Now its quite a ....fine wine

Got used one but its a like new cosmetic and glass

Working well on EM1 Mk2, this is what my experiences

Pros:

- Small and compact, stylish form factor

- PRO-like color, contrast rendition

- Fast AF

- Very well metal build quality

- Very good flare resist

- Sharp! (but...there are cons)

Cons:

- "Field curvature" cause softness issue on corner (My copy is soft on right corner)

- Not weather seal

- The MF ring switch wont active Focus Peaking

- Starburst only start well-shaped from F8 above

- Still less friendly price

Tips: When taking landscape, you want to reduce field curvature and sharpen up the "flawed corner", i recommend set the focus on that corner, aperture at F4-F5.6.

I get much sharper right corner by doing this, center is sharp as well, a minor loss sharpness at left corner but still decently sharp!. Good coping!

View from my house, its a boring shot, i hope to get more meaningful photos when i have chance to go outside

Cons:

- "Field curvature" cause softness issue on corner (My copy is soft on right corner)

Field curvature as such does not cause unsharpness (except when you photograph 2D objects like test charts).  It just moves the focal plane a little to the front or back, so that other parts of the scene -that lie nearer or farther- are rendered sharp.

I don't use mine as much as I should , and every time I think of selling it I put it on my Em1 and the little lens reminds me how good it is : sharp and sweet at the same time, renders as nicely as my old 4/3 11-22

I just wish it was 10 mm .......

108 wrote:

I don't use mine as much as I should , and every time I think of selling it I put it on my Em1 and the little lens reminds me how good it is : sharp and sweet at the same time, renders as nicely as my old 4/3 11-22

I just wish it was 10 mm .......

Laowa 10/2 enters the thread 

I thought about replacing my Laowa 7.5/2 & Oly 12/2 with the 10/2 since I'm not using either a ton and I've grown to really like the 20mm EFL on another format, but ehh... The niche cases I'd use them for these days favor the wider or AF options, and there isn't much to gain in selling them to buy the 10mm.

I bought my 12/2 refurb, I wish Oly had lowered the price over time since it fills a nice hole in the system but the vast majority of people end up turned off by the retail price.

@OP: Try a Contax GG-2 (or the JJC/Kiwi copy) if you want a more compact alternative to the thumbscrew OEM hood, there's nifty slip on caps for the former too.

https://imgur.com/2rHwHgL

https://imgur.com/HqlZyGo

Agree with your findings except, like Daniel said, you are probably not looking at Field Curvature, but a misaligned ("decentered") lens. I had several of those and finally gave up on the Oly 12/2. For it's price it should certainly not be such a widespread issue.

I had the Roki 12/2 which comes with its own set of disadvantages, but it was very sharp corner to corner. The two "Pro" zooms, the Oly 12-40 and Pana 12-35, cover that FL really well. Of course they are not as compact...

The Laowa 10/2 is tiny and sharp, albeit only MF.

Impulses wrote:

108 wrote:

I don't use mine as much as I should , and every time I think of selling it I put it on my Em1 and the little lens reminds me how good it is : sharp and sweet at the same time, renders as nicely as my old 4/3 11-22

I just wish it was 10 mm .......

Laowa 10/2 enters the thread

I thought about replacing my Laowa 7.5/2 & Oly 12/2 with the 10/2 since I'm not using either a ton and I've grown to really like the 20mm EFL on another format, but ehh... The niche cases I'd use them for these days favor the wider or AF options, and there isn't much to gain in selling them to buy the 10mm.

I bought my 12/2 refurb, I wish Oly had lowered the price over time since it fills a nice hole in the system but the vast majority of people end up turned off by the retail price.

Agree. I got one for a good price from a friend of mine in Brooklyn who works at a camera store. B&H is still asking $700? It is a nice lens but I paid less than that for my 12-40 that's only one stop slower.

@OP: Try a Contax GG-2 (or the JJC/Kiwi copy) if you want a more compact alternative to the thumbscrew OEM hood, there's nifty slip on caps for the former too.

https://imgur.com/2rHwHgL

https://imgur.com/HqlZyGo

KoolKool wrote:

thanks people for comments!

aw man....my len is decentered....

i will contact the seller for the issue, hope to get another better copy...

just have a hope

One quick test is to shoot the same thing with your camera upside down - focusing oj exactly the same spot. Then compare.

Albert Valentino wrote:

KoolKool wrote:

thanks people for comments!

aw man....my len is decentered....

i will contact the seller for the issue, hope to get another better copy...

just have a hope

One quick test is to shoot the same thing with your camera upside down - focusing oj exactly the same spot. Then compare.

Thanks for this - a great solution for identifying lenses with problems.

Hope you'll not mind if I take the liberty of your signature line....

If you don't get older and wiser, than you just get older.

Peter