Olympus 45mm Blue tape issue

[thefilmaddict]

I own the Olympus 45mm 1.8 lens for my GH2. Recently the blue tape came off of the front of the lens. Now the front of the lens seems like it wants to screw off. Is that a problem? What exactly comes off of the lens? I have not unscrewed it. It just seems less stable now. Solutions?

 

[jimagine]

Did you get lens hood with the 45mm?
At first I couldn't imagine what you meant by "blue tape" (I have the full set of Oly silver primes).
Then I vaguely remembered that there was a light blue cellophane coating on the REMOVABLE plastic ring on the front.

That thing that seems loose isn't anything but a tiny plastic ring which I removed immediately to put the lens hood on.
It's just there for a finished look to the front because Oly (stupidly) doesn't ship them with the lens hood...which is pretty essential for an 80mm tele.
Screw it off and stick an after market hood on there. They're inexpensive, I think I got mine from B&H when I ordered the lens.

 

[Bruce Foreman]

jimagine hit the nail on the head. That blue tape is supposed to be taken off first thing. For a lens hood I got a very inexpensive 37mm rubber hood from B&H. And I carry an inexpensive Polaroid Varable ND in 37mm that threads into the rubber hood ring when I need to "cut" light.

Congrats on the lens, you'll love it. Now I'm "lusting" after the Oly 75mm F1.8...

...Never ends...

Now to list my Rokinon 85mm Cine T1.5 in "For Sale Or Want To Buy"...

 

[jimagine]

I know you love the 45mm as do I Bruce...you'll love the 75 as much.

I know there's a lot of buzz around the Rokinon/SLR Magic glass but I spent a lot of time looking, and nothing MFT has the IQ and build quality of the 12/45/75 Olys.
Plus I use AF all the time whether I'm doing doc, TV spots, whatever. It's just to dependable and fast not to.
Having a lot of Canon glass and the same w/Nikon primes, I've never shot a nicer lens than the 45mm. I'm still amazed at how tiny it and the little Necco Wafer filters are when you see the results. And size is, after all, one of the huge benefits of the MFT system.
That's why we older dudes like to fly the GH3 stripped down and on things like the Spider - which along with a Benro tripod and Aviator jib have made the GH3/MFT a revolution for me and our production company.

 

[Bruce Foreman]

When the Oly 75mm F1.8 first was coming out and Olympus Malaysia lent Robin Wong in Kuala Lumpur a test sample, I drooled all over my keyboard (whattamesstocleanup!) looking at his images!

I read that he is now an employee of Olympus Malaysia, he was the guy they loaned for testing all the new gear they were about to release.

I "stumbled" across the Rokinon, used listed as "9+" at B&H and jumped on it. It's a nice lens, very good performer but I think I knew when I ordered it, that what I really wanted was the Olympus 75mm for all the reasons you gave. I don't mind working with an all manual lens as my workpace is much more relaxed than yours...

...But...I gotta have the Olympus. I've loved the 45mm F1.8, so...

I just watched your horses in the snow film at the farm earlier today and was just as enthralled with the look and feel you got with that Lumix 20mm "pancake" as I was the first time I saw it.

 

[stoneinapond]

When the Oly 75mm F1.8 first was coming out and Olympus Malaysia lent Robin Wong in Kuala Lumpur a test sample, I drooled all over my keyboard (whattamesstocleanup!) looking at his images!

I had a chance a while back to play with the 75mm on the EM-1 for a day. It is a beautiful piece of optical engineering. The equivalent FOV is a little awkward for my uses, but as a long portrait lens it excels, and I absolutely understand your desire to have one.

If I needed that length I would be all over it in a second.

 

[jimagine]

Thanks Bruce, my wife just reminded me that I shot that within minutes of opening the new GH3 box.
At the time I had got the GH3 just for some slow motion shots I needed for a project I was shooting on Canons.
I was really uninterested in the MFT format. I simply ordered the 20mm because it had great reviews and had a good general FOV for the project.

That ended up being an actual little life changing day.
There was (obviously) a snowstorm at the farm so I charged the battery, stuck the 20mm on and climbed around the drifts squinting through the snow into the EVF.
I remember yelling up to Kris for a towel and a plastic bag when I came in the basement, the GH3 was covered in wet snow virtually the whole time and the lens and VF were fogged the whole time.
Despite all of that, after I made coffee and dropped the files into FCPX I was actually amazed at the overall quality, given the dead flat light and general conditions.

I've just fallen in love with the GH3 and after producing with big cameras and big heavy L glass for so long, I've built a whole new reality around it from small tripods and heads to small jibs, lights and stands.
I'm now an MFT addict.
Oh, and I just upgraded the 45mm firmware. DId you know they released that yesterday?