New From OM System: 20mm (40mm-e) f/1.4 PRO

OM System has just introduced its very first new product under that name, a new "sweet spot" lens: the M.Zuiko Digital ED 20mm ƒ/1.4 PRO for Micro 4/3.

The new lens weighs 8.7 oz. / 247 g; minimum focus distance is 9.8" / 25 cm; it has 11 elements in 10 groups; dimensions are 2.5 x 2.4" / 63.4 x 61.7 mm (diameter by length); and it costs only about half as much as some of the other PRO primes: $799, putting it into the "deluxe but affordable" range. OM System has said that great effort went into optimizing the bokeh of the new lens. It is said to be a "fully sealed splash, freeze, and dustproof design."

It would be interesting to compare this new lens with my Fuji XF 23mm ƒ/1.4 R lens and the Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC DN Contemporary lens for my Sony. The focal lengths are different—the Fuji is ~35mm-e, the OM System 40mm-e, and the Sigma 30mm is 45mm-e. But those angles of view span the range that's "normal" for me personally. For any given camera, I usually like to have one lens somewhere in there.

Mike

Book o' the Week

Photography, The Definitive Visual History by Tom Ang. This is a book that can't exist—it's too much work to put it together, like several others I know of (I'm looking at you, Q.T. Luong). Amazingly, it exists anyway. A brightly-lit shop window for the attractions of photography—a whirlwind tour of people, cameras, and pictures. The author still has time to be an accomplished travel photographer, although I don't know how.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Nick: "This would tempt me dearly, if I didn't already have perfectly serviceable (although maybe not brilliant) Oly lenses at 17mm and 25mm, which together cost about as much as that 20mm. Probably a really nice lens, though; none of the Oly Micro 4/3 primes are dogs, so far as I can tell, and the 45mm ƒ/1.8 and 75 mm ƒ/1.8 are both brilliant."

Cliff Lee: "Time for Panasonic to release the 20mm ƒ/1.7 Mark III to offer competition. Modern fast focus motor, weather sealing, similar proven image quality. Maybe accompanied by a weather sealed GX10 with OLED viewfinder. One can dream…."

Comments

[Ilkka]

All initial reviews of this lens say how it is so wonderful and unique because it is smaller and lighter and so much cheaper than the other ‘OM’ pro lenses. Everybody seems to forget the real point of comparison, the Lumix 1.7/20 that is ever so slightly smaller, lighter and even a tiny bit cheaper than this one. Maybe they think it is not a good comparison because it is so much slower, all of 1/2 stops. I have no doubt the OM is ‘better’, but how much?

[Antonis R]

Too bad it lost the manual focus clutch along with the new branding and "affordable" price.
I wonder how it compares to the tiny Panasonic 20/1.7. I'm sure there is good reason for all that extra bulk...

[schralp]

That Nikon Z 40 mm f/2 is a stop slower but also 100g lighter and substantially cheaper at $296. These days, I'm not sure many people need f/1.4. Am I starting to sound like a broken record?

[Earl Dunbar]

If I had a 4/3 camera I would buy this in a heartbeat. Mike and I are on the same page as far as this being in the "normal sweet spot". The ~40mm lenses on the Olympus rangefinders as well as the Minolta rangefinders (especially the HiMatic S II were very sweet. No doubt this is even "better" in some ways. It would be interesting to see how they differed in character.

[Andrew L]

I've owned multiples of the Panasonic 20/1.7 over the years and it is a true classic. What this has to offer over the Panasonic lens is: fast AF (the Panasonic pancake lens moves the entire lens assembly for focus, and is glacially slow - not a concern if your subject is stationary, but hard sometimes if it's a moving target), and weather resistance. If you need those two things, as well as a bit more depth-of-field control, then this is the lens for you. Personally I think it looks fantastic and probably balances super well on the EM5 bodies, which are weatherproof, too. Rainy day street shooting in gloomy light conditions, there's your scenario! Which, to be honest, sounds like something I'd be all over.