Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Silver

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Wide open the lens is both soft and sharp. The fall off and out of focus areas have a pleasingly soft appearance while the focal plane is nice and sharp. Crisp, great resolving, but not overly clinical. It’s a wonderful balance in my opinion. Close up… kinda… Steve if you can get hold of a Zuiko 50/1.8 MIJ (Made in Japan) serial 5million+ would be grateful if you would kindly compare it to this new 45/1.8 for sharpness wide open, colour, bokeh. This compact telephoto prime lens weighs only 116g, which makes it a perfect companion for the lightweight Micro Four Thirds system, and this lens balances well on the Olympus E-PM1 used for testing. Much of the lens barrel is constructed from high quality plastics, with a smart metallic finish applied to them. The lens mount is made from metal, which should enhance the durability of the design. The build quality is good for a lens of this price. It manages to feel relatively solid, yet lightweight.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal

Still i'd like to remark that this report, intended to be about the new Olympus 45 mm lens, could be somewhat shortened: But scroll down to the corner crops and you’ll see a stark difference between them. While the Lumix manages to deliver a very crisp result in the far corner, even at its widest and aperture, the Olympus is much softer and doesn’t approach the same quality until it’s closed down to f5.6. Indeed the Olympus looks quite poor in this comparison, but this performance is not uncommon for most lenses, which are generally softer in the extreme corners at their wider apertures. It’s the Lumix here that’s performing above average. Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create.Finally, I haven't stated that we believe the manufacturers have responded to our requests (I'm sure if we're requesting it, plenty of other people are too, and I'd hope any company would pay more attention to their broader market research than just making what we recommended). Sometimes shooting with a new focal length can be a challenge - getting used to 'seeing' the photographic opportunities in front of you - but having a proper portrait lens has been genuinely reinvigorating. I wouldn't claim to have suddenly become a great (or even particularly good) portrait photographer but spending a couple of weeks shooting with the 45mm has helped me enjoy photography (and the results I'm getting), more than in a long time. Definitely worth the wait.

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Whle fast lenses can be very useful, a small camera with a small lens can get a MUCH more intimate shot than a bazooka can. As falloff and distortion are corrected by the camera's image processing engine when shooting JPEGs, falloff and distortion will only be easily visible when shooting in RAW format.The lens looks nice on the Mini but it makes more sense, visually, sitting flush to the body of an E-P3, rather than out on a protruding mount (mounting it on the Panasonic GF1, meanwhile, emphasises the retro design cues of both to give a combination with serious camera-geek appeal).