Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

The lens is paired with a Panasonic GF2. Both pictures and video with the lens are outstanding.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

By both feel and action this lens is a beauty. Solidly built, smooth in action and delivers crystal clear images that push 11 x 14 without problems (used on p3). Aside from being rather pricey, and the need to buy the lens hood (can only guess why), The lens is a great addition and brings me back to the great single focal length lens days of Leica. A must lens for anyone seriously using this system.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

Initial reluctance to buy this relatively expensive and small, wide angle lens for my Panasonic Lumix GH2. RE: Olympus compatibility (auto focus) with Panasonic body? Also, concern for image stability (no lens IS) when shooting video. Also, concern for lens flare, as consequence of no included hood.

Conclusions: 1. Expensive, but worth the cost. 2. More than adequate stability when filming video, or stills. 3. Manageable lens flare in challenging lighting conditions. 4. Superior image quality to either of my other 12mm (range) lenses. 5. A joy to use this tiny, light-weight lens!

I highly recommend the Olympus M. Zuiko 12mm f2 lens!

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

purchased with camera on recommendations from site. Like the idea of manual control. Don't like having to purchase lens hood separately for a fair amount of money to get genuine Olympus hood. Also no lens case or pouch- all those should come with a lens that costs almost as much as the camera (EP-3)

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

What can I say? Very sharp, small, great bokeh -and it looks beautiful on GH2!

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I wanted a high quality interchangeable lens outfit to carry with me instead of lugging around my "L" lenses and heavy (and very expensive) camera bodies. I was longing for my old high quality rangefinder again. This lens on my E-P3 is absolutely perfect.

I have used the lens primarily for street and nature photography, as well as a few portraits. It is sharp from edge to edge. I also purchased the lens hood. The only problem I have found is that I don't want to remove this lens from the body! I added the VF-3 Finder and am loving this combo.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

As everyone else has said, this is a fantastic lens. However, I have a really hard time with a lens in this price range with no black option, no hood, and no lens bag. I know those are minor issues, but issues worth mentioning since they do add another $50 or so to an already pricey lens. The Leica M43 lenses both come with bags and hoods. Personally, I hate having to use generic hoods. I would greatly prefer a hood designed expressly for the lens I'm using. So, while I enjoyed my time with this lens which borrowed from a friend for testing, I just can't justify the expense until we know for sure that Leica will not be filling-out their M43 line with a wide angle. If Leica says that for sure there will be no M43 wide angle, then I will begrudgingly buy this.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

Nothing like a f-2 lens, huh?

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I bought the lens on a recent trip to NYC. I went in for a 28mm F2.8 lens and came out with this beauty. The lens construction is second to none. It is as sharp as a razor blade.
Would recommend it to any one

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

This is a well made lens that works well on my Panasonic GF1. I enjoy the compact structure, sharp results and fast AF. Manual focusing is also very smooth and responsive. I'm a little disappointed that Olympus skimped out on a lens bag and hood. I'd expect that from a lens in this price range.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I mainly use this indoors, but pull it out for landscapes and street shots that require a wide FOV. I use an Olympus body and shoot JPEG and RAW (with ACR), and in either format the lens renders very pleasing images with accurate color. Optically, it's a gem.

One must really try the snap back MF for themselves - it's a brilliant addition. When shooting with a shallow DOF it's a real pleasure to be able to fine focus. With other native m4/3 that feeling of being in complete control over the lens is lost because you have to keep spinning the stopless focus ring! I hope the MF feature is implemented in more lenses.

The build quality is among the best in its class, and it feels very well-balanced when mounted. Overall, it's a great addition to the m4/3 prime lenses, especially because the Panny pancakes have the same size filter thread. My only complaint is that Olympus didn't include the lens hood.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I use the Olympus EP2 as my take-along camera when I don't need the medium format digital, but I want the best lenses that can be obtained for this format. The 12mm f/2 is a wonderfully useful lens - wider than anything I have for medium format and fast. I have used it for several weeks now for landscapes and candid shots to good effect. The optics are good, but they lack the brilliance and razor sharpness of the 17mm Panasonic and I find the auto-focus of this particular lens on this camera to be unreliable. A lens this wide stopped down a few stops should have tremendous sharpness and depth-of-field even when not precisely focused, but I have not found this to be the case. Often what you want with a lens like this is to find the correct distance and f-stop for quick shots - I think I will have to do experiments to find this setting and use it manually. Used without the autofocus, this lens is very sharp but not quite brilliant. It has virtually no flare- I have shot into the sun at wider apertures and it looks good. The lens build is sturdy and very attractive, well made and light and physically small. Despite my disappointment - I would like to see razor sharp details using auto-focus near the center of the field even at f2 - I will keep it and use it often, but without the autofocus.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

Very fast auto focus even in low light. Takes sharp pictures and looks great with a black EPL3 body. Small and light enough to carry around with you all the time, but I will be using this as my primary lens.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I use this lens on a Panasonic AF100 video camera, and I really like the size and weight as well as the picture quality. It also focuses fast, and the manual focus mode with distance markings gives me a type of confidence that you never really have with modern "focus-by-wire" lenses. Olympus should include a lens hood at this price range, but I can't complain too much. I haven't had it long enough to vouch for its durability, but let's hope for the best. Not much bokeh of course, being so wide angle, but that's to be expected.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I use this lens mostly to photograph the interior of houses, but also use it for landscape work. Having a wide/fast lens indoors makes all the difference, especially if you don't have or can't use a tripod. The metal body looks and feels strong. It has a heavy feel, but is actually very light. It is obviously a well constructed lens. The "snap focus" feature works well, and is a lot of fun to use. When I use the snap focus it almost feels like I'm using a 35mm manual focus camera, and I enjoy using the distance scale. It's fun! One downside is that the lens doesn't come with a hood. I kind of feel like every "premium" lens should come with a hood. Other than that, it's a wonderful wide and fast lens that every micro four thirds user should own!

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I use this lens for candid street photography. It is fast, sharp, fun, and easy to work with. It is amazing in low light and delivers true quality pictures. Olympus has done a nice job with this lens. It is pricey but definitely worth it. I can't wait until the 45 F 1.8 M. Zuiko lens becomes available.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

What can I say..Excellent. Sharpness is very good for a wide angle, focusing extremely fast in normal lighting conditions I don't notice any delay. Perfect for my casual use. Keep up the good work Olympus.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I am sure many micro 4/3rd users have been waiting for a lens like this. I am one of them. Now we have this high quality lens that few lens in other systems can match. Ever since I received this lens, it has been glued to my E-P3 almost all the time. The image quality is excellent, if not legendary. You can hardly ask for more in the center of the frame. The edge may be a little soft according to some reviews, but you have to be very picky about image quality to notice that. Overall I think the image quality out of this lens is similar to that of the four-third 11-22mm lens. This is definitely a "high grade" lens, unlike most other micro 4/3rd lenses currently available. The build quality is very good. It looks like a piece of art or collectable. A very useful feature is the aperture scales on the barrel which makes zone focusing so easy and fun. I have no complaint about this lens, except the high price tag. Maybe the price will drop in a year or two, but how can I wait for so long while drooling over this gem?

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

I use this for basic wide angle shots - it's the m4/3 version of my EOS Zeiss 21 prime. No it's not as good as that lens due the basic sensor constraints, etc. but within context of my to m4/3 cams, it's astoundingly good. Super lightweight, very good build, good looking and focusing whether manual or AF is excellent. I love primes and this just blows the doors off the Panasonic 14 2.8, which I found to be overrated (the size was the only good thing about it). Probably better than the 20 1.7, which I think is a very good lens.

Color is very good, sharpness excellent, and the focus clutch is great.

Comments about Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens:

Random Street Photography and I use it for quick pics of the family when I am not using my Leica Equipment.