Micro four-thirds cameras often face an uphill battle in gaining the appreciation they deserve but, that hasn’t dissuaded companies like Olympus from appealing to professional shooters. Their highly capable cameras sometimes offer features you’ve long since given up on finding in their full frame counterparts. And in their latest bid for rights to a place in your kit, they’ve released two new lenses that promise to maximize the optical prowess of their sensors: the new Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 PRO Lens and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO Lens.
Coming in at $1,199.00 each, these lenses simultaneously shirk any perception of being a budget alternative and take up the challenge of making professionals fully commit to a micro four-thirds system. Here is what they offer.
The 17mm 1.2 is a lens that had to be produced if a “Pro Series” of lenses is going to be taken seriously. You could argue that if it had only one lens, it would be this one. It should entice portrait shooters and video shooters for both Olympus and Panasonic who want a fast first party lens for their work.
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Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2
- 34mm (35mm Equivalent)
- Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/16
- Four ED Elements, One ED-DSA Element
- Super HR, EDA, and Aspherical Elements
- Z Coating Nano
- MSC High-Speed Imager AF System
- Internal Focusing, MF Clutch
- Weather-Resistant Construction
- Rounded Nine-Blade Diaphragm
The 45mm 1.2 fills a necessary focal length in the new Pro lens family and seeks to convince portrait shooters that the signature thin depth of field can be obtained with Olympus cameras. It’s just one more thing to strike off the list of “cons” for the system.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2
- 90mm (35mm Equivalent)
- Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/16
- One ED Element, One Aspherical Element
- Four High Refractive Index Elements
- Z Coating Nano
- MSC High-Speed Imager AF System
- Internal Focusing, MF Clutch
- Weather-Resistant Construction
- Rounded Nine-Blade Diaphragm
The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 is available for pre-order and projected to ship in January 2018.
The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 is available for preorder will be available as soon as November 2017.
Olympus now has four primes in their Pro lens Series covering the 34mm, 50mm, 90mm focal lengths and the 8mm Fisheye. This collection is still growing but, as it currently stands, the quartet offers a capable shooting experience. Is it enough for you?
