Photography Gear News

The Olympus M.Zuiko DIGITAL ED 40-150mm 4-5.6 R MSC may not be the hottest lens around in terms of generated excitement. However, it is certainly one of the most sold lenses of the micro-four-thirds (MFT) system - simply due to the fact that it is usually sold as part of camera-lens kits (either with a black or silver color finish). Given its specs it is a mid-range tele zoom lens suitable for a variety applications such as basic wildlife or portrait photography. The "R" model is an improved version of the initial 40-150mm - if you count in the Four-Thirds variants this is even the 4th incarnation.

"The lack of pure speed is no longer an argument against micro-four-thirds (MFT) as more and more lenses like the the Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH or the Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 ED have entered the market. However, the system wasn't really blessed with dedicated "portrait" lenses ... till Olympus announced the M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8. Its field-of-view is equivalent to about 90mm in full format terms so it fits perfectly into that category. The maximum aperture of f/1.8 is certainly fast with respect to light gathering, but in terms of depth-of-field you are are effectively "loosing" about two f-stops in this respect compared to the classic full format. However, this is still sufficient for quite shallow depth-of-field images especially for portrait photography from short distance. Fair enough, let's have a closer look at the lens."

The Micro 4/3 system, due to the Olympus and Panasonic cooperation, has been developing very fast; so fast that currently we have over 20 original system lenses with a whole variety of parameters at our disposal. Some of the newest ones are two new fixed-focal Olympus devices, which were presented 30 June 2011. We think here about the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12 mm f/2.0 ED and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm f/1.8. The first has already been tested by us, now the time has come for the second one.

I’ve written several times here, on our site, that, in my humble opinion, small, fixed-focal lenses are the biggest strength of mirrorless systems - they don’t take a lot of space, attached to a body, they are physically light and they provide a great image quality at the same time. These lenses don’t have to be typical “pancakes” but their dimensions should fit the dimensions of a body well. The Micro 4/3 system features the biggest number of such lenses because two companies have actively supported its creation and development. You can list here the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17 mm f/2.8, the Panasonic LUMIX G 14 mm f/2.5 ASPH or the Panasonic LUMIX G 20 mm f/1.7 ASPH, which have already been tested by our team.
Lately the offer has been enlarged even more. On 30 June 2011 the Olympus company decided to launch the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12 mm f/2.0 ED and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm f/1.8. These two instruments aren’t typical “pancakes” but still they remain small and relatively light, fitting well the whole idea behind the 4/3 system.
Due to a very quick reaction of the Olympus Poland company we are able to present the full test of the first of those two lenses. The Olympus E-PL1 body, used during the testing, was lent by the Fotozakupy.pl shop.

The Lenstip editorial office received the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17 mm f/1.8 lens already on the day of its launch courtesy of Olympus Poland. Such a fast reaction mobilized our team to test the device as soon as possible and today we can present its full review. Enjoy!

The Micro-Four-Thirds (MFT) system is clearly the most mature micro-camera system on the market. Consumers can choose between a large variety of cameras as well as lenses. However, to date MFT covered primarily the budget to mid-class market segment only - possibly because the high-end approach of Four-Thirds (classic) failed so both Panasonic as well as Olympus were probably a little shy of entering again. The Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95 created some buzz though so there is a market here after all. Olympus has now finally released its first professional grade MFT product - the Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 ED. They've thrown in a couple of new technologies both in terms of optics and mechanical implementation. The pricing is quite brave with an MSRP of 800EUR/US$ although the usual street price is generally lower, of course.

The field-of-view is equivalent to 24mm in full format terms so it's a moderate ultra-wide angle lens. The max. aperture of f/2 is certainly fast with respect to light gathering but don't expect wonders in terms of depth-of-field - in the MFT scope you are are effectively "loosing" about two f-stops so it "behaves" like a "24mm f/4" here. This is still sufficient for quite shallow depth-of-field images if you move close enough though...