Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens

see also:

• Micro Four Thirds system
• a catalogue of Micro Four Thirds lenses
• Panasonic Leica DG 12mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH lens
• DxOMark tests show at f/2.0 it is sharper in the central 1/3rd but less sharp in outer 1/3rd than a Canon 24mm f/1.4L II lens on a Canon 5D Mark II at either f/1.4 or f/2.0 click on link for more details and comparison with the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens
• my blogs with the 12mm:
  • A very quick night street shot as I walked across the road and an ambulance started bearing down on me
  • Solo overnight hike to summit of Mt Stirling

• a high end, high quality, bright aperture, compact ultra wide angle lens for Micro Four Thirds system optimised for silent, fast AF (MSC designated) for movies and stills as well as providing new manual focus features not available on other compact digital lenses for mirrorless camera systems.
• a premium quality wide angle lens (equivalent to 24mm on a full frame camera), optimised for HD video, with ZERO (nano coatings) and a wonderful manual focus functionality with an analog-like manual focus ring mode with DOF markings - perfect for hyperfocal style street photography although perhaps a little too wide angle for some.
• great for travel, indoor interiors, landscapes, infrared and night photography but it is expensive at about $799
• it is not going to give as shallow a depth of field as a much more expensive 24mm f/1.4 pro lens on a Canon or Nikon full frame dSLR, but when combined with 5EV IS of an OM-D body will give better low light performance for stationary subjects such as interior shots of palaces, etc on your holidays.

• 12mm focal length = 24mm field of view on a 35mm full frame camera
• f/2.0 - f/22 aperture
• MSC silent, fast AF for HD movies and stills
• “ZERO” (ZUIKO Extra-low Reflection Optical) coating
• “snapshot focus” design for improved manual focus experience including DOF scales and distance indicators
• 46mm non-rotating filter thread
• 11 elements in 8 groups inc. 1xDSA, 1x aspherical, 1xED and 1 Super-HR element
• 7 circular aperture blades
• close focus 0.2m for max. magnification 1:12.5 = 0.08x
• internal focusing
• 43 x 56mm
• 130g
• optional LH-48 square shaped lens hood
• RRP $US799

• derived from Barnack's calculator using 35mm full frame equivalence to COC of 0.03mm
• on a Panasonic GH-1 camera, COC = 15nm = 3.5 pixels

• lowest light level handheld at ISO 1600:
  • Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera with 5EV IS allowing 1/3rd second shutter (3EV) = -5.5 EV
• hyperfocal distance 4.8m (ie. set focus at that point and you will have most of the scene in acceptable sharpness from 2.4m onwards)

• COC = 0.019mm = 4.3 pixels

• lowest light level handheld at ISO 1600 and 1/25th second as no IS available: 0 EV (ie. scene must be 5-6 stops brighter than is possible with the E-M5)
• hyperfocal distance 3m (ie. set focus at that point and you will have most of the scene in acceptable sharpness from 1.5m onwards)
• this combination has the worst of all worlds for low light work, but may be OK with tripod or flash - if it will AF at these light levels and you can see through the optical viewfinder.

• COC = 0.030mm = 4.7 pixels

• lowest light level handheld at ISO 3200 and 1/25th second as no IS available: -4 EV (ie. static scene must be 1-2 stops brighter than is possible with the E-M5)
• hyperfocal distance 13.6m (ie. set focus at that point and you will have most of the scene in soft but perhaps acceptable sharpness from 10.7m onwards)
• clearly this combination gives much narrower DOF if that is what you want, and much greater local and distant out of focus blurring
• it will also allow much faster shutter speeds to reduce subject blur if that is needed in low light
• BUT you can't get the out of focus areas as sharp when used wide open, so this will be an issue for low light handheld scenes, to achieve that you will have to stop the aperture down and this means long shutter speeds, subject blurring and need for a sturdy tripod.

• this would give similar fast shutter speed capabilities to the 12mm f/2.0 for low light (as full frame will allow 1EV higher ISO)
• let's see if we get enough DOF
• hyperfocal distance = 6.8m = much better than at f/1.4, and much more scene sharpness as would be expected but still no where near as sharp as the 12mm f/2.0 at 4m or at infinity

• compared to a Canon TS-E 17mm tilt shift lens at f/4 on a Canon 1D Mark III dSLR

• DxOMark tests:
  • show at f/2.0 it is sharper in the central 1/3rd but less sharp in outer 1/3rd than a Canon 24mm f/1.4L II lens on a Canon 5D Mark II at either f/1.4 or f/2.0 click on link for more details and comparison with the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens
• 12mm lens for hand held infrared photography
• 12mm lens useful for astrophotography but typical of nearly all wide angle lenses it has significant aberrations affecting star shapes in the corners
• Review by Photozone.de:
  • slight distortion, moderate vignetting, very sharp, some CA in corners.
  • overall, an impressive lens with nice manual focus capability and silent for video
  • “mechanical implementation is fantastic and matches e.g. the Zeiss ZM or Voigtländer VM series”
  • “new “snapshot focus” design for switching between AF and manual focusing is nicely executed and a joy to use”
  • “optical quality of the M.Zuiko is impressive”
  • “absolutely beautifully crafted based on a metal lens body and a metal mount but no (explicit) weather protection”
  • “Upon first contact you will fall immediately in love with the Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 ED”
• photographyblog.com review:
  • “beautifully crafted, all-metal”
  • “attractive combination of edge-to-edge sharpness and fast aperture speed”
  • “commendably sharp wide open but performance peaks at f/4-f/8”
  • cons: “considerable light loss in the corners at f/2, as well as some purple fringing along contrasty edges near the borders of the frame, plus a disappointing amount of barrel distortion .. although distortion is corrected in-camera so you won't even notice it”
• ephotozine review:
  • “outstanding sharpness peaking at f/4”
  • “proved itself highly resistant to flare and loss of contrast, yielding contrasty images, even in harsh contra-lighting situations.”

DRTV - Kai's video review:

• My Flickr 12mm lens set

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