Olympus upped its prime lens game today. The company introduced two new super-fast fixed focal length Micro Four Thirds lenses: the Olympus Olympus M. Zuiko ED Digital 17mm f/1.2 Pro and the Olympus M. Zuiko ED Digital 45mm f/1.2 Pro. Both lenses offer the same superwide aperture, which is great for low-light shooting, something documentary and candid photographers will appreciate, and provides the narrow depth of field that many portrait photographers love.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 Pro lens
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The f/1.2 aperture creates an extremely shallow depth of field, so if you focus on someone’s eyes while shooting a portrait, you will get a flattering focus fall-off from there. The rounded aperture blades will yield natural-looking out-of-focus highlights at all apertures. The 0.1x image magnification means this lens can also double as a true macro; when you factor in the sensor size, it effectively can record macro subjects at twice life-size.
The lens is constructed of 14 elements in 10 groups, including an ED lens, four HR lenses and an aspherical lens, which should eliminate or minimize any chromatic or optical distortion.
Key Features:
- 35mm equivalent focal length 90mm
- 1.2-f/16 aperture range
- Closest focus to 1.5 ft.
- 9 circular aperture blades
- 62mm filter ring
- 0.1x image magnification
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 Pro lens
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A good general-purpose wide-angle lens, the Olympus 17mm f/1.2 is a great choice for documentary photography, photo reportage, street photography and travel photography. Its large aperture makes it a desirable choice for low-light photography without flash; it pairs well with Olympus cameras such as the Olympus E-M1 Mark II or Olympus Pen F.
The lens contains 15 elements in 11 groups, including a Super ED lens, 3 ED lenses, 1 ED-DSA lens, 1 EDA lens, a Super HR lens and an Aspherical lens, which should greatly reduce or eliminate flaring and optical curve distortion that is common among wide-angle lenses.
Key Features:
- 35mm equivalent focal length: 34mm
- f/1.2-f/16 aperture range
- Closest focus 7 inches
- 62mm filter ring
- 0.15x image magnification