Short review of the Olympus 45mm f1.8

[Soon Ruey]

Receive my new lens about 5 days ago and it has been a fun 5 days testing out the lens.


P9290878 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

It is a light lens but built quality feels good. It uses the same hood as the 14-42mm mk2R lens ie the LH40 and the lens thread is 37mm. I believe in an earlier review the lens was shown with a rounded hood ( plastic silver) but unfortunately this hood is not available ....( But I think it looks gorgeous with a square black hood)

 

[Soon Ruey]

The first thing I did after I got the lens was to take a picture of my daughter as I was fetching her back from school. I was using the EP3. my settings were a bit off and thus the picture is a bit underexposed but what I noticed was the smooth bokeh .... Really smooth like Guiness LOL!


P9292435 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

I then proceeded to take a few low light shots


P9292448 by soonruey2011, on Flickr


P9292450 by soonruey2011, on Flickr


P9292456 by soonruey2011, on Flickr


P9292458 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

All the above shots were taken with aperture at f1.8. One thing noticeable is that the lens appear to be veery sharp wide open!

The camera was set to Auto ISO with Iso limited to ISO 800

 

[Soon Ruey]

Anyway....Bokeh tests....ala home style...


Olympus 45mm f1.8



O45 f1.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Pana Leica 45mm f2.8


PL45 f2.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Olympus 50mm f2.0 + MMF1


O50 f2.0 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Sigma 50mm f1.4 + MMF1


S50 f1.4 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Sigma 50mm @f1.8 +MMF1


S50 f1.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

I am quite happy to say that the bokeh seems pleasing for all the 4 lenses. However, the AF is the fastest for the Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens.

 

[Soon Ruey]

Next .... Portrait shots
My daughter again as my stand in model

Olympus 45mm @f1.8


Olympus 45mm f1.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Pana Leica 45mm f2.8


Pana Leica 45mm f2.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

 

[Soon Ruey]

Sigma 50mm f1.4 + MMF1


Sigma 50mm f1.4 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Olympus 50mm f2.0!+ MMF1


Olympus 50mm f2.0 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

 

[Soon Ruey]

Random portrait shots with the 45mm f1.8 ( @ f1.8)



PA012507 by soonruey2011, on Flickr


PA012509 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

As a portrait lens.... this lens is absolutely superb and in my opinion, as good as or even better that the Pana Leica 45mm f2.8 ( which has been my PEN portrait lens for the past 1 1/2 years!). The best thing is that this lens only costs 1/3 the price of the Pana Leica.

Please note that all photos are SOOC.

 

[ed9119]

envy you with such an understanding and obliging daughter!!

my daughter lost patience with me long time ago lolz

 

[Soon Ruey]

Macro capabilities..

The Pana Leica is a proper macro lens and the only one in the m4/3 arsenal for the moment.
The closest focusing distance of the Olympus 45mm f1.8 is 50 cm. However, it can be used with the Macro Converter ( which I don't have) so I have tested it out instead with magnifying filters from lens baby ( +10 and +4) ......cheaper alternative.

Pana Leica 45 mm


Pana Leica 45mm f2.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Olympus 45 mm + filters 10 and + 4 stacked

Olympus 45 mm @ f2.8 + magnifying filters +4 and +10 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

As you can see there is some loss in quality of the image with the extra glass used but still I think the quality is acceptable!

 

[Soon Ruey]

envy you with such an understanding and obliging daughter!!

my daughter lost patience with me long time ago lolz

Ha..ha...she is into photography as well and together with another older daughter, we go out shooting at least once a month

 

[Soon Ruey]

Sharpness test...

Olympus 45mm @ f1.8


Olympus 45 mm @ f1.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Cropped


Olympus 45 mm @ f1.8crop by soonruey2011, on Flickr

 

[Soon Ruey]

Olympus 45mm @ f2.8


Olympus 45 mm @ f2.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Cropped


Olympus 45 mm @ f2.8crop by soonruey2011, on Flickr

 

[Soon Ruey]

Pana Leica 45mm @ f2.8



Pana Leica 45 nn f2.8 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Cropped

Pana Leica 45 nn f2.8crop by soonruey2011, on Flickr

In this aspect, the Pana Leica wins, but I still feel that the pictures with the Olympus 45 mm are still very good.

 

[Soon Ruey]

Colour rendition....

Very happy with the colour output from the lens ( with the EP3)


PA012558 by soonruey2011, on Flickr


PA012587 by soonruey2011, on Flickr

Taking a break after this, please do give me comments as well as requests and I will see what I can do...

 

[paparazzi666]

It's more than a year since your review and I only decided to buy the lens about 1 month back. On the Olympus Ep2, which is not the most sharpest of cameras, the 45mm provides some nice bite and gives the image that sharp defined look. Here is one almost SOOC.

The profile by -DD'sAngels-, on Flickr