N°1002156 · Family detail
OlympusCinema·MICRO 4/3 mount
Olympus M.ZUIKO 17mm F/1.8
Specifications01
MountMICRO 4/3
Focal length17mm
Max aperturef/1.8
TypeCinema · Macro · Wide · Prime
Weight120 g
Filter size46 mm
Physical length57.5 mm
Min focus distance0.25 m
Max magnification0.08
Aperture blades7
Optical elements9
Groups6
Additional Info02
Category["Micro-Four-Thirds"]
Keywords["Micro-Four-Thirds","Olympus","Prime","Wide"]
Review AuthorKlaus
Review Rating7
Equiv Aperturef/3.6 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field)
Other FeaturesZERO coating, Focus-clutch mechanism
Review VerdictThe Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 may not be a stellar performer but it is certainly an interesting lens considering its strengths. High speed wide-angle lenses tend to suffer from poor corners at large apertures but the Olympus lens actually does a decent job here. The center is already very sharp and contrasty at f/1.8. The borders are also quite decent here although slight field curvature has a certain impact in the corners. So if you are into low light or shallow depth-of-field photography the M.Zuiko is a good candidate. The technical image quality doesn't overly improve by stopping down but the field curvature dissolves towards medium aperture settings. The bokeh is very good for a wide-angle lens (they tend to be rather rough here). Except some bokeh fringing (colored out-of-focus halos) at large apertures though. The amount of lateral CAs is comparatively high for such a lens. Distortions are not a problem in the real life but the original characteristic - present in the RAW data - is rather mediocre. The mechanical quality is certainly convincing with its all metal body and a "focus-by-wire" focus ring. The focus clutch mechanism may also come handy at times. The AF is impressively fast and silent thanks to Olympus' MSC drive. Olympus claims that it operates smoothly for movies but more serious users will probably prefer to stick to manual focusing. Now is it worth the comparatively high price tag ? Well, it depends. Some argue that there's no substitution for speed than more speed and the M.Zuiko is about as fast as it gets in this lens class within the micro-four-thirds system. Its nearest competitor, the Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH is slightly cheaper but not quite as 'sexy' in terms of build quality and field-of-view. Performance-wise the Panasonic lens may be slightly sharper whereas the M.Zuiko has a better bokeh.
Review Criteria{"Build Quality":8,"Optical Quality":7,"Price / Performance":7}
Review Published2013-06-06T09:41:00+00:00
Equiv Focal Length34 mm (full format equivalent)
Optical Construction9 elements / 6 groups inc. 1xDSA, 1xAsph & 1xHR element
Field Notes02
Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm F/1.8 is a Micro Four Thirds prime lens with a wide 17mm focal length and bright f/1.8 aperture for low-light and general-purpose wide-angle shooting. It is also used for cinema work.
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Other Mounts03
No alternate mounts are indexed for this family yet.