[shoplink 34914]
[/shoplink]
We have two brand new review of the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 lens:
That is what Admiringlight writes: “Overall, I think the 17mm f/1.8 is an extremely good lens for environmental portraiture and street shooting, as its image qualities shine in these situations, and the autofocus is blazingly fast. If you are after this lens as a high quality landscape lens, it’s probably not worth your money, as you can get similar quality from your kit zoom at 17mm stopped down.”
And that is Digitalcamerareview’s conclusion: “The 17mm f/1.8 lens is the kind of lens I want to use almost all the time. I won’t butcher the fabulous Olympus OM-D E-M5 by gluing this lens to it, but Olympus is going to have to send some very tough repo men to wrestle this lens back from me.”
So both like the lens and if the rumors I got are correct than we will get a Black version of this lens soon too!
Olympus 17mm lens price check at [shopcountry 34914].
33 Responses
much more entertaining this way!
http://www.gizoogle.net/index.php?search=www.43rumors.com&se=Gizoogle+Dis+Shiznit
This is hilarious! I’ve never known about this 🙂
even funnier, type your twitter username into the search bar at gizoogle and see how cool you really are!
translation of environmental portraiture is “environmenstrual portraiture”…dont visualise it, just don’t.
Man, I’m dyin’ laffin me fokkin azz off
The 17/1.8 is a very nice lens–awesome AF and plenty “sharp enough”. The snap focus is pretty well useless and it’d make more sense in a build equivalent to the 45mm, but whatever. I’m enjoying it.
I just wish this lens had been better than “sharp enough”. If its not a class-leading optic, I think I would have preferred plastic build and a much lower price.
+1
I bought one, wasn’t sharp at all and returned it, the second one was much better and I’m keeping it. I think part of the problem is that we’ve got some *very* sharp lenses for m43 from both Panasonic and Olympus and whilst the 17mm f1.8 is sharp, it’s not as sharp as some of the other lenses we can get for less money. Though it’s certainly sharper than my Canon 35mm f2.0 (a lens I really like).
I think it’s a pity Olympus seemed to have spent more time on getting it to look nice rather than getting it as sharp as their 45/75mm lenses. It’s the focal length that a lot of people want (possibly more so than the 20/45/75mm) and really needed to be very sharp, rather than just sharp.
Colin
I am looking to get a 17-25 (35-50 FF equiv) lens in the future. I already have the 12mm and the 45mm. I love my 12mm for landscapes. It’s the lens I’m using the most. And although I like the 45mm for portraits, sometimes I struggle, when I try to take a portrait of a group of 2-3 people (unless I use the 12, but that’s a bit too close). How good is the Pana/Leica 25 compared to this? I thought it is better. Does anyone have a experience with these and perhaps compared with the Voigtlanders? What do you guys think, which one would be the better one to get? I like taking landscape/street shots, not sure how a 35mm would offer much more than a 12.
Thanks for your advice.
Cheers
Get the 20mm f/1.7 Panasonic! It is a mandatory m43 lens. If you ever feel the need to go longer, get the 25mm. You will always be able to sell the 20mm if you want to upgrade such is the popularity of the lens. Also, never confine your lenses to particular roles. You can use the 45mm as a landscape, try the portrait orientation for landscapes too 🙂
Thanks everyone for the reply. (Yes, I have used the 45mm for landscapes, but I have to say lots of times something like a 25mm would have been better). I love both my 12mm and 45mm. And if the quality is in between those, than surely is a fantastic lens.
I will read the reviews of the 20mm f1.7. I haven’t really thought about this one. (I am aware of the two Sigmas).
I don’t mind the price, my primary factor would be to get one lens which is the optically best lens available. Than I know, I won’t crave for another one in 5 years time. This is the reason why I haven’t bought a zoom lens, and also I love using primes. Even though, changing lenses can be sometimes frustrating – but I just love primes 🙂
I would love to try out one of the Voigtlanders too 🙂 And if the 25Voigt would be twice the quality of the PanaLeica, I would get it, but as I am aware, it’s not even that sharp, and its single advantage is the shallow DOF that it offers. But AF is just so much more convenient, and not o mention the size … but if it would be superior, I would consider it.
I guess one thing I can say: It is much much better to have this option of choosing lenses, compared to lets say have a single lens a 17mm, and no 25mm, etc. 🙂
How refreshing 🙂
Someone who does not spend time on forums and does not know the fame of the 20mm f/1.7.
Too busy having a life probably 😉
… unless you have an OM-D. The 20mm and the OM-D don’t play nice together. They produce banding at higher ISOs.
Yep. Still, in the absence of the 17mm 1.8, if I have to have a one lens combo with my EM-5, the 20mm will be on…
The 25mm is a very, very good lens, in terms of quality I’d put it between the 12 & the 45. And of course for low light it is fantastic. But, be warned, it is big and bulky, especially with the huge, non reversible lens hood. Of course there is a significant difference between 17mm and 25mm in FOV. They’re not really comparable.
+1.
And I must say; I really LOVE my 17/1.8. It just stays there on the camera…, unless I’m doing some portrait work and use the 45/1.8.
Of course you can take off the lens hood…
The 17 mm f/1.8 is a very good lens, no question. But it is much too expensive (appr. +70 % in comparison to Lumix 20 f/1.7, appr. + 450-500 % (!) compared to Sigma 19 mm f/2.8).
http://admiringlight.com/blog/review-sigma-19mm-f2-8-ex-dn/
can this lens replace 14mm and 20mm pana both?
Well, it did exactly that for me. Both Panas have been collecting dust since I got this little gem.
20/1.7 was my absolute favourite lens with E-P1, but with OM-D only the difference in AF speed is for me big enough reason to dump the 20.
And what comes to the sharpnes, this 17mm is at wide open way better than my Canon wide angles, incl. 24/1.4 and 16-35/2.8.
The 17 is just a fantastic lens, especially for low light street stuff. The look is unique and very attractive (i really like the bokeh).
I don’t get the negative comments, it is hardly poor (actually great). In particular the images sharpen up fantastically. I don’t really use my E-M5 as much as my GH3 any more but this is one lens that makes me want to use the E-M5
Mft is dying. Fuji takes over with bigger sensor.
and big lenses and big bodies 😉
Not much difference. The 18mm is pretty compact with faster aperture.
compact prime are possible, no doubt. Compact zoom is something else. m43 needs a smaller image circle, which give a size advantage, that’s it.
Additionnally, there is no entry level in Fuji
I only use primes nowadays. I used to have Panasonic 100-300mm and it’s pretty big.
Does your needs justify others’ needs?
And bigger bodies just like Panna…
I have the 17mm f/1.8 and love it. It has become my main lens. Beautiful results even in low light.
This lens got a bum rap for not being the sharpest, but I find it plenty sharp in real world use.
admin, did you miss slrgear test/review?
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1565/cat/14
It has been published after I posted my article. Will post the link soon in a new post.
I agree, I would have preferred if it was a less expensive plastic build but good optical quality, like the 45mm 1.8, with a price to match.
That would have left the door open for Oly to make their own higher end 17mm 1.4, with metal build and snap focus, to fit in line with the quality of the 12 and 75.