Lenstip's opinion: 17 1.8 vs 17 2.8

You have to replace these two reviews in their respective context : the 17mm 2.8 was issued in 2009 while the system was still very young and people were impressed by the IQ you could get from these small bodies. It wasn't tested on the same body, so I'd be wary of comparisons. I think that at the beginning people were rather evaluating the results of mft cameras and lenses with the expert P&S in mind, they were struck by the novity of getting such an IQ in such a small size. Nowadays there are about 30 lenses available for the system or more, including very good ones, the sensors are better, so exigences are growing.

The expectations were especially high for the 17mm F1.8 because Olympus had already issued a cheap 17mm F2.8 and there are some other good alternatives in that focal range. The introduction price is also relatively high comforting people and reviewers in their higher expectations.

Lenstip's review was lukewarm because they found the price too high for a lens doing everything correctly, but without being as exceptional as the 75mm. Or may be the Lenstip reviewer was just having a bad day and needed to make a rant. Their graph and numbers tell a somewhat different story than their conclusion.

Note however that most reviewers have made a rather lukewarm reception to that lens.

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rrr_hhh