Olympus 12mm f2.0 ZUIKO Digital ED Micro Four Thirds lens

Comments about Olympus 12mm f2.0 ZUIKO Digital ED Micro Four Thirds lens:

I do a lot of street/candid photography and bought this lens to give me a wide-angle option alongside the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 and Olympus 45mm f1.8. I use a Panasonic and Olympus camera bodies (GF1, G2 and E-PL3.)

With one lens on the camera I can stow either of the other two in coat or trouser pockets and have a portable 3-lens kit without really needing a camera bag.

The 12mm is small, light and compact - a little larger and heaver than the 20mm or 45mm to be sure, but still tiny. It feels gorgeous - solid and really well made.

Images are sharp, with a lovely rendering of tones.

Autofocus is fast, quiet and positive, even in really dm light (ie dim sodium street lighting.) For shooting video it's effectively silent.

With the focus ring in the forward position you can perform manual focus as with any other m4/3 camera/lens combination by switching to MF on the camera body. Pull the focus ring back to the 'Snap focus' setting and a depth of field (DoF) scale is revealed with marks for f5.6, 11 and 22. In this position the focus ring will stop at the minimum distance and (a tiny bit past) infinity. Pulling back the focus ring automatically switches the camera from AF to MF mode on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies. The only thing that's different from the normal MF mode is that "Focus Assist" (enlargement of the centre of the frame) doesn't trigger. Since the DoF scale is there for depth focussing I presume you're meant to rely on that.
I've read reports that the 12mm focusses in steps in 'Snap Focus" mode; I looked for this and can't say I noticed it on either Olympus or Panasonic bodies; if so, the steps are small, and I've not had issues with sharpness as a result.

Having bought the lens in the depths of winter, I've not had many opportunities to play with the 'Snap Focus' depth focussing - though my few experiments so far show good results and I can see this being very useful once the light improves. Right now a combination of short days and work pressure mean I'm mostly shooting after dark, when the 12mm's fast aperture and excellent low-light performance are scoring.

Any gripes? It's expensive, but given the build quality, snap focus mechanism and specialist nature I suppose it's fair enough. Not including a hood as standard at this price point does seem a bit penny-pinching. The DoF scale on the Snap Focus mechanism seems a little narrow and pinched; I don't see why it couldn't have extended wider around the barrel to give room for a useful f8 marking. It would have been nice to have the option of a standard model in less-obtrusive black.

If you're thinking about this lens, the question to ask yourself is, do you need the combination of compact size, wide angle, 'Snap Focus' and fast aperture? The Panasonic 14mm gives you a much cheaper, smaller package, though with a stop slower aperture, narrower field of view and poorer optical performance. If you don't need the fast aperture, the Olympus 9-8mm zoom is still cheaper, not much bigger (retracted) and much more flexible in terms of angles of view. If you're looking for a single walk-around prime, the new Olympus 17mm offers the same feature-set in a more standard focal length.

This lens isn't for everybody, but if you do need (or just want) the specialist combination of features the 12mm offers, you won't be disappointed. It's a gem.