Given that the lens is more expensive than some of the bodies it'll be put on, we expect it to perform well, right? ;~) In use, this lens proved itself highly resistant t 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. In an age when plastics are often used in lens manufacturing it comes as an absolute delight to find that the Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 lens is not only metal-cased but also feels solidly-built and has a very tactile satin finish.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12 mm F2.0 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal

There is some chromatic aberration and vignetting , but that can be easily fixed in post processing. The color rendering of this lens is warm. Warmer than most Panasonic lenses. Color temperature can also be adjusted in post processing. Autofocus is silent, fast and deadly accurate.Similar results can be seen in the corners; the Leica lens retains a very small advantage over the Olympus through the aperture range. Happily the amount of detail remains decent even at the fastest apertures. Fashion-conscious people happily spend hundreds of euros extra for nicely made clothes. With photography, that’s less of a given. I know few photographers with a hand-cut, Italian (or British) suit. Given equal quality, we usually choose the less expensive version. That is in this case the Olympus 12 mm f/2, and that is indeed just as good.

The Olympus 12mm F/2 - Digital Photography Review The Olympus 12mm F/2 - Digital Photography Review

Panasonic 8mm f3.5 Fisheye: another one we haven’t tried is the first fisheye designed for the system (if my memory serves me well). It’s almost double the price of the Samyang, but you get autofocus. WYSIWYG score:This table shows the performance of this lens if you save the files in the camera as jpg, whereby you have all available in-camera lens corrections applied. This score gives you for this lens/test camera combination: “What you see is what you get”. I even went so far as to buy Panny’s 24mm (equiv) OVF, the VF1, which they produced for the bottom end of the LX3’s zoom. I use an OVF (a rather expensive Voigtlander) with the Panny 14 — it’s magic! If you get the opportunity to get your hands on to the Panny OVF (or any other 24mm equiv accessory OVF) I recommend giving it a try. More fun that a lot of stuff that’s not even legal! 🙂 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. Two of the most logical competitors within the Micro Four Thirds lens range are the Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 and Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12mm f/1.4 due to the fact that they share the exact same field of view. The former, released in 2011, has been around almost as long as the system itself whereas the latter arrived on the market in mid-2016.Lens configuration:11 elements in 8 groups (1 DSA element, 1 aspherical glass element, 1 ED lens element, 1 Super HR element) This ultra compact pancake lens is a freak of nature. How can something so compact produce photos that look this good? Yes, the corners are a bit soft and distortion is present, but it manages to keep up with the Olympus 12mm in almost every way for a fraction of the price. If you already have a M43 body (that isn’t an E-P3) and you are looking for a wide prime, the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 should be at the top of your list. Personal Note Panasonic GF-1 with Panasonic 14mm. Shot at ISO 500, f/4.5, 1/8 sec. Both operate with precision especially when combined with the manual assists (magnification, focus peaking) of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Unfortunately the weather here in Wales wasn’t very cooperative when we had the two lenses in for testing, so we had to forego comparing them for astrophotography. I can confirm from previous tests that the Leica 12mm is an excellent choice thanks to the very low levels of comatic aberration and astigmatism at f/1.4. You can see some examples below from last summer. GX85, 10s, f/1.4, ISO 200 – 12mm f/1.4 GX85, 10s, f/2, ISO 800 – 12mm f/1.4 The first and most obvious difference between the M.Zuiko 12mm and Leica 12mm is the size and weight. Not only is the latter more than twice as heavy as the former but it is also significantly larger, making it a better choice for mid-sized to large Micro Four Thirds bodies. By contrast, the small and lightweight nature of the Olympus lens means it can comfortably be used on any body, even the tiny Lumix GX850 or Pen E-PL8. You can see how they compare in size to the mid-range Lumix GX85 below.

Olympus 12mm f/2 Micro Four Thirds Lens | Park Cameras Used Olympus 12mm f/2 Micro Four Thirds Lens | Park Cameras

An other popular M43rds sensor is the 10Mpixels Sony IMX294. It found in many other dedicated Astrophotography cameras. To me, this lens embodies what the Micro Four Thirds system is all about; high quality compact cameras and lenses. The perfect balance between size, weight and image quality. There are faster wide angle lenses, but these lenses are much bigger, heavier and often very expensive. It can't be compared to a big zoom like the 12-40mm which serves a different purpose. Standard zoom lenses, whether premium or kit, start from 12mm or 14mm. This gives you an equivalent angle of view of 24/28mm which gives you lots of flexibility if you’re interested in landscapes or architecture. Of course you don’t get the extreme view shorter focal lengths can deliver, but you have a longer reach when zooming in. The 12mm f2 is the first lens we bought when we started reviewing mirrorless cameras in 2013 (along with the 45mm 1.8 and the OM-D E-M5). It served us well for many years thanks to its compact design, good metal build, fast AF motor and very good optical performance. The corners are a tad softer than the centre but once you stop down to f2.8 or f4, there is no cause for complaint. Flare resistance is good and there is some mild vignetting at the fastest aperture but nothing to be concerned about.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. Is the distortion effect corrected as it is for the 7-14mm? Is it because it is an Olympus lens on a Panasonic camera and somehow does not benefit from the correction? The Leica DG 15mm has an odd angle of view of 72˚ but the optical quality is stunning. In fact I would say it is one of the very best on this list.