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Olympus F1.8 25mm boxed lens review

raist3d

Well-known member
So today I got my new F1.8 25mm Olympus prime lens. I am still waiting on the OMD EM5 MKII to ship, and that will have to wait probably like two more weeks. What to do with the lens?- let's do an exclusive boxed review.

The lens comes in a box that seems to defy the style of the OMD line boxes, which is like gray/dark "high end scotch/whiskey" drink box, and instead comes in some "Olympus happy blue" along with a strip of photos marking the box on the left side, which is more reminiscent of the first Olympus P-1 marketing campaign.

I was concerned for a moment that this meant this lens was a bit like a Pentax Q toy lens, but the words "PREMIUM" re-assured me that this had to be-well, a premium product.

Looking around all six sides of the box does not reveal an itemization of in-box contents, which makes it a bit harder to guess if this lens comes with the hood or if it's a separate purchase (I heard this one in particular comes with the hood- crossing fingers).

The box was reasonably small, along with enough heft to indicate that it encompassed what seems to be some metallic device- that should probably the the lens I guess. This "enough of a heft feeling" made me realize that the box for now could be excellent at holding papers on my desk, making for an "Olympus lens prime themed" paper weight.

Anyhow, I decided not to open the box so I could give a proper "boxed lens review"- if we may call it that way, or if at a flip of a coin, at fate's will- I decided to cancel my pre-order and return the lens unopened to Amazon ready for sale.

- Ricardo
 

Elderly

Well-known member
Looking around all six sides of the box does not reveal an itemization of in-box contents, which makes it a bit harder to guess if this lens comes with the hood or if it's a separate purchase (I heard this one in particular comes with the hood- crossing fingers).



- Ricardo
Last week I was told by an Olympus rep that complaints about the lack of lens hoods had been heard and taken on board by the mother ship, and that now (or in future?) hoods will be supplied with the lenses.
 

drofnad

Member
[[[So]]] today I got my new F1.8 25mm Olympus prime lens. I am still waiting on the OMD EM5 MKII to ship, and that will have to wait probably like two more weeks. What to do with the lens?- let's do an exclusive boxed review.
...
Anyhow, I decided not to open the box so I could give a proper "boxed lens review"- if we may call it that way,

- Ricardo
It's not a proper review if we don't even get a picture of the box!

:wtf: <<< this means "Where's The Foto", of course.

:facesmack:
 

Annna T

Active member
Anyone tested or knows how that lens compare to the Panasonic 25mm F1.4.
I have to say that I love the results of the Panasonic, but the Olympus is so conveniently smaller that it gives one some thoughts.
I don't really care for bokey, so the slightly smaller aperture isn't a problem. But I like sharp lenses from corners to corners..
Plus the Panasonic is continually babbling.. so may be if the IQ is very good, I may change..

However actually the Panasonic inspite its cumbersome shape is one of my favorite lens on the E-M5, along with the 12-40mm and the 75mm F1.8 and the 20mm F1.8.
 

raist3d

Well-known member
Anyone tested or knows how that lens compare to the Panasonic 25mm F1.4.
I have to say that I love the results of the Panasonic, but the Olympus is so conveniently smaller that it gives one some thoughts.
I don't really care for bokey, so the slightly smaller aperture isn't a problem. But I like sharp lenses from corners to corners..
Plus the Panasonic is continually babbling.. so may be if the IQ is very good, I may change..

However actually the Panasonic inspite its cumbersome shape is one of my favorite lens on the E-M5, along with the 12-40mm and the 75mm F1.8 and the 20mm F1.8.
I have seen some images and a friend had both lenses and gave me a general comparison - The Olympus is small, it's sharp, it's high quality. The F1.4 Panny Leica has a certain extra micro contrast that gives it a subtle look that is sharper, more "real/3d" etc.

(this is paraphrased from what my friend told me). He did say both are good lenses though but optically he said the Panny/Leica is better. But we go into the sizes tradeoffs.

- Ricardo
 

douglasf13

New member
Anyone tested or knows how that lens compare to the Panasonic 25mm F1.4.
I have to say that I love the results of the Panasonic, but the Olympus is so conveniently smaller that it gives one some thoughts.
I don't really care for bokey, so the slightly smaller aperture isn't a problem. But I like sharp lenses from corners to corners..
Plus the Panasonic is continually babbling.. so may be if the IQ is very good, I may change..

However actually the Panasonic inspite its cumbersome shape is one of my favorite lens on the E-M5, along with the 12-40mm and the 75mm F1.8 and the 20mm F1.8.
I've not shot the Panasonic 25/1.4, and I just received the Olympus 25/1.8, but, from everything I've read, the Panasonic is slightly better in the center at wide apertures, but the Olympus has better corners throughout the aperture range. I've also read that the T stops of the two lenses is closer than the actual aperture number, so they're not that far off in terms of how much light each lets through, despite being f1.4 vs. f1.8, but, again, I've not tested them myself.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Hmm....

I owned the 1.4/25 PanaLeica and while it had nice IQ (sharp, color, contrast) even wide open, I would not buy it again. I sold it almost a year ago and never regret that! It was too big and "chatty" on my EM1.

I never owned the 1.8/25 but I owned the 1.8/45 and own the 1.8/75 which is one of my favorite lenses for m43. Also I remember the 45 being a great lens.

With that experience I would buy the 1.8/25 in a heartbeat if I were looking for a FF 50mm equivalent lens. Great quality, great IQ, small and relatively cheap ;)

Peter
 
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