It would be my dream lens.

I saw a write up in the Olympus mag but not seen any publicity yet.

Part of my reason for wanting the E1 was that I like wide angles so the *1.6 with some cameras is a drag, or very expensive!

if you go here...

...you can look throught the "products" and then "lenses" to see that there has been an official announcement for this lens. Nothing yet about price.

wrong address. Try this...

Yet another Trump card from Olympus ... first of all, their 300mm which no maufacturer matches in performance, and now, this ultra-wide which is also a zoom. It's only other competitor is the 14mm f5.6 Helier, but that is a prime, not zoom.

Indeed, their other Wide Zoom, is also offers the widest angle of view on any Digital camera at 22mm. I guess this beastie, is going to hit the shops at about £700+, but like the 300mm, will attract many new customers seeking extreme focal length optics.

Regarding Olympus and their 4/3rds system, I feel what they are producing is akin to the comparison between a PC and Apple Mac. Moans in the press about the lack of alternative products, which mainly arise because what the manufacturer makes, is so good that other suppliers find the competition just too tough.

Has the Mac been killed off by this? Nope. It fills an area of the market that demands a high quality and innovative product that delivers what it says on the box, rather than being the 'Jack of all trades, and master of none.' because it's design is based on far fewer compromises.

Olympus have always been innovators, producing probably the best half-frame cameras, and then topping that, by bringing out their jewel-like SLR version.

I have just bought my 1st non nikon mount camera in 30 years - mainly because of the lenses. Nikon/Canon MOVE OVER. I compared my 24-85 ED G aspherical bla bla bla to the 14-54 spoken so highly of by "Tom" and it beats the crap out of it....not to mention 50-200 vs 80-200. Can't wait....

Available Spring 2005 it says on the Olympus web site. I'll start saving right away. :-) I look forward to seeing what my friends and their pets will look like through that lens. :-D

Ok I guess over £1000 for this lens!

I've started saving!

This sounds like one awesome lens! Most of my photos are detail shots and close-ups. I am really looking forward to adding a new creative twist to my photography once this lens hits my hands. A change in view and a new way to see pictures will be exciting!!

Last night on DPReview JM Porter of Arlington Camera said that the MSRP of the 7-14 will be $1699.00 US. About $400.00 more than I expected. I better start saving!

That's about £700 more than I guessed given the normal exchange rate for these things of £1=$1. ;-)

If that is the price, I will have to wait too, and maybe reconsider the 11-22mm zoom. I do want the wider 7-14mm so some soul searching is in order. On the other hand, there were many, many people that insisted this lens would not be made, and those people must be eating some crow right now. I will remain hopeful that the price will be a bit lower than this, or that there will be some discounts or promotions available in time that will make this lens a bit easier to purchase.

The price will probably be determined by the competition that the lens has.

So nothing to worry about there then!!!!!

:-(

I'm one of those people interested in the lens but can't see myself spending that kind of money so I'll be waiting around to see what the price falls to eventually. Knowing the way things go and Olympus' history thus far with this system and prices, the price is bound to fall. I bought one of the first kits in Ireland and built up my collection to include the 14-54mm, 50mm, FL50 flash and the 50-200. I also just bought the EC converter, which I'm looking forward to experimenting with. I missed the special offer that came the way of a lucky few which I think was in April with the offer of a free 50mm or a flash when buying the kit of body/14-54 lens. So having faithfully bought in to the system no reward came my way or to others who bought at prices pre-reductions. Personally, I think that Olympus should do a deal for those of us who supported the launch of their new system and bought in at full prices. Good luck to those who made good with waiting for the bargains but I also think a little acknowledgement to those of us who bought in early in the form of a 'bonus reduction' for buying this lens would be in order. I say this tongue in cheek as I know very well that pigs will fly before that happens. I'm sure its an absolute cracker of a lens but I don't think I can see myself paying out nearly two grand for it. We'll see what happens. Having said all that I want to extend my appreciation to the camera shop in Dublin where I bought all my wonderful Oly stuff for their kindness, generosity and friendly expertise. I'm dying to see what the price will be eventually.

It would be a wonderful lens to have available but price may be a key issue. I will have to wait for my finances to recover having just recently invested in the E-System and two lenses.