Olympus 25mm f/1.2 Pro M.Zuiko Digital ED

 
Lens Reviews / Olympus Lenses i Lab tested

(From Olympus lens literature) Olympus expands its award-winning M.ZUIKO PRO lens lineup with the breakthrough M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO (50mm focal length in 35mm equivalent). This Micro Four Thirds® system lens boasts a superior optical design with 19 lens elements in 14 groups that thoroughly prevents aberration, distortion and fringing to achieve superb resolution and beautiful defocusing effects from its widest aperture setting of f1.2.

The fixed-focal length M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO minimizes chromatic aberration at the plane of focus and beyond, creating a stunningly smooth transition from the subject to defocused backgrounds. This design provides the perfect balance between high resolution and beautiful bokeh for a natural, three-dimensional appearance of the subject.

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO features a lightweight internal focusing mechanism that uses a single thin lens element for extremely fast and accurate focus point acquisition. The advanced MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) autofocus mechanism provides virtually silent and smooth focusing and aperture performance, ideal for video capture. When combined with the powerful in-body 5-Axis Sync Image Stabilization of the Olympus OM-D® and PEN® cameras, the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO provides outstanding resolution and blur-free images under almost all lighting conditions.

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO features dustproof, splashproof and freezeproof (down to 14°F/-10°C) construction, making it the go-to lens for professionals and photo enthusiasts looking to capture brilliant images in all types of shooting conditions.

Main Features

  1. Excellent resolution performance from the widest f1.2 aperture To ensure high-resolution performance from the center to the edges of the image, even at the widest aperture of f1.2, 19 lenses have been used in an effective layout to suppress all types of aberrations. Color bleeding (on-axis chromatic aberration) is suppressed by using a Super ED lens and two ED lenses. When combined with the color-canceling effects of an E-HR (special high refractive index) lens and HR (high refractive index) lens, peripheral color bleeding (magnification chromatic aberration) is effectively corrected.

    Coating Nano lens coating technology maintains sharp, clear image quality. This advanced coating significantly reduces flare in backlit situations, optimizing shooting when strong light sources are present in the frame.
  2. Beautiful defocusing effects
    The lens design effectively eliminates chromatic aberration in focused areas as well as defocused areas to achieve a smooth transition from the subject to the background. When paired with the lens's shallow depth of field and beautiful circular bokeh at the maximum aperture, images have a natural, three-dimensional appearance.
  3. Fast and accurate focus point capture
    The advanced optical design provides a single focusing lens element for fast and accurate focus point capture. The MSC mechanism enables high-speed, high-precision still image autofocusing and virtually silent, smooth autofocusing for video. Even in shooting situations with a shallow depth of field, quick, accurate focusing allows for beautiful defocusing effects by accurately focusing on faces and eyes when users select Face Detect AF or Eye Detect AF on Olympus OM-D and PEN camera bodies. When combined with compatible OM-D and PEN cameras' Silent Mode, users are able to photograph musical performances and piano recitals without making a sound.
  4. Limits comatic aberration to depict points clearly and accurately This lens is capable of depicting points of light accurately, a necessary feature when photographing stars with the f1.2 aperture setting. Aspherical and high-resolution lenses placed near the aperture effectively correct for comatic aberration. These elements enable both the brightness of f1.2 and a high level of optical performance, making it possible to capture points of light without distortion.

Other Features:

  • This lens features dustproof and splashproof construction, with hermetic sealing in 11 locations. When combined with dustproof, splashproof, freezeproof bodies available in the Olympus OM-D series, users can take advantage of all types of shooting environments.
  • This lens boasts the same high-quality metal exterior design as the other lenses in the M.ZUIKO PRO series. It is equipped with the Manual Focus Clutch mechanism, which makes switching to manual focus possible by pulling the focusing ring toward you. A depth of field scale is included on the lens for pan focusing. And the L-Fn button on the lens barrel allows you to pause autofocus and assign other custom settings.
  • Close-up performance is supported by a minimum focusing distance of 30 cm (working distance of 19.5 cm) and a maximum shooting magnification of 0.11x (35mm equivalent: 0.22x).

Lens Accessories:

Lens Cap LC-62F (bundled)
Lens cap for lenses with a filter diameter of 62mm. In addition to the ability to remove the lens even when the lens hood is still attached, the lens cap design has been improved for easy removal.

Lens Hood LH-66 B (bundled)
Lens hood specifically designed for M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO. It reduces unwanted light entering the lens in backlit scenes and also protects the lens. The hood lock button has been improved to prevent unintentional removal.

Lens Case LSC-0811 (bundled)
A three-layer construction purse-string-type lens case securely protects the lens. The lens can be stored in the case with the lens cap, protection filter and lens hood attached to the lens.

Protection Filter PRF-ZD62 PRO
This is a protection filter for making full use of M.ZUIKO PRO lenses. ZERO Coating, which halves reflections compared to the traditional multicoating, uses black-edged glass and a satin, glare-reducing black alumite aluminum frame. It can also be used on other lenses with a filter diameter of 62mm.

U.S. Pricing and Availability
The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 25mm f1.2 PRO will be available in October 2016 for an estimated street price of $1,199.99 USD and $1,499.99 CAD.