Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm F1.2 PRO Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras

Product Information

Stabilisation is another major selling point for Micro Four Thirds: Olympus pioneered body-based stabilisation (which shifts the sensor) and has long built it into every body. Panasonic more recently adopted sensor-shift technology and now offers it on most new Lumix G bodies apart from the cheapest ones. Both will stabilize any lens you attach, even if the lens doesn’t have optical stabilisation. Panasonic does however sell many lenses with optical stabilisation, partly to support older Lumix G cameras without built-in stabilisation, but also to work alongside newer bodies which do have built-in stabilisation to improve the result. There’s a generously-sized manual focusing ring that feels smooth and nicely damped in operation. I’d say it feels similar to the Summilux 25mm f1.4 and slightly better than the Olympus 45mm f1.8, but on my own set of sample lenses, the Olympus 75mm f1.8 focusing ring felt smoothest of all. Used in isolation you’re unlikely to notice the difference, but it is interesting to compare them side by side. I should note the focusing ring on my sample sometimes felt a little scratchy when pulling focus for video – it was rarely an issue for stills, but I could feel it from time to time when constantly turning the ring from unusual angles. I've used this lens extensively for professional assignments and private commissions, and it has come through every time. Obviously it's designed as a portrait lens, but I also find it great for street photography and reportage (which are typically the realm of 35mm equivalents). The lens doesn't show any visible distortion, a plus for one with such a wide aperture. There is some dimness at corners when shooting wide open. We see a -1.2EV drop at f/1.2 and a -1.1EV deficit at f/1.4 when comparing the corners of an image with the center. Conclusions

As such, expect to see lenses with smaller focal lengths than you might expect. A 12mm focal length on a full-frame system is ultra-wide, for instance, but on an M43 camera it captures a wide standard view. That's about the same as the main lens on your smartphone or a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera. The rule of thumb is to double Micro Four Thirds focal lengths to directly compare them with full-frame. Fancy putting together a triplet of top-end zooms? How about the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 7-14mm f2.8 PRO, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12-40mm f2.8 PRO and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f2.8 PRO, giving you an equivalent range of 14-300mm with a constant f2.8 aperture. Or if you’re willing to sacrifice the constant f2.8 aperture for a smaller and lighter triplet with f2.8-4 apertures, I’m very fond of the Panasonic Leica DG 8-18mm f2.8-4, Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm f2.8-4 and Panasonic Leica DG 50-200mm f2.8-4, giving you an equivalent range of 16-400mm. don’t shoot portraits on a regular basis but want something better than the kit lens that comes with your camera It's not a matter of "need". It's a matter of compromise. FF makes some things easier/more convenient. Same with mFT." Finally in terms of quality, both companies divide their lens ranges into various categories. Olympus divides its range into three groups: its basic lenses are labelled M.Zuiko, its mid-range ones M.Zuiko Premium, and its high-end ones M.Zuiko Pro. Panasonic brands all its mirrorless cameras and lenses as Lumix G, but co-develops a series of high-end lenses with Leica, labeled Leica DG; these are designed by Leica, but manufactured by Panasonic.Finding a lens for a Micro Four Thirds camera isn't hard—there have been hundreds of different types over the years. But there are some things to take into account. The Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is a lens that I never leave the house without. (No exaggeration; my everyday camera bag consists of an Olympus PEN E-P7, Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm Pancake, and an Olympus M.Zuiko 9mm Body Cap lens). The lens focuses to 19.7 inches (0.5-meter), at which it captures subjects at 1:10 life-size. It's certainly not a macro lens, but you can still frame very tight headshots when shooting portraits. The Panasonic Nocticron doesn't offer an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to close focus —its minimum focus capability matches the Olympus. Image Quality For many years our Micro 4/3 optics tests were based on the Olympus E-PL1. Some time ago we’ve also started to test lenses using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II as we felt the time has come for changes. That’s how we found out that between sensors of those two bodies there is a very small difference, amounting to 5-7 lpmm at most, to the advantage of the newer one with a higher pixel count. Mind you that difference is possible to notice only in the wide area of the maximum relative aperture and it decreases when you employ apertures limited strongly by diffraction.

Wydawc The filter thread measures 67mm, making it the largest of its peer group: the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 and Olympus 75mm f1.8 use 58mm filters, while the tiny Olympus 45mm f1.8 uses 37mm. The Four Thirds sensors used in Olympus and Panasonic mirrorless cameras mean the field-of-view of all lenses is effectively reduced by two times compared to a full-frame system – so a 25mm lens will deliver a 50mm equivalent field-of-view. If you’re looking to compare depth-of-field with full frame, then you’ll also need to double the f-number – so a 25mm f1.4 lens will deliver images with coverage and depth-of-field equivalent to a 50mm f2.8 lens on full frame. In terms of exposure though, an f-number on one system is the same as on another – the difference here refers only to equivalent coverage and depth-of-field. It’s also worth noting that the performance of the two lenses can decrease on Lumix cameras because Panasonic’s DFD AF technology is not compatible with Olympus lenses.

Field of View and Minimum Focus Distance

If you prefer something a little wider, perhaps for street photography, I can also highly recommend a 17mm prime or thereabouts and again there’s lots of options, albeit at a higher price than the 25mm above; I’m going to suggest either the Panasonic Leica DG 15mm f1.7 or the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f1.8, both in a similar ballpark price-wise; I personally prefer the Leica, but love the more compact size of the Olympus when mounted on a smaller body. In terms of focusing sound, all three were very quiet, but there were audible differences: the 45mm f1.8 was the quietest (perhaps not surprising given the minimal weight of optics to shift), followed by the Nocticron, leaving the 75mm as the noisiest. Although again noisiest seems a bit unfair as all three are very quiet at focusing and the sound of any stabilisation in action – especially the in-body Olympus system – will drown them out.