Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 25 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

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Look at that image above and seriously tell me that you wouldn’t expect to see something like this on a Tumblr blog or Food blog? The colors are insanely accurate right out of the camera and if you process them more in Adobe Lightroom 5 you’ll deliver something even better. It’s pretty damned amazing. Olympus said to us that they basically took the same formula for the 45mm f1.8 and modified it to work with the 25mm focal length. And it seemed to have worked. The 45mm f1.8 is one of the sharpest and most affordable Micro Four Thirds lenses that we’ve tested, so it’s only natural then that the 25mm f1.8 is right up there. The problem with your present lens, from a product photography standpoint (besides not being true macro), is diffraction. In 35mm film, we thought of f8 as the sweet spot for most lenses. In m4/3, that tends to be around f4 (I find the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens works best wide open). f5.6 usually works OK, but things get noticeably softer above f8. So your 14-42mm lens's maximum aperture already is near the diffraction limit for the m4/3 format. It's just a matter of physics. Unless you can get the Panasonic at a really amazing price, I’d recommend springing for the Olympus. The 25mm focal length is a great format for a wide-range ofscenarios and I hardly ever take mine off, so it’s worth getting the better version. Links

Olympus 25mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital - Digital Cameras, Digital

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or green fringes along contrasty edges, are a slight issue with this lens, although we would not call it a serious problem. Distortion and CA.The Panasonic has more CA (Purple Fringing) than the Olympus, which is clear and evident. So for this the Olympus wins. See the crop below from each lens.I go in phases between the 35mm and 50mm being my #1 fave to shoot with and these days it is 35 all the way, so when out shooting with this 25 (50mm equiv) I was once again having to get used to shooting this focal length. After a solid few days of shooting with it daily I remember what it is that makes it my #2 favorite focal length! It has the perfect mix of sharpness and shallow DOF possibilities. While this is indeed a true 25mm lens, and we will get 25mm DOF from the lens, the focal length appears as a 50mm. So imagine the Olympus 25mm as a 50mm with 25mm Depth of Field and “Bokeh”. Due to the shorter focal length we will not get subject isolation as we will get on a real 50mm. It will give us 25mm DOF and isolation and yes, f 1.8 is a true f/1.8. Just on a 25mm lens.

25mm F1.8 - OM Digital Solutions M.Zuiko Digital 25mm F1.8 - OM Digital Solutions

Sharpness.BOTH of these lenses can render a super sharp image. BOTH have slightly different color and contrast signatures though. I would say that the Olympus is just as sharp as the Panasonic..well, 99.5% as sharp when both lenses are shot at 1.8. I’d say the Panasonic has a little bit better Micro Contrast though as when looking at some real world street shooting files on my 27″ display I see it. This is a sign of a very good lens, and is one area where Leica excels with their uber expensive lenses. For example, the Leica 50 Summicron f/2 has amazing micro contrast and one of my all time favorite Leica lenses for the M system ( or Sony A7). The Panasonic 25 1.4 is a Leica/Panasonic collaboration so it shares some of that Leica magic. I used to think it did not but it does indeed though not to the level of true Leica glass. The difference is not huge between the Panasonic and Olympus by any means but you can see it when pixel peeping. So because of this, For overall performance and sharpness, the Panasonic wins. Falloff of illumination towards the corners is well controlled for a fast aperture standard lens. At f/1.8 the comers are 1.21 stops darker than the centre of the image and stopping down to f/5.6 results in visually uniform illumination across the frame.There is of course the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 and optically it's a very good lens. However, the Panasonic is relatively large and heavy (even more so with the large lens hood), it costs more and it does have some optical flaws like soft corners and visible CA. Neither lens is stabilized, something worth bearing in mind if you have an older Panasonic camera that doesn’t do in-body stabilization. Verdict With the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 25mm f/1.8 wide open, you can see some light fall-off in the corners, but it’s not too excessive, as you can see in the macro example below. Stopping down to f/4 cures this problem almost entirely.

Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f1.8 Review | PCMag

It's a similar situation to Olympus's mid-range zooms; there's the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro or the 12-45mm f/4 Pro. Both lenses have their strengths, with the f/2.8 "version" offering better low-light performance and subject isolation, for example, while the 12-45mm is smaller, lighter (and less expensive) yet offers a bit more reach. Emphasis on "a bit," to be fair. However, the new 8-25mm f/4 Pro provides quite a bit more in terms of versatility, with a 16-50mm-equivalent zoom range compared to the 7-14mm's 14-28mm-eq. range. This new 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens might not be the ideal choice for low-light situations, but it's well-equipped for all sorts of shooting scenarios, including landscapes, close-up macro-style photography, travel, outdoor architecture, and just general photography purposes and snapshots. The normal prime lens space in the Micro 4/3 system has recently become a bit more crowded, as Olympus has finally released their fast normal prime lens, the 25mm f/1.8. Panasonic has had their excellent Leica 25mm f/1.4 for several years now, and Olympus has decided to concentrate on creating an extremely compact high quality lens, while sacrificing a bit of lens speed. Olympus 25mm f/1.8 on the Olympus OM-D E-M5, with included lens hood You will never have trouble from vignetting with this lens. Even at full aperture, the vignetting is less than half a stop. In comparison: For a standard lens on a camera with a full-frame sensor, a stop and a half is not unusual. There’s no right answer to which is the best fast 25mm for the MFT system.. they all seem comparable and have their + & -‘s. It just boils down to personal preferences and how much is any one of these lens worth for you to invest in. What that also means though is that you’ll be able to get some glorious bokeh with more in focus at a given aperture. The bokeh may not be as dreamy as what a full frame camera can offer you, but it’s still really good.

Olympus M. Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 Sample Photos

As we get to smaller apertures, the Panasonic retains a slight lead in the center at f/2.5, but by f/3.5, the lenses are just too similar to worry about. Likewise in the corners, the Olympus stays visibly sharper throughout, though by f/3.5 the differences are extremely small. At f/1.8, sharpness in the centre of the frame is already excellent, and clarity towards the edges of the frame is good. Stopping down improves performance across the frame, with sharpness in the centre reaching outstanding levels between f/2 and f/8. Clarity towards the edges of the frame reaches excellent levels between f/5.6 and f/8.