Finally, a fast wide angle lens is here for the Micro Four Thirds system. The other two lens that can shoot at 12mm are the Olympus 9-18mm and Panasonic 7-14mm, both start at f/4.
Build quality for this lens is excellent. It is full metal with a smooth finished surface. It weighs 130g, just slightly twice that of the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 lens. It's also twice as tall but still smaller than the kit zoom lens. As wide angle lens go, this is as small as it can get - the beauty of the Micro Four Thirds system.
The lens doesn't come with a lens hood which you have to pay (heavily) for.
There's a 46mm filter thread, similar to the Panasonic 14mm and 20mm. I have a 2-stop ND filter that I can re-use here. Nice.
Autofocus speed is snappy and operates silently.
The focusing ring is great. It can be pulled back to go into manual focus mode instantly, and push back to go back to auto-focus - no need for menus if you're using a touchscreen camera. When it's at the back, it reveals a distance indicator. This lens can focus from 0.2m to infinity. So you can either manual focus with the distance indicator (fast), or manual focus the focus-by-wire way (slow), I prefer the former.
The optical performance is remarkable. At wide open, it's sharp at centre and corner. It's sharpest at f/2.8 though, but the difference between this and f/2 is possibly visible only at 100 per cent view. Chromatic aberration and vignetting are not really noticeable. Distortion is controlled really well, even for faces near the edge of the photo.
I'm using this lens more for landscape (typically buildings) and street shooting. The f/2 is a huge advantage when shooting inside buildings (tight spaces) where lighting is low most of the time. f/2 can give you some depth of field but only when your subject is very close, in-your-face close. In typical usage, the depth of field is minimal.
Composition with this lens is challenging, but you can always crop, which will be most often the case if you don't get close enough. If you don't like shooting so close to people, you might want to use a lens closer to 35mm or the 50mm equivalent.
I find that a zoom at wide angle is more flexible, for me anyway, but sometimes the low light just hinders the chances at getting shots. I was once in a bar with the 7-14mm and I had to put the camera on the table to get non-hand-shaken shots at high ISO, at least now, I can get two stops of advantage with this 12mm lens and not shoot off a table, or tripod.
Yes this lens is pricey, but it's worth it. If you need the low light wide angle lens, you have that option now.
At a glance
+ Excellent build quality
+ Small, light & portable, relative to DSLR equivalent
+ Very good sharp image quality
+ f/2 aperture is great for low light shooting
+ Fast and silent focus
+ Focusing snap ring can be used to get into manual focus instantly
+ Accepts 46mm filters
+ Worldwide warranty
- No lens hood included
- No lens pouch included
- Pricey but worth it
Update 2 Jan 2012: I've put links to videos I shot with the lens in the comment section below.
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This Item  OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 Silver For Micro Four Thirds System Camera, Compact Wide Angle lens For Starry Sky and Landscape |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | -50% $399.99 List: $799.00 | -22% $699.99 List: $899.00 | -10% $399.99 Typical: $445.99 | $999.99 | $299.99 | $649.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Saturday, Feb 10 | Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 12 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Feb 10 | Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 12 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Feb 10 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Feb 7 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
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| Quality of material | ||||||
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| Auto focus | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | True Modern Electronics |
| lens type | Wide Angle | Telephoto | Telephoto | Telephoto | Standard | Wide Angle, Telephoto |
| compatible mountings | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds |
| lens design | Prime | Prime | Prime | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom |
| focus type | Micromotor | Micromotor | Auto Focus | — | Stepper motor | Micromotor |
| minimum focal length | 12 millimeters | 75 millimeters | 60 millimeters | 12 millimeters | 14 millimeters | 14 millimeters |
| max focal length | 12 millimeters | 75 millimeters | 60 millimeters | 200 millimeters | 42 millimeters | 150 millimeters |
Reviews with images
Sharpest M4/3 Lens I Own
After using this lens for a couple of weeks on my GF3 and GH2, I can say the sharpness is amazing. At least equal to, if not better then the pany 20mm Prime.Be aware that there is some minor vignetting (darkening of corners) when used wide open at F2.0. This is not uncommon in a lot of lenses.Close down your aperture a bit to get rid of this. I usually try and shoot around F6.3 to reach my own personal sweet spot for this lens. I rarely need/desire the shallow depth of field you get at F2.0.
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KSG
Super sharp Olympus 12mm F2
Reviewed in Singapore on December 12, 2020*: BlackStyle: BaseVerified Purchase
KSG
Reviewed in Singapore on December 12, 2020
Images in this review
Ron
Quality lens at a reasonable price
Reviewed in Australia on October 8, 2020*: BlackStyle: BaseVerified Purchase
Rio Scerbo
Nice lens but for the price there are so many other options
Reviewed in Canada on November 11, 2023*: BlackStyle: BaseVerified Purchase
