Olympus 17mm f/2.8 Lens

by Olympus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 1 x 1 inches ; 2.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002CGSYM6
• Item model number: 17mm Lens
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 15, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This wide-angle pancake lens has a convenient focal length (equivalent to 34mm on a 35mm camera) for shooting everything from landscapes and portraits to close ups. A slim design, with an overall length of just 22.5mm, ensures the camera remains compact and easy to carry even when the lens is mounted. With its digital-dedicated design and superior performance, this lens maximizes the camera’s performance for clear, high quality imaging.

Product Description

17mm Olympus M. Zuiko Digital Lens for PEN series cameras. Micros Four Thirds mounts only.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Olympus PEN + this lens + optical viewfinder = Modern remake of the rangefinder, September 17, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus 17mm f/2.8 Lens (Electronics)

This is small lens. That's its main claim to fame, not the speed at f2.8, nor the focal length, the equivalent of about 35mm in 35mm photography. But on the small Olympus PEN body, this lens gives you a small package that takes quite good pictures without messing around with a zoom. In particular, it works well as a walking-around street camera, much like an old Leica or a Canon rangefinder of the 1950s/1960s. (See also the optical viewfinder which has image lines specifically for this 17mm lens.)

I tried this package out, camera, lens, and viewfinder, and got a good number of excellent images walking through crowds of people downtown. It's wide enough to catch people in their immediate environment. The camera is unobtrusive and really helped with the casual picture taking. I'd strongly recommend the setup to folks looking for a forgiving digital imaging setup with modern features but much of the ease of handling and casual ability of old rangefinders (without having to focus of course).

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was very pleasantly surprised, January 8, 2010

By 

Harry M. Shin (Livermore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus 17mm f/2.8 Lens (Electronics)

1. I should technically give this lens a 4 star, just because 5 stars should be reserved those extraordinary lens (ex: Zeiss Distagon 21mm 2.8).

2. With that being said, I just like this lens: it's light, it's obviously small, and it's a no brainer for all EP-1 /2 users to have this lens (or the panasonic pancake). Even though I have the 14-42mm kit lens, it's just... fun to slap this lens on the EP-1 and take shots. One of the unexpected joys and surprises of using this lens, that it made me think of the "good old days" of using prime lens 100% of the time and at the same time, has made me rethink my overall strategy of whether or not to utilize more primes etc...

3. For me and for the photography I utilize the EP-1 for, the 17mm is "good enough" in re: focusing speed, sharpness, color / contrast etc... With "pixel-peeping", I'm very happy with the output image quality.

4. All in all, a great lens for all EP-1 / 2 users to have simply because it brings back the joy of photography. I really hope that Olympus / Panasonic continue to develop more compact prime lens.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated, tiny lens, April 19, 2010

By 

Amin Sabet "Amin Sabet" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus 17mm f/2.8 Lens (Electronics)

The M. Zuiko 17/2.8 has a bit of a bad rap because people often compare it to the outstanding Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens. However, 17mm is very different from 20mm, and if you want that "standard wide" angle of view (similar to a 35mm lens on a 35mm frame camera) in a tiny lens, this is the one. Fortunately, it is plenty sharp, and the distortion and color fringing are easily addressed (automatically for Olympus in-camera JPEG shooters as well as by some 3rd party RAW converters). Although I use my Pana 20/1.7 more often, I enjoy using the tiny M. Zuiko 17 when I want that angle of view. It's a good little performer. You can see some samples taken with this lens here: [...].