Olympus 45mm F1.8

Oct 17, 2011 · 915 words · 5 minute read

There has always been one lens that you have to own for your Micro Four Thirds camera, the Panasonic 20mm F1.7. Why? Because it is small, light, takes great images and can be had for a reasonable price. And now there is a second must-have, the Olympus 45mm F1.8. Why? Because it is small, light, takes great images and can be had for a reasonable price.

I don’t have it yet because I couldn’t find any stock in Pattaya or Thailand my finances do not permit another lens purchase at the moment; but Nik has acquired one and lent it to me for a couple of hours this morning.

First impressions; this thing really is small and it really is light.

Here it is next to the Panasonic 14-45, set at 45mm:

Although it is light, it feels well built, and the focusing ring is silky smooth. Time to take some photos. This lens has been touted as being good for portraiture, being an ideal focal length and with F1.8 to help throw the background out of focus (if you don’t understand that, read this). Sadly, I have nobody to take portrait photos of at the moment and I reckoned that the cats didn’t count; so I headed out to Nong Nuch for yet another flower shoot.

The lens was quick and accurate to auto-focus on my two year old Panasonic GF1, it must really fly on the latest bodies. Manual focusing was easy, with a crisp in-focus position being easy to spot. And having only 12 grammes of lens on the camera amplified the light delight that is shooting with Micro Four Thirds.

Image quality? Impressive. Here’s a shot with a 100% crop shown after, the details on the insect’s wings and legs are quite clear.

Panasonic GF1 with Olympus 45mm at F3.5

Click on the image to see full size.

I played around with the lens for an hour or so and really enjoyed using it; definitely a must-have piece of equipment. Problem is, I already have a 45mm lens, the classic and wonderful Contax 45mm. Takes lovely photos, but it is manual focus only so it does not get used as much as it should.

Fortunately, there is a solution. The most excellent Spacefruit; polo player, bon viveur and possessor of enormous genitals (allegedly), has taken it upon himself to gather around his ample girth the world’s production of Contax 45mm lenses. If one appears on eBay, he buys it. His intention is to produce a shortage such that prices skyrocket; then he can dump the whole lot for a fat profit. He was happy to buy my Contax for nearly the same price as an Olympus 45mm would cost me; and so I hope to be a proud owner soon and further photos will follow. In the meantime, here are some more from this morning, all taken with the Olympus lens.

Tasty bokeh:

Panasonic GF1 with Olympus 45mm at F2.5

Panasonic GF1 with Olympus 45mm at F1.8

Panasonic GF1 with Olympus 45mm at F5.6

Thank you Nik for the loan of the lens. Please buy the new Olympus 12mm next so I can borrow that too.

Comments 🔗

2011-10-18 | Spacefruit says
Very nice shots. Almost as good as a contax.

2011-10-18 | Spike says
My Contax was pretty good until I dropped it on a concrete floor. Thereafter, the images were a little blurred and there was a suspicious rattling noise when I shook it. Fortunately I managed to offload it to a collector.

2012-03-01 | robin says
Excellent photos. I have a feeling you could make any lens look good!

2012-03-01 | Grant says
Especially when they’re fitted with AAC…

2012-03-02 | Spike says
AAC (tm) if you please. Even as we speak, vast quantities are being produced in secret Chinese factories using slave labour, pending a launch in a couple of weeks.

2012-03-02 | Grant says
Splendid - please reserve for me one of the collectors editions with your engraved signature…

2012-04-23 | Guy says
Great post and photos, thanks! I have the E-PL2 with its stock lens and want to add a prime lens to my collection - but I’m not sure if I should get the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 or the Olympus 45mm f1.8 you’re discussing here… how do I choose? Does it really matter or will they basically give me the same quality? I assume the 45mm is better for portraits while the 20mm might be more suited for wide-angle scenic shots, no?

2012-04-23 | Robin Parmar says
Since both are excellent lenses with similar features you can choose based on the shots you want to take. The wider of the two gives a “normal” perspective since it equates to a 40mm field of view on the good old 35mm. So, no, I would not call the Panasonic 20mm a wide angle, though it is the widest of the two, of course. (A cheap and cheerful wide angle would be the Panasonic 14mm.)
The Olympus 45mm is equivalent to 90mm which is indeed a great portrait length. Choose it if you like more “reach” with your lens or prefer to shoot details as opposed to entire scenes.
Eventually you will want the 14 / 20 / 45 combination as a nice set of primes for all purposes.