Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12 mm F2.0 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), Black

Product Information

Olympus has given us another one of their thin plastic, very losable, small plastic lens caps again, too. Funny thing: the Olympus logo fell off mine. That's right, the Olympus logo is on a thin piece glued to the actual plastic of the lens cap. And glued poorly in this case. Caps this small need a tethering option, in my opinion. Finally, be a little careful mounting and unmounting the lens: neither the front nor rear elements are very recessed. Note: The GF-1 actually compensates for color fringing and distortion in camera when shooting JPEGs. Because of this, all images for this test were shot in RAW for both lenses.

12mm F2.0 Interchangeable Lens M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm F2.0

With the micro four thirds mount still relatively new on the camera scene, at the time of writing there's little in the way of alternatives. Here too there’s not much to notice. A barrel-shaped distortion of half a percent is so low that in practice you will practically never see it. When you open a RAW file in Lightroom or Photoshop, you might come to the conclusion that there’s no software correction of distortion done, because the RAW file opened in Photoshop or Lightroom shows so little distortion. That’s because they’re corrected for distortion. If you avoid the automatic correction, then you see a barrel-shaped distortion of 5..5%. That’s also the explanation of why we give a bit higher score to the sharpness of RAW files: if you avoid the correction of distortion, then the corners are even sharper. Certainly the lens hood should be included, as should a bag for the lens. I bought JJC hoods for my lenses and whole they work okay, they’re not as good as the branded ones (and you must not, under any circumstances, try to reverse the 9-18 hood) but having spent serious money buying the Oly lenses, there was no way I was going to unbelt again for the lens hoods. While the Panasonic is compact and light, the Olympus 12mm f/2 is extremely well built and solid. It looks like is should be on the front of a Leica, not a M43 body. The lens is finished with a champagne colored metal and a blue ring adorns the top of the lens, similar to Canon’s red L ring. Nicely done Olympus. Olympus 12mm f/2. Shown with focus ring set to AF focus mode. Distortion is kept low for a wide angle lens, with Imatest recording 1.12% barrelling. As the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, this should also be easy to correct in image editing software afterwards.Some say they prefer the 12-40 at 12mm, but not me. I am in particular impressed by its near-Leica rendering (in B&W). The wide aperture is very useful for creative close-ups. I liked the 12mm f/2 Olympus a lot when I got it along with my Olympus Pen E-P3 but no longer use it now that I have the Olympus 12-40mm lens. As for their respective maximum apertures of f/1.4 (Leica) and f/2 (Olympus), they look more or less identical. Even at these values, sharpness remains surprisingly good. Although both the M.Zuiko 12mm and Leica 12mm are very enjoyable lenses to use, I would personally recommend the Olympus lens for a number of reasons. Although we had plenty of experience with both lenses in the past, we never had the chance to test them side by side until now. Of course, the question on all of our minds is: does the larger and more expensive Leica 12mm provide superior optical quality in comparison to its Olympus counterpart, and if so, is it worth the extra money? It’s time to find out!

Olympus 12mm f/2 ED M.Zuiko Digital Review

Very balanced, and I agree with what you have said. I finally decided against the f2 12mm, deciding in favor of smallness with the f2.5 14mm (for professional reasons I also have to have the 9-18 zoom, given that there’s no 9mm or 10mm prime, which is what I would really like), but zi looked very closely at it and agonized over it. Lens configuration:14 elements in 9 groups(2 high refractive elements, 1 DSA element, 1 aspherical glass element, 2 ED lens element, 2 Aspherical ED elements, 1 Super HR element) Santiago oriente al atardecer, a los pies de la Cordillera de Los Andes. Vista desde Quinchamalí (La Dehesa a la izquierda, Virgen de Cerro 18 al centro, Valle Escondido a la derecha). Both lenses feature coating to reduce flare and ghosting but the Leica lens is far less resistant than the Olympus. Given the price of the lens, I was quite surprised to find that flare could be so invasive. GX85, 1/5000, f/1.4, ISO 200 – Leica 12mm GX85, 1/200, f/10, ISO 200 – Leica 12mmAs I stated early on in this review, I own the GF-1 and 14mm f/2.5. Personally, I think the 14mm is a great value for the money and I would choose it over the 12mm simply because of the 12mm’s price. You could buy the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 and the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 (my favorite M43 lens) for less than the 12mm f/2. That’s a solid kit and you’d only need to add something in the telephoto range which can be had for a less money than the primes. That’s my personal opinion, take it for what it’s worth. More Comparison Images Given that the lens is more expensive than some of the bodies it'll be put on, we expect it to perform well, right? ;~) Both lenses feature a ribbed fly-by-wire focus ring that is pleasant to use and accurate when combined with the latest manual assist of Micro Four Thirds cameras such as magnification or focus peaking.

Olympus 12mm f/2.0 Special Edition Review Olympus 12mm f/2.0 Special Edition

The first thing that’s immediately noticeable about the sharpness of this lens is the high, very even sharpness. Just as with the Olympus 25 mm f/1.8, which we reviewed a short time ago. Actually, the sharpness in the center is equal to the sharpness in the corners. And that’s starting at full aperture. That is a very good performance and expands the usability of this lens. Many bright lenses have clearly softer corners at full aperture. Where sharpness is concerned, with this lens you’re completely free to use every aperture between f/2 and f/11. The amount of sharpening is somewhat a matter of personal taste. For me, the standard jpg files of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 are a bit too sharp. But there are many photographers who find that perfect. View the image below at 100% and form your own opinion. Always shoot at fixed white balance, either “sunny” or “cloudy”. I find ISO 3200 too noisy and wouldn’t go higher than 1600 but YMMW. Being an all-metal lens, the M.Zuiko Digital 12mm f/2 naturally features a metal bayonet mount that allows it to be mounted to any Micro Four Thirds camera (but no “regular” Four Thirds DSLR, of course). You will not have trouble from vignetting with this lens, whether you shoot in jpg or RAW. Even at full aperture, the vignetting is less half a stop. In comparison: For a standard lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor, one and a half stops, so three times as much, is not unusual.Although this lens isn't the most compact on offer for Micro Four Thirds system compatible cameras, it is still relatively compact and lightweight at only 130g. The build quality is excellent, with a retro metal finish and it makes a perfect companion for the Panasonic Lumix G3 used for testing.