{"id":3326,"date":"2014-04-05T14:07:35","date_gmt":"2014-04-05T19:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=3326"},"modified":"2014-04-05T14:14:47","modified_gmt":"2014-04-05T19:14:47","slug":"review-olympus-m-zuiko-25mm-f1-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-olympus-m-zuiko-25mm-f1-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f\/1.8"},"content":{"rendered":"

The normal prime lens space in the Micro 4\/3 system has recently become a bit more crowded, as Olympus has finally released their fast normal prime lens, the 25mm f\/1.8. \u00a0Panasonic has had their excellent Leica 25mm f\/1.4 for several years now, and Olympus has decided to concentrate on creating an extremely compact high quality lens, while sacrificing a bit of lens speed.<\/p>\n

\"Olympus<\/a>
Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 on the Olympus OM-D E-M5, with included lens hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n
\"Olympus<\/a>
Olympus 25mm f\/1.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s clear from the moment you first look at the Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 that Olympus prioritized lens size for this release. The 25mm f\/1.8 is a very small lens constructed predominantly of high quality plastics an a metal mount. \u00a0The lens is relatively solidly put together and there are no creaks or wobbles anywhere. \u00a0The broad focus ring that makes up the majority of the lens body is smooth to turn, and ribbed just like its older brother, the 45mm f\/1.8. \u00a0It also inherits a bit of that cheaper feeling of that focus ring. \u00a0The plastic simply feels thin here.<\/p>\n

Because of the very compact size and light weight, the 25mm f\/1.8 will handle beautifully on any Micro 4\/3 body. \u00a0This is a lens that you can pop in a shirt pocket or most anywhere to take with you. \u00a0In a first for Olympus, outside of their ‘Pro’ line, they finally include a lens hood with the package. \u00a0It only took 5 years, but Olympus has finally gotten the message that simple plastic accessories like lens hoods should be included with the lens, rather than priced absurdly and sold after the fact.<\/p>\n

The hood is a simple, small plastic hood that mounts via the bayonet mount on the end of the lens. \u00a0The hood is reversible for storage, and does add some width to the whole package, but it’s still extremely small.<\/p>\n

Focus Performance<\/h3>\n

The Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 features a silent and fast AF motor that allows for very quick acquisition of focus and excellent accuracy. \u00a0While the lens is certainly fast, I did notice it tended to hunt a bit more than the typical Olympus lens when in dimmer light, though it usually wasn’t an issue.<\/p>\n

One very nice feature of the Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 is its close focus ability. \u00a0While not capable of substitution as a macro lens, it focuses as close as 0.25m, which is about twice as close as a full frame 50mm lens will allow you to focus. \u00a0This allows the lens to be used for shots of smaller things like flowers, or very tight portraits. \u00a0Chances are, in normal use, you won’t often run up against the minimum focus distance. There’s not a lot more to say about the focus performance, so let’s take a look at the optics:<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n

To put it bluntly, the Olympus 25mm is one of those lenses that you don’t need to worry about sharpness at any aperture. \u00a0It is very sharp right from f\/1.8, across essentially the entire frame. \u00a0While the center sharpness isn’t as blisteringly crazy sharp as something like the Olympus 75mm or the 42.5mm Nocticron, it is plenty good enough for any purpose you could think of, and this quality continues to the edges.<\/p>\n

\"Olympus<\/a>
Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 @ f\/1.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stopping down can yield very slightly higher resolution than wide open, but we’re splitting hairs there. \u00a0Pick the aperture for the depth of field you want or the amount of light you have and let the lens do its thing. Take a look at the image to the left, taken at a relatively close focus distance at f\/1.8. \u00a0Click to enlarge and see the excellent levels of detail this lens can produce at f\/1.8.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

Olympus has done a relatively good job with the bokeh on the 25mm f\/1.8. \u00a0For the most part, out of focus areas are rendered very neutrally, with smooth backgrounds and evenly lit specular highlights. \u00a0When focusing further out, backgrounds can start to get a little busy, but this has more to do with the amount of blur rather than the way the lens renders. \u00a0There is some green fringing visible in the background at times, though it’s generally not too distracting. \u00a0In all, a good performance here.<\/p>\n

I will say, while the difference in amount of background blur isn’t staggeringly different from something like the Panasonic Leica 25mm f\/1.4, I did find the 25mm f\/1.8 crossed that fine line in my mind where I wished for more blur. \u00a0This line will come at a different point for every shooter, but often I was wishing for just a little more separation than I could achieve with this lens, especially when shooting a little further away from my subject. \u00a0I don’t generally feel this way when shooting the Panasonic 25mm f\/1.4, so it seems that for me, the line is right in that area.<\/p>\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n
\"Skyscraper<\/a>
Skyscraper Sky – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 @ f\/4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall image contrast with the Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 is on a very high level, right from f\/1.8. \u00a0In fact, there’s almost no discernible difference in contrast from f\/1.8 to f\/4. \u00a0Likewise, colors are rich and vibrant. \u00a0Nothing to complain about here in that department.<\/p>\n

There is a small amount of lateral chromatic aberration visible in the right circumstances with this lens, though it’s on a low level that is extremely easy to correct. \u00a0In most cases, I didn’t see any. \u00a0The lens does display a small amount of longitudinal CA, but even this is quite well controlled.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

The Olympus 25mm f\/1.8 has a minor amount of barrel distortion that can be corrected easily and will only be visible in the most stringent straight line situations. \u00a0The lens works well against bright light as well, maintaining good contrast and producing a minimum of ghosting when the sun or another bright light source is in the frame, or just out of the frame.<\/p>\n

If there is one weakness to the 25mm f\/1.8, it’s in the vignetting department. \u00a0I’d imagine Olympus sacrificed corner illumination to keep the size small. \u00a0At f\/1.8, there is significant corner darkening, and stopping down only slightly alleviates the problem until you get to the small apertures. \u00a0It’s not until around f\/4 that the vignetting drops to negligible levels. \u00a0Still, this is generally not an issue for most shooting.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n