so nice when you look cross platform. Anyway, I am pretty sure that at 16mp on the MFT sensor, you will already have loss of resolution due to diffraction at f5.6. Just like you have loss of resolution due to diffraction on FF at f11 (and on APS-C at f8).

As I said, nice lens on MFT. But it is not a lot smaller than "f4" lenses on APS-C, is it?
 

By looking at the SNR graph for both the EP-5 and the D600 at dxomark.com, it appears there isn't 2 stops of difference in terms of noise between the 2 sensors. It looks more like a 1 1/3 stops of difference. Therefore, ISO 3200 on the EP-5 should offer similar noise performance to ISO ~8000 on Nikon FF. In theory it should be 2 stops, but in practice there is some efficiency loss it seems. And all of this is not including the benefit of Oly's incredible IS system.

 

The thing is, MFT has easily reached "good enough" IQ for me (using latest sensors), even at high ISO (up to 3200). Mind you, I own a D800 and I don't use it much since I bought into the MFT system very recently.  Most of the time, I don't want to lug my D800 kit around, so instead I grab my Pana G3 + 14 f2.5, 25 f1.4 and 45 f1.8. Despite that sensor being outdated compared to the one in the OM-D, I still grab my G3 in place of my D800! The G3 + 14mm fits in my short's pocket, that's soooo convenient! I never thought I would favor my MFT gear over my FF kit. Well... it happened.

Originally, I had bought the MFT kit for occasional snapshot on my way to work. Funny how things turn out.  My dad has an E-PL5 and the IQ is really good for 95% of my needs... I think we have reached very high IQ standards and it's very very difficult to distinguish between cameras' output regardless of the format, except perhaps under exceptionally challenging conditions.

What I forgot to mention is AF inaccuracy: this is also one of the main reasons I'll never consider going back to traditional mirror DSLRs. I find it so liberating to know my photo is gonna be sharp and the focus will be exactly were I wanted, regardless of the lens or the lighting conditions.

 

From my point of view (I'm no pro), carrying a big backpack full of FF lenses doesn't justify the IQ difference over the convenience MFT provides. In the real world, as long as I don't print a 3 by 2 meter billboard, I find the difference in IQ between FF and MFT to be insignificant. Of course, your mileage may vary. 

 

Oh and I now enjoy photography much more than before Tongue



The Coming Oly EM1+12-40mm f2.8 MFT - felix - 09-10-2013

@Brightcolours:

I am very much aware of FF-equivalence, but thanks for pointing it out (again)  Big Grin

 

The point I was trying to make was that this lens let's you do things that other zooms in the system don't (except the 12-35/2.8). If f/2.8@ISO3200 is (good) enough, which it usually is with the OM-D, there is no need for a bigger sensor, except for shallow DOF. Once you reach this point, I think that FF-equivalence -in terms of noise performance- becomes less important and other aspects become more important for a cross-system comparison.

So when I said that it doesn't do the lens justice, I meant that dismissing this lens as a 24-80/5.6 only considers relative aspects, when absolute aspects might also be important to note. 

 

Of course you could also use a f/4 lens on APS-C, or a f/5.6 lens on FF, but then... you're not using an OM-D  Wink

 

We could argue whether diffraction starts to become noticable at f/5.6 or f/4, but the point is that this lens should outresolve all other Olympus standard zooms at the long end.