Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver)

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I don't care for most of the zoom's available for my E-P3. The fixed FL lens is really sharp.
Too bad Olympus won't include a hood with the lens purchase.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I just got this lens and I am quite impressed. It is built very well, its small, its light, it has very fast autofocus speeds, great micro-contrast, and is priced reasonably compared to the 12mm F2. See below for 2 shots taken with this lens. First is a self portrait shot handheld with an Fl 300R flash and the second shot of some old mangos in my kitchen. Enjoy!

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Great for low-light indoor shots of family, kids, especially. Also good for performances. Great for street scenes - landscape.
I love all of the prime lens from Olympus. I sold the Pany 20mm - great lens, but the focus was just not fast enough with my OM-D - which is a GREAT camera!

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

this lens did not get grate review, but i was so fed up with 20mm 1.7's AF i brought this anyway. I feel this is a much better lens than 20mm 1.7. Its a little big wider, perfect for all purpose shooting and the AF of this is just a joy to use. I use this lens with VF-1 on my EP3, never have to worry about AF again

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This is a great prime lens for everyday use on micro-4/3 (I have it on an OM-D EM-5). The only flaw is Olympus' very questionable decision to not include a hood.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I bought this lens originally to use in low light/indoor situations, but I think I will use more for outdoor landscapes. It doesn't produce the crispest photos, but that being said I still think it produces top notch quality photos. This lens is perfectly adequate and I'm sure with a steadier hand and flash I will produce great indoor photos.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

it's perfect for street photography, also portraits

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Awesome glass! Fast snappy AF, sharp but not clinically sharp, but prefer this rendering, build over its competition

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

A prime lens with macro capbilities to a certain extent, otherwise wideangle. A very fast lens in all respects, including fast focusing.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I was torn between this lens and the PL 25mm 1.4. In the end I chose this lens because of its versatile FL, the smaller size, and the superior construction. I'm giving it four stars out of five because it's not quite as sharp as the 45mm 1.8, but there is more to a lens than sharpness. I love the way this lens renders, the FL is challenging (in a good way), and the build quality is outstanding. I have no real complaints.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This is a lens for real life photography. For day to day picture taking it is hard to see what some people are all worked up about. After the Olympus home runs with the 12mm, 45mm, and 75mm lens, peoples' expectations were set too high. This is a really good lens if you enjoy the e35mm FOV, but if you are a pixel peeper... you'll never be happy, so move on. It is small, light weight, quiet, and very quick focusing on an Olympus body.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This lens provides roughly the 35mm format, which I find to be an excellent companion with the 45mm 1.8 (90mm equiv.). I really like the lens, and it provides good sharp images. The focus is as fast as I need. I rate only four stars because there is a little bit of barrel distortion- but that is easily corrected in LR4.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

The 17mm f/1.8 is a nice addition to any Micro Four Thirds photographer's lens collection (I shoot with an OM-D and haven't tried it on other cameras). It's relatively wide angle (equivalent to 34mm on a full-frame sensor) is useful for landscapes combined with it's closeup capabilities (<10 inches focus distance) and wide f/1.8 aperture make for a nice lens. I found it to be nice and sharp for both general and closeup work, with a nice bokeh (for a 4/3 lens). The Snap Focus feature is very useful and easy to use. Build quality is very good.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I recently bought an EPL-5, my first MFT camera. I've been using Canon FF gear for a few years and whilst I love the Canon IQ and ergonomics, I wanted something smaller and lighter for when I travel but which still delivers excellent IQ. The EPL-5 meets this requirement perfectly - it's an incredible camera for its size and price with IQ getting close to the 5dii.

I wanted a nice medium-wide to standard prime to go with it though, so I took a close look at the Oly 17/1.8, the Pany 20/1,8 and the Pany 25/1.4 by going out and shooting for a few hours in NYC. This is my summary:

Build

- The 17/1.8 has nicer build than either of the Panasonic lenses. It's a beautiful piece of optical engineering with a good quality feel in all ways. By comparison, the Panasonic glass seems lower rent - although take this comment in context; there is nothing that anyone could seriously complain about in the Panasonic lenses' build quality - it's just that the Oly lens is a notch above.

AF

- The 17/1.8 wins hands down, esp in low light. As with build quality though, the Panasonic lenses aren't bad and I doubt that they'd fail to meet most people's needs. To emphasise this point, I did some night-time shooting in NYC with the 20/1.7 and I had absolutely no problems - focus lock was slower than the 17/1.8, but not excessively so and focus was always accurate, so long as I did my part right!

MF

Like all MFT AF lenses, all three lenses support what the DSLR crowd have for years called 'full-time manual focus override'. Basically, you can use AF (or not) first and then rotate the focus ring to override the AF setting without moving any switches. This works well if you want to tweak focus. Once the camera tries to AF again (eg if you press the shutter half-way again), then whatever manual setting you had will be lost.

What the Oly offers over and above the two Pany lenses though is a second 'full manual' mode. In this mode (activated by sliding the focus ring back a small amount), the focus ring is locked to the focus mechanism and a turn of approx 135 degrees will move it from min focus to infinity. At each end, the focus ring will stop - unlike in the mode discussed above where the ring spins and spins. AF is also disabled in this mode, so the lens will stay where you focused it.

I can see this full MF feature being really useful for street photographers since it means that they can set a hyperfocal distance and just shoot away without focusing at all for the ultimate in fast capture. When placed in full MF mode, a DOF scale is revealed to help set this up (but with only 135 degrees rotation end-to-end, the scale is somewhat scrunched up).

Overall, this full MF mode should really help with street photography and paired with the 35mm (equiv) focal length probably positions this lens as the go-to optic for street shooters on MFT.

Sharpness

- OK, the 17/1,8 isn't as sharp as the two Panasonic lenses towards the edges of the frame and when wide open. However, centre sharpness is as good as identical on all three so unless you're shooting scenes that require corner-to-corner sharpness wide-open (e.g. building interiors), then it's a non-issue. Once stopped down to f4, the edge sharpness deficiency on the 17/1.8 is all but gone.

For street shooting, portraits, landscapes (where you'll be stopped down) and general purpose photography, the sharpness of the 17/1.8 is way better than adequate. However, if ultimate sharpness is important to you, then you'll be leaving the Oly on the shelf. For me, I think the Oly's qualities in other areas (build, AF, CA) make it a winner.

CA/Fringing

- None of these lenses are free of fringing/CA issues. I found both the Panasonic lenses to be worse though - esp the 20/1.7 which exhibits some horrendous purple fringing in the wrong conditions (high contrast highlights). Lightroom does a good job of removing these problems, so RAW shooters can produce clean shots, but JPG users will suffer. Remember too, that CA fixing/defringing will lose resolution, so this detracts a little from the resolution advantages of the Panasonic lenses (but it's a small point).

Colo(u)r, contrast etc

- I've no complaints with any of the lenses. The 20/1.7 seems the most 'constrasty' on first glance, but tweaking in Lightroom or such like can get shots from any of the lenses to look fairly close. I can convince myself that the 17/1.8 offers better microcontrast than the 20/1.7, but it's subtle.

Flare

- I didn't get chance to do comparative test of flare, but now that I'm an owner of a 17/1.8, I can say that it handles flare exceptionally well. Maybe this is why Olympus doesn't include a lens-hood?

Focal Length

Of course, FL choice is personal and depends on what you're shooting. For general purpose use though, a 35mm (FF equiv) lens is a good compromise and for this reason the Oly works well for me. I'd be happy with the 20/1.7 too, but there is a noticeably smaller FOV. The 25/1.4 is a great 'standard' lens - great for head and shoulders portraits without too much worry of perspective distortion effects, but I find it a little limiting for general purpose use since it's just not wide enough. YMMV!

Summary

Despite a slightly disappointing sharpness result in the corners wide open, the Oly 17/1.8 is a great lens. For me (and 99% of other photographers), I don't think this sharpness issue is anything that will ever be noticed, let alone spoil a shot. However, for those that require the absolute highest resolution possible, then one of the two Panasonic lenses will satisfy more.

For me, the build, AF performance, colours, contrast, CA control and full MF mode mean this is a lens that earns its price tag.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I quite like this lens. Like the other reviewer mentioned, it's received a few mixed reviews. I find the images are reasonably sharp, edge-to-edge with good microcontrast. Chromatic abberations are decently controlled. Build quality is impeccable with all-metal construction and a neat clutch focus mechanism.

In terms of resolution, I would say it is quite similar to my Olympus 12/2, which is no slouch either. Not quite as sharp as say the Panasonic 20/1.7 and 25/1.4 but more than very good. On the flipside, it's got much better control over purple fringing & CA than either two of those lenses. Size wise, it's between the 20/1.7 & 12/2.

I purchased a 20/1.7 prior to the 17/1.8 and could not get over the slow and noisy AF. It just couldn't keep up with some of the things I was trying to focus quickly on. This lens' AF is on par with current generation Olympus primes like the 12/2 & 45/1.8. Very quick and silent.

Overall, no complaints and have no trouble recommending this lens. It's a solid lens, just not exceptional and faultless in the way the 75/1.8 is. I have been eagerly waiting for a 35mm equivalent lens for Micro Four Thirds and this is it.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Fast,near silent focusing and excellent colour and sharpness

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Nice metal construction, very fast autofocus, silent, creamy bokeh, sharp.
Far better then Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 on my Oly OM-D EM-5.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Been using this lens for over a week. AF on my OMD is super quick and pictures superb. Compared pics with other shots taken with the Panasonic 25mm 1.4, other than different focal lengths must say at the 17mm 1.8 is almost on par with the legendary 25. Panasonic lens did render pics somewhat "creamier" than this Olympus. But overall very happy with the smaller profile of the Olympus as well as the metal construction and snap focus. Your decision Amy come down to whether you want a 35 or 50mm focal.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

All concerns about this lens go directly to the comparison between Panasonic 20mm f1.7. I have been using 20mm pancake lens for a long time, it's tack sharp even at wide open, but its AF performance on Olympus bodies is unbearable. Olympus doesn't apply in-body correction for purple fringing or CA, which is heavily needed by Panasonic lenses. These are two major factors that encourages me to get a 17mm f1.8.

First of all, I would like to say the build quality is excellent. You can hardly find any lenses within this price range to offer such good build quality. With the most up-to-date MSC motor (since 12-50mm/3.5-6.3 lens, Olympus claims that it enhanced its MSC motor to support 240fps scan rate for AF), the AF speed is blazing fast, on par if not better than all mirrorless interchangeable lenses available in the market.

The snap shot ring is a very unique, maybe exclusive feature from Olympus, it can be triggered as AF/MF switch and at the same time you will be able to see the focus range and DOF.

The image quality is good. CA is extremely well controlled, I can barely see any CA even under high contrast situations.

But, the resolution of the lens is somewhat off the standard. It's on par with my Panasonic 7-14mm lens. Yes, I'm not typing it wrong, it can only achieve the same resolution as a zoom lens can do! Although the corners are pretty solid, but the overall sharpness and details are lower than what you can get from 20mm f1.7 lens.

Plus, there's one more cons:Vignetting at wide open is pretty severe. I'm personally okay with vignetting simply because I would add vignetting to most pictures later at Lightroom. But in terms of optical performance, this is unacceptable.

To wrap up, this lens provides you everything you cannot get from a 20mm f1.7: excellent build quality, fast AF, good MF mechanism, good CA controls. But at the same time, it loses all positive sides from 20mm lens: tack sharp image, lower vignetting, more compact size, cheaper price.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I use this lens as a low-light-capable walk-around lens for street photography, indoor upper-body portraits, and just the lens on the camera at all times.

It's very well built, featuring a manual focus override ring with a distance scale, and metal build. Sharpness is on par with the other higher quality Olympus prime lenses, though not as amazing as their telephoto ones (especially compared to the 45mm and the 75mm). The contrast and punchiness of the colours are not as great as the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, nor is it as small.

Overall, a very capable lens for an all-prime set.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I don't care for most of the zoom's available for my E-P3. The fixed FL lens is really sharp.
Too bad Olympus won't include a hood with the lens purchase.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I just got this lens and I am quite impressed. It is built very well, its small, its light, it has very fast autofocus speeds, great micro-contrast, and is priced reasonably compared to the 12mm F2. See below for 2 shots taken with this lens. First is a self portrait shot handheld with an Fl 300R flash and the second shot of some old mangos in my kitchen. Enjoy!

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Great for low-light indoor shots of family, kids, especially. Also good for performances. Great for street scenes - landscape.
I love all of the prime lens from Olympus. I sold the Pany 20mm - great lens, but the focus was just not fast enough with my OM-D - which is a GREAT camera!

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

this lens did not get grate review, but i was so fed up with 20mm 1.7's AF i brought this anyway. I feel this is a much better lens than 20mm 1.7. Its a little big wider, perfect for all purpose shooting and the AF of this is just a joy to use. I use this lens with VF-1 on my EP3, never have to worry about AF again

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This is a great prime lens for everyday use on micro-4/3 (I have it on an OM-D EM-5). The only flaw is Olympus' very questionable decision to not include a hood.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I bought this lens originally to use in low light/indoor situations, but I think I will use more for outdoor landscapes. It doesn't produce the crispest photos, but that being said I still think it produces top notch quality photos. This lens is perfectly adequate and I'm sure with a steadier hand and flash I will produce great indoor photos.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

it's perfect for street photography, also portraits

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Awesome glass! Fast snappy AF, sharp but not clinically sharp, but prefer this rendering, build over its competition

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

A prime lens with macro capbilities to a certain extent, otherwise wideangle. A very fast lens in all respects, including fast focusing.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I was torn between this lens and the PL 25mm 1.4. In the end I chose this lens because of its versatile FL, the smaller size, and the superior construction. I'm giving it four stars out of five because it's not quite as sharp as the 45mm 1.8, but there is more to a lens than sharpness. I love the way this lens renders, the FL is challenging (in a good way), and the build quality is outstanding. I have no real complaints.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This is a lens for real life photography. For day to day picture taking it is hard to see what some people are all worked up about. After the Olympus home runs with the 12mm, 45mm, and 75mm lens, peoples' expectations were set too high. This is a really good lens if you enjoy the e35mm FOV, but if you are a pixel peeper... you'll never be happy, so move on. It is small, light weight, quiet, and very quick focusing on an Olympus body.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

This lens provides roughly the 35mm format, which I find to be an excellent companion with the 45mm 1.8 (90mm equiv.). I really like the lens, and it provides good sharp images. The focus is as fast as I need. I rate only four stars because there is a little bit of barrel distortion- but that is easily corrected in LR4.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

The 17mm f/1.8 is a nice addition to any Micro Four Thirds photographer's lens collection (I shoot with an OM-D and haven't tried it on other cameras). It's relatively wide angle (equivalent to 34mm on a full-frame sensor) is useful for landscapes combined with it's closeup capabilities (<10 inches focus distance) and wide f/1.8 aperture make for a nice lens. I found it to be nice and sharp for both general and closeup work, with a nice bokeh (for a 4/3 lens). The Snap Focus feature is very useful and easy to use. Build quality is very good.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I recently bought an EPL-5, my first MFT camera. I've been using Canon FF gear for a few years and whilst I love the Canon IQ and ergonomics, I wanted something smaller and lighter for when I travel but which still delivers excellent IQ. The EPL-5 meets this requirement perfectly - it's an incredible camera for its size and price with IQ getting close to the 5dii.

I wanted a nice medium-wide to standard prime to go with it though, so I took a close look at the Oly 17/1.8, the Pany 20/1,8 and the Pany 25/1.4 by going out and shooting for a few hours in NYC. This is my summary:

Build

- The 17/1.8 has nicer build than either of the Panasonic lenses. It's a beautiful piece of optical engineering with a good quality feel in all ways. By comparison, the Panasonic glass seems lower rent - although take this comment in context; there is nothing that anyone could seriously complain about in the Panasonic lenses' build quality - it's just that the Oly lens is a notch above.

AF

- The 17/1.8 wins hands down, esp in low light. As with build quality though, the Panasonic lenses aren't bad and I doubt that they'd fail to meet most people's needs. To emphasise this point, I did some night-time shooting in NYC with the 20/1.7 and I had absolutely no problems - focus lock was slower than the 17/1.8, but not excessively so and focus was always accurate, so long as I did my part right!

MF

Like all MFT AF lenses, all three lenses support what the DSLR crowd have for years called 'full-time manual focus override'. Basically, you can use AF (or not) first and then rotate the focus ring to override the AF setting without moving any switches. This works well if you want to tweak focus. Once the camera tries to AF again (eg if you press the shutter half-way again), then whatever manual setting you had will be lost.

What the Oly offers over and above the two Pany lenses though is a second 'full manual' mode. In this mode (activated by sliding the focus ring back a small amount), the focus ring is locked to the focus mechanism and a turn of approx 135 degrees will move it from min focus to infinity. At each end, the focus ring will stop - unlike in the mode discussed above where the ring spins and spins. AF is also disabled in this mode, so the lens will stay where you focused it.

I can see this full MF feature being really useful for street photographers since it means that they can set a hyperfocal distance and just shoot away without focusing at all for the ultimate in fast capture. When placed in full MF mode, a DOF scale is revealed to help set this up (but with only 135 degrees rotation end-to-end, the scale is somewhat scrunched up).

Overall, this full MF mode should really help with street photography and paired with the 35mm (equiv) focal length probably positions this lens as the go-to optic for street shooters on MFT.

Sharpness

- OK, the 17/1,8 isn't as sharp as the two Panasonic lenses towards the edges of the frame and when wide open. However, centre sharpness is as good as identical on all three so unless you're shooting scenes that require corner-to-corner sharpness wide-open (e.g. building interiors), then it's a non-issue. Once stopped down to f4, the edge sharpness deficiency on the 17/1.8 is all but gone.

For street shooting, portraits, landscapes (where you'll be stopped down) and general purpose photography, the sharpness of the 17/1.8 is way better than adequate. However, if ultimate sharpness is important to you, then you'll be leaving the Oly on the shelf. For me, I think the Oly's qualities in other areas (build, AF, CA) make it a winner.

CA/Fringing

- None of these lenses are free of fringing/CA issues. I found both the Panasonic lenses to be worse though - esp the 20/1.7 which exhibits some horrendous purple fringing in the wrong conditions (high contrast highlights). Lightroom does a good job of removing these problems, so RAW shooters can produce clean shots, but JPG users will suffer. Remember too, that CA fixing/defringing will lose resolution, so this detracts a little from the resolution advantages of the Panasonic lenses (but it's a small point).

Colo(u)r, contrast etc

- I've no complaints with any of the lenses. The 20/1.7 seems the most 'constrasty' on first glance, but tweaking in Lightroom or such like can get shots from any of the lenses to look fairly close. I can convince myself that the 17/1.8 offers better microcontrast than the 20/1.7, but it's subtle.

Flare

- I didn't get chance to do comparative test of flare, but now that I'm an owner of a 17/1.8, I can say that it handles flare exceptionally well. Maybe this is why Olympus doesn't include a lens-hood?

Focal Length

Of course, FL choice is personal and depends on what you're shooting. For general purpose use though, a 35mm (FF equiv) lens is a good compromise and for this reason the Oly works well for me. I'd be happy with the 20/1.7 too, but there is a noticeably smaller FOV. The 25/1.4 is a great 'standard' lens - great for head and shoulders portraits without too much worry of perspective distortion effects, but I find it a little limiting for general purpose use since it's just not wide enough. YMMV!

Summary

Despite a slightly disappointing sharpness result in the corners wide open, the Oly 17/1.8 is a great lens. For me (and 99% of other photographers), I don't think this sharpness issue is anything that will ever be noticed, let alone spoil a shot. However, for those that require the absolute highest resolution possible, then one of the two Panasonic lenses will satisfy more.

For me, the build, AF performance, colours, contrast, CA control and full MF mode mean this is a lens that earns its price tag.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I quite like this lens. Like the other reviewer mentioned, it's received a few mixed reviews. I find the images are reasonably sharp, edge-to-edge with good microcontrast. Chromatic abberations are decently controlled. Build quality is impeccable with all-metal construction and a neat clutch focus mechanism.

In terms of resolution, I would say it is quite similar to my Olympus 12/2, which is no slouch either. Not quite as sharp as say the Panasonic 20/1.7 and 25/1.4 but more than very good. On the flipside, it's got much better control over purple fringing & CA than either two of those lenses. Size wise, it's between the 20/1.7 & 12/2.

I purchased a 20/1.7 prior to the 17/1.8 and could not get over the slow and noisy AF. It just couldn't keep up with some of the things I was trying to focus quickly on. This lens' AF is on par with current generation Olympus primes like the 12/2 & 45/1.8. Very quick and silent.

Overall, no complaints and have no trouble recommending this lens. It's a solid lens, just not exceptional and faultless in the way the 75/1.8 is. I have been eagerly waiting for a 35mm equivalent lens for Micro Four Thirds and this is it.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Fast,near silent focusing and excellent colour and sharpness

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Nice metal construction, very fast autofocus, silent, creamy bokeh, sharp.
Far better then Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 on my Oly OM-D EM-5.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

Been using this lens for over a week. AF on my OMD is super quick and pictures superb. Compared pics with other shots taken with the Panasonic 25mm 1.4, other than different focal lengths must say at the 17mm 1.8 is almost on par with the legendary 25. Panasonic lens did render pics somewhat "creamier" than this Olympus. But overall very happy with the smaller profile of the Olympus as well as the metal construction and snap focus. Your decision Amy come down to whether you want a 35 or 50mm focal.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

All concerns about this lens go directly to the comparison between Panasonic 20mm f1.7. I have been using 20mm pancake lens for a long time, it's tack sharp even at wide open, but its AF performance on Olympus bodies is unbearable. Olympus doesn't apply in-body correction for purple fringing or CA, which is heavily needed by Panasonic lenses. These are two major factors that encourages me to get a 17mm f1.8.

First of all, I would like to say the build quality is excellent. You can hardly find any lenses within this price range to offer such good build quality. With the most up-to-date MSC motor (since 12-50mm/3.5-6.3 lens, Olympus claims that it enhanced its MSC motor to support 240fps scan rate for AF), the AF speed is blazing fast, on par if not better than all mirrorless interchangeable lenses available in the market.

The snap shot ring is a very unique, maybe exclusive feature from Olympus, it can be triggered as AF/MF switch and at the same time you will be able to see the focus range and DOF.

The image quality is good. CA is extremely well controlled, I can barely see any CA even under high contrast situations.

But, the resolution of the lens is somewhat off the standard. It's on par with my Panasonic 7-14mm lens. Yes, I'm not typing it wrong, it can only achieve the same resolution as a zoom lens can do! Although the corners are pretty solid, but the overall sharpness and details are lower than what you can get from 20mm f1.7 lens.

Plus, there's one more cons:Vignetting at wide open is pretty severe. I'm personally okay with vignetting simply because I would add vignetting to most pictures later at Lightroom. But in terms of optical performance, this is unacceptable.

To wrap up, this lens provides you everything you cannot get from a 20mm f1.7: excellent build quality, fast AF, good MF mechanism, good CA controls. But at the same time, it loses all positive sides from 20mm lens: tack sharp image, lower vignetting, more compact size, cheaper price.

Comments about Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 Lens (Silver):

I use this lens as a low-light-capable walk-around lens for street photography, indoor upper-body portraits, and just the lens on the camera at all times.

It's very well built, featuring a manual focus override ring with a distance scale, and metal build. Sharpness is on par with the other higher quality Olympus prime lenses, though not as amazing as their telephoto ones (especially compared to the 45mm and the 75mm). The contrast and punchiness of the colours are not as great as the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, nor is it as small.

Overall, a very capable lens for an all-prime set.