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Olympus M.ZUIKO 75mm f/1.8 ED - Review / Test Report |
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Lens Reviews -
(Micro-)Four-Thirds
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Page 1 of 3
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published April 2013
Introduction
The micro-four-thirds (MFT) system may be the most complete of the mirrorless systems.
However, it mostly tackles entry to medium level users but slowly but steadily we
are seeing more ambitious offerings. The Olympus M.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 ED is certainly
among them. It has a fairly "unusual" focal length equivalent to a 150mm lens on
classic full format cameras. As such it is a moderately long tele lens suitable for
applications such as portrait and still-life photography. At f/1.8 it is very fast
by MFT standards but keep in mind that in terms of depth-of-field is behaves like a
"150mm f/3.6" (full format). While this may not be highly impressive it is usually "good enough" for many if not most scenarios in this focal length class.
The build quality of the Zuiko is highly impressive thanks to an all-metal body and
a smoothly operating focus ring - to date this is probably the best MFT lens in this
respect that found its way into the (photo-)zone. It is far from being a budget item
so it is somewhat surprising that the (barrel-shaped) lens hood is just an optional
and rather pricey accessory. The lens is also not weather-sealed which is the only
downside we can spot here.
The 75mm f/1.8 features a MSC ("Movie and Stills Compatible") AF drive offering a silent,
fast and smooth AF. Typical for mirrorless systems the AF accuracy is very high (although
this is more a camera rather than a lens aspect).
Just like on the other MFT lenses, manual focusing is "by-wire" so you actually drive
the AF motor when turning the broad focus ring. However, the mechanism is particularly
well implemented and pretty comparable to conventional mechanisms.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 150 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/3.6 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 10 elements / 9 groups inc. 3xED & 2xHR elements |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 (circular) |
| min. focus distance | 0.84 m (max. magnification 1:10) |
| Dimensions (L x W) | 64 x 69 mm |
| Weight | 305 g |
| Filter size | 58 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | No |
| Other features | ZERO coating |
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