Olympus Unveils 17mm and 45mm f/1.2 Lenses for Micro Four Thirds

Olympus has just announced two new lenses to its M.ZUIKO F1.2 PRO lens roster: a 17mm and a 45mm. They join the existing M.ZUIKO 25mm f/1.2 PRO in the high-end, large-aperture lineup.

One of the main qualities Olympus says it focused on was bokeh aesthetics.

“By focusing not only on the bokeh’s size but also its quality, each lens produces a feathered bokeh effect that better emphasizes the main subject and allows it to stand out within the image,” Olympus says. “The shallower depth of field produced at F1.2 is especially ideal for portrait photographers.”

Shooting at f/1.2 produces a “feathered bokeh” effect that transitions smoothly from sharp to defocused areas of the photo. Stopping down the aperture results in a more traditional bokeh quality.

The 17mm f/1.2 is a new ED-DSA lens, containing both ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and DSA (Dual Super Aspherical) qualities. These lens elements help counter wide-angle optical issues such as chromatic aberration, distortion, and color bleeding on the edges of the frame.

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 17mm f/1.2

Both the 17mm f/1.2 and the 45mm f/1.2 are lightweight lenses that feature a durable build — they’re dustproof, splashproof, and freezeproof (down to 14°F/-10°C).

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO

Other features of the lenses include silent and smooth autofocusing, Face Priority and Eye Priority AF, a shared filter thread size across the f/1.2 lens lineup, close minimum focusing distances (20cm/7.9in for the 17mm and 50cm/19.7in for the 45mm), an L-Fn button, and an MF Clutch mechanism for switching between auto and manual focusing by pulling the focusing ring.

Here are some sample photos captured with the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 17mm f/1.2:

And here are some sample photos shot with the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO:

Here are two videos introducing these lenses:

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 45mm f/1.2 PRO will be available first in late November 2017, and the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 17mm f/1.2 will follow with a launch sometime in late January 2018. Both lenses will have the same price of $1,200.

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