Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

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Jman13
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p.1 #1 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Well, as some of you know, I got my Oly 75mm f/1.8 today. Lucky...I got the last one in stock at Focus Camera, which was the only one anywhere I could find.

EDIT: My full review is up: http://admiringlight.com/blog/review-olympus-m-zuiko-75mm-f1-8-ed-msc/

Anyway, the lens is built beautifully, with an all metal silver finish. It's a little smaller and lighter than I thought from looking at pictures...slightly smaller than a full frame 85/1.8. Focus ring moves smoothly and with good feel.

And, if you've followed reviews from this lens, you know it's sharp. And I can confirm that it is indeed very, very sharp. Wide open it's already really sharp, with very pleasing bokeh. Stopped down, it can cut glass, and it is razor sharp from extreme corner to corner. Color and contrast are very nice. This is the first m4/3 lens I've owned where DOF is thin enough that I have to watch that I don't sway forward or backward and move the focus point.

It isn't completely perfect, though...it can have minor purple fringing on bright edges wide open, and there is some longitudinal CA, but both are well controlled for a fast telephoto and are easily fixed in Lightroom if desired. Overall, though, certainly not bad in this department.

AF is very fast. I even tried out C-AF with tracking on some runners and bike riders, and when I sucessfully locked on the subject (for the AF to track), it actually got a fair number in perfect focus. Not as much as I'd get with a pro DSLR, but it did really well, actually.

Some samples. I think all of these are wide open:

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100% unsharpened crop of above:

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Edited on Aug 24, 2012 at 12:59 AM · View previous versions

Aug 16, 2012 at 12:18 AM

dkmiles1
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p.1 #2 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Thanks for this. I just placed my OM-D order today from B&H... This lens is on my "most wanted lust" list. I'm a Canon guy, but I've seen enough from this camera here to convince me that it would make a capable back up and a much better solution for travel. Dying for this lens. Thanks for posting!!!!

Aug 16, 2012 at 12:42 AM

kewlcanon
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p.1 #3 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Sharpa than da 45 f/1.8 ?.

Aug 16, 2012 at 12:46 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #4 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

It certainly isn't softer than the 45/1.8. It's hard to judge between two very, very sharp lenses, so I'll leave that to the testers with charts. But, I certainly have no complaints.

Here's some test shots stopped down with crops:

Here are some stopped down samples:
Full image at f/3.2. Focus on the bridge:

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100% center crop (well, close to center on the focused part):

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100% extreme lower right corner crop:

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Full image of closer subject at f/4:

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100% center crop:

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100% extreme lower right corner crop:

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Aug 16, 2012 at 10:27 AM

joychris
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p.1 #5 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Looks to be very sharp across the frame, those corner crops look real good. Despite the odd FL, I'm really tempted to order one.

Aug 16, 2012 at 12:36 PM

you2
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p.1 #6 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Does your sample images have any correction for CA (or LoCA) ? I do see some in the highlights of picture 3 but not so much in the others also i did not see a lot of purple fringing.

Aug 16, 2012 at 01:40 PM

Jman13
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p.1 #7 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

I corrected for PF on the chair shot, though it wasn't bad. When purple fringing is present on the lens, it's really rather minor overall. It only seems to happen on specular highlights, rather than on general areas of contrast. Far less than something like the Canon 85/1.8 or even the 85L. I didn't correct for LoCA in any of these. Lateral CA I never worry about, as I have Lightroom set to have the 'correct CA' checkbox applied on every image I import regardless of lens, so if there is any, it's been corrected here. However, I went back and checked areas where lateral CA would be an issue and uncorrected it, and it still was completely absent.

So, in summary: PF can happen occasionally wide open, though it's minor and usually only on specular highlights...lateral CA is (to my eye) absent. Longitudinal CA is present a bit wide open, but not overly distracting (and generally easily correctable with LR 4.1).

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:02 PM

Bifurcator
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p.1 #8 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

It looks very good! Up to snuff with many famous MF lenses I'd say - which so far (IMO) isn't too common for µ4/3 natives.

Too bad about the CA tho. At least it's correctable you say, right?

Got a worst case before and after per chance?

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:31 PM

FlyPenFly
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p.1 #9 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

I really want this lens but I imagine I'll get a lot more use out of picking up a 12-60mm F2.8-3.5 SWD and the OEM battery grip than out of a 150mm equivalent lens.

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:36 PM

harvey steeves
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p.1 #10 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

love the first shot and the rest look nice too. Have had this on order since it was announced. Need it in 3 weeks.

Aug 16, 2012 at 02:44 PM

bobbytan
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p.1 #11 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Gotta have this lens in my bag but where's the doggone TC?

Aug 16, 2012 at 03:03 PM

millsart
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p.1 #12 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Looks quite nice, very impressive edge to edge sharpness

Must seem be surreal and really fun to get shots that look very much like they were done on a DSLR w/ 70-200 f2.8 but without having to deal with the weight of a 4lb lens and camera body

Aug 16, 2012 at 04:49 PM

bpark42
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p.1 #13 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Thanks for continuing to post your impressions of all the new m4/3 lenses.

Aug 16, 2012 at 06:44 PM

Antje
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p.1 #14 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

That is very impressive indeed.

Antje

Aug 16, 2012 at 06:48 PM

Jman13
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p.1 #15 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

millsart wrote:
Looks quite nice, very impressive edge to edge sharpness

Must seem be surreal and really fun to get shots that look very much like they were done on a DSLR w/ 70-200 f2.8 but without having to deal with the weight of a 4lb lens and camera body

Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing recently...as much as I love my other m4/3 primes...and I do, and I often am glad for the extra DOF on a portrait, for instance...shooting with this lens almost feels like shooting full frame. I know it's not quite the same, but it feels just like shooting with my old Sigma 150/2.8 on full frame (minus the macro capability).

Here's one interesting thing. As we know, this lens is sharp....very sharp. I read a review the other day that said it was the sharpest lens this magazine had ever tested in the 10 years they'd been doing lens reviews. I believe it.

When out and about Columbus, I often, when testing new lenses, will take a picture of the LeVeque tower stopped down, just to see how much detail it could resolve. Now, I remember once upon a time thinking that a shot I took with my old 30D with the Canon 135mm f/2L was among the sharpest shots I'd ever taken of this particular building. Of course, that was when I was used to 8MP resolution. I took a similar shot with my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS at f/4.5 and 150mm on my 1Ds Mark II.

.I took a shot of it today with the 75mm at f/2.8, and I'm absolutely blown away by the level of detail. I was slightly closer today and at a different angle, but still...easily as clear as the 70-200L II, and IMO, a little more detailed. I actually see texture on the metal relief. It was sunny on the other two shots, and today's shot was overcast, and I didn't compensate enough on the exposure, so I had to bring it up a little in post, thus a little difference in color and such.

Still, these are 100% crops right out of Lightroom: 135L @ f/5 on the 30D (left); 70-200 f/2.8L IS II @ 150mm, f/4.5 on 1Ds II (center); Olympus 75mm @ f/2.8, E-M5 (right):

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Aug 17, 2012 at 12:29 AM

cputeq
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p.1 #16 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

My resistance against this lens weakens....

Aug 17, 2012 at 07:32 AM

acme_d
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p.1 #17 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

Those 100% crops might pass for downscaled full frames.

Aug 17, 2012 at 08:52 AM

rji2goleez
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p.1 #18 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

cputeq wrote:
My resistance against this lens weakens....

+1 Oh yeah!

Aug 17, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Antje
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p.1 #19 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

acme_d wrote:
Those 100% crops might pass for downscaled full frames.

That's what I thought too. Wow. I'll have to brief Santa on this lens later this year.

Antje

Aug 17, 2012 at 11:40 AM

kewlcanon
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p.1 #20 · Olympus 75mm f/1.8 - First Impressions

OK, this one or 60mm macro ?

Aug 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM

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