Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 Reviews
Avoid if sharpness is important to you
By Joel
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2021-11-22
I'm not a pixel peeper, but this lens is noticeably less sharp at f/2.8 than the Oly 12-40 Pro, or Lumix 12-35 ii, and those lenses are wide open. You will see a big difference even in an 8x10 print. It also has a good deal of chromatic aberration in contrasty scenes, even in the auto corrected in-camera jpegs.
Having said that, what you do get is a tiny, light, beautiful, solidly built lens, with the fantastic manual focus clutch that Olympus does so well. This is really your best 35mm option for the smaller MFT bodies, especially if you routinely convert to b&w.
If sharpness, and optics are more important than size to you, skip this one and get the 17mm f1.2 or 12-40 f2.8 Pro lenses, you'll be much happier.
Everything As Expected
By Andrew
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2020-03-15
This lens delivers everything I expected based upon ads and reviews. It is quite sharp, best when stopped down a bit. Clarity is great and I have had no issues with any aberrations. It is small, light, and unobtrusive. Focus clutch works great and the lens has a quality feel to it. Bokeh is pleasing when shooting wide open and close up.
It must be better than a kit zoom if I am going to keep it
By Lance
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2020-02-15
I read so many reviews of this lens as a great, all-purpose walk around lens for street photography. So I bought it for my Lumix GM-5 for those days when I want to set it and forget it as I walk around snapping pics.
But the 12-32 mm kit lens on my GM-5 is sharper corner-to-corner when set at 17 mm, with Olympus at same aperture (F/4.0). Maybe this is pixel peeping but sometimes I make large prints and it is noticeable, especially with a crop. Maybe this was an out of tolerance lens missed by QA. Maybe Olympus lenses work better on Olympus bodies. The only thing really going for this Olympus 17 mm lens is the extra two stops I'll get.
I decided to return it and maybe try the manual Laowa 17 mm F/1.8 instead.
I do like the focus clutch! I wish all auto focus lenses came with this.
The Great Olympus 17mm 1.8
By James W
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2019-12-11
Today, 12-11-19, my Olympus 17mm 1.8 came to my door. At 80 yrs. old, I took my photography years ago with my Pentax K1000, So, I mounted the 17mm on my Olympus M10 Mark 111 and took a manual shot in low light. It was Great !!!! Several shots outdoors with this lens and I love it. I switched to auto focus, which is very fast and the details are very sharp also. Buy this Olympus 17mm 1.8 and you will not go wrong. Jim, Charlotte, NC.
Not terribly sharp
By Luca
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2019-12-04
I bought this lens as I really wanted the classical 35mm equivalent view. It works well for portraits, where there is only one thing in focus. I was less satisfied for landscapes, where the lens was not particularly sharp in the corners. In the end, I got the Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7, and I much prefer that lens.
Great travel lens
By Douglas
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2019-12-03
An effective focal length of 34 mm is ideal for a wide range of travel needs. I bought the lens primarily for the feature whereby you pull back on a ring and it switches to manual focusing and displays a depth of field scale. How retro! Owners of Lumix cameras should be aware that switching to manual focus in this way does NOT deploy some in-camera features such as MF Assist for more accurate focusing. However, it does switch on Peaking. To me this is not the fault of the lens, but the camera.
Muy buena lente!
By Carlos
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-01-27
Excelente luminosidad, permite el foco manual y ello redunda en más vida para la batería. Es liviana y de una máxima calidad. La usaré por defecto frente a otras dos lentes que poseo.
En prueba desde hoy enero 27/2021
Great lens
By Erol
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2020-05-21
This lens is definitely a keeper. Surprised at how close it focuses. This completes my selection of prime Premium lenses from Olympus. All purchased at B&H Photo of course.
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