This is the default lens for my OM-D E-M10 Mkii. I use it on assignments from the local newspaper because it allows me to work inside and outside without using a flash. Plus I still have great depth of field. This combo is very unobtrusive and allows me to be much more inconspicuous. I always come back with great shots that often make the cover of our paper.

I love this lens. A lot of the KZfaq reviews were not very favourable when it came out. I’m glad I didn’t listen to them & bought it anyway.

The reason why I like the 17 mm/35 mm FF focal length, is that the angle of view is slightly wider than my natural angle of view (i.e., my eyes). Thus, if I walk around in the street and see something that looks nice, I can just lift the camera and shoot, and the picture will include everything I see (and a little bit more). With a 25 mm, the angle of view is slightly narrower than that of my eyes, so I have to step back a few steps to include everything I see in the picture. I used to have the Panasonic 20 mm/1.7. I also liked that, but it had two flaws: (i) very slow AF, and (ii) a slightly blueish color cast when used with Olympus cameras. I don't use the 17/1.8 so much, though: I tend to use the 12-100/4 most of the time. I should probably use the 17/1.8 more.

Everytime I see Olympus pictures, I am blown away at the quality that it reproduces. I think Olympus produces better photos than FujiFilm, than Sony or most other camera makers. The landscape photos you took are inspiring and wonderful.

I bought this 17mm 1.8 lens with my EM5 and the 45mm 1.8 back in 2013. It is a brilliant little lens. Such a handy focal length and lightning quick AF.

Yes, indeed, it is a very good lens. I am using it on my Pen-F, a very handy combo. I know that angle very well way back in the film era. When I was a teenager, I bought the Olympus XA (the tiny "capsule"-camera) with the 35mm lens. A really good way to improve photography and to learn much about to use the camera. Thank you for this very good video Peter!

I bought the lens last year as a second-hand purchase, and it's small, fine and ingenious. What I do not like is the original Olympus Lenshood. I have replaced it for a simple 10 Euro rubber trim from the accessories. Although this does not protect you like a metal Lenshood, it does not bother you either and can simply be pushed together or unfolded as needed.

I quite like your videos! I bought this lens second hand (with a hood) for $200. Great value and lens. Very good photos of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Your somber tones are most appropriate and I liked your darkening and highlighting effect on the fade out of several of your shots. (I'm going to try it myself thanks.)

You have my like for presenting city of Oświęcim (german camp) Poland - well taken and edited for this specific place.

Thanks for including the images you took with the lens it helps a lot.

I just got a nice metal lens hood 46mm diameter for the 17mm f/1.8 (but a screw in variety) in new condition for 6.99 in UK including postage from Ffordes. It came all the way from Inverness. About 500 miles. Looks great on the 17 lens. One advantage is that it holds the camera roughly horizontal when it's on the lens and keeps the lens out of the tea spills on the table! Or whisky, beer or wine spills, whatever!🤣

My favorite focal length, but I am using Leica 15mm f1.7. Very similar to the Oly but but wider. The only thing I would love to have from the Oly is the focus scale on the lens, it is very handy in street photography, but I have my ways to work this around :D Very cool video Peter! Cheers!

I use my oly 17 all the time when I travel with EM5mii. Also oly 12-40mm with EM10, if you need the range.

My first lens purchase for my omd5mkII was the older 17mm f2.8 pancake and although I haven’t tried 17mm f1.8 I’m not at all disappointed with the 2.8 pancake.

How funny, just bought one tonight to make my ideal walk around take with me everywhere camera/lens kit. Thx for another great video.

I own it and I love it, great compact lens and perfect for travel, but after I've used the 17mm f/1.2 I will go always with it, and it's weather sealed, of course, still the 1.8 is one amazing jewel.

Chilling images at the end of the video

It's a lovely little lens, but like everything else in m43 world, I have a love/hate relationship with it: 1. It has serious vignetting problems. It's ok in photos, but in low light videos it leads to corner noise / dancing pixels 2. It has monster distortion (5.5% barrel) . While it is automatically corrected in camera jpegs and lightroom, people will always look weird on it due to the corner stretching. 3. It is not really sharp until f/4. 4. It has very visible longitudinal CA (in green/cyan colors). I still can't part with it though, because how adorable and useful it is. While the Panasonic 15/1.7 fixes the CA and sharpness problems, it has the rest of the issues all the same, so the choices are not very clear cut.

Olympus actually made 3 17mm lenses for m4/3. The first, which you forgot to mention is the f2.8 pancake that came in a kit with EP1. The lens is probably discontinued by now, but technically it should still count.

I'd have to say that from a design, focal length, small size and sharpness, the Lumix 20mm II f1. 7 is a very sweet lens on a small body like a Em-5 or em-10 or Pen body. The camera is super compact with that and the Bokeh is very good too. It's a fairly inexpensive lens to buy used. It's always mounted on my E-M5 II. Highly recommended!!

I agree Peter. I use this lens for most of my travel photography and walk about photos. When I was doing newspaper work with film I used a Minolta Rokkor 35mm f1.8 lens on a Minolta XK for 90% of my work. So I guess I’m still used to the angle of view and love the Olympus 17mm 1.8. Thanks for your great videos.

It is a great lens for street photography - I have the same setup combo and rarely is it off my Olympus camera.

I couldnt agree more; it is my standard lens. I think the combination of my Panasonic GX9 with the Olympus 17mm f1.8 is the best street combination I have ever used and the image quality gives my Leicas a run for their money. On a trip I throw in a 25mm f1.7 and a 14-140mm and that covers everything with less weight that a DSLR and standard zoom. As you say it fits in my Crumpler Doozie bag with my HP Spectra 13in Ultrabook no problem at all. This lens will accept a 300% crop which means a zoom is not required on a day trip ;-)

excellent video! especially when you showed photo of Wille. Best regards from Loimaa and Pietari where we are assembling Wille

Kiitos osallistumisesta. Michael

I just bought this one last week and what a great lens combined with e-m5 mark II

This lens is very versatile and even for portraiture. From the aperture 2,8 you have a very good image.

👍Excellent post and images, Peter. Have the lens, and take your point about lens hoods. I only wish the lens could accommodate more distance/depth of field markings when using manual focusing, so it would be easier to use zone focusing instead of the combo of settings you mentioned.

Join Peter again this week as he walks into frame and leans against buildings or large structures! Just teasing Peter, really enjoy your photography and videos 😃 I originally considered the 17(34)mm lens but settled on the 7-14(14-24)mm PRO lens instead. Still kinda want this in my stable, though. 🤤

Olympus sells a travel lens combo that includes this lens, a lens shade, the 14-150 zoom, and cases for both lenses. This combo saves quite a bit of money when compared to buying each item separately.

Peter Thank you for this video which supported my decision to buy this lens. With all its abilities I have found it to be very versatile with great depth of field and an excellent addition to my kit !

I'd like to see you compare this with the Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7. It's usually a choice between these two lenses at this focal length. Despite using an Olympus body, I chose the 15mm as I normally take wider shots. It also came with a lens hood and lens hood cap which was a nicer overall package. Doesn't have the manual focus clutch though and the aperture dial won't work on an Olympus body (a positive according to many people as it's apparently annoying).

I had the 17mm 2.8 pancake lens too...it was sharp and small...now my 1.8 stays on my Pen F...

Surprisingly these setting are what I use on almost all my videos.

I fell in love with the LUMIX 14mm f2.5 pancake and use it for exactly the same purposes discussed here. Landscape and street. My eye sees 28mm equivalence naturally. I use it on an EM-10 Mark ll and it has served me well . Just picked up a nice used 20 mm Lumix f17 pancake and am about to try some street at night to see how it goes in comparison. I love the unobtrusive pancakes along with the tilt down screen and touch to focus and shoot. A tiny Rollei waist level shooter that blends into the background .

I’ve been considering that lens for some time. The 9-18 has been my travel walk about lens for six or more years. Recently on a whim I bought a second hand copy the latest 14-42 with the automatic lens cap and I’m amazed with its image quality, and especially its compactness on the penF. But often times I would prefer the quicker focusing and sharper rendering of the 17.

Thanks! Helpful as always.

My favourite lens From Olympus. Small,light, and sharp!..Great review!

Good stuff, my favorite focal length.

Thank you for this piece on the 17mm f1.8 Lens, Peter. I just bought it a few months ago and am still learning how to use it properly. Can I just confirm that the manual setting used by photographers in the 60's that you mentioned around the 2:55 mark is for this lens ie. I don't need to convert f5.6 aperture to micro 4/3 aperture equivalent?

Thanks for the video

Peter, I recognize a couple of those photos you posted in the middle there. The Commando Memorial just north of Fort William at Spean Bridge and Victoria Street street in Edinburgh, both of course in Scotland. I was just there this past July. I'm considering finally getting the 17 mm f/1.8 lens. I think it will be very useful and the f/1.8 sure beats f/3.5 or f/4.0 of my 12-100, especially inside some of those old castles. Very dark place Auschwitz... BTW, got the lead for this video from Rob Trek...

I enjoy Peter's insights. I wish he could cover both Panasonic and Olympus. In any case, like many other viewers I prefer the Lumix 20mm f1.7 pancake. Both the 17mm and 20mm are fine lenses. Their pros and cons have been debated ad infinitum. And yes, it does tick me off that Olympus doesn't include a hood with most of their lenses.

I love your honesty Peter, great video

Good for travel? I think a zoom lens is much better for travel. Like 14-150mm. Off course not that fast, but much more versatile. Not so often you need that shallow depth of field on trips, in my opinion. It is good like second lens maybe. Because of its size.

Great video. I look forward to seeing a comparison between this one and the Panasonic Leica 15mm.

Beautiful little lens ...love the 45mm 1.8 too.

There’s a 17mm 2,8 pancake from Olympus too is not great but is much more small

Thank you for your channel. Always enjoy your informative videos...I have a couple Olympus cameras and I love the M43 system.. I currently own the 17mm F2/8... and will eventually upgrade to F1/8. However, I love my 17 mm F2/8. It’s just so easy to grab my camera and go... (Basically it’s always on my EM5 II ) The image quality is very good actually. I know some reviews say that it’s not so sharp. However, I find it the opposite. It does have some trouble auto focusing in low light but I just switch it to manual and get great images from it...What’s that saying?! The best camera to have is the one in your hand! Which I always do!

I own this lens and love it as a travel lens. It is as you said, small, lightweight and unassuming. However, I think you should at least mention about the image quality in your video, which isn't so great by today's standards. Images are somewhat soft at wide open, especially around the corners. The middle is also just good enough, nothing to shout about. Compare that to Panasonic Leica 15mm f1.7 or the Sigma 16mm f14, the sharpness just lags behind. I just got the Sigma 56mm f1.4 recently (I know, it's of a different focal length category), and the image sharpness around the corners at f1.4 beats the center sharpness of the Olympus 17mm f1.8. It is bulkier, but not by very much. In terms of length, it is just 12mm longer than the Olympus 45mm f1.8, which itself is 12mm longer than Olympus 17mm f1.8. I guess you get what you pay for. But somehow it is a pity that at around this FL, there are no lenses that are small and (very) sharp right to the corners that don't cost a bomb like the Sigma 56mm f1.4.

Really liked the video and now I'm going to grab that lens out of my bag and give it some more use. I am curious about the slide show. What software did you use with your images?

I love mine... my manual focus rins stopped working on mine, ormaybe i need to reset something on my camera, i dont know (OMD EM1 MKII) but at 1.8 this lens has serious vignetting. But its okay.

IMO Panaleica 15mm + EM5 MII is better than 17mm

This is a good clip.

I've been to Auschwitz and Birkenau too. Your music suited the somber mood of the tour. I didn't have the spirit to take pix, it was so sad. All those things are burned in my mind. I bought the Panasonic 20/1.7 instead, but I'm wondering if I made a mistake now. We will see.

I've got this lens + the 25 and 45mm F1.8... I also have the 9mm f8 body cap lens for giggles and visual exaggerations. :)

Olympu has three versions of the 17mm: 1.2, 1.8 and 2.8. So not only the two versions you mention.

The Manfrotto bag looks awesome.!

Good lens for street photography as well Peter, but personally I prefer the 20mm f/1.7 Lumix, as 40mm full-frame equivalent is my favourite 'Normal' lens, not as confined as a 50mm and not a wide-angle look either, more of a photojournalistic look or the 'Classic 28' cinematic look of Super 35mm film with a fast 28mm lens that was the hallmark of many iconic mid-century film directors on a micro 4/3s. I prefer to skip both the 17mm (35mm) and 14mm (28mm) focal lengths on m4/3 and for wide-angle opt for the Leica DG Summilux 12mm f/1.4.

Thank you Peter for all the great MFT videos. I have entered the MFT world only recently and my new (to me) Pen-F is sitting by my side as I type this. My 82yr old eyes are not what they used to be. I fell in love with the magnify view in manual focus. It has been a great help. I have used it in AF mode as well BUT I just can't find a way to set this feature up so that I can just switch it on or off at will. In fact it's not working right now and I am frustrated. Is it possible that you or one of you patrons could give me detailed instruction on how to be in complete control of this feature. I'd like to assign it to a Fn button if possible so I can switch it on in Af or manual focus. Thank you for any help you might be able to give me. Joseph McGrath

Love this guy.

Thanks for the very informative video ! I'm struggling between choosing between (17mm 1.8 + 25mm 1.7) or (17mm 1.8 + 45mm 1.8) as my first pair of lenses for my brand new GX85, I can only afford 2 lenses for now, I only shoot video and want a cinematic look. What would you recommend ?

Beautiful images Peter,you always make me glad I switched from Canon full frame to the Oly M1mkii and the great pro lenses.

Thx Peter always key information. One more thing can you make a video on a Sigma 60mm f2.6 DN | A

hey guys, i have this lens on my EM1 Mii body. i notice its very jerky when i shoot video. Is it better that i use 12-40mm F2.8for video?

Nice video Peter! Love those images, especially those of that fenced in camp at the end - what place is that? 2 quick points: 1, you look a bit uncomfortable at times hunching over in front of the camera. 2, the effects on the images at the end (darkening most of the image while brightening part of it) are overdone and unnecessary. Those are fantastic images and don't need it!

Where did you get your lens hood

do you know if and when the Om de m5 m3 will come out?

Can you elaborate more on using the focusing scale at different apertures? I've been trying to find more information on this on the web and can't find anything that really explains it well (specifically for this lens). I tried it at 5.6 as you said and loved it, but would love to understand how to use it at other apertures too.

I am seriously considering this lens. Just wondering how its image quality compares to the 14-42 EZ lens at 17mm. Would it be a great improvement ?

The Panasonic 15mm had better character and you'll be able to get more background in with your subject.

What do you think between this lens (Olympus 17mm F1.8) VS Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7? What about us?

EM10/II + 17/1.8 + 45/1.8 is all you need for everyday shooting, combined with OLY jpegs --> winner

Hi, I've just bought this lens, which is terrific. I can't get the focus peaking to work when the clutch is used for manual focus, is it the same for you? Focus peaking does work in normal use.

I noticed on my last vacation that the shots where I used the Oly 60mm macro were -much- sharper than anything from the 17mm. Is that to be expected? I did have iso set to 800 on both (didnt notice). Pretty much all my 17mm shots dissapointed me and seemed to lack detail. Is that the iso, or does the macro lens make it look relatively bad?

I like your camera bag please tell me company name and which site purchase thanks

Hey Peter, for M1 II, this or the PanaLeica 15mm? For quality shots

200€ second hand. What about the comparison between this 17mm and the 12.40mm at 17mm 2.8?

Hi Peter, a really good video. Actually this lens was my first MFT lens and I was blown away bu the performance of this small thing. Pros: This lens is almost perfect e.g. to carry around on a city trip / when you meet your friends somewhere nice and if you want a lens with a good image quality and a really low weight. It delivers sharp, clean, contrasty and nicely rendered images. It has fast and smooth autofocusing. Also if you just go for a walk and don't expect something spectacular to happen but want to have a camera and a decent light lens with you, just in case. Sometimes this are the exact moments, when something interesting happens. I also like the ring on it and how it works on manual focus. This lens is really versatile: travel, street, people/portraits, details and close ups, events, nature and even video... You can even do hand held selfies with this one :D Even better if you put your camera somewhere and use the Olympus app as a remote control. I see really two downsides, a big one and a minor one: - No weather sealing. This is the main reason I don't use this lens so often and probably will sell it someday. Interesting places could be togh on your equipment (e.g. dust / sea waves etc), a really interesting sky and/or light often happen on rainy days. Even my mobile phone is weather sealed. + There are other great and light premium lenses like 60mm macro with water sealing. I hope that Olympus would update this lens and built a decent weather sealing in (I am also ready to pay a premium for that, but it should stay relatively small and light). - The lens hood is a must have, it's a shame that Olympus did not included it. From the business perspective it's a cash loss for Olympus because people end buying cheaper third party lens hoods. It is not a zoom lens, and some would argue that it is a disadvantage, especially when you travel. But having a lens like this one really pushes you to be more careful when you compose the image. You could leran a lot using a lens like this. Overall, it is probably one of the best lenses for smaller camera bodies like Pen F and good weather conditions. If you grab a fantastic Olympus 45mm f1.8 (esp. for portraits) and put it in your pocket, you are very good equipped and ready to go.

Hi peter, do you think this lens would be sufficient for interior photography? Ordered it as seemed the most suitable in my price point. but what do you think? If there was something else more suitable around the same price I would happily return and switch.

Thanks Peter, nice. I have one question to you. You told about long time exposures like 2 seconds with the EM5 M II. would you say the same with the EM 5 M I.? I am asking why is is what I have two bodies of that model. Thansks in advance. Ramon Borreguero

Will this lens fit a gx8 pansoinc

Where is the Olympus 17mm f1.8 made? And what about the Pro line -- any made in Japan.

Hi! You think the EM5 ll with good lenses is enough for the professional photography?

Image quality between this lens and the 20mm olympus f 2.0? Who wins?

Do you always use 4:3 aspect ratio when shooting with micro 4/3s

best lens for Wille shoots!!!

Have that 17mm f1/8 and a Problem: it makes a clicking sound when filming and it’s loud in the video to hear. What’s wrong, how can it be fixed? HELP Please

My favorite prime for travel is my 50mm 1.8. Shooting on aps c tho.

Why do you say 35mm in full frame when its advertised as a 17mm lens ?

Actually there are three 17mm lenses made by Olympus, there is also the 17mm f2.8 Pancake lens. But nobody is using it and Olympus stopped production of this one a few month ago.

Where is camp concentrasi ? In photo ?

The tone of the images at Auschwitz is very impressive. Was it done in camera or in post?

Hard to pick between this and 25mm

Very true. It's a very useful focal length for street photography. I really liked the part of the video with the photos from Auschwitz. Would you consider making a separate reportage video with those photos? I think there is great potential in those photos and the way you presented them!

Moving set of photos.🙏🏻

That's a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool shot of a sheep (04:57).

First to view. Thanks Peter!

Keeping your bag behind like that makes you very vulnerable to pickpockets in much of the world. I know you're an Olympus Visionary, but the PanaLeica 15mm f/1.7 is much sharper than this lens, and while it is a bit more money, it comes with a lens hood.

Nice review. But that bag is huge!