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The newcomer... the Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 with its impressive front huge lens: a "cat's eye" to (almost) see in the dark!

A 75mm f/1.8 lens has come: so, let's bokeh!

    So... all right, I must admit: despite my previous opposite statements, I couldn't resist... and ended up buying another lens (who knows if it will be the last?), this one: M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 (it's a pre-owned lens, obviously, but in excellent conditions: it was reported as "just like new").

    This time I succumbed to the flattery that described it as very bright and extremely sharp: the vlogger Robin Wong (an enthusiastic, expert and communicative professional photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, until recently an "Olympus visionary") dedicated two enthusiastic videos to it on his YouTube channel:

• "Olympus 75mm F1.8 -The Sharpest Lens for Micro Four Thirds?"
  
  
• "This Lens Stopped Me From Going Full Frame - Olympus 75mm F1.8"
  
  

    Actually, I had been thinking about it for a long while, without eventually making up my mind. After a search on the net, it seemed clear to me that the most affordable (and reliable: I've already bought three other lenses there, without any problem) site was RCE Foto, a franchise chain specialized in second-hand photo equipment, both online and in dozens of physical stores throughout Italy). At first I kept an eye on the only one available in the color I wanted (thet is... silver, a real whim. But the sight of a friend of mine's silver Leitz Elmar lens, mounted on my camera - and working fine, too - must have left its mark...) that was reported as "fully functioning, with some marks of normal wear", for sale in Salerno (so I should have had it sent to me, trusting the sellers), but I must admit that it didn't excite me much. 

    Then, two days ago, a twin lens appeared, again in silver finishing, but this time defined as "perfect, just like new" and above all for sale in the Lainate's RCE shop (the closest to Milan), where I have already been on other occasions. It was a little more pricey but, considering the saved cost of shipping, the difference became minimal (€10), with the advantage to be able to physically see and try it on before eventually buying it.

    So I made up my mind: the next morning I booked it by phone and then I went to see it, with the certainty that it was still there. Under a visual inspection it was perfect and when I mounted it on my camera I couldn't notice anything worrying, so... OK, deal!

    In the afternoon, I immediately put it undert test, hoping I wouldn't regret it, since I actually had some doubts about it:

• a lens with 75mm focal length in micro4:3 format corresponds to a 150mm medium telephoto lens in Full Frame format: what can I actually do with it?
  
  
•  this lens was designed for portraits, a subject I practically never shoot. Why does it attract me?
  
  
•  the minimum focusing distance is 85cm, for macro photos it is not useful
  
  
• (I eventually add this one too, discovered at home just after mounting it): this lens is not supported by the in-camera automatic Focus Stacking feature of my E-M5 Mk.II camera. In my case, a small pity, considering I already have other two lenses that can perfectly perform this kind of task.

bokeh...	...and sharpening
A couple of examples of what I would expect from this promising lens

    Here is the result of the first tests: I was right to add it to my photographic set, using it is a real pleasure: 

• as for the "very bright", the huge front lens (which explains why the maximum aperture is a good f/1.8) in conjunction with the image stabilizer active in the camera body allows almost always handheld photography, even at ISO 200 (the optimal sensitivity for Olympus equipment), and that, just increasing the ISO value a little bit, the "almost" adjective totally disappears
   
  
• the "extreme definition" reported in Robin Wong's video is already visible at f/1.8, so I assume that for higher stop values it will be even greater
  
  
• again thanks to the f/1.8 aperture, I was delighted to rediscover the selective focus that I had been missing since the analog reflex camera's times which had almost disappeared with the micro4:3 format. In practice, I can allow myself to play (quite) a bit with the bokeh effect again
  
  
• mechanically it is fairly small and light (305g, much less than the 380g of my 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO - a real giant, among the M43 format lenses!); it only has a questionable system for fixing the lens hood (a cylinder), with a single screw that locks it laterally: a bit awkward and not entirely safe
  
  
• if by "macro" one literally means photos of really tiny subjects, then it's true: it's not the best lens at all. But if instead one is thinking, in a broader sense, to "close-up" photos, then the lens' magnification factor given by being a medium telephoto has the upper hand on the minimum focusing distance: in short, a subject with dimensions of a couple of inches can be perfectly shot
  
  
• on the aesthetical side, for mysterious reasons, Olympus offered some of its lenses in two colors: the traditional black and a cool, fashionable silver finishing (they probably aimed at customers of their very elegant Pen cameras series, that Olympus promoted as a fashion gadget). This 75mm is just one of those lenses available in both colors and, just for a change, I was looking for the silver version: now that I have it here it seems to me that, mounted on the black camera body, it really fits well, giving to the camera a nice "professional" look
  
  
• both the barrel and the lens hood are made of metal, and handling them certainly one doesn't have the feeling of holding a toy
  
  
• the only drawback I found so far: when the lens hood, a tall and narrow cylinder, is mounted on top of the lens barrel, it's almost impossible to remove the lens cap, so one has to get used to doing this before attaching the lens hood. A small nuisance, after all!
  

Like other times, here is the link to a Google Photos album with the very first shots taken in a couple of days with the new 75mm lens(*). And in the springtime photo here aside, a beautiful bokeh effect is already showing! (*)  Note: in the album's pictures there is also post-processing with Photoshop, I won't deny it. But since usually all my photos are "processed" in this way, you can venture a comparison with my previous production

      (Ivan – April 19, 2023)

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