Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75 mm F1.8 Lens, Fast Fixed Focal Length, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), silver

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Lateral chromatic aberrations, typically seen as blue or purple fringes along contrasty edges, are essentially a non-issue with this lens – the examples below show the worst-case scenario. Longitudinal chromatic aberration, also known as 'bokeh fringing' is a bit easier to spot, especially in photos taken at maximum aperture, but only if you are actively looking for it. At first, I thought that having a single focal length would create problems but the more I used it, the more I realised it was just a matter of moving around and finding the right spot to create my composition. Of course it is not always possible to be positioned exactly where you want to be, so a prime lens can also have its limits. But when you have the freedom to move around, it will certainly deliver better results than a zoom. E-M1, 1/160, f/1.8, ISO 1000 E-M1, 1/100, f/1.8, ISO 800 E-M1, 1/100, f/1.8, ISO 800 With the lens wide open, you can see a minimal amount of light fall-off in the corners. Stopping down to just f/4 cures this problem almost entirely.

Microphone rods and instruments interposed between the lens and the subject of the photos were suddenly transformed: they no longer were disturbing elements but became volumes that enriched the frames thanks to the bokeh.Naturally, being at the high end of Olympus’ M. Zuiko lens collection provides the 75mm f/1.8 with a quality build. In spite of the smaller Micro Four-Thirds sensor, this lens can deliver an enormously shallow depth of field. All apertures deliver creamy and seamless out of focus elements, resulting in the most beautiful bokeh in the micro four-thirds lens world. I really like landscape shots taken with a telephoto lens. The M.Zuiko 75mm already has excellent sharpness at f/1.8 but it gets even better when stopped down. The sweet spot is around f/4 and f/5.6 but it remains very sharp up to f/11. After that, some diffraction will start to appear. The best sharpness is found at the centre but I find the performance at the corners excellent too and that’s why I like to use it for landscape work. (Since a zoom lens will give you more precision in framing your image, the Lumix 35-100 is also a valid option for telephoto landscape photography, also because you don’t really need the fast 1.8 aperture.) E-M1, 1/500, f/11, ISO 200 E-M1, 1/400, f/11, ISO 200 E-M1, 1/500, f/11, ISO 200 E-M1, 1/800, f/8, ISO 200 The Olympus 75mm f/1.8 was announced in May 2012 as one of Olympus’ M. Zuiko Premium lenses for the Micro 4/3 system. At the time of introduction, the 75mm f/1.8 was one of a kind in the Micro 4/3 world and no other lens matched the lens in terms of field of view, sharpness, or aperture.

MPB puts photo and video kit into more hands, more sustainably. Every month, visual storytellers sell more than 20,000 cameras and lenses to MPB. Choose used and get affordable access to kit that doesn’t cost the earth. Olympus describes the 75mm as a 'high grade portrait lens.' With its 150mm-equivalent field of view it's a little bit longer than the traditional 85-135mm range, that was classically used for portraiture on 35mm cameras. Its minimum focusing distance of 0.84m means you can get pretty close to your subject, however the long effective focal length limits how close you can sensibly work with people (because your narrow field-of-view gives quite a tight crop when working close to your subject). It feels well balanced on an EM5 II and even better with a grip attached. For a 150mm equivalent lens this is exceptionally small and light. But it doesn’t feel cheap. Just well built, solid and professional.Just bear in mind that a 75mm fixed focal length is not always easy to use. You can sometimes find yourself too close or not close enough to the action. Also, it doesn’t come with optical stabilisation, which can be a disadvantage for Panasonic Lumix users. Overall the Olympus 75mm is a great performing lens. Optically it is one of the sharpest lenses I have used for any system. If you are using micro 4/3 and you want to define every eyelash in your vicitms (ahem sorry I mean subjects) then this lens can easily do that. The creamy bokeh and sharp glass from wide open mean that you can use this lens exactly how it is intended to be used.