Tokina informed that the new 30mm m43 lens will ship from May 25th.
Admiringlight (Click here) posted the full E-M5 review: “While the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is not quite up to the level of the Panasonic GH2 in the video arena, as a still photography machine it’s really brought Micro 4/3 to a new level.”
More bits: Japanese E-M5 review at Kakaku (Click here). For European readers: One Silver E-M5 body for a good price on [shoplink 30932 ebay]eBay UK (Click here)[/shoplink].
USA+Canada:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here), J&R (Click here), Henrys (Click here).
Europe:
Black E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here) and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30334 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon DE (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Jessops (Click here), [shoplink 30333 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Warehouseexpress (Click here).
Asia:
Black E-M5 body at Digitalrev (Click here).
Silver E-M5 body at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
Silver E-M5 with 12-50mm lens at Amazon JP (Click here).
Black E-M5 with 14-45mm lens at Digitalrev (Click here) and Amazon JP (Click here).
Today E-M5 Rankings (changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 2/7/11/13 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 7/12 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/4/5 (Click here).
France: not available (Click here to see rankings anyway).
Japan: E-M5 on position 3/6/11 (Click here).
26 Responses
I know mirror lenses are generally terrible, but look at how small that thing is!!!
don’t generalize it. cheap mirror lenses are bad, but mirrors from Olympus,Minolta, Nikon were quality lenses, also Tamron & Tokina mirrors were good lenses
I have a Tamron SP 500mm f8 mirror lens. Awful low contrast and not very sharp, and they are considered to be one of the better ones.
Typo: 30mm should read 300mm.
This seems like such a bizarre choice from Tokina, of all the lenses in their line up that could have been redesigned in m4/3 mount, why create this one? I am sure it will have it’s admirers, but mirror lenses have always been a very niche product.
Typo: not mentioned if lens is stabilized.
Not stabilized, no AF. But there is a chip for EXIF data.
I would be interested in this lens except I am worried about the lack of AF. I used a Tamron SP 300mm cat lens with my E-P1 and it was really hard to use. The DOF was very thin, and at that focal length I couldn’t hold the image still enough to tell if it was in focus or not.
A body with an EVF will probably help to brace the camera steady, and the IS of the E-M5 during liveview should also help to hold the image still enough verify the focus.
Has there been a price listed yet Admin?
It’s a strange strategy if Tokina think to test the m4/3 system by releasing mirror lens instead normal lens.
if old manual 300mm mirror lenses can fetch the price of 300-400$ on ebay, why wouldn’t be a mirror designed directly for the m4/3 a good idea? as long as it gives decent results. as for not being stabilized, with oly m4/3 cameras that’s not a problem, especially with E-M5
Good, reasonably fast manual 300mm lenses are certainly worth taking a look. The only mirror lenses I’ve seen are a 250mm Minolta and a few 500mm lenses. I’ve found no glowing reviews, to say the least.
I just bought a used Nikon ED 300mm f4.5 IF lens from KEH for $310. I’ve used it a bit and it’s very good. Tomorrow I’ll take it out with my tripod and see how it does.
@Tsvero… Get a Panasonic 100-300mm. They’re pretty good, but I never use mine below 300mm and will probably sell it at some point.
You can see a sample pic of the Minolta 250mm on the Olympus E-M5 here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazzcrab/6972880326/in/photostream
I agree the 100-300 is a much better option. 50% bigger and heavier, but it has AF and OIS and is faster. It has good bokeh and also covers a useful range- I use mine a lot at the shorter lengths (100mm f4 is almost a stop faster than any other mft lens). I can’t be bothered to carry round a heap of classic MF glass like Mr Reeee!
have a look at Rubinar 300/4.5
Figures this becomes available the day I’m arriving in Yellowstone where I’d get the most use out of it.
Lots of companies have made mirror lenses in the past, Canon, Minolta/Sony, Nikon and Zeiss, plus third party. Even though they were short and relatively light no one, but third party lens companies make them anymore.
Their main problems are the donut-hole OOF (which bokeh connoisseurs hate) and their very shallow depth-of-field that make them very hard to focus. Maybe the Tokina 300 will be different.
“…no one, but third party lens companies make them anymore.”
Sony does, and it’s suppose to be very good…
http://www.sony.com.au/product/sal500f80
This Sony site says 500mm f/8 Reflex Telephoto Lens No Longer Available. http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11039029
So I guess it depends where you live, some places yes, and some places no. The only 500mm at the USA Sony Store is the $12,999.99 500mm f/4
So we are both right 😉
It might interest some of you to know that the body only is cheaper from Australian retailers DigiDirect and Digital Camera Warehouse, DCM also has a Battery special half price.
http://www.digidirect.com.au/slr_cameras/olympus/from/12
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category157_1.htm
Email them, they may do tax free for export. That would be 10% less. Australia post charges are usually lower than US post.
But they need to be available… digidirect has it online since early April, what happened if someone ordered it then??
I whish a prime super bright lens with AF. F 1.2 or 1.4 17mm or 14mm and one bright zoom 12-35 f 2. Someone know something about Pana zoom?
Pana zoom 12-35 will be F2.8!!!!
I don’t want über large lenses for m43.
F2.8 for that zoom and the 35-100mm is fast enough for good bokeh.
There’s allways MF or 43 legacy glass.
And it’s a macro? 1:1 or something else? Could be useful for bugs.
Of course it isn’t.
Likely 1:5. No more. Micro range and no “macro”.
There have been only two fantastic mirror lenses in history: The Tamron 350mm f/5.6 (shows up on Ebay for about $800 or so and is worth every penny) and Questar Corporation’s (American company) 700mm. The rest, all those 500mm f/8.0’s, the fabled Vivitar “solid” cats, the no-name rubbish from outfits like Rokinon the oddball 600mm Sigmas are all pretty junky when it comes to image quality.