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12mm f/2.0 Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED Lens
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  • wide angle. compact. fast AF. f2. metal finish. better focus-by-wire. cool.

    $799... not cool.
  • @stonebat The image appears rectilinear with no perceptible barrel distortion I can detect, at least from my initial testing.
  • Did GH2 make the images out of the lens rectilinear for photo and video?
  • @No_SuRReNDeR I have the 20mm as well. The focus by wire ring feels a bit more fluid and smooth on the Olympus than on the Panasonic 20mm. Also, the all-metal finish feels more solid, as one might expect. Still, it doesn't feel as solid and weighty as the Nokton, which is in a class all its own!
  • @Kount_Michula Thank you for the video it was nice to see the lens with the GH2. I only have the 20mm pancake and 14-42 so if i want to go wide...I'm slow. The build quality does seem a step up from the other lenses in the M 4/3rds Line up-sans the Nokton of course.
  • Yes, that's my video.

    @No_SuRReNDeR I don't own the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 so I cannot offer a comparison. I've only had the Olympus lens for a couple of days, but I am impressed with it. The image is very crisp even at F2 (the above video is all F2). Build quality is all-metal, yet very lightweight and small. There seems to be some vignetting at F2 (which I like) and disappears at F2.8. Bokeh is also very pleasant at F2.

    I tend to use manual focus almost exclusively. The focus ring is buttery smooth with nice resistance and engages the Focus Assist when the lens is in automatic focus mode/focus by wire mode (ring pushed forward) and the GH2 is set to manual focus. Focus Assist remains on when you pull the ring back to engage manual focus on the lens and to reveal the distance scale. However, Focus Assist will not engage when the lens is in the manual focus position to start with.

    Also, I have tried to rack focus using the distance scale in the manual mode on the lens. In this mode, focus changes are stepped, i.e., not continuous, making it useless for rack focusing while shooting video, which is a shame. Again, when the lens is pushed forward, you can focus by wire with nice continuous focus movement.

    Overall, my initial impressions are positive. I have been looking for a decent wide angle for my GH2 especially for video production. The 24mm wide angle equivalent is about as wide as I wish to go for 16:9 format video.

    @EOSHD Ya, it is a very cheap handheld rig called "My Hands":) I am curious to see how well the 65 Mbps settings held up without a lot of stabilization. I'll be posting some tripod shots later.
  • Some really nice shots in there. He needs a better handheld rig though :) Will be getting this lens soon, can't wait!!
  • I found this video on Vimeo with this lens and the 65mbps 3GOP settings. The point is the lens though, settings aside... so take a look at this footage.