Farewell Olympus Welcome OMD

Hi tropo,

I also was waiting for this announcement, but 7500$ is definitely too much. The 300mm 4.0 Pro seems like a bargain, in comparison. I will wait a while (I expect the price to trop soon), but probably I will go for the 300mm Pro now, which is an excellent lens. It is hard to imagine that the new superexpensive zoom lens can perform better...

Wolfgang

I have used the Olympus 300mm f/4 and the Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 primes

I had the Olympus on loan for a week and concluded it is a fine lens but 300mm f/4 as start is too long unless you are shooting small birds all the time. So I now have a Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 it comes with a 1.4 TC that appears to have a very very marginal loss. So I have a 200mm/2.8 lens that is fast and if I need reach a 280mm f/4 that performs as well as the Olympus 300 f/4

I wrote a review on dpreview https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4531092 

Clearly if small birds are all you shoot it makes sense to start at 300mm if you get a good price however I would not recommend to take a 2x TC and run the lens at f/8 for 600mm

1 hour ago, Interceptor121 said:

I have used the Olympus 300mm f/4 and the Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 primes

I had the Olympus on loan for a week and concluded it is a fine lens but 300mm f/4 as start is too long unless you are shooting small birds all the time. So I now have a Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 it comes with a 1.4 TC that appears to have a very very marginal loss. So I have a 200mm/2.8 lens that is fast and if I need reach a 280mm f/4 that performs as well as the Olympus 300 f/4

I wrote a review on dpreview https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4531092 

Clearly if small birds are all you shoot it makes sense to start at 300mm if you get a good price however I would not recommend to take a 2x TC and run the lens at f/8 for 600mm

Thank you for the comment (I have read your interesting review in DPReview). The Pana 200mm is an interesting lens, but too close to the 40-150mm Zuiko Pro with 1.4x TC (that I already have; it is rather heavy, but brilliant), the 300mm will cover a better range...

I wanted to point out that at 7500$ for the 150-400mm, I am out. I cannot imagine that there will be many buyers except "influencers", "ambassadors" etc., that get supported by olympus for spreading enthusiastic reviews. This lens will not help to keep OMD alive...

(Up to now I am not shooting birds with tele, but for years now we have a couple of falcons that nest on a big Austrian pine in our garden. It starts with the fighting who will settle down and breed this season and ends with few days, when the cute little ones make their first attempts to fly. I have to go for a good tele to make pictures next spring.... )

Wolfgang

58 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

Thank you for the comment (I have read your interesting review in DPReview). The Pana 200mm is an interesting lens, but too close to the 40-150mm Zuiko Pro with 1.4x TC (that I already have; it is rather heavy, but brilliant), the 300mm will cover a better range...

I wanted to point out that at 7500$ for the 150-400mm, I am out. I cannot imagine that there will be many buyers except "influencers", "ambassadors" etc., that get supported by olympus for spreading enthusiastic reviews. This lens will not help to keep OMD alive...

(Up to now I am not shooting birds with tele, but for years now we have a couple of falcons that nest on a big Austrian pine in our garden. It starts with the fighting who will settle down and breed this season and ends with few days, when the cute little ones make their first attempts to fly. I have to go for a good tele to make pictures next spring.... )

Wolfgang

I think this lens was designed as a 'statement' it will not do anything to improve the situation for MFT as a segment I believe

7 hours ago, Architeuthis said:

I also was waiting for this announcement, but 7500$ is definitely too much.

Apparently they took the expected price a multiplied it by a crop factor of 2. 

Jokes aside - I suspect that the price might drop by $1000 or so in a year or two when they have fulfilled the “I must have it at any price” market and then need to sell some more. It looks a beast, though. 

Alex

OK, I laughed at that one!

The initial “must have but then get bored” market is real, and nowhere more so than in Japan.  In the Before Times, I travelled to Tokyo several times a year and always made time to visit the second hand shops around Shinjuku (Map, Kitamura, Miyama, etc).  For example, I bought the 40-150 f2.8 Pro in mint condition at a 40% discount the year it was released, and each shop had 3-5 examples to choose from. The MC-20 teleconverter that is now just over a year from release is already going for less than half its new price at most of the shops. I’ve bought nearly all my lenses there, and hope to have future opportunities.  

It sounds like it would be worth the time to spend a day in-transit in Japan just to pick up a few lenses.

There are more cost effective ways to do some birds shooting in your garden

One of the easiest is to adapt a full frame lens you can find quite a few options. For example a Sigma 150-600mm 5-6,3 costs £779 I used it at the beginning of lockdown to entertain myself with birds in the garden

In hindsight you don't actually need 600mm as many times even air has an issue of suspended particles for example you can have heat radiating from the ground or fog or mist. So having a telescope lens past 400 (800 equivalent) is not always smart and is better to get closer. 

I now shoot wildlife on land and the best entertainment for me are deer (we have a park nearby and is fabulous) and going to a large zoo where animals have large enclosures birds are easy as they are in my garden though in the winter they are more rare as with the cold small birds die

Shots are my instagram https://www.instagram.com/interceptor121/ no single item cost me more than £1,500 so far

21 hours ago, PhotoJunkie said:

It sounds like it would be worth the time to spend a day in-transit in Japan just to pick up a few lenses.

It certainly can be worthwhile but there is an element of luck of course. Inventory fluctuates wildly it seems. The best deals are only available for online sale in Japan so if you look at the web sites it can be misleading. If interested in the experience there s a great guide here:

Tokyo shopping

However it may not be necessary to travel. Map and a few of the other big stores sell on eBay in the US, so when you see Japan (or Hong Kong) as the location it’s usually one of the big secondhand dealers which is easy to check by clicking on the seller.  Of course there are risks in that route. 

7 hours ago, troporobo said:

It certainly can be worthwhile but there is an element of luck of course. Inventory fluctuates wildly it seems. The best deals are only available for online sale in Japan so if you look at the web sites it can be misleading. If interested in the experience there s a great guide here:

Tokyo shopping

However it may not be necessary to travel. Map and a few of the other big stores sell on eBay in the US, so when you see Japan (or Hong Kong) as the location it’s usually one of the big secondhand dealers which is easy to check by clicking on the seller.  Of course there are risks in that route. 

How about import duties and taxes?

7 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

How about import duties and taxes?

Depends upon the receiving jurisdiction. Here in St Martin = Zero 

UK: VAT plus possible import duty (actually Import Duty plus VAT on the total)

7 minutes ago, TimG said:

Depends upon the receiving jurisdiction. Here in St Martin = Zero 

UK: VAT plus possible import duty (actually Import Duty plus VAT on the total)

 

Mine was a rhetorical question in fact. In UK you get import duty plus VAT calculated on the cost plus shipping plus a fixed handling charge

So it is not always a great idea

25 minutes ago, Interceptor121 said:

Mine was a rhetorical question in fact. In UK you get import duty plus VAT calculated on the cost plus shipping plus a fixed handling charge

So it is not always a great idea

LOL! Sure - and I agree, certainly in Europe.

Didn’t think of that. Where I live they are zero if coming back from a trip.  I forgot to mention that Japan also gives a tax rebate of about 9% to travelers at the point of sale. 

Didn’t think of that. Where I live they are zero if coming back from a trip.  I forgot to mention that Japan also gives a tax rebate of about 9% to travelers at the point of sale. 

Typically you are supposed to declare any purchases over a certain limit

Whilst digital cameras are not subject of import duty in UK lenses and other parts are and they are still subject to VAT:GST It is different if you buy second hand goods usually.

So the fact nobody asks what you did doesn’t make it necessarily more legal than a grey import and of course you can’t service the goods in your country without a valid proof of purchase so you need to take that into account

But is a risk some people are prepared to take

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Did you read what I wrote?  “Where I live they are zero if coming back from a trip.”  Meaning my country of residence doesn’t impose tax or duty on incoming goods.  Your situation may be different but that doesn’t make others illegal or grey.  If what I wrote doesn’t apply, please ignore and move on.  

9 minutes ago, troporobo said:

Did you read what I wrote?  “Where I live they are zero if coming back from a trip.”  Meaning my country of residence doesn’t impose tax or duty on incoming goods.  Your situation may be different but that doesn’t make others illegal or grey.  If what I wrote doesn’t apply, please ignore and move on.  

10 minutes ago, troporobo said:

Did you read what I wrote?  “Where I live they are zero if coming back from a trip.”  Meaning my country of residence doesn’t impose tax or duty on incoming goods.  Your situation may be different but that doesn’t make others illegal or grey.  If what I wrote doesn’t apply, please ignore and move on.  

Are you sure

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ph-philippines-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm#:~:text=all passengers (18 years of,b.

If you live in the philippines you need to declare everything, there is no country with unlimited duty free imports to my knowledge. it may be small but it exists

I really shouldn’t keep this going but yes, I am sure, under the terms of my visa which is not a regular one.

I really shouldn’t keep this going but yes, I am sure, under the terms of my visa which is not a regular one.

Just wanted to relax the tone we have all brought back a piece or two but at the end is the same as grey import

It is funny when people condemn grey imports but are happy to bring things back themselves and second hand has no VAT anyway

This was the thread on Olympus that meanwhile has disclosed they paid JIP 20 millions euro to advice them on the carveout and on top they will fund the working capital of newco with 200 millions

So they were really desperate to drop the imaging business that is no longer consolidated in their financials and referred as ‘discontinued business’

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