Olympus 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras

by Olympus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 2 x 1.5 inches ; 6.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0015AOU9Q
• Item model number: 261095
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 26, 2006

Product Description

The world’s smallest DSLR deserves a similarly compact lens, and Olympus has it: the ultra compact Zuiko 25mm f2.8 digital specific lens. This 0.9 inch-thick lens offers a fixed 50mm equivalent angle of view. Together with the E-420, the Zuiko 25mm f2.8 lens will offer the ultimate combination of ease of use and portability.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice, handy walk-around lens, June 11, 2008

By 

B. Turner "Bert" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I bought this lens from B&H about a week ago. It was the only one I have seen anywhere in stock, and I grabbed it up instantly, and no others have appeared.

Complaining about the lens cap will be common to all reviews. It is a metal screw-on disc, that is hard to work unless the camera is facing up. Order a 43mm pinch lens caps when you order, along with a protective haze filter. Don't plan on a thick filter, such as a polarizing filter or a stack of filters, because you will cut off the corners of the image. Even though this is a standard quality Zuiko (expensive but not REALLY expensive) it has a metal (not plastic) connector linking it to the camera body. If you have lived your entire photographic life with a zoom lens, you may not like a prime. You do your framing by zooming your feet back and forth from the subject--or move the subject. Be careful at the rim of the Grand Canyon!

This lens is thin and light. It won't zoom, of course, but if you have 8 or 10 megapixels, you can crop and still leave respectable resolution. It's great for when your evolt series Olympus DSLR has to serve tourist duty or for holidays with the family. Auto focusing in low light is accurate and, although this is not really a macro, my rose pictures are quite presentable as are those of people.

If you already have one or more of the kit lenses for the 400/500 series, you probably have the 50mm point covered. If you want portability and don't mind the challenges of a prime, this might be for you. I suspect that it will be cheaper a few months down the road.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great package at a great price!, March 17, 2009

By 

R. Sarma "rssarma" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olympus 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

The 4/3s system sorely lacked a nice normal lens. The Leica is grossly overpriced at nearly or sometimes over $1000. Although this lens is nearly not as fast as the Leica, optically, its brilliant, especially when considering the size. This lens is the perfect walk around lens and is great on the E-xx0 cameras. I tried using it on the E-1, but it felt a little funny, but I almost never take it off my E-500. The lens does very well wide open an dis great for evening/night shots when you're walking around.

However, there are some problems that you will see with this lens, which is why I gave it only 4 stars. One of the most notable problems is the barrel distortion. This is very visible if you take an architectural shots. Also, if you shoot in very bright conditions, the lens does show a fair amount of CA and this can only be corrected in post processing. However, if you shoot B&W this won't be an issue.

Ultimately, for the price and size, this is an excellent lens, although I wouldn't recommend it for any critical work. I recommend this lens highly.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flattest & Lightest `Gem' of a Lens for Digital SLR, September 7, 2008

By 

Smiley Boy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

This lens was a catalyst for upgrading to an Olympus system (E-420) as I wanted portability and good IQ at the same time. It is perfect for the E-420 (or E-410) and this combination offers a great balance between portability and IQ -- plus an added bonus is that this combo is so much fun to use!

With this lens being a `prime' lens, you don't have zoom but a fixed range of 25mm (50mm in 35mm terms) which is similar to your own natural eye's view of the world. It makes for great street-photography and keeps you fitter as your legs take over zoom duties! This style of shooting make for more fun and demands more thought in composing your shots which will only improve your skill in photography. Another thing I noticed is that you can capture more natural shots where your subject does not negatively react because it is a very discreet lens; in contrast to sticking a zoom in someone's face. Gone is the problem of being paranoid in looking like a photographic geek, journalist or goofy traveller with a zoom dangling from your neck-- and that can be priceless in itself.

Image Quality wise, I find it great considering how ultra-light and compact it is. Naturally, there are primes which are sharper and can control CA better, but that are three times thicker and heavier, so there are always trade-offs. The key attraction for this lens is extreme portability and I find it easy to choose when to use this lens before I set off. It is a great feeling of freedom knowing you can just slap on this lens and go on a journey without feeling hindered and knowing you will still get some great shots. I don't think any other brands offers anything like this, so it is unique in the marketplace. Even the excellent Pentax Limiteds are quite heavy and not quite as thin.

The popularity of this lens has surprised even Olympus with them not being able to cater for the high-demand when it was first released. Hopefully, there is enough stock for everyone to finally be able to get their dirty mitts on one!

Now, I am waiting patiently for what other delicious pancakes Olympus has in store (and I am sure there will be more), but in the meantime this lens will help me capture shots with ease in places where no others will really allow.

See Customer Images for my samples shots from this lens (and comments for more info).