Olympus PT-EP11 Underwater Housing For the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Camera – First Look and Details from Backscatter on Vimeo.
GX7 with primes test (DxOmark).
E-M1 is camera of the year at Imaging Resource.
12-40mm lens test at Optyczne.pl
First Impression reviews on-line for the 12~40/2.8 PRO lens and the 75/1.8 Prime lens at Furnfeather.net.
Sports Photography with the Olympus E-M1 and 75mm Prime (TheDigitalStory).
First two parts of a multi-part comparison between the Fuji X-E1 & OM-D E-M1 (Link to part one and part two)
FF resolution vs micro-43 resolution (Camerastuffreview)
Henrik: “There’s currently not many hands on tests available on the new 12-32mm Pancake lens available, so maybe the readers are interested in an overview and some Twig Pixel Peeping, how this lens compares to others in the Panasonic line up. And there’s a quiz, too … check from a crop if you’re a lens master and you can identify which lens was used 🙂 :
http://www.mopswerk.de/panasonic-lumix-g-12-32mm-quick-check-and-comparison/”
Ulysses: “I’m actually not writing about a rumor, but to report on a user experience I read about his Olympus E-M1 and brand new 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens. Apparently it was in a camera bag but got knocked onto a carpeted floor. Although not a long drop, the lens broke. On examination, he was surprised to find the screws that hold the mounting plate into the lens are inserted into plastic threads, making this seem like a weak point for the lens.
Now, perhaps other pro lenses from Canon or Nikon are constructed the same way. Right now, many people in that thread are understandably angry with Olympus.
As a pro photographer, I know from experience that even pro lenses for full-frame cameras can take an unfortunate bounce and shatter irreparably even when you might not expect. That could be the case with this poor guy. Or the lens may have already had some defect. Maybe not enough facts are known. And no one truly knows about the design quality of the lens other than Olympus.
What I was wondering from you: Do you (or anyone you know) have any insight as to the construction of the 12-40 lens? Is that rear mount actually held together by plastic? And would this make the lens less durable than might be hoped for?
And furthermore, does this call into question the construction of other lenses like the upcoming 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens?
You can read the thread and see photos of his unfortunate lens here:
http://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=56256”
Obj: “There’s a nice Panasonic/Kathmandu promotion running in New Zealand. Depending on the price of the camera, you get up to NZD 150 (EUR 90, USD 124) as a voucher for Kathmandu (well known NZ outdoor shops). The promotion includes the GM1! Here’s a link to the promotion: http://www.panasonic.co.nz/promotions/kathmandu-bonus-voucher-with-lumix-purchase/”
A 43rumors friend created a new APP that some of you coul find to be very useful: iOS App texBlend and it’s is available in the App Store (Click here). More info about it at Outbackphoto (Click here).
20 Responses
> Ulysses: “I’m actually not writing about a rumor, but to report on a user experience
> I read about his Olympus E-M1 and brand new 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens. > Apparently it was
> in a camera bag but got knocked onto a carpeted floor. Although not a long drop, the lens
> broke. On examination, he was surprised to find the screws that hold the mounting plate into
> the lens are inserted into plastic threads, making this seem like a weak point for the lens.
this is a predetermined breaking point for the avoidance of further damage to more expensive parts; The screws and the mounting plate can be easily be replaced
Oh wow, New Zealand got mentioned on 43rumors! 😀
Unfortunately NZ prices for m4/3 gear are sooo high it makes no sense for me to buy in NZ (I get it shipped in from USA usually), so this Kathmandu voucher offer is quite worthless for me :-/
@David Peterson
You really think it’s all overpriced here? The bodies are, absolutely. Some of the lenses too (including imports)…but I have been more than surprised about the fact we indeed have/had some of the cheapest lens prices in the world and some quite competitive on a global scale. I do import from the states though and started off with my body from there.
The Voigtlanders from Progear are a phenomenal price! So good other countries might be jealous of it or at least were. At amazon and B&H it’s over 1100USD, here it’s just around 1000USD for the 17.5mm. That said we do have our expensive lenses, more common than not. Compared with other systems though we do have it surprisingly good in NZ. The price difference is generally much higher with any Canikon system. It’s nice to see people stocking them though although it still has a long way to go. Trademe sales have been steady too which is a fantastic sign of the lesser popularity here
same here. my 12-40 also broke 2 days ago http://instagram.com/p/iAndRTjy9f/
Just three plastic studs and three metal screws hold the retainer that holds the 12-60’s front element in place. The retainer and the lens hood bayonet frequently break off at those plastic studs when the lens hood is removed. That’s pretty bad. That the bayonet is attached to four plastic studs is worse. It’s not an easy repair either, because the four plastic studs are integral to the plastic barrel, which must be replaced in whole.
Well, people always ask for cheap lenses – now they got an expensive, cheap lens.
Hi! I´m the second guy in the abovementioned thread that got a broken lens. Unfourtenately I did NOT drop the camera or the lens. I really just did put the camera into my bag and walked the 25 minute walk to where I was planning to shoot my pictures. Upon picking the camera up the lens hung dangling with only one of four screws still holding the lensmount in place.
I am generally never posting on the internet but I felt miserable and I wanted that first guy who created the thread to know he was not alone when he contacted Olympus.
I’m soory to see that you had bad luck with your lens. Please visit the thread and drop a line about it, an also, I would appreciate if you report how your issue with Olympus was resolved since it´s almost two weeks since I left my lens with Olympus and they have yet to contact me or the shop where I bought the lens.
I did not use the Olympus pro support even though I registered my new EM-1 and the lens for it online, the reason being that I wanted to show the camerastore what had happened. I felt it was more important that they too got informed since they are selling the lens. Therefore I don´t get the promised 3-days of service.
Regards
Stefan
I never had the front element fall out of my 12-60, but I don’t remove and put on the hood all the time. I have seen many reports of the front element falling out due to substandard construction, and that’s why I have been very careful.
The way the bayonet of the 12-40 is attached is really insubstantial. Also, since there is no bayonet support besides the 4 plastic studs, the bayonet is prone to warping and the posts are prone to shearing off when lateral force is applied. This lens is an electro-mechanical optical marvel, chockful with delicate parts. After having seen how this lens is constructed, I will not buy it.
Good luck in getting a replacment/free repair.
I am an engineer and modern plastics are on a par with metals in terms of strength so I have no problem with there use in lenses when the design takes proper consideration of the properties of the material and the production is to specification. When the pillars that the screws that hold the lens mount on fail in the why the have it suggests to me that there is a problem with the manufacturing process. I would expect the threads on the screws to strip before the pillars would fail suggesting that a defect in each pillar was a result of a problem with the molding of the plastic. This could be that the plastic used was not up to specification or/and that the molding was not carried out at the correct pressure temperature combination to deliver optimum strength and the required properties.
If these were older much used lenses fatigue (cyclic stress over a large number of cycles) would be on the list.
Admin, even after logging in, I can’t see any comment on previous posts. Is there a bug? I use iPad Mini and Safari.
I see the preview of latest comments, but once I touch “comments” the loaded page show “be the first to comment”. And there’s no comment at all.
dont like the new layout of coment 🙁 ..the previos 4/3 rumours page was best when comparing to fujirumors,mirrorlessrum or sonyalpharum…
why the fonts of discusion is now 2wice bigger then the other text…
dont like at all …too disarranged
also why I must login again when posting when I am already loged in into the 4/3 rumors site ?
+1 I don’t understand it either: why do I have to log in after I already logged in?!
I know this new version should keep “trolls” away, but I hope the old font will come back.
Admin, Btw, I don’t have Facebook, nor Google, nor Disquis account, and I don’t want to create any new account, since I already have registered to 43rumors site. Can you make it work please? Thanks!
Dear Admin, This from a friend who can’t post his comment:
“OMega,
Another reader who has the same issue with the site, though in my case it is
suggesting the site is run by Disqus not Word Press. As soon as I click onto
any of the previous threads all the comment are removed. This thread
however just removes half the comments. I am also unable to post a comment
myself hence this comment being posted by a friend.
Omega.”
test
Admin must have misread the imaging resource camera awards. Camera of the year in their mind is the sony A7r
Hi Harold,
Quote from IR page “winning our 2013 Professional Camera of the Year award and taking a nod here as a Camera of Distinction.”, I think we can afford Admin a small error here.
@admin, there’s this polish 12-40 mm test allready in english too:
http://www.lenstip.com/index.php?test=obiektywu&test_ob=392
to publish a story about an accident with the 12-40mm is tendentious
What the heck is wrong with telling the news? What, you’re so far up Olympus’ backside, that you have to go on the defense to any bad news out if the Olympus camp?
sounds to me the cut corners and are trying to deceive people into thinking it’s a Pro Quality lens, when in actuality, it’s not.
Cutting corners and not passing the savings… typical of Olympus.
crooked argumentation, it is called