Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm F1.2 PRO Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras

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Here in shot above I see the Olympus 45 f/1.2 winning again. The Bokeh is nicer, the contrast is perfect IMO and it’s the sharpest of the lot. Here you can see the 45 f/1.7 difference with the Bokeh. It's not a matter of "need". It's a matter of compromise. FF makes some things easier/more convenient. Same with mFT." The first difference to take into account is the size and weight: the 45mm f/1.2 is twice the height of the 45mm f/1.8 and around four times as heavy, making it a better match for larger MFT cameras such as the OM-D E-M1 (pictured above) or E-M1 II. Much of this extra weight is due to its metallic weatherproof build and additional lens elements. If you prefer something a little wider, perhaps for street photography, I can also highly recommend a 17mm prime or thereabouts and again there’s lots of options, albeit at a higher price than the 25mm above; I’m going to suggest either the Panasonic Leica DG 15mm f1.7 or the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f1.8, both in a similar ballpark price-wise; I personally prefer the Leica, but love the more compact size of the Olympus when mounted on a smaller body.

Also related to the f/1.2 aperture is the fact that you can work in very low light conditions without worrying about excessively high ISO values or low shutter speeds. This isn’t to say that f/1.8 is unacceptable for low light work but f/1.2 certainly does provide some added latitude in these situations. Currently, two manufacturers drive the platform forward. OM System carries the torch for the now-retired Olympus camera brand. Olympus is still around but is no longer in the camera business. You might still find products with Olympus logos on store shelves, but new releases all have OM System branding. As you see, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.2 PRO seems to be predestined to break resolution records and indeed, it does so with utter ease. It starts quite tamely because at the maximum relative aperture the MTFs reach 62 lpmm. Still it would be difficult to complain about such a result because you land noticeably above the decency level and it is better than the result of the Olympus 1.2/25. On stopping down the aperture the resolution increases sharply and by f/2.0, f/2.8, and f/4.0 you get brilliant values of 93.1, 96.3, and 92.0 lpmm respectively. Practically each of these could be a new resolution record, imagine that! In terms of size and weight, the Nocticron, like the Voigtlander, feels most at home on Micro Four Thirds bodies with a decent grip. It’s a perfect fit on the Lumix GH3 and Olympus OMD EM1 (left), and feels relatively large but still usable on the Lumix GX7 or Olympus OMD EM5. Mount it on one of the smaller bodies though, like the Lumix GF or GM or Olympus PEN series and it looks massive, becoming quite unwieldy. For a laugh I fitted it onto the tiny Lumix GM1 where it felt like one of those vintage Sony cameras where you supported the lens and just tapped at the body to make adjustments. If you own one of the smaller bodies, the 45mm f1.8 will look and feel much more appropriate.Yes, that's true. That's why mFT isn't my tool of choice, because I don't need the things it offers, like the pretentiously misleading F-numbers on small expensive lenses. Because I know what they are and what's their actual value. Finding a lens for a Micro Four Thirds camera isn't hard—there have been hundreds of different types over the years. But there are some things to take into account. You are not capable to appreciate high quality images, otherwise you wouldn't be asking stupid questions. You take your toy camera, shoot and stitch 6 images, process it wisely, put it on a big 40"+UHD screen and compare it with your regular snapshot. Beyond this, you may find manual aperture rings on some higher-end Panasonic lenses which become redundant on Olympus bodies – you can still adjust the aperture on an Olympus body by using one of the camera control dials, but the aperture ring on the lens is ignored.

At the end of this part of the test traditionally we present crops taken from photos of our resolution testing chart, saved in JPEG format along RAW files we used for the analysis above. Both lenses perform admirably in terms of sharpness but there is no question that the 45mm PRO has a clear edge over the 45mm, particularly at the fastest apertures. This comes as no surprise given that the 45mm 1.2 belongs to the M.Zuiko PRO category of lenses and is four times as expensive as the 45mm 1.8 at the time of writing. In this first series taken at a close focus distance, it is interesting to note that the 45mm PRO, at both f/1.2 and f/1.8, is sharper than the 45mm 1.8 at f/1.8. The PRO lens does an excellent job of highlighting all the little details in Mathieu’s eyes even at f/1.2, while the results from the 45mm 1.8 are noticeably less defined. Reference Image Out of all the lenses on this list, the one I love most is the Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 Pro. While it is large for a micro four-thirds lens, it feels wonderful in hand, is glorious to use, and it produces wonderful-looking images.If you’re after a new lens to extend your reach, then there’s no shortage of telephoto zooms available. At the budget-end and designed to complement a kit zoom, I’d suggest either the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4-5.6 or the Panasonic Lumix G 45-150mm f4-5.6 OIS. These are two of the most affordable lenses in the catalogue and ideal partners for a basic kit zoom on a budget body; if you have a Panasonic body without stabilisation, go for the Lumix G 45-150mm model which has optical stabilisation. If you’d like even longer reach without breaking the bank, I’d recommend the Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f4-5.6 II OIS that takes you to 600mm equivalent coverage at a relatively affordable price. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III + Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 (1/200 sec, f/1.8, ISO200) (Image credit: James Artaius)

The closest focusing distance is 0.5m, the same as the Olympus 45mm f1.8, although more than double that of the 0.23m of the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95. Meanwhile the Olympus 75mm f1.8 focuses down to 0.84m, although of course is more than 50% longer in focal length. Interestingly this means the maximum magnification / reproduction on the Nocticron is roughly the same as both the Olympus 45mm and 75mm lenses, although the Voigtlander can get much closer than any of them, delivering greater magnification albeit with significant loss of quality due to spherical aberrations. Both lenses are vulnerable to flare and ghosting even though they feature a lens coating (Z Coating on the PRO lens and ZERO on the 45mm 1.8). It usually takes the form of a series of polygonal shapes or veiling flare, and occurs if you shoot directly into the sun. Flare with the M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.2 PRO (shot at f/2.8) Flare with the M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 (shot at f/5.6) Chromatic Aberration, Vignetting and Distortion Olympus PEN E-P7 + Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 (1/30 sec, f/1.8, ISO1600) (Image credit: James Artaius) Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8: Build and handlingThe Nocticron is supplied with a classy metal lens hood that fastens with a thumbscrew rather than a bayonet, and can be reversed snugly around the barrel for transportation. The generous length which is almost the same as the lens itself means you won’t be able to access any of the controls or the aperture or manual focusing rings when reversed. Leica Nocticron focusing First up is the focal length. The millimeter number of every lens is relative to its angle of view, and lenses with a smaller number capture a larger view. In terms of build quality the Nocticron feels very solid with its metal body adding a degree of solidity and classiness over plastic-bodied models like the Summilux 25mm f1.4. It’s not quite up there with 100% Leica products, but then neither is the price – remember while the Nocticron clearly tips a respectful hat toward the legendary Noctilux f0.95 in terms of design and style, it costs almost seven times less. I’d rank it as being similar in build to the Olympus 75mm f1.8, and while that’s obviously in a different league to pure Leica, I have no complaints with that lens. Fancy putting together a triplet of top-end zooms? How about the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 7-14mm f2.8 PRO, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12-40mm f2.8 PRO and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f2.8 PRO, giving you an equivalent range of 14-300mm with a constant f2.8 aperture. Or if you’re willing to sacrifice the constant f2.8 aperture for a smaller and lighter triplet with f2.8-4 apertures, I’m very fond of the Panasonic Leica DG 8-18mm f2.8-4, Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm f2.8-4 and Panasonic Leica DG 50-200mm f2.8-4, giving you an equivalent range of 16-400mm.