Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Silver

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Starting with the crops from the middle of the frame, I’d say both lenses are roughly similar in sharpness, although the Lumix 42.5mm starts with a little higher contrast. By f4 though, they’re fairly evenly matched in performance. I am replacing my Pany 45-175 with this lens. I know both of different leagues, but even at pixel level this is so sharp, I better get objects (focused) cropped out of the image, besides I also got 100-300mm Pany. Flare is rarely an issue with this lens, except in exceptional circumstances. Shooting directly into bright sources of light will result in a loss of contrast, but no more so than similar lenses. An optional lens hood can be acquired and although this optic isn't overly prone to flare, it would've been nice for the hood to come included. As noted earlier the wide, ridged focus ring is not mechanically coupled but works very much as if it was - except that it has no stops, hard or soft, at either end of the focus range, making it difficult to judge whether you've reached the close-focus point or the infinity setting. Otherwise it feels like a "proper" focus ring, with smooth action and no perceptible delays.

One of the seldom-discussed benefits of this particular lens for portraits is how it does NOT intimidate your subject. As far as I know, the M.Zuiko is usually a bit cheaper than the Leica. But, it should also be mentioned that the Leica lens is designed by Leica in Germany but manufactured by Panasonic in Japan. If you are willing to pay that bit extra for the illustrious brand name and all it brings with it, this is the lens for you.

Some mild chromatic aberration is present in images taken with both lenses up to around f/2.8 on the 45mm PRO and f/4 on the 45mm f/1.8 but it can be easily removed in post production. In use the 45mm is an absolute pleasure. Its autofocus is extremely swift - at least as fast as any DSLR/50mm combination I can think of. Critical focus fine-tuning isn't quite as immediate as using an optical viewfinder and a lens with manual focus override, but the PEN Mini is intelligent enough to magnify the selected focus point if you turn focus ring. This 10x magnified view gives better precision than an APS-C viewfinder affords. And, of course, the Mini's choice of 35 AF points and Face Detection gives more control over AF positioning than most DSLRs allow. But what about the pictures? While focusing for stills and video, the lens mechanisms of both lenses are so quiet that you have to hold your ear up to the lens to hear the faint whirring of the motor.

An interesting (and included) accessory is the DR-40 Decoration Ring: as Olympus states, the ring ''can be used to conceal surface irregularities on the hood mount at the front of the lens and create a sense of unity and coherence.'' Essentially, the lens hood is optional, and you can cover up the mounting points with a prettier ring that matches the finish of the lens. One thing I missed with my Leica lens however was a working focus ring. Even though it has got one, the full functionality of the ring is not supported by Olympus bodies. I enjoyed this feature on my old Sigma lenses so much so that it got me searching for a new lens.

One of the lenses that defines the (OM) system, the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is a must-have for Micro Four Thirds

Finally, I haven't stated that we believe the manufacturers have responded to our requests (I'm sure if we're requesting it, plenty of other people are too, and I'd hope any company would pay more attention to their broader market research than just making what we recommended).

Traveling with a micro four-thirds system means you potentially have the full range of focal lengths while carrying only what’s necessary. And as far as I can judge, there isn’t much loss in quality due to the smaller size of the equipment, compared to other bigger gear. As falloff and distortion are corrected by the camera's image processing engine when shooting JPEGs, falloff and distortion will only be easily visible when shooting in RAW format. Lateral chromatic aberrations, typically seen as blue or purple fringes along contrasty edges, are very well controlled with this lens - the example below shows the worst-case scenario you are likely to encounter. Corner shading (vignetting) is minimal at the fastest apertures, and distortion is very well-controlled thanks to the auto-correction performed on the RAW files by Micro Four Thirds cameras. Colours Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III + Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 (1/200 sec, f/1.8, ISO200) (Image credit: James Artaius)

don’t shoot portraits on a regular basis but want something better than the kit lens that comes with your camera

There is a light amount of chromatic aberration present in images shot at wide apertures - it's noticeable at ƒ/4 and below, mostly in the corners and only in areas of high contrast. The effect is magenta-blue fringing, and it's probably only visible by viewing 100% crops. By ƒ/5.6, the effect is almost negligible.MPB puts photo and video kit into more hands, more sustainably. Every month, visual storytellers sell more than 20,000 cameras and lenses to MPB. Choose used and get affordable access to kit that doesn’t cost the earth. The Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is a lens that I never leave the house without. (No exaggeration; my everyday camera bag consists of an Olympus PEN E-P7, Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm Pancake, and an Olympus M.Zuiko 9mm Body Cap lens). I've used this lens extensively for professional assignments and private commissions, and it has come through every time. Obviously it's designed as a portrait lens, but I also find it great for street photography and reportage (which are typically the realm of 35mm equivalents). In this first series taken at a close focus distance, it is interesting to note that the 45mm PRO, at both f/1.2 and f/1.8, is sharper than the 45mm 1.8 at f/1.8. The PRO lens does an excellent job of highlighting all the little details in Mathieu’s eyes even at f/1.2, while the results from the 45mm 1.8 are noticeably less defined. Reference Image