OM SYSTEM Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 Black for Micro Four Thirds System Camera, Compact Wide Angle Lens for Starry Sky and Landscape

I am a little surprised that I haven't rated this lens already. It is my go-to of go-to lenses. I use it very extensively for video, and it is perfect. The lens is relatively small which makes it a snap to balance on my Ronin Gimbal. It is fast, I have no problem opening this thing up when needed... I certainly have no issues at f2.8 and smaller. The lens has great color saturation and sharpness... it really is just about perfect. So I have had this little guy for about 4 years and during that time it has been on my main camera about 75% of the time. Occasionally, I will film on a tripod so I'll grab its cousin the Oly 12-40mm f2.8 (also a fantastic lens).. but that is about it. While there are some MFT lenses I prefer for photos nothing beats the Oly Zuiko 12mm for video on a gimbal (I have used it on the Osmo Pro and my Ronin with both a GH4 and Gh5). Final verdict- If you shooting video on a MFT camera and using a gimbal the Oly Zuiko 12mm is an absolute must . 5 Stars

This is a great fast wide-angle lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras at a good price. It's tack-sharp in the center of the frame with decent corners wide open, and the corners improve steadily as you stop down. It has moderate chromatic aberration and a bit of barrel distortion, but both are easy to correct for in Photoshop. Overall, a great little lens, I highly recommend it.

Zuiko 12mm f2.0 A 24mm equivalent on MFT's. A great wide angle lens, lacking the sharpness and contrast of the 45mm 1.8. The 12mm 2.0 is an expensive lens at $799. The build is a solid all metal construction with a bezzel that snaps back from the front of the lens for manual focusing. It is the only Zuiko lens in the line up that allows for Zone Focusing. However, the distance scale marking on the barel is difficult to read. Distortion is evident in architectural photography (but can be corrected in Adobe Photoshop or in LR4) and for close up portraits. For the lens cost, my opinion is that this lens is not sharp enough. Wide open at 2.0 it lacks the critical sharpness that the 45mm 1.8 has. Stopped down to f4.0 its starts to shine. Since this lens is on the pricey side I wanted to share lots of images so you could see what it's capable of. You can read my review here: marcweisberg.com/2012/11/olympus-om-d-e-m5-real-world-review

I might have a different opinion of this lens, based on physics rather than price. Wide angle lenses, and this is borderline ultrawide, are just never going to be as sharp in the corners as their longer cousins. It has more to do with physics and bending of light, reality rather than the price of the lens. All my very to ultrawide lenses are like that, some better than others. I am a professional, and have also studied and practiced Physics as an Engineer. It is a whole lot easier to make a 75mm lens, like the Oly to bend light properly without severe astigmatism. (which is colors not focusing at the same exact spot). They all have this problem, despite the size of sensor or film they are used for. I would agree that lenses are different, but not as different in this category as some claim. I find nothing in this lens that was not expected, softer corners included. It yields high quality pictures, and some distortion in the pictures are the signature of the very wide angle lens, and why pro's use them. Color and IQ are as good as any Olympus lens. The build quality is off the charts. Personally, I like and use the focus clutch. I would caution the inexperienced photographers who expect this to behave and perform like the 25mm - 75mm Olympus primes to avoid this lens. The 17mm and especially this 12mm lens do not have flat fields of focus. Barrel Distortion is present, as well as Chromatic Aberration. They behave like wide to very wide angle lenses, not like normal lenses. I do photography for a living now, and don't use wide angles lenses to get in the whole picture. Distant objects shrink to unidentifiable blobs, and usually too much sky will underexpose the remaining picture every time. You get too many distractions and your original subject, if there was one, is not the focus of the picture. Took me a while to figure out that a very wide angle lens is more useful for a different type of photography. The proper use of these lenses is to get up and very close to your subjects, and let the inherent distortion of the wide angle make a very interesting picture for you. The kind that is impossible to do otherwise. The depth of field in these used properly will result in another dimension of photography. And that is about the only way to get the "Bokeh" or out of focus highlights. Get to within a foot or less, whatever the lens allows, focus there and let the rest of the world be distorted and blurry. OK, that's what the Pro's do, but it's a free country. These lenses are also sometimes good at ground level, as the depth of focus is incredible. I could care less about review sites and dpreview. I take pictures for a living, and I don't waste my time on taking pictures of test charts. I rarely look at MFT Charts (Modular Function Transfer Charts) which interpret contrast of lines per mm. Pro's just can't sell those pictures, and they are subject to interpretation anyway. I ask: am I taking pictures that other people want to buy? The final answer: yep I can with this one used properly. Don't buy this for taking pictures of test charts, or trying to look at pixels in Photoshop. Not what it's for! Cons and four stars, Lens Hood which is needed desperately is not included. Otherwise for very wide angle is worthy of five stars.

What a great little lens. Sharp and clear. Love the manual clutch, plus the fast auto focus.

Finally, a fast wide angle lens is here for the Micro Four Thirds system. The other two lens that can shoot at 12mm are the Olympus 9-18mm and Panasonic 7-14mm, both start at f/4. Build quality for this lens is excellent. It is full metal with a smooth finished surface. It weighs 130g, just slightly twice that of the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 lens. It's also twice as tall but still smaller than the kit zoom lens. As wide angle lens go, this is as small as it can get - the beauty of the Micro Four Thirds system. The lens doesn't come with a lens hood which you have to pay (heavily) for. There's a 46mm filter thread, similar to the Panasonic 14mm and 20mm. I have a 2-stop ND filter that I can re-use here. Nice. Autofocus speed is snappy and operates silently. The focusing ring is great. It can be pulled back to go into manual focus mode instantly, and push back to go back to auto-focus - no need for menus if you're using a touchscreen camera. When it's at the back, it reveals a distance indicator. This lens can focus from 0.2m to infinity. So you can either manual focus with the distance indicator (fast), or manual focus the focus-by-wire way (slow), I prefer the former. The optical performance is remarkable. At wide open, it's sharp at centre and corner. It's sharpest at f/2.8 though, but the difference between this and f/2 is possibly visible only at 100 per cent view. Chromatic aberration and vignetting are not really noticeable. Distortion is controlled really well, even for faces near the edge of the photo. I'm using this lens more for landscape (typically buildings) and street shooting. The f/2 is a huge advantage when shooting inside buildings (tight spaces) where lighting is low most of the time. f/2 can give you some depth of field but only when your subject is very close, in-your-face close. In typical usage, the depth of field is minimal. Composition with this lens is challenging, but you can always crop, which will be most often the case if you don't get close enough. If you don't like shooting so close to people, you might want to use a lens closer to 35mm or the 50mm equivalent. I find that a zoom at wide angle is more flexible, for me anyway, but sometimes the low light just hinders the chances at getting shots. I was once in a bar with the 7-14mm and I had to put the camera on the table to get non-hand-shaken shots at high ISO, at least now, I can get two stops of advantage with this 12mm lens and not shoot off a table, or tripod. Yes this lens is pricey, but it's worth it. If you need the low light wide angle lens, you have that option now. At a glance + Excellent build quality + Small, light & portable, relative to DSLR equivalent + Very good sharp image quality + f/2 aperture is great for low light shooting + Fast and silent focus + Focusing snap ring can be used to get into manual focus instantly + Accepts 46mm filters + Worldwide warranty - No lens hood included - No lens pouch included - Pricey but worth it Update 2 Jan 2012: I've put links to videos I shot with the lens in the comment section below.

I purchased this Lens from Amazon in March , and am really Impressed with this Lens ! The Build is Hard to Describe , as it is Really so Beautiful ! The Ability to go Manual is Great as well ! I was able to Find a Mint Olympus Hood for close to the Full Price as set forth by Olympus ! My Pictures have pleased Me Greatly ! I do not care for the Few Negative Reports , as this Lens is in a " Class " of its Own ! I have used it mostly on a New Panasonic GF 3 Body , and the Total Package is just Perfect for My Street and Landscape Efforts ! I agree with the Reviewer who mentioned how this Lens is by Far the Best M4/3 Lens , both in Build Qualities , and Performance ! I own Many Cameras , and I find This Lens to be very much a Pleasure to both Own , and to Use !!! It is Truly a " Keeper " !!! R E Keay

Amazing camera lens! Worth every penny, super versatile and takes great pictures. I love this thing.

Received in excellent. Here are the photos as proof of its quality.

Un auténtico lentazo, la verdad no sé si sea de una gama premium (lo dudo) pero sus resultados son muy buenos. Me parece que aquí en México OM system no es una marca muy popular y es difícil conseguir equipo por lo que encontrarlo con envío nacional fue algo muy extraño. La calidad de construcción se nota, es de metal y aunque no pesa mucho, la robustez esta ahí. Las imágenes que produce soy con colores muy lindos y la definición y nitidez está muy bien, incluso en f 2.0, aunque investigando su diafragma óptimo es por 5.6. Lo conseguí a un precio bajo, lo cual lo hace una ganga. Estoy muy muy contento con este objetivo.

Ich habe diese Kopfhörer gekauft, weil ich dachte, sie halten mich warm im Winter. Was für eine Überraschung, als sie tatsächlich den ganzen Tag auf meinem Kopf geblieben sind wie zwei kleine Würstchen! Die Bluetooth-Verbindung ist so stark, dass man sie manchmal schon vom Nachbarbundesland aus steuern kann. Mein Hund hat angefangen zu heulen, sobald ich Musik abspiele – er hat wohl verstanden, dass jetzt Konzertzeit ist. Der Akku hält etwa 3 Tage (bzw. 72 Stunden), vorausgesetzt, man legt sie nicht in die Mikrowelle. Steht ja nicht groß drauf, aber ich habe es probiert und nichts ist passiert. Die Lautstärke ist perfekt eingestellt, besonders wenn man im Keller steht und nach oben schaut. Einziger Kritikpunkt: Sie sehen aus wie zwei zusammengeklebte Löffel, aber das mag auch mein Nachbar so. Fazit: Kaufe sie sofort! Auch für Nicht-Musiker, Pflanzen und Leute, die gerne warten. Klare Empfehlung – ich trage sie jetzt schon beim Schlafen. 🌙👂

Awesome lens! Definitely recommend to anyone who's looking for a good wide angle! I haven't taken it off my camera since I got it, and it produces awesome images. It's quick, sharp, and I LOVE the clutch manual focus ring. It makes switching between manual and auto focus very quick and easy and I'm surprised how often I use it. My only gripe with it is that it doesn't come with the little Olympus bag or lens hood that you would normally get when you buy a lens like this...

Me parece una auténtica maravilla, tanto en su construcción como en su utilización. Totalmente recomendable. Tengo pendiente probar en cielos estrellados, pero tanto para su uso en fotografía de calle, como para interiores, me parece el objetivo ideal, y mira que el 17 f1.8 me parecía suficiente, pero no, éste le mejora. Lo dicho, un imprescindible.