The 42.5mm f1.7 defends itself quite well against its big sister, the Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2, although the latter has more sharpness. As my travels took me to various places in Southeast Asia, I mostly used my camera to capture life on the streets and outdoors. It never ceases to amaze me how people from different cultures live and work for a large part out in the open, going about with their lives in front of the most fascinating sceneries. Seeing this taught me that if you just open your eyes to the world, you have to be blind to miss its beauty. Using a camera really adds to the experience of immersing yourself deeply into the moment.

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. The Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 is yet another nice addition to the Micro Four Thirds system, even if it wasn’t a focal length that was missing in the lens line-up. The differences between it and the M.Zuiko 45mm are more related to the build quality and optical stabilisation than the optical quality. While it has an effective focal length of 90mm, this is still a 45mm optic –so you get the same depth of field as you would with a 45mm f/1.8 lens on a full frame camera (or, alternatively, you get the same effective depth as you would at 90mm f/3.6 –but note that this phenomenon only extends to depth of field; the lens still gathers f/1.8 of light, so you don't lose any transmission). Focusing isn't simply fast - it's almost silent, too, courtesy of the Movie & Stills Compatible (MSC) technology employed. This is good news for videographers and anyone who's into unobtrusive and discreet photography.But scroll down to the corner crops and you’ll see a stark difference between them. While the Lumix manages to deliver a very crisp result in the far corner, even at its widest and aperture, the Olympus is much softer and doesn’t approach the same quality until it’s closed down to f5.6. Indeed the Olympus looks quite poor in this comparison, but this performance is not uncommon for most lenses, which are generally softer in the extreme corners at their wider apertures. It’s the Lumix here that’s performing above average. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. A nice but purely cosmetic touch is the ability to choose the colour of the foremost part of the lens housing to match the colour of the host body. Equally cosmetic is what Olympus calls a metal-like exterior design. The previously-reviewed 12mm has a genuinely metal-bodied construction but the 45mm is merely matched for appearance. Similarly, there are no distance and depth-of-field markings on the 45mm lens. Sample images

For my part, I’m glad to own both lenses and I find great joy in each one. Thanks for reading this and see you on the streets! While photographing the Cor Meibion Bro Dysynni‘s 50th Anniversary Party, for example, I used the 45mm PRO at f/1.2 for most of the evening, which allowed me to maintain a shutter speed of 1/100 to reduce motion blur and set the Auto ISO to a maximum of 1600. The optimal sharpness wide open makes it the perfect choice for an entire evening of shooting at f/1.2 and the extra stop also helps you isolate your subject better when shooting at a longer distance. E-M1, 1/100, f/1.2, ISO 800 – M.Zuiko 45mm PRO E-M1, 1/100, f/1.2, ISO 640 – M.Zuiko 45mm PRO E-M1, 1/100, f/1.2, ISO 250 – M.Zuiko 45mm PRO This lens is a must for micro 4/3 users if it suits their way of photographing. If you are looking for a short tele prime and you don't need macro, look no further, this is the one to get.

Panasonic Lumix 42.5mm f1.7 vs Olympus 45mm f1.8

It’s also worth noting that the performance of the two lenses can decrease on Lumix cameras because Panasonic’s DFD AF technology is not compatible with Olympus lenses.

In the past I never used lenses pouches with my larger lenses, but with these smaller rangefinder like lenses, I put all my lenses into pouches before they go into my bag. This is one disappointment I have with Olympus which Panasonic is one step ahead with even their Leica lenses. Hood and Pouch should be included in the price of this. This technique allows you to be faster than any autofocus, which to me makes all the difference in street photography. Once you’ve pre-set your focus distance, you simply choose a good place where composition, distance and light are perfect. Now all you have to do is wait until something happens in front of your lens. This lens embodies what I love about the Micro Four Thirds system: compactness without sacrificing image quality. Like the Olympus 45mm before it, this is yet another lens that can find a place in any bag, big or small, and whose performance as a portrait lens won’t let you down. Since I also own the M.Zuiko version, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take some comparison shots to see if there was a relevant difference between the two. And while I was at it, I also took a few comparison shots with her majesty, the Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2.I would say that this is a lens worth considering if you have a Panasonic camera and can make use of the optical stabilisation. Otherwise, the Olympus 45mm is still a valid lens and you can find it for less money. The Nocticron is aimed at a professional audience and I would only consider it if you shoot portraits for a living. The first difference to take into account is the size and weight: the 45mm f/1.2 is twice the height of the 45mm f/1.8 and around four times as heavy, making it a better match for larger MFT cameras such as the OM-D E-M1 (pictured above) or E-M1 II. Much of this extra weight is due to its metallic weatherproof build and additional lens elements. Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create.

Is the Lumix 42.5mm f/1.7 the new affordable reference for MFT portrait photographers? Let’s find out! The manual focusing ring turns smoothly and is a step-up from the manual focusing rings on the kit lenses, but it’s not quite in the same league as the silky smooth manual focusing rings of the Panasonic Leica models including the 45mm f2.8 macro. The shiny metal-like finish and rangefinder-esque aesthetics might lead you to believe that this is an all-metal lens. In reality, most of the exterior parts are made of plastic, but the lens still feels very nice to the touch. So we were understandably delighted when Olympus announced a lens that fitted this definition almost perfectly. And still more encouraged when we discovered they were asking a fairly sensible amount of money for it. It doesn't have the 12mm F2's beautiful all-metal build and clever manual focus engineering but we'd much prefer a price tag that will see it end up in more people's kit bags. What about the faithful 50s?The final point in its favour is the weather-sealing, which can come in handy if you frequently work outdoors and already use a professional weatherproof body such as the OM-D E-M1 II. The manual focus ring is also more pleasant to use. A topic that cannot be forgotten is low-light performance. Since they both have a fast maximum aperture, they are incredibly useful for work in venues with poor lighting such as a church, wedding reception, concert hall or auditorium.