Olympus US lowered the price of most MFT lenses. Here is the list ordered by focal length:
$100 off on the 12mm f/2.0 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$100 off on the 12-40mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 14-42mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 17mm f/2.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 25mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 40-150mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 45mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$100 off on the 75mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
$50 off on the 75-300mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and GetOlympus.
And here are the Camera and accessory deals:
Save $100: Award-Winning OM-D E-M1
$800 Off Lenses with OM-D or PEN Purchase
New OM-D E-M10: $50 Off + FREE CASE
M-D E-M10 Premium Kit $100 Off + FREE CASE
PEN E-P5: Over $479 in Savings!
VF-4: Only $99.99 with E-P5 Body Purchase
Save $200 on the Award-Winning OM-D E-M5
PEN E-PL5: $100 Off + FREE Wi-Fi Card
Full list at GetOlympus (Click here).
45 Responses
Perhaps the constant discounts suggest they are overpriced in the first place?
If you look at the prices in Japan and Hong Kong, you’ll know why. 😛
They are overpriced. Many of these lenses were released when the yen was much higher. For example the OM-D E-M5 is on “sale” for $800 now, a $200 discount from the regular price of $1,000 which is the same as the launch price. Yet the yen has fallen over 30% since the E-M5 was released, so you are effectively paying more for an E-M5 now than almost 3 years ago.
No, you’re not paying effectively anything, unless you are shopping in Japanese yen from the US. The price is what it costs you in the US, there’s no currency exchange involved for you.
Maybe you dont remember when prices went up a few years ago and new releases were priced higher to take into account the stronger yen. To say you’re not “paying anything” when prices don’t come back down accordingly is just not true.
Prices in Japan for most lenses didn’t change much, if at all, since their release. So most likely just really slow price adjustment.
Mr. Market sets the price, as much as the manufacturer product marketing department will lead us believe they know the exact perfect price to set.
Sales of photo equipment is way down. The only way equipment starts to move following the honeymoon of initial launch is via ongoing price skimming. In the various *rumors websites, the primary stories are not product rumors but announcements of the latest price cuts.
This is a prima facie indication of overpricing.
Expect to see further slashing come the Holidays, as the overpricing product managers seek to do something, anything, to find the market. Something they should have been doing 3 years ago.
I have many of these lenses. I still find them overpriced and the build somewhat lacking. This in no way diminishes their personal value to me, but come on Oly…your 25 and 45 should have a metal build. The 75 IMO is a 600 dollar lens. I totally love them, but Olympus needs to start thinking about their strategy. Fuji has faster all metal lenses at similar prices and the market is saturated with APSC DSLR lenses. Literally every month there is some new mediocre zoom. I think what Oly needs is faster lenses that offer an all metal build.
the 45 overpriced[scratching my bald head]?
I agree with you on the 45, its often found new for $300. Which is what the 25 should cost as well considering its is basically the same lens design with the same build quality.
Metal build is nice in a manual lens where the mechanism is positive and it actually makes a difference in how the lens works. Otherwise, unless someone can actually demonstrate that the metal lens is more durable, I’ll take a lighter, cheaper, plastic option any day.
The 20mm/f1.7 and 45mm/1.8 are some of the best lens deals in any system. Not quite Thrifty 50s, but if Canon and Nikon had to come out with a 50mm lens designed in this century, you can bet it wouldn’t cost anywhere near $150 anymore.
Welll…. Turbo, Canon DID come out with that 22mm f2 lens for the EOS M. It’s retail price at launch was only $249, whereas Oly’s 25mm f1.8 retails for $500. That canon lens is no slouch either, even if the camera its attached to is.
Jeepers, I had no idea the Oly was $500. I thought it was $399, usually on sale for less?
In any case, you can get the 20mm/1.7 for $299, which is the more appropriate comparison anyway, no?
I’m just giving retail prices based off of Amazon’s retail prices… the actual purchase price for the Oly 25mm without a discount is $400. I’m not sure what the actual cost of the Canon is, since the EOS M is largely defunct now. Didn’t want to skew the results even further by showing the price you can buy them new right now on Amazon.
The Panny is a closer comparison, but you can’t get it new for $300 unless you happen to buy it on ebay from a seller trying to get rid of their stock. I like to use Amazon as a comparison mainly because those are the current retail prices. You can buy that Panny for $350 on amazon… the Canon is going for $104 new on amazon.
The 20mm 1.7 is not a good comparison to the 22mm EFM (which I used to own) at all. The 22mm has a solid build and is made of metal. It is also very sharp and produces good colours. Truly one of best bargains in lenses, and one of the best from Canon.
Are you suggesting that the 20/1.7 is not sharp, nor does it produce good colors? Because respectfully, either you got a bad copy, or you’re simply off base?
No, I meant in terms of build quality. Both lenses seem sharp enough to me, but I am not a fan of many made-for-digital lenses because they look sterile. My m43 trinity would be 15mm/1.7, 25mm/1.4 and 75mm/1.8 because those lenses have character.
The EOS M is better than most people think it is. I owned one and used it mainly for video (which it thoroughly beats the EM5 in) with manual lenses, and the image quality is better than my EM5. Especially with Leica M lenses: on EM5 most Leica lenses look boring, because the corners where the magic happens are cropped off. It is built as solid as the EM5, yet smaller (almost too small). The menu system is also better than the EM5. And it is as simple to use an EPM due to lack of buttons and dials, but better because it has a touchscreen where all the controls are located. The only reason I sold it was because a friend who shoots indie films wanted one, and I am looking to replace it with the LX100 anyway.
Sounds a lot like my GX1.
Though I use manual SLR lenses, not rangefinders, since they tend to work better on m4/3.
I used to use m42 lenses quite a bit on the EM5. Super Takumars (28, 35, 50, 55, 135), CZJs (50/2.8, 58/2.0, 135/3.5), Pentacons (29/2.8, 50/1.8) and Russians (Mir 1B, Helios 44-2, Jupiter 8, Jupiter 9). All 49mm filters. They are very nice indeed. Not as compact as M lenses, but at least the wide angles work.
I am curious as to what you mean by Leica M lenses on the E-M5. Are you saying that M lenses look better on the EOS M? Because you stated since the corners are cropped off, doesn’t that make the EOS M crop it even more, which is worst? My 50 Summilux looks great on the E-M5, E-P5, J1, X-E2, and so forth. So I just want some clarity from your findings if you could explain it a little better.
Yes, I am saying Leica M lenses look better on EOS M than on EM5. That is, they retain more of their innate character. Colour balance will depend on your preference — personally, I like Canon colours for people photos and Olympus colours for landscapes and still life. Sharpness are close on both, they are not worth bothering about.
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The EM5 crops more (2x). EOS M only crops 1.6x, so you get more of the gradual fall-off towards the edges, whereas on the EM5 you get just the sharp middle part of the lens. On the EM5, a 50mm Summicron becomes a short tele: 100mm with f4 equivalent depth of field, so you get slight compression because of the distance to subject. On the EOS M’s APS-C sensor, you get an 80mm with f3.2 depth of field, which makes for a great short portrait lens.
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I found that on the EM5, my Leica M lenses tend to look the same, whereas on the EOS M their characters come through a bit more (but not as much as on film).
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I also found that Zeiss ZM lenses (I tested my 50mm C-Sonnar, 35mm C-Biogon and 25mm Biogon) perform better on EM5 than Leica M lenses (I tested my 28mm Elmarit R, 35mm Summilux ASPH, 50mm Summicron, 75mm Summarit, 75mm APO-Summicron and 90mm Summicron E55).
That’s right. 1.6x, my bad. Don’t know why I was thinking something else.
On EOS M they work like they would on your Fuji, but with different colour and “look”, of course. I tried them on my Nikon V1 but it was just an interesting experiment — I tend to use C-mount lenses on the V1, which again works better than they do on the EM5 (some C-mount lenses vignette on the m43 sensor, but the 1-inch Nikon 1 sensor is perfect for Super 16).
I bought 45mm f/1.8 for 109€ and then 17mm f/2.8 (awesome while some say not) for 89€ and then 25mm f/2.8 for 79€. The 25mm f/1.8 was only a 239€ on that week. But others were sold out on that two week time the store had them in sale few months back but 25mm f/1.8 went in same day, all over 150 units from stock on the sale weekend.
The metal build isn’t as good as the plastic. Cold weather and the metal stay cold longer indoors etc. And it can easily get dent while plastic doesn’t.
Sure the metal feels in nice warm day nice in a hand but…
It can easily get dented if it’s cheap plastic. Try a Sony DT lens- the ones made that are a composite. It’s like indestructible and really really hard to scratch or dent. As far as metal, my Zeiss FA lenses are like tanks. That’s what I like anyway.
Have you even tried the Fuji 35mm? The focusing sound is terrible to me and the slight protrusion is annoying. Just by using and testing it I had to pass on it. Just because the build quality might seem better that doesn’t make a good lens.
Indeed, and Fuji has the worst QC of all camera manufacturers. Also, Panasonic has surpassed them for build quality with the metal Panaleicas.
Didn’t know this. I heard some of their lenses are less than steller- maybe to much hype?
Haven’t, but now that you mentioned it I’ll have to take a look.
My wish is that Olympus would improve the external cosmetics of the lower end 1.8 lenses, too. And also, make all the primes except the 75mm have standard filter sizes. I don’t know why they set out to make pretty lenses. Something like the rubberised 25mm Summilux and 45mm Macro Elmarit appeal to me more. Their 43 lenses used to look functional.
The 75mm has been offered on great discounts before, so you can indeed get it for ~$600, definitely for less than $700 most of the time if you shop around. However, I disagree it isn’t worth the premium – most Nikkor 1.8G primes, excluding the cheapo nifty fifties are $600-700, and are plasticky eyesores. The Zuikos are fine for what they cost.
Why does this never happen in Europe / Germany? I don’t get it.
Maybe because we are doomed? i wonder the same.
We don’t get discounts because we exist to subsidise US prices. Without us paying over the odds, the poor impoverished consumers in the US might actually have to pay the fair market rate.
Yes, it is the fault of the United States. Not the camera companies or distributors or the local taxing systems. The United States tells Olympus what to charge.
What I read was that Olympus (i.e. “the camera company”, not “the United States”) chose to apply price differentiation between market segments.
Or, perhaps, we pay the fair market rate because we have a fair market.
There is now moderation?
If you type in words that trigger the filtering system.
Thank goodness. Some of this nonsense was getting way out of hand, lots of people just posting to make waves.
Hi Guys, I am about to pull the trigger on a Olympus OM-D E-M1 anytime now. I noticed that they did a 20% additional on their refurbished products directly on their website during previous long weekend holidays in USA. Do you think we shall see better deals on their new or refurbished OM-D E-M1 during the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays. I might just wait till then. They don’t have any refurbished OM-D E-M1 right now on website. Hoping you guys have some previous knowledge and know their patterns.
Likely yes. But just know, its VERY hard to get one with the discount price. You gotta troll getolympus.com many times a day to get it.
Wish Panasonic had deals on their lenses, they almost never do compared to Oly. I’d buy the Oly 40-150 f4-5.6 but, even though I own an Oly body today, I would not be cool with that kind of zoom without lens stabilization if in the future I move to a panasonic body.
why no 17mm f1.8 discount?