First Looks: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 Lens
The full-metal body Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 is a Micro Four Thirds wide-angle prime lens. It's suitable for a myriad of applications from landscape to street photography. With an f/2.0 aperture, it's also great for low-light shooting. Let's take a closer look.
Introduction
It's been nearly three years since the release of the first Micro Four Thirds camera, and Panasonic, Olympus and third-party lens maker Voitgländer have been filling in the gap of prime lenses for the system.
Currently, we've (35mm equivalent in parentheses) an 8mm f/3.5 (16mm), a 25mm f/0.95 (50mm, manual focus), a 14mm f/2.5 (28mm), a 17mm f/2.8 (34mm) and a 20mm f/1.7 (40mm). Lately, Panasonic has filled in the 50mm equivalent automatic focus gap with its 25mm f/1.4 lens (here's our first looks of that lens), and Olympus is filling in the wide range with the 12mm f/2 (24mm) that we're previewing here, together with a longer 45mm f/1.8 (90mm).
This is certainly great news for enthusiasts who're looking to have a complete set of primes to cover the wide, middle and long ranges for the Micro Four Thirds system.
Design & Handling
One look and you'll know that Olympus isn't aiming for cheap with this 12mm f/2 lens (and it really isn't cheap at S$1,248); instead, this is a premium lens with a pedigree. For one, it's a beautiful and well-made lens which feels solid in the hands. The metallic finish and retrospective look make it a lens to look at, as well as to look through; especially when paired with a silver E-P camera body, the combination is visually stunning.
Something that people tend to gloss over when comparing the Micro Four Thirds system to Sony's NEX range of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras is how small the NEX cameras are in comparison to the MFT cameras, but how much bigger the NEX lenses are in comparison with the smaller MFT lenses. The 12mm f/2 is a good example, it's light and small, easily carried and doesn't add much weight or size to your camera when fitted.
The lens comes with Olympus' new MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) mechanism which enables fast, quiet auto focusing with both movies and still images. It also promises the superb optical quality that Zuiko lenses have been known for, with a fast f/2.0 wide aperture that's perfect for shooting in low-light and for producing out-of-focus backgrounds.
You'll notice the lack of an automatic/manual focus switch on the lens, and that's because it's unnecessary. Olympus has solved that problem with a rather clever and easy to use mechanism it calls Snapshot Focus. Simply slide the ribbed focus ring back towards the camera and it automatically activates manual focus on the camera (at least, with the Olympus E-P3 we tested it on). Slide it forwards again and the camera goes back to automatic focus.
The 12mm f/2 doesn't add a lot of size and weight when attached to an MFT camera, like the Olympus E-P3 pictured here.
In comparison with the standard 14-40mm kit lens which comes with the E-P3 (lens retracted).
The 12mm on the left, the 14-40mm in the middle and Olympus' new 40-150mm on the right.
The 12mm comes with a clever and quick way to access manual focus, using the ribbed focus ring. Here it's 'locked' as it usually is.
Slide the focus ring back, and the camera transits automatically into manual focus.
Image Performance
The 24mm wide-angle view (in 35mm equivalent) of the 12mm f/2 lens makes it an ideal lens for landscapes and interior shots, where you need to see more around you. While a wide-angle lens can be used to shoot portraits, you'll need to watch out for the distortion in perspective that it creates.
When shooting with the 12mm, we see vignetting around the edges from f/2 to around f/4. We hardly saw any ghosting or flaring artifacts. It also exhibited good sharpness from the center to the edges of the frame. There is slight barrel distortion for which you'll have to correct during post-production, but all things considered, this is a very likeable, if pricey, lens.
The maximum field of view you can get with the standard 14-40mm lens at its widest (28mm in 35mm equivalent).
The field of view you get with the 12mm (24mm in 35mm equivalent). You capture more within the frame with the wider lens, but there's also more perspective distortion.
Wide open at f/2, the lens gives you a beautifully blurred background, which helps to isolate and highlight the subject.
f/2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/500 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/4 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/100 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/5.6 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/50 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/8 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/25 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
Sample Photographs
These are sample photographs shot with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 lens and an Olympus PEN E-P3. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click for the full-resolution images.
f/2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/80 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/2.2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/80 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/60 sec, ISO320. Click for full-resolution image.
f/2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/60 sec, ISO800. Click for full-resolution image.
f/8 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/100 sec, ISO200. Click for full-resolution image.
f/2 at 24mm (35mm equivalent), 1/60 sec, ISO1000. Click for full-resolution image.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.