Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 25 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

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The first immediately noticeable thing about the focus of this lens is the high, very regular sharpness. The sharpness in the in the center is actually equal to the sharpness in the corners – from full aperture on. That is a very good performance and increases the usability of this lens. Many other lenses at full opening have clearly softer corners. Where sharpness is concerned, you’re completely free to choose any aperture between f/1.8 and f/11. The amount of sharpening is partly a matter of personal taste. For my taste, standard jpg files of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 are slightly too sharpened. But there are many photographers who will find that really beautiful. Examine the image below at 100%, and form your own opinion. The Olympus 25mm ƒ/1.8 lens has a close focusing distance of 9.4 in. (24cm) with a maximum magnification of 0.12x (1:8.3 ratio), and as such, doesn't provide overly good macro performance. You will never have trouble from vignetting with this lens. Even at full aperture, the vignetting is less than half a stop. In comparison: For a standard lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor, a stop and a half is not unusual.

OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital 25mm F1.8 Black For Micro

Other 25mm lenses include the Panasonic 25 1.4, which is one of the highest rated 25mm lenses for Micro 4/3. We also have the amazingly good, and one of my all time manual focus faves, the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 which allows you to focus close, get almost full frame quality Depth of Field and Bokeh, and is built like the Voigtlander lenses for the Leica system.

Specifically, the lens weighs only 411g (0.91 lbs.), which only slightly heavier than the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens at 382g (0.84 lbs.) and lighter than the 7-14mm f/2.8, which comes in at 534g (1.18 lbs.). Side by side against my 12-40mm, the two lenses feel very similar in the hand. In terms of size, the 8-25mm is 88.5mm (3.48 in.) in length when retracted into its stored position, making it very similar to the 12-40mm lens in overall size. The 8-25mm is, however, slightly wider in diameter, at about 77mm (3 in.) at its maximum and uses 72mm screw-on filters. In short, I don't feel the need to stop the lens down for better image quality. When you do stop it down one or two notches, sharpness and contrast get slightly better. Again, I think it's perfectly fine at f/1.8. This lens features superb IPX1-equivalent splashproof and dustproof performance and freezeproof performance to 14°F for the ultimate reliability unique to the M.Zuiko PRO series. When paired with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 series, you can have peace of mind using this lens in punishing environments such as rain and snow. Fluorine coating is used on the front lens for easy cleaning in rainy, snowy, or dusty environments. Filter Support

Olympus 25mm f/1.8 vs. Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 Olympus 25mm f/1.8 vs. Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4

I go in phases between the 35mm and 50mm being my #1 fave to shoot with and these days it is 35 all the way, so when out shooting with this 25 (50mm equiv) I was once again having to get used to shooting this focal length. After a solid few days of shooting with it daily I remember what it is that makes it my #2 favorite focal length! It has the perfect mix of sharpness and shallow DOF possibilities. While this is indeed a true 25mm lens, and we will get 25mm DOF from the lens, the focal length appears as a 50mm. So imagine the Olympus 25mm as a 50mm with 25mm Depth of Field and “Bokeh”. Due to the shorter focal length we will not get subject isolation as we will get on a real 50mm. It will give us 25mm DOF and isolation and yes, f 1.8 is a true f/1.8. Just on a 25mm lens.A deep circular hood is supplied with this lens, which does a reasonable job of shading the lens from extraneous light that may cause issues with loss of contrast or flare. Even without the hood in place, this lens is very resistant to flare and contrast levels hold up well when shooting into the light. Whether you’re going after food or fashion work, this is a pretty damned good lens. However, the 45mm will have less distortion because it is a longer focal length, so it will be better for portraits too. That doesn’t mean that the 25mm can’t handle portraits well though. We did two days straight of long and arduous shooting with the lens. As we get to smaller apertures, the Panasonic retains a slight lead in the center at f/2.5, but by f/3.5, the lenses are just too similar to worry about. Likewise in the corners, the Olympus stays visibly sharper throughout, though by f/3.5 the differences are extremely small. WYSIWYG score:This table shows the performance of this lens when you save the files in the camera as jpg, including all in-camera lens corrections (distortion, chromatic aberration). This score gives you for this lens/test camera combination: “What you see is what you get”. Smaller and lighter than Panasonic (balances better on the smallest MFT bodies) - much smaller if you include the dedicated hoods (finally Olympus includes a hood)

Olympus 25 1.8 Lens Review on the E-M1 | Steve Huff Hi-Fi The Olympus 25 1.8 Lens Review on the E-M1 | Steve Huff Hi-Fi

One other thing that is visible from these crops is the relatively higher level of vignetting on the Olympus. While both lenses are notably darker in the corners wide open, the Panasonic eliminates most of that corner shading by f/1.8, while the Olympus has to be stopped down much further to bring the vignetting to negligible territory. There has been a revival of standard prime lenses in recent years and there's also no shortage of them in the Micro-Four-Thirds system. The Panasonic/Leica Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH comes into mind or the Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95. However, these are rather pricey lenses. In early 2014 Olympus released its first entry into this market segment - the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8. The lens follows the tradition of the M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 in being not overly expensive yet fast enough to make a difference compared to the fast zoom lenses of the system. Unless you can get the Panasonic at a really amazing price, I’d recommend springing for the Olympus. The 25mm focal length is a great format for a wide-range ofscenarios and I hardly ever take mine off, so it’s worth getting the better version. Links There is a light amount of chromatic aberration seen at all apertures, but it's mostly only noticeable in the corners and only in areas of high contrast. The effect is a light magenta fringing, and it's probably only visible by viewing 100% crops. Overall, it's very minor -- averaging around 300ths of a percent of frame height -- and something a little post-processing would clear up easily.

Manual focusing is also available with this lens using an electrical focus-by-wire system. Unlike some Olympus primes such as the M.Zuiko 12mm ƒ/2, which uses a focus ring clutch mechanism, manual focus is, instead, enabled by the camera.

Olympus 25mm F1.8 vs. Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm F1.4 Olympus 25mm F1.8 vs. Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm F1.4

With a design that's largely similar to Olympus' existing Zuiko Pro lenses, including rugged metal construction and thorough weather-sealing, the small 8-25mm f/4 lens is ready to go on your next adventure. At the end of the day though, a 25mm acts like a 50mm for focal length/magnification so this is what you are going to see when looking through your viewfinder. It will not be like when you put a 24mm on your full frame camera, but like when you put a 50mm on your full frame camera except for the Depth of Field control. Basically, on Micro 4/3 we are magnifying that 25mm to give us a 50mm field of view. Now, there is a hint -- ever so slightly -- of some corner softness at ƒ/1.8, but it's so minor that it's hardly worth mentioning. However, stopping down this lens improves sharpness even more -- and across the entire frame -- especially around ƒ/4-ƒ/5.6. However, center sharpness remains excellent throughout the entire aperture range, from ƒ/1.8 onwards until around ƒ/16, when minor diffraction limiting softness appears. Olympus OMD EM1– The company’s current flagship OMD camera is also the one that it will focus fastest with as well have the best image quality with. Color bokeh, magenta edges at sharp contrast transitions in front of the focal point and green edges at contrast transitions behind the focal point, often appears with bright lenses (.Some notes: As you can see in the images below, despite both lenses being marked as 25mm lenses, the Panasonic Leica has a slightly longer focal length. I can’t say whether the Leica is longer than 25mm or the Olympus is shorter than 25mm, though in comparison to other lenses I own, I’d lean towards the Olympus being slightly shorter than marked. A sun cap comes standard with the Olympus 25 mm f/1.8. That’s very nice. You will probably not really need it very often, because even if you’re shooting directly against a bright light source, then this lens will practically never have trouble with flare or ghosts. I never use a sun cap on a good lens, although I might be better off doing so to protect the front lens. This Olympus lens has been long-awaited by the Micro 4/3 community, and I am pleased to say that Olympus delivered the goods. AF Speed. When out on the street shooting these lenses I though for sure that the Olympus would smoke the Panasonic with Auto Focus, and that was not the case! Both lenses focused fast on my E-M1, and to be 100% honest, I saw no difference in speed when out in the street at night using both. The Olympus may have a slight edge overall, but it is not a night and day, and for some will not even be noticeable. Remember though, this is on the E-M1 which may be helping the lenses to focus fast. So I give this one a Tie with a SLIGHT edge going to the Olympus.