[gaweidert]

Right now B&H is selling them with the 7-14, 40-150 and 300mm Pro lenses for $5,799.96 US. That is $3000 off list. Would make a great wildlife/action system with very good video as an added bonus. The only thing missing is the 12-40mm Pro lens.


I know they may not be around much longer, but then again I'm an old timer too and much closer to my end than my beginning.


I could get one of their smaller cameras without the built in battery pack/handle, but the price would be the same.

Very hard to resist. Especially with the 300mm lens included.

[repaap]

If you can afford it, why not?

I’m looking at couple lenses from oly for my black magic camera. Their lenses are really nice. Not a good thing for Oly to dive like that, but it is what it is.

[luftfluss]

Everything I've seen from the 300 PRO is killer and looks like it could handle way more pixels than the 20MP sensor provides. I've also seen really impressive pics taken with the 300 PRO + 2x TC.

I think I also generally prefer a 4:3 aspect ratio.

From a functionality standpoint, the thing that would hold me back is the low-res EVF, although at least it is a decent size.

If a person looks at the system you've specified without any preconception of what m4/3 "should be", it really does seem a sensible and compelling option.

[northcoastgreg]

This is obviously Olympus' attempt to sell of the OM-D E-M1X, which is an m43 camera that weighs nearly as much as the K-1. That might be fine when paired with the Oly 300 (which weighs more than the DA* 300), but perhaps not so terrific when paired with the other lenses in this kit. Who wants to do ultra-wide shots on a camera that weighs as much as the K-1 but has a sensor nearly four times smaller. For me, the ideal Oly kit would an E-M1iii + Oly 300 + Oly 12-100/4. Those two lenses have image stabilization that works in concert with the IBIS. The 300 is great for hand-held wildlife photography and the zoom for most other types of hand-held photography.

[BigMackCam]

I wouldn't let the carve-out of the business worry you. You'll have warranty service from someone / somewhere, there's a huge Olympus user community, and cameras, lenses and accessories will be in plentiful supply, new and used, for many years to come - even if (as is not yet certain) this is the demise of the imaging business. If you like the gear and the price, and you've done your research, go for it

Some years ago I bought a new / old-stock Hasselblad HV kit from B&H at a ridiculously good price (many thousands less than original retail). It's basically a Sony A99 with a more robust body and controls, plus a Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM, a beautiful waterproof hard case and various accessories (Italian leather strap, copy of Lightroom 5, extra battery, memory card, flash adapter etc.). Hasselblad had washed its hands of its poorly-realised and ill-fated Sony partnership by that point (Hasselblad was a laughing stock for re-branding Sony gear and selling it at hugely-inflated prices), and the A-mount was all but abandoned by Sony and third party manufacturers in favour of E-mount. But, A-mount - like Micro 4/3rds - is a very mature platform, and I've had no problem acquiring new and used lenses and accessories for the camera. I've zero regrets in buying it, I've taken some wonderful shots with it, and I continue to enjoy shooting it immensely. I've no reason to think you'd feel any differently with the Oly

[ramseybuckeye]

I wouldn't let the carve-out of the business worry you. You'll have warranty service from someone / somewhere, there's a huge Olympus user community, and cameras, lenses and accessories will be in plentiful supply, new and used, for many years to come - even if (as is not yet certain) this is the demise of the imaging business. If you like the gear and the price, and you've done your research, go for it

Some years ago I bought a new / old-stock Hasselblad HV kit from B&H at a ridiculously good price (many thousands less than original retail). It's basically a Sony A99 with a more robust body and controls, plus a Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM, a beautiful waterproof hard case and various accessories (Italian leather strap, copy of Lightroom 5, extra battery, memory card, flash adapter etc.). Hasselblad had washed its hands of the poorly-realised and ill-fated Sony partnership by that point (Hasselblad was a laughing stock for re-branding Sony gear and selling it at hugely-inflated prices), and the A-mount was all but abandoned by Sony and third party manufacturers in favour of E-mount. But A-mount - like Micro 4/3rds - is a very mature platform, and I've had no problem acquiring used and new lenses and accessories for the camera. I've zero regrets in buying it, I've taken some wonderful shots with it, and I continue to enjoy shooting it immensely. I've no reason to think you'd feel any differently with the Oly

I can image you have done well with those A mount lenses, they seem to be plentiful and available for cheap prices.

[gaweidert]

This is obviously Olympus' attempt to sell of the OM-D E-M1X, which is an m43 camera that weighs nearly as much as the K-1. That might be fine when paired with the Oly 300 (which weighs more than the DA* 300), but perhaps not so terrific when paired with the other lenses in this kit. Who wants to do ultra-wide shots on a camera that weighs as much as the K-1 but has a sensor nearly four times smaller. For me, the ideal Oly kit would an E-M1iii + Oly 300 + Oly 12-100/4. Those two lenses have image stabilization that works in concert with the IBIS. The 300 is great for hand-held wildlife photography and the zoom for most other types of hand-held photography.

Since I tend to use a battery grip on my K1 and K1-II you have to add that to the equation so weight is not an issue. I have my K1 and K1-II for scenery etc. Other than the 560mm f5.6 beast telescope lens, there are no new long focal length primes available for Pentax and I seriously doubt that any new ones will be coming out during my lifetime. Having an equivalent 600mm f4.0 lens for wildlife is very attractive to me. The wide angle lens does not hold any interest for me. I would rather it have the 12-40mm Pro lens.


One thing it does have is pixel shift capabilities. This give a RAW file with a size of about 50mb. A lot of data there. Verygood video performance too. This would be an addition to my gear and not a replacement. I am not a fan of EVF so that is a bit of a negative to me. As would be low light level performance.


Just so darn tempting at this price.

[BigMackCam]

I can image you have done well with those A mount lenses, they seem to be plentiful and available for cheap prices.

Indeed. My most recent bargain, and one of my best, was the highly-regarded Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di LD (IF) 1:1 Macro (B01) - brand new / old stock, box slightly tatty from storage, for just GBP £192 inc shipping (about 240 bucks). I picked that up on eBay UK in September last year. Couldn't believe it. The crazy thing is, these A-mount lenses work brilliantly on my Sony A7 MkII (and any other semi-recent E-mount camera) using the LA-EA4 adapter. I don't own a single native E-mount lens

Regarding the OP's situation, I think it'll be a while before the better Micro 4/3rds lenses are quite so inexpensive, given that there's still a great deal of manufacturer and third-party support for the mount... but I'm sure there'll be some great bargains to be had

[luftfluss]

Hmm, just saw this on another site...

[mecrox]

Right now B&H is selling them with the 7-14, 40-150 and 300mm Pro lenses for $5,799.96 US. That is $3000 off list. Would make a great wildlife/action system with very good video as an added bonus. The only thing missing is the 12-40mm Pro lens.


I know they may not be around much longer, but then again I'm an old timer too and much closer to my end than my beginning.


I could get one of their smaller cameras without the built in battery pack/handle, but the price would be the same.

Very hard to resist. Especially with the 300mm lens included.

The EM!-X is a very good camera. I have one. But imho it is a big beast and really designed for long telephotos and sports-type photography, so the Oly 300mm f4 or 40-150mm f2.8 would be an ideal pairing, for example. For more 'normal' focal lengths you will get similar performance and many of its features from an EM1 Mark III in a much smaller form factor. The EM1 Mark II is also a good alternative to the Mark III though obviously with slightly older tech. However, same sensor so similar output, just less tweaked. They are all good cameras provided you accept that a smaller sensor will not perform quite so well in low light, but then you won't be lugging around a heavy and costly FF-calibre lens either. As with all cameras, it is a trade-off - great for some, not for others.

[gaweidert]

The EM!-X is a very good camera. I have one. But imho it is a big beast and really designed for long telephotos and sports-type photography, so the Oly 300mm f4 or 40-150mm f2.8 would be an ideal pairing, for example. For more 'normal' focal lengths you will get similar performance and many of its features from an EM1 Mark III in a much smaller form factor. The EM1 Mark II is also a good alternative to the Mark III though obviously with slightly older tech. However, same sensor so similar output, just less tweaked. They are all good cameras provided you accept that a smaller sensor will not perform quite so well in low light, but then you won't be lugging around a heavy and costly FF-calibre lens either. As with all cameras, it is a trade-off - great for some, not for others.

What is interesting if that the kit price is the same if you get the EM1 Mark II or Mark III instead. That is why I am looking at the top of the line. No savings if I get the less expensive camera.

[luftfluss]

What is interesting if that the kit price is the same if you get the EM1 Mark II or Mark III instead. That is why I am looking at the top of the line. No savings if I get the less expensive camera.

Yup, this was in my email a few days ago: https://getolympus.com/freeomd?utm_content=cta_06_E-M1_Mar...c_sub=68166654

At B&H, the 3 lenses cost a total of $5,347, so you get any top-of-the-line body for just $453. May as well get the most expensive one, unless you really want the Starry Sky AF feature that is currently exclusive to the EM1_3.

[surfar]

The wide angle lens does not hold any interest for me. I would rather it have the 12-40mm Pro lens.

Easy enough to sell it,the 12-40f2.8 is widely available used too.So if you had nothing against a used one then that would lessen the cost of a great kit.

I looked at the grey market prices downunder for the 4 items and its the same,so doing that deal in front of you would make sense.

Oly gear is great.

[DamienW]

Easy enough to sell it,the 12-40f2.8 is widely available used too.

Agree...I watch the used prices of this gear pretty closely. For the 12-40 pro, in Australia you'd be looking at around the $500 mark (~USD340 or so?).

In case anybody is interested - for the other bits, used eBay prices are roughly (Aussie dollars):

E-M1X - $2,300
300 pro - $2,200
40-150 pro with 1.4 convertor - $1,000
7-14 pro - $900

About AUD6,400 (USD4,300 - ish). That's secondhand, so I think that Olympus deal is pretty good really.

Not sure what these used prices are like in other markets, but those are my observations from Oz eBay. I don't have an E-M1 of any kind myself, but the MK ii seems to be selling for around AUD1k (with very low shot count), and the Mk iii is not particularly well available used.

You can do better or worse of course. I got my 40-150 and 7-14 for less than those estimates, and my 12-40 for a steal with another camera body. The E-M1X doesn't come up that frequently, and the prices people want vary wildly. The 300 pro is very rare secondhand, and I can only recall seeing one sell for low AUD2k. Another 300 pro was listed just this past week at AUD2,800, and ended without a bid.

My observations are based on those I've seen go the full course and sell at auction.

I do love these lenses. Beautifully made and optics that I suspect go way beyond the abilities of the M4/3 sensors. I really would like the 300mm, and I think I'll still try to snag one in the coming 12 months (plus an E-M1 Mk ii or Mk iii). I will not bother trying to get an equivalent lens for my K-1, but on the M4/3 bodies it seems to make a lot of sense!