[shoplink 34914]
[/shoplink]
The current [shoplink 34914]Silver 17mm[/shoplink] lens.
After the 12mm f/2.0 Black edition Olympus may soon launch the 17mm f/1.8 Black edition too! I am not sure this will be a lens marked as “limited edition” and as consequence cost more than the actual lens. I hope Olympus don’t do that again (the overpriced limited edition). They should just release it in Black with the same price of the current lens 🙂
Price check of the 17mm Silver lens at [shopcountry 34914].
84 Responses
Now they tell me……
Btw; It’s a fantastic lens! Love it!
Already using the silver version. But I would not have spent more money for a different color.
I am sure it WILL be a limited edition… Gotta milk the user base as much as you can.
Lol no way..
Well, if Olympus pull the same trick with a black limited edition buyers should pull rank and not buy. Hopefully Olympus will then get the message if it doesn’t sell. Frankly, it’s an appalling company strategy.
+1
That, or they’ll think there’s no demand for black lenses… Maybe they’ll then try a limited silver edition of the 60mm macro lens.
Whoever came up with the ‘charge more for black’ idea in Oly is a dickhead, this makes the company look like it has nothing but contempt for its customers
Of course it’s contempt and contemptible!
That and charging $100 for lens hoods that should be included with expensive lenses.
I’m with you Mr. Reeee.
Sell a fancy hood as an accessory for the buyers who want to be special, but include a basic plastic hood like Panasonic does. Go ahead and increase the cost of the lens by $10 while your at it – no one will mind as long as they feel they are getting a complete package when they plunk down their money. As it stands now most people just buy the JJC clone hoods anyways so Olympus doesn’t see any of that money.
At the end of the day, if people are silly enough to buy them, it’s the consumers that are the cause – Olympus exist to make money and are just doing their job.
Exactly.
Its not very good for ‘goodwill’ however, question is if increased sales from increased goodwill would compensate for higher margins.
So, I don’t know if commenters here realize this, but Olympus is a for profit company. The main goal of a for profit is to maximize value to shareholders. From an economics perspective (at least short run) price discrimination makes massive amounts of sense. If you can target a product specifically to people that are willing to pay more, and charge more for it, you increase your overall profits (and produce surplus – at the expense of consumer surplus). I don’t think Oly cares about whiners at 4/3 Rumors, so long as it helps their sagging balance sheet.
Vote with your wallet. If you don’t like it, stop giving them your money. That would actually signal to Oly a shift in demand, thus prompt a price change (because the equilibrium price changes). But so long as people keep paying, it makes sense for Oly to keep doing it.
Sorry, they’re increasing producER surplus.
Yes, I agree. I woon’t buy any more gear form them until they start offering black at the same price or drop the special edition BS. I called thier sore and let them know how stupid a greasy this is.
🙂
Maybe it’ll be one of E-P5 kit lenses?
Is it possible just spray the lens pink like what digitalrev did to a Nikon camera?
Seems to be a good lens for taking photo’s, not so great for test chart togs. I’ve been impressed with the way this lens renders a scene from images I’ve seen so far.
Test charts have no soul, that’s the reason.
Black + limited edition…
This post is guaranteed to generate a lot of heat. I’m getting ready to sit back and enjoy the comments.
Now, this must be the “big news from Olympus” we were all waiting for 🙂
Mwarffff hahaha !!!! Olympus you will never have my money for this limited black shit…
hope so!!!
limited edition or not as long as its black ill be happy to buy it. i bought the limited edition 12mm and love it, couldnt be happier with it
Oh Boy….. another “limited edition”
Now that I got myself to like silver…… now this !!
Thanks to Bob B. and others I am going for silver now….. to late….. to much BS marketing
Exactly, I don’t dislike the silver lenses. I bought the silver OMD last year to also use legacy lenses and they all look fine on the silver OMD.
Don’t understand why people MUST have black camera AND black lenses.
Must be they want to LOOK like pro’s.
Silver isn’t conspicuous at all, a black camera with big black lenses IS.
It is much better if you use black equipment for street photography. Silver lens is just to bling2 for that kind of photography. The perfect lens for street is pancake dark grey lenses like 20mm and 14mm lumix.
The perfect kit for shooting in the street is the one that exposes photographs. I’m tired of people saying this or that camera/lens color is better for street photography. If its a camera, then it works. It doesn’t matter what the color is, so long as you use it.
++++1
To prove my point, why dont you try taking pictures with 1DX with 24-70 lens then compared the picture with same subject when you took it with cell phone camera. You will get different reaction from subject for sure
That example doesn’t prove your point at all because the difference between a silver lens and an identical black lens (that the subject only sees from the front anyways), is not the same as the difference between a dslr+zoom and a cellphone.
Incidentally, the phone in your example might even get more of a reaction out of your subject because you would have to stick it right in their face instead of being able to take a photo from across the street or down the block.
the point is when u used something that is big, dangerous looking or bling2. it will surely attract people 🙂 have u ever taken picture using pro looking 24-70 for closeup @24mm ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hendrik_mintarno/8519234878/in/photostream
The smartphone is black or silver?.. Anyway, I never had problems in doing street photography (maybe “candid” is the right word here) with silver lenses and silver camera. I think the main problem is attitude, how the photographer take the photo, and what kind of photo the photographer is taking. Not to mention that in bigger cities people are almost used to see people taking photos with cameras or smartphones, so basically they don’t care that much. In my small village people will usually chase you and ask (badly) why you took a photo at them..
Kinda like wearing a yellow shirt to a funeral and saying “It’s a t-shirt and it works, so it doesn’t matter what color it is.” some people would, some people would prefer black.
Or wearing black at a funeral and jumping around..
– – – – – 5
Personally I find that standing out with blingy silver lenses when taking photographs in dangerous areas is just plain stupid, and couldn’t care less if @Amadeo is tired of it or not.
What I flushed down the toilet this morning is worth more than his opinion.
This is so sad…and it was probably what they had under the blue cover too!
I’ll get Panasonic lenses then…
How many black 12mm did they make? Who said it was the correct or under priced for the deal?
Who said it would never sell at the price? Who bought it anyway? Who has none left?
Two on ebay at $1190 each.
Oly has just proven they can sell a lens at over the odds price. Sell out the entire stock and in a reasonable time. I think retailers will see this and have no problem holding stock or selling it.
Seems those suggesting a boycott are about to get their wish fulfilled after the sun sets in the east.
Just buy the 20 mm f1.7 panny if you wan’t a black edition.
…and miss the expression you wanted because of slow auto focus….but it is black …so much more important. LOL!
“They should just release it in Black with the same price of the current lens”
It’s a nice wish but imagine how does a production more or less work in praxis, not in an internet forum:
if you have one production line for one lens’ metal parts (silver), in order to produce a second version (black) you’d need either a second line and I doubt they have or run it for such “small series” expensive lens, or you have to modify the first one and then modify it back to make silver parts again. Even if this is some spraying unit, this causes costs.
Running parallel two lines would mean more expenses for the machinery -> more people -> more expense for the people and I can’t imagine that, being in the midst of cost cutting, Oly would like to run everywhere two parallel lines, when it may run only one and thus keep the costs down.
JimD – they made 3000 pcs and the last pricing I saw from a renowned retailer in Saarbücken, Germany was 829.- or just 99.- more than: a silver 12, a silver cap, a hood a filter and frankly, I don’t like the slightly “off-silver” color of the regular one
typo – 89.- more 😉
They only need one production line. The black one!
:-)))))))))))
yeah, but then the limited silver version would rise exactly the same reaction as it was vice versa 😉
Yes, I know they made 3000 it was a rhetorical question to lead into the rest.
By the way in production the issue of black and silver is just keeping the parts separate and telling the assemblers and QC. Provided they are not different due to coatings or such, but producing one or the other should not be a big deal.
Caring about the color of a lens is like worrying about the color of a hammer.
It’s a stupidity tax that suckers are so often willing to pay.
and the color of the camera is not? 😉
….but it is soooooooooooo important that your shoes and purse match…so important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!
This is just a coincidence – they’re quite often black 😉
and your panties? LOL.
My OM-D looks more special with a black body and a silver lens….. 🙂
without lens hood as usual?
If they make it as with the 12 you get for your money the hood, the metal cap, one protective Olympus filter; calculate ’em together and you’ll see what’s the actual premium price
I think EVERYTHING should be silver..linings in clouds, cameras, lenses, straps, shades, hoods, SD cards…EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….that felt so good! 🙂
Yea. Silver on silver with silver trim.
Lenses clad in the finest poop-colored Corinthian leather are the most desirable.
Hell, just ignore them and buy a 12-35 pany and have both focal lengths, with better over all image quality. Why even indulge the morons at Olympus.
who cares the lens IMHO is / was a dude.
Maybe it needs all the help it can get. Some people like it better than the reviewers however.
….”Dude Looks Like a Laaaaaady”….in black!
How is your medication?
….not strong enough…but surprisingly ….the pills are silver…like mercury….gotta love that.
🙂
If they don’t make it a high price limited edition, then they got themselves a future sale here.
olimpus thinking that making a lens into black suppose to be big news???
from the begining they should prevent the black lenses since they sold cameras not only in silver…
Weren’t the reviews on this lens mostly on the negative side? Maybe the black version wil have same price to encourage sales 🙂
I saw some really nice photos that showed that this lens is not as bad as first reviews said. Tried one, got convinced and bought it. It’s a different thing, compared to my Voigtlander 17.5mm, but I’m enjoining it anyway. The bigger problem I found on this lens is the green and purple color fringing on details against a bright light, but it can be easily removed on LR.
I found it softer than holy hell. And resale value? nonexistent
I own the lens too….I find it to be adequate..but less than fantastic. Its a classic focal length..indispensable to me and most other photographers….
This lens should be easy to make…it is NOT an extreme focal length. Lens companies have all of this modern technology and Olympus in particular, has made a great 12mm, which should be more difficult to design and produce than a 35mm equivalent.
Again, this lens formula, in 2013 should not be a challenge to produce…so why do we get a mediocre version at a premium price.
Olympus could have made a better lens. It looks suspiciously like the 17mm f/2.8..in new clothing. Clearly, Olympus made a slightly better lens, bases on an existing design and charged a premium for it. Overall, it is a disappointing effort. I do not hate the lens…I like using it, with its fast focusing…the images are acceptable..but it is definitely not a lens that excites me, especially knowing that this company made these AMAZING 4/3 lenses. From that perspective, it is a disappointment. Olympus could have made an INCREDIBLE 17mm…that I would have paid $600 for. Why they produced this is a mystery? Why didn’t they knock our sock off??? To make more money..nothing more.
Yes, the M.Zuiko is a terrible, awful lens; poorly designed and implemented with the worst optics one can imagine. While the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 designed by Sigma and branded a Leica Summilux ASPH is worth every cent for its brilliant non-Leica plastic build. If they charged five times as much, it would still be worth every cent. The stopped down images at f/4 speak for themselves. It is then that you can start to see the corner details come to life with incomparable Leica-like rendering.
Everybody is tired of your lies, trollie.
-1
While the Panasonic 12-35 is the greatest lens ever made for any system ever they should have branded it Leica Elmarit it’s that good because Panasonic fanboys said so.
hmmmmm…I do not own that lens…maybe I should check one out……
I don’t find it that soft at all. I have taken nice and sharp photos with it. Of course if you take a pictures at a person from 100mts away (11 yds), you can’t pretend to zoom in 200% and see his face details… I have only sold my “old” gear to friends, so I can’t reply your reselling value opinion. Anyway, a 17mm is a lens that almost every street photographer would love. Check my Flickr account for a couple of pics taken with it, if you have the time.
“100mts away (11 yds)”
mts is not a valid unit of measurement. Also, you are off by a factor of 10. 100 m is 328 ft or 109 yd.
Give the guy a break, Eyeman. He obviously meant 100 metres and 110 yards (left off a ‘0’). One needn’t lose sleep over such things. Use your powers of inference and show some grammatical and linguistic leniency for those lesser mortals than your self.
(Admin removed the modify option from comments) Someone (me) left a comment, trying to be kind, put both units of measure, and the only thing you can do, instead of replying to the topic of my comment, is pointing out a missing “0”?! wow..
So what? We know what Marco said and we know what Marco was talking about.
Marco’s prime objective is taking Photographs (and very fine ones at that) not working out what abbreviation you may use in your neck of the woods.
those that really want black versions of the 17mm, 45mm and 75mm let Olympus know on their facebook page and twitter account. of course, they should cost the same as the silver ones. as well as including a normal lens hood – a bayonet, plastic design.
ephotozine have posted their very positive review of the M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ed-17mm-f-1-8-lens-review-21464
Note: Lens tested and sample images taken on a Panasonic G3.
Maybe they got a later sample than other reviewers. And quite possibly they are being realistic and realise that such lenses need to be stopped down for maximum sharpness across the frame, and at wide open aperture, it’s already at a good level. Judging by those few sample images, I’m not seeing the garbage “super soft” results that others claim to be seeing.
There is an unrealistic expectation amongst many m4/3 gearheads that a lens has to be “super sharp” straight from wide open till f/8, because
1). they were led to believe this was a characteristic of m4/3 lenses.
2). they paid good money for a fast aperture lens, therefore the lens must reward “their investment” by performing brilliantly straight from wide open; or else, the lens is an overpriced garbage and they were ripped off.
3). they are just gear knowledge accumulating gearheads who read what other gearheads opine, while never trying, buying or using the gear themselves.
It’s a fact that many lenses have to be stopped down quite a bit for excellent or maximum sharpness across the frame. That doesn’t mean the lens is useless at its faster apertures. Simply that it’s not providing maximum sharpness until stopped down. This has not and will not stop people from creating great images from a camera/lens combination. The softer edges of a frame at wider apertures can be regarded as a technical fault by some, but it can be used advantageously by others. Fastest aperture is there when you need/can make use of it, not a reason to use it for almost every situation.
Instead of jumping on the gear bashing bandwagon when a product hasn’t even had time to prove itself yet, people need to be realistic and lower their expectations of “requisite perfection” in every product that costs more then $/€400, and learn to work within the constraints of any product to achieve good results.