Olympus . Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8

Very good, but not quite as I expected First, let me say this lens is VERY good for portraits. It is surprisingly small for a 1.8 lens, even being a prime. I literally laughed in amazement when I took it out of the box. It feels solid and well built, in spite of it's small size. However, as in other reviews, it does not mount on the camera smoothly like other lenses. It feels a bit abrasive and not smooth. I took portrait pictures comparing this to my 12-40 Pro lens. To my eye the pictures are slightly clearer than the 12-40, but I did not see the difference I hoped for or expected. There is a difference but its not that much. If you consider this purely for the clarity, it's probably not a big enough difference. However the 1.8 vs. the 2.8 is significant and did allow a very noticeable narrower depth of field with really nice bokeh. So overall the small size, brighter lens with narrower depth of field, and slight increase in clarity, all combine to make this a nice prime lens worth having if you intend to do any portrait photography. It also proved its worth while taking candid shots during a grandkids birthday party in a bowling alley. It proved to be just the right focal length and along with the IS capability of my Olympus EM-1, allowed to me to shoot indoors without a flash with favorable results. Overall, I'm very happy with the lens for the purpose and would definitely recommend it. I only gave 4 stars purely because of the abrasive feeling when mounting this lens to my EM-1.Read full review

Snap a masterpiece Advantages: 1. Quality of photographs: for portraits and subject macro, this lens is almost equivalent to the button "snap a masterpiece"; 2. Aperture: you can forget about flash sometimes even till late evening; 3. Appearance: the metal case looks excellent. Disadvantages: 1. Focal length: universality here does not smell from the word at all, about using it for "reportage photos" can almost be forgotten; 2. Price: the cheapest high-speed fix system in the official retail for 18-20 thousand - not the best way to motivate people to change from cheap DSLRs; 3. Completion: claims arise from the price - for such money there is neither a blend, nor a cover. A comment: In photography, I'm not completely new, but objectively, while I'm claiming only an amateur level with some artistic bias. Half a year running back from the zoom 14-42 II R, having read the articles, after watching the video and having listened to the photographers of different levels, I firmly convinced myself that it is necessary to fork out for a "flashing light", otherwise the "masterpieces" do not shine. At 45 1.8, the choice fell for two reasons: Firstly, because of the general admiration for him - he is awarded with enthusiastic epithets: beginning from "musthave" and up to the title "the best lens of the system". Secondly, he is banal the cheapest of all "native" Olympus with aperture 1.8. Want a less versatile lens - look toward the fixes at 18 and 25 mm. Want a completely universal lens - save on a "professional zoom" 12-40 2.8. For its purposes, the lens is beautiful, but these goals do not necessarily coincide with yours. Read full review

I love this lens! I bought this almost on a whim, because I'm always seeing references and articles to this being THE portrait lens, and a really good quality lens. I do animal portraits, but not people portraits, so this lens was pretty low on my wishlist. But I saw it for a great price, I happened to have the money on hand and I am so happy I did. I love this lens! The 90mm (35mm equivalent) focal length is really nice to have. I've take beautiful photos of my dogs, but I have also used it for all kinds of other things. I've gone out packing this and several other lenses, and this is the one that stayed on my camera most of the time. Well worth it! It's a beautiful, fast lens, great detail, high quality images, in such a small package. It seems really well built. I would recommend it.