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For Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8, 55 customer reviews collected from 2 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.7.

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18.12.2014

I bought this to use with my Olympus E-M10 camera. I already have the Olympus 25mm and 45mm f/1.8 lenses for it, and together they make a very nice trio.I did consider getting the Panasonic 20mm or the Leica 15mm, but the Panasonic has rather slow focusing apparently (a criticism you can't level at the Olympus) and the Leica is expensive and a bit too wide angle for me for this type of lens.Compared to my other two Olympus primes, I'd say the 17mm is probably 'not quite' as good as they are, even though it's more expensive. It isn't just as sharp in all situations (like at the edges when you use a wide aperture), and doesn't have 'quite' the same ability to make you look like a pro with every shot you take.Reviews moan aabout vignetting, but I can't say I've noticed much of that so far, and it wouldn't be a problem at smaller apertures anyway.Having said that, the differences really aren't huge and I have taken some great shots with this lens. It's hard to describe the difference. But most shots I take with the 45mm especially have an instant 'wow' factor when you look at them on your computer full size. With the 17mm, you still sometimes get that, but just not nearly as often. But when things work out, photos have a very nice 'look' to them, which is also hard to define. And it's a versatile focal length for a range of situations, wide enough but not too wide. I use it for things like classic car shows, and it's the perfect focal length for that. Mostly shots come out as sharp as you could want and the last shoot I did could have been published in a magazine (though I say so myself!). Fantastic colour and very good contrast are traits this lens shares with the other Olympus primes. Just make sure that if you're taking advantage of the widest apertures (one of this lens's key selling points) that you nail the focus on the right part of your image and don't expect edge-to-edge sharpness at f/1.8, though it's entirely usable at its widest aperture, which makes it a superb low-light lens.At f/2.8 and especially f/4 everything looks pin sharp however, and day-to-day, you're more likely to be using these kind of apertures.I have noticed that at its closest focus distance, it seems sharper than the 25mm. And very sharp for a non-macro lens. Close focus distance is nothing special though,and the wide-angle of view makes it seem less close than it really is.You can get nice differential focus with this lens even though it's a wide angle lens. You just need to be close to your subject. Out of focus backgrounds, when you get them, look fantastic.This lens is perfect for stills or video, with fast, silent focusing (it's an 'MSC' lens - that's Movie and Stills Compatible).It's a surprisingly small and light lens, but rather beautifully and solidly made from metal - perhaps why it's more expensive than the plastic-bodied 25mm and 45mm. The focus ring doesn't turn as beautifully smoothly as on my 25mm lens however. Perhaps this is because of the clever manual focus ring that you pull back to activate. When you do this it reveals a depth of field scale, which could be useful if you're a bit old school. On my E-M10, pulling back the ring goes into manual focus mode (MF shows on screen) but oddly doesn't activate the 'magnify image' setting even though I've set it to do that in the menu. If you select MF from the menu and focus manually without pulling back on the ring however, it DOES magnify. They could have made better use of this feature.There's generally a lot to like and not much to complain about with this lens though. I would have liked a lens hood (like you get with the 25mm) since wider angle lenses are more prone to flare. There's no case or pouch for the lens either, but I suppose you can pick up both these items very cheaply.Note that this came in a plain, simple box because it's split from a kit. There is a disclaimer that tells you this. It doesn't matter unless the full retail box with glossy colours is important to you, which actually it might be if you ever decide to sell it. Something to think about.
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11.11.2013

I have had this lens for a while now (I pre-ordered it on amazon when it was first announced). It is a great bit of kit, when you open up the box for the first time, compared to other lenses I own for the system this one is superior in nearly ever way.CONSTRUCTIONThe lens body is all metal, it feels superb. Every movement is solid and precise. A joy to hold.IMAGEThe lens takes lovely photos, no doubt. The 17mm F1.8 (34mm equivalent) equates to one of the most popular F.O.V.'s on full frame cameras (35mm) and I really enjoy using this focal length. The large aperture allows for great creative opportunities and strong subject isolation,and the width of the images allows me to fit in any subject I might wish.IN USEOn my Olympus PEN E-P5 Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Camera - Black Body Only (16.1MP, Live MOS) 3.0 inch Tiltable Touchscreen LCD the size is perfect. The focusing speed is almost unbelievable, and talking of focusing- the snapshot focus mechanism is superb. Just pull the focus ring towards the camera body and the camera automatically switches to manual focus mode - which this lens is a joy to use in, thanks to its nicely dampened focus ring and film camera lens style distance scale...CONCLUSIONI bought one, and I would do it again in a heat beat. I also have the Panasonic 20mm Compact and Lightweight Digital Interchangeable Lens for Lumix G - Black, which I personally feel delivers minutely better images but at the price that it is not as slick in the focusing department, and because of that, I do not enjoy using it the way I do the Olympus 17mm F1.8
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6.3.2014

Although this is a very good lens, I was none the less astonished to see that so many people had written reviews, 95 at the time of going to press.On closer inspection it turned out that the majority of correspondents were expressing their views about completely different lens's, 45mm, 75mm, various zooms etc. and only a few were actually about the 17mm 1:1.8. Not the end of the world, but confusing and obviously something of a balls up. This by way of an explanation for the title of my review.By now this lens doesn't really require another paean of praise from me, suffice to say that it is excellent. Beautifully made, producing very good results (photographer permitting).The black version is preferable to the silver one, simply because the latter has an awful champagne/beige tint, which doesn't look good on OM-D's or the latest Pen.My only reservation is that they produced this and other new MFT lens's without making them splash and dust proof. There seems to be a certain futility in "proofing" the camera, but not the lens. I know, the kit zooms supplied with the EM-5 and EM-1 are, like the camera splash and dust proofed; the one is unexceptional and the other exceedingly, possibly justifiably expensive.And yet, despite this deficiency, which almost caused me to remove a star, this lens is very much worth having and worth every penny.
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19.2.2015

I would say that is this is my most used lens and is an almost permanent fixture on my E-PL5. Not exactly "pocketable" but certainly smaller than a DSLR. Physically, it is compact but is not a "pancake" lens. I bought a Dashpro pouch which fits the E-PL5 plus 17mm f2.8 combo, but is too small when when the 17mm f1.8 is attached. However, the advantage is that this lens is solidly built and has handsome appearance. The pull back manual focussing ring is useful and has a smooth action, but as another reviewer has pointed out it does not behave as expected with the magnify focus/peaking function on Olympus cameras. The lens has a versatile focal length (equivalent to 35mm full frame)and I find it a very versatile lens. It is useful for landscapes, and the large aperture means that is great for indoor grab shots of the family or food (I am one of those sad people) with no flash. In fact this lens really comes into it's own at indoor events. Before the events, the smartphone users ask why I am lugging around a big camera. After the events, they ask me why my photos are so much clearer than theirs! Minus points of the lens are that is more expensive and not as sharp (in my hands anyway) as the Olympus 45mm f1.8. But it makes up for this because it is a more versatile lens.
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2.4.2016

I am a professional photographer & a photography tutor and moved over to the m43 system for it quality of images at low ISO, it's very high quality std of lenses & most importantly (for me) size/weight.For me as a documentary photographer a focal length of choice is 35mm on FF cameras which is more or less the same FOV as this 17mm when you take into account the 2X crop factor.The body is made of metal & to a high standard, with a great push/pull focus system to switch from auto to manual focus.The f1.8 is useful for lower light worker but does not give huge shallow dof due to it being a wider lens.The quality of the shots from my em-1 are nothing short of stunning,however the same lens on my em-5 are slightly softer.... I believe this is due to the lack of AA filter in the em-1, however this should not deter you from buying this lens if you are an em-5 owner as 'real world' usage will have minimum impact on the IQ.The colours are punchy with great micro contrast & focus is quick and silent.I would definitely recommend this as a high quality std lens and yes it may be more expensive than the equivalent apps-c/FF versions but the diminutive size and sheer usability make this an excellent purchase!!!
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18.12.2015

If you own a micro four thirds camera then this beautiful lens will astound you with both the image quality and build quality , on my Olympus EM5 it just felt right from the moment I snicked it into place , the results are truly mind blowing , so much so this lens will now live on the camera full time , I also own a Nikon D7000 with a pro zoom lens attached which is in itself amazing but I need a smaller set up for travel and street work . both the Olympus OMD EM5 and this 17mm prime match if not out perform it in focusing and outright image quality and all in a tiny package in comparison to the Nikon .On reading other reviewers that said they had received the ex bundle packaged lens in a plain brown box I decided to send for mine from Solera Telecom GmBH in Germany and pay a tad more but for the proper boxed version . I must say Solera were utterly fantastic in their service and it arrived in a week extremely well packaged , fully tracked all the way and there was utterly no problem in registering it for guarantee . Id certainly recommend every Olympus owner to get saving and buy this lens no matter what the cost . It really is as good as everyone says !!!
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4.5.2017

A nice compact lens giving the equivalent angle of view of a 34mm lens on a 35mm sensor/fillm. Maybe not the sharpest wide open at f1.8 but so useful to be able to get that extra light in. Works well on my basic Panasonic G10, Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount. The focus ring has end stops at close focus and infinity or pushing the focus ring forward allows infinity turn and auto focus capabilities. Annoyingly the manual focus ring goes past infinity which makes it a little harder to judge distances on the focus scale. No manual iris ring, aperture controlled through camera. The focus is electronic, no mechanics, so pulling focus in video mode is a little unnatural where the focus snaps in if the ring is moved too fast.All in all a great lens for micro four third cameras allowing you to get a shallow depth of field and lots of light.Read full review...
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1.11.2015

I deliberated over this lens and the 25mm f1.8. I went for the 17 as a replacement for my excellent (but noisy and slow (to AF) on my EM1) Panasonic Lumix 20MM.It's made of metal, reassuringly heavy when compared to say the M.Zuiko 45mm, and has the manual focus ring as per the 14-40 Pro allowing you to quickly enter MF mode.I've been very impressed so far but the Bokeh of the Lumix 20mm is richer and better in my experience so far. This is a great lens for low light & astrophotography as well, and the Manual focus gearing is easy to control for pin sharp focus.It doesn't come with a lens hood or a bag which is a bit shortsighted of Olympus given the retail price,but I'd really recommend the JJC LH-J48B hood as an alternative hood to the Olympus aftermarket original. It's a fraction of the olympus's price.
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4.1.2018

I have been replacing my Canon lenses with Olympus since switching to mirrorless and wanted this general purpose wide angle prime to complete the range. I bought it as "nearly new" from speedyguns for almost half the list price and when it arrived it was to all intents and purposes brand new. In use it is very fast, very lightweight and ideal for street photography.It has a manual focus ring which is operated by simply sliding back the ring to expose the distance scale, but in practice I use the autofocus as it is so fast to lock on. I also have the 45mm f1.8 and would say that this is easily as good. An excellent buy - highly recommended.

29.11.2017

A beautiful little prime lens for the Micro Four Thirds system, roughly equivalent to 35mm on Full Frame. Build quality is excellent, with a metal barrel and lens mount, and an encouragingly positive clunk to the mechanism that disengages the AF clutch to put you into MF territory. Low light performance is great, decent bokeh and sharp throughout. Olympus OM-D and PEN cameras have Image Stabilisation built into the camera bodies, so bear in mind there'll be no IS on for e.g. a Panasonic body. It's my goto lens for use with both my PEN F and EPL-7, and a more than worthy alternative to the kit zoom lenses.

29.6.2015

I really like my 45mm f1.8 but now this 17mm is always on my camera as it's so useful. It has a good weight, looks great on my EM 5 and I'm really happy with the sharpness. I can't fault this lens but I did have to buy a lens hood for it from Amazon. If you have an EM5, just watch how you have set up your manual focus as so far, I don't see any use for the manual focus on the lens as you can't see an enlarged view in the viewfinder. Will have to read the user manual again. Very happy with my purchase and a great price from Amazon.

19.5.2016

What a great little lens! Beautifully made and pin sharp even wide open although stopping it down to f4 makes it even better! I'm so impressed with this little lens, it's a joy to use. I took some shots of my grandson in his back garden last Sunday from a fair distance and on heavy cropping I found that he was still pin sharp. This lens will probably be my walk about lens in future. As a plus point it is less intimidating when pointing the camera in the direction of complete strangers!

18.3.2020

This lens has a very fast focus, lovely rendering of tones in colour and black and white and the "snapshot" manual focus ring is so handy!My most used lens other than the Olympus 12-40 2.8 pro. I used to use 50mm equivalent (25mm) the most but have found that the 17mm (a 35mm equivalent on MFT) is much more useful for a range of situations. It is also bright enough at f1.8 for interior shooting. Very good for people shots wide open.

18.3.2016

Early days but so far it hasn't disappointed. Still a bit new to the whole m4/3s thing which I've got into as a lighter weight travel alternative to my Nikon gear and this 17mm prime is so small and light you wouldn't leave it behind even though I also have a 14-150mm zoom that covers this focal length though a couple of stops slower. I've read that some people say this lens isn't particularly sharp but my copy seems to be fine.

22.1.2020

The one niggle I have about this otherwise delightful Micro Four-Thirds lens is the lack of an auto-focus feature common to all other lenses acquired for my main photo-taking system (Lumix and Olympus compact SLRs). You should therefore measure or judge 'nearer to camera' distances with greatest care, to ensure sharp focus, especially in low-light situations.

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