A bit of Nostalgia.

[Ross the fiddler]

In my collection of saved documents & data etc (I hang onto files as well as gear ), I found this old Lens Roadmap from 2007.


Look at the then planned lenses (edit; the 100mm macro lens that never came).

Here is the PDF file for the above. E-System_Lens_Roadmap_March_5th_2007.pdf


Enjoy

[Wreckdiver]

Interesting, I still have all but three of the pro and top lenses.

Edit: The only ones I don't have are the 300mm, 90-250mm and the 150mm. I had the 50-200mm but swapped it for the SWD version. I have all the rest here 😮

[Ross the fiddler]

Looking at the planned lenses, I guess the 9-18mm was the Ultrawide zoom in the Standard lenses, planned for 2008, but the 100mm fixed focal length Macro lens never came. It took a long time to come in MFT too, finally coming as 90mm.

[griffljg]

I still have 3 of the lenses in that roadmap:

• ED 12-60mm 1:2.8-4.0 SWD
• ED 40-150mm 1:3.5-4.5
• ED 70-300mm 1:4.0-5.6

I also still have the 14-45mm 1:3.5-5.6, which came as a kit lens when I bought the E-300. I suspect it had already been discontinued at the time the roadmap was published. They were all very good lenses for their time, which was why I was so irritated when Olympus dumped the FT system and moved to MFT, thus making all my lovely old FT lenses obsolete. Then the OM-D E-M1 was released. It had a dual focusing system which also had support for PDAF. Everything changed!

[Phill D]

I've still got a few of those lenses too. 35mm, 14-42mm, 40-150, 50mm, 70-300mm and a converter to M4/3s. Hmm more than I thought actually. Sold all the other ones on though, 11-22mm, 18-180mm, panleica 14-150mm and 50-200mm, if I recall correctly.

Ross which of those old lenses never came out then besides the 100mm macro?

[Ross the fiddler]

It was just the 100mm macro lens that didn't eventuate.

[Phill D]

Ah OK I didn't think I could remember any others. Cheers Ross.

[Ross the fiddler]

I didn't look close enough at first, but realised the 9-18mm was the one to come in 2008 with just the macro lens on the unfulfilled wish list. I edited my original post too.

[Ross the fiddler]

I've still got a few of those lenses too. 35mm, 14-42mm, 40-150, 50mm, 70-300mm and a converter to M4/3s. Hmm more than I thought actually. Sold all the other ones on though, 11-22mm, 18-180mm, panleica 14-150mm and 50-200mm, if I recall correctly.

I've still got 4/3's kits with 14-42mm, 40-150mm & 70-300mm lenses (came with the E520), then added the 14-54mm II (& later added a used E30). I also still have the 35mm macro lens along with an EX25, EC14 & EC20 (a bit overkill with the lenses I have).
The 12-60 SWD & 50-200 SWD lenses came used later & both eventually failed with their aperture blades/control. Now they are paper weights on the shelf.

[griffljg]

The aperture of my 12-60mm SWD also failed, but fortunately when spares were still available. I had it repaired and it still works well on my MFT cameras using an Olympus MMF-3 adapter.

[Ross the fiddler]

I did buy the spare ribbon cable & still have it, but I don't think it is worth doing anything with it now.

[Phill D]

Oh yes I forgot about the tubes and extenders

[BDennis]

Wow that is nostalgic - I’ve still got 6 of these!

90-250mm (broken)
8mm FE
11-22mm
12-60mm
14-54mm
50-200mm original (zoom mechanism broken, stuck in the middle…)

I hung onto them because I’ve got some of the E-system original bodies and also the MMF-3 adapter. The 11-22 is one of my favourite wide lenses.

I still dream about getting the 300mm f2.8 but it’s a heavy beast and there’s that new big white m43 thing. Also I’ve found out OM Systems don’t have the parts to repair these old lenses so if you bought an expensive one 2nd hand that later failed you’d need to find a specialist that does repairs and possibly a donor broken lens. The focusing on many of them (even top pro lenses) is “fly by wire” so when the electronics fail you can’t even use it as an MF lens.

Bill

[OM USer]

That would be a nice collecton of lenses.

[SJB1956]

Hello Ross,

On a similar theme......does anyone remember the e magazine Olympus used to post out? I joined what ever the scheme was back in 2007 when I purchased my E3 and 12-60 and shortly later the 50-200 - both SWD and then a bit later the 50mm f2 Macro.

Thinking back. This was the time when Camera Labs finished an Olympus review properly before moving on to the next best thing and if I am correct, Ross posted images taken around Hollingworth Lake Reservoir in Greater Manchester. Or am a confussing myself with a gent of similar name?

I hung onto all of them until a few years ago and then when Olympus announced they were selling off the imaging division ( which corresponded with my rapidly heading to retirement type age ) we decided to consolidate the kit. My wife agreed to use my OMD EM1 MK2. I bought the MK3 and we traded in the E3 / 12-60 / 50-200 and her like new OMD EM1 MK5 ( original version ) the kit lens it came with and the two part grip. I kept the 50mm f2 and the adapter.

I still think there was something a bit special about the colours and rendering of those lenses and there are often moments when I regret it but they were no longer being used. For a period before I purchased the 300mm f4, I adapted the 50-200 and added the 1.4 four thirds converter which I picked up on sale, but after a few outings on holiday, I came to the conclusion that it was better to use the lens on the camera they were designed for. Mounting a fully extended 50-200 plus a 1.4 converter plus an adapter onto a MK2 body looked a bit ridiculous to my myself and even with the addition of the battery grip it was not that easy to use hand held. The enormous lens hood only making it ever more like a sail in the wind ! Anyway, I concluded that the whole remit for using the system was to reduce the sized weight and so I moved on.

Take Care all.

[Ross the fiddler]

Not this Ross. I'm in NSW, Australia.