Micro 4/3 f/4 8-25 Pro - A trap for the unwary!

John King

Member of SOFA
Location
Beaumaris, Melbourne, Australia
Name
John ...
Well, I will start by saying that I love this lens. Not as versatile as my f/4 [12-100] (of course), but lovely IQ and general quality. Also considerably smaller than the 12-100.

However, as I discovered the other day, the warning screen about extending the lens from the locked position also has a secondary "feature" - It prevents the camera from going to sleep!

A very minor detail indeed, but it will cheerfully run the battery as flat as a cane toad on the Bruce Highway overnight ...
A trap for all players ...

One has to get into the habit of turning the camera OFF with the power switch if one leaves this lens on it, with the lens parked. Another way would be to just leave the lens extended if you are in the habit of leaving your camera ON. I'm not, but occasionally forget to turn it off.

Just be warned, folks.

Other than that, the lens is very nice, and very distortion free for such a WA lens.

Here is a shot of a shop front next door to where I have blood taken for my regular INR test (Warfarin level). No PP or distortion correction applied.

M217288-15.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
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I find it astonishing how well modern UWA lenses perform. When you consider that the distance between camera and subject is significantly different at the edges compared to the centre it's amazing that the lens manages to keep it all in focus. Then of course, providing such an undistorted projection is quite the feat too (even if some of it is achieved via software in post processing).
 
If I had been an Olympus shooter and not a Lumix one that has the PL 8-200 lenses, the f:4 trio (8-150) plus one of the small primes, according to taste, would have made for a quite a potent quiver of lenses for General Purpose Photography. Probably better than anything I owned up untill 2018.
 
Are all these extend-first lenses like this - drain the battery on a camera that will not sleep? I'm guessing no, because people would have complained about the m43 9-18, etc earlier, but now I'm wondering. Easy enough to test, I guess...
 
If I had been an Olympus shooter and not a Lumix one that has the PL 8-200 lenses, the f:4 trio (8-150) plus one of the small primes, according to taste, would have made for a quite a potent quiver of lenses for General Purpose Photography. Probably better than anything I owned up untill 2018.
I find myself now in the luxurious position of having a quartet of Oly Pro zoom lenses - 8-25, 12-40, 12-100, and 40-150/2.8. All are absolutely excellent. No complaints at all. I also have the 8mm f1.8 FE and that's excellent too. But it has to be said that none of them are small. I still have many of the "classic" f1.8 primes too and they are way smaller and very nearly as good optically. I must use them more! Or maybe I should just sell them all and buy the 25/1.2 - I really like the images I've seen from it.
 
Are all these extend-first lenses like this - drain the battery on a camera that will not sleep? I'm guessing no, because people would have complained about the m43 9-18, etc earlier, but now I'm wondering. Easy enough to test, I guess...
I doubt it, Rich.

Looks like a nice improvement that some programmer neglected to put a time limiter on in the code. Just needs an if-then-else conditional statement to control it. It will probably be fixed with f/w update.
 
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I took this lens and the OM System 20mm on a family vacation across Canada several months ago and wished every day I had chosen my trusty 12-100 PRO, despite its larger size, instead of the 8-25mm.
 
I took this lens and the OM System 20mm on a family vacation across Canada several months ago and wished every day I had chosen my trusty 12-100 PRO, despite its larger size, instead of the 8-25mm.
I feel for you.

Therere is no way I would take this as my only lens. It's far too specialised.

The FTs 14-54 MkII or 12-100 are both far better placed as walk around lenses IMNSHO.
AND a warm :Welcome: to this forum.
 
:rofl: Not likely, Stu ... But they should be able to guess.
If not an explanation:
The cane toad was disastrously imported [from South America] into the Queensland sugarcane fields to eradicate a beetle that was damaging the sugar cane. It probably did that but caused a massive environmental problem. The toad had no natural predators and when attacked exuded a toxin that often killed any native [or other animals] that tried to make a meal of them and so multiplied in plague proportions. They are often seen at night under street lights, presumably feeding on moths and insects attracted by the lights. Queensland motorists gleefully drive over them in an opportunistic but vain attempt to reduce their numbers, therefore flattening them.....successive cars further contribute to the flattening process! :laugh1:
 
If not an explanation:
The cane toad was disastrously imported [from South America] into the Queensland sugarcane fields to eradicate a beetle that was damaging the sugar cane. It probably did that but caused a massive environmental problem. The toad had no natural predators and when attacked exuded a toxin that often killed any native [or other animals] that tried to make a meal of them and so multiplied in plague proportions. They are often seen at night under street lights, presumably feeding on moths and insects attracted by the lights. Queensland motorists gleefully drive over them in an opportunistic but vain attempt to reduce their numbers, therefore flattening them.....successive cars further contribute to the flattening process! :laugh1:
What's interesting is that the perentie lizards (very large goannas, monitor lizards) are developing immunity to the cane toad toxin/s. As the lizard is a top predator, they might just stop the spread.

Cane toads appear to have become much smaller since my youth. In the 1950s, I saw one that was as big as Bill Cuskoff's little wire haired terrier, and was about 18" nose to tail. Monster of a thing. Bill was a local fisherman who was quite friendly towards all us little kids at Mooloolaba.
 
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