The M.Zuikio 20mm F1.4 Pro ($ 799) is the first lens to carry OM System branding. If M.Zuiko and OM at all had no idea, OM System is the new name for Olympus cameras, a rebranding that comes after a spin-off in the image processing department. The design team has not lost any steps during the transition – M.Zuiko 20mm is a good performer all the way around, balances well with compatible cameras and is weather sealed. The lens faces stiff competition from cheaper alternatives, including our Editors’ Choice award-winning Sigma 16mm F1.4 DG DN Contemporary for around $ 450, but you can find M.Zuiko to be worth the prize if you love its point of view.
An understated angle
The M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 Pro covers about the same vision as a 40mm full-frame prime, one that provides a more spacious frame than lenses like the M.Zuiko 25mm F1.8 (50mm equivalent), but just a little tighter than a moderately wide option as M.Zuiko 17 mm F1.8 (equivalent to 35 mm). The mid-look fits well with photographers who want a little more space in the frame than a standard lens provides, but not too much more.
These are not the only 20mm out there for Micro Four Thirds. The Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 II is a long-lasting alternative with a sleek pancake shape factor (1.0 x 2.5 inches, 3.1 ounces), available today for around $ 300. M.Zuiko 20 mm is a more typically shaped lens with a cylindrical cylindrical form factor that is a little too high to be considered a pancake. It comes in 2.4 by 2.5 inches and 8.7 ounces.
The M.Zuiko 20mm balances well on most Micro Four Thirds cameras, including the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, which I used to review the lens. Weather protection is also included so you can use the lens in difficult conditions when paired with a sealed camera. The front element has an anti-fouling fluor-coat to help keep it free of drops when working in rain or snow, and has a 58mm accessory thread if you want to add a protective or creative filter.
OM System combines the lens with standard front and rear lens covers, as well as a plastic blade-style lens cap. The hood rattles on and off with a twist and returns to storage. The accessories are the only plastic bits that are included – the lens tube itself is aluminum.
Autofocus and handling
M.Zuiko 20mm’s autofocus motor works fast and quietly, good news for both still photographers and videographers. There is also no visible focus breathing; the viewing angle remains the same even when the focus plane shifts, so you can feel comfortable using the video recording lens that shifts focus from one subject to another.
The manual focus ring fills most of the barrel. OM System finishes it with ribbed metal edges that match the feel of Olympus Pro lenses like 17mm F1.2 Pro and 25mm F1.2 Pro. However, the M.Zuiko 20 mm skips the focus clutch used by its F1.2 compatriots – there is no control on the lens to switch between manual and autofocus. Instead, take the extra step of diving into the camera menu to make the switch.
If you are a full-time user of autofocus, the extra step is not something to worry about, but it is more cumbersome to switch focus modes than with a clutch or toggle switch. And the manual focus experience is worth it. The control ring provides a comfortable resistance and has a non-linear response, a plus for focusing with precision. Videographers may want to stick to autofocus – the non-linear response makes it harder to repeat the same focus rack from shooting to shooting.
The clutch is not the only feature in the Pro series that is missing. Other lenses in the family include a configurable L-Fn control knob on the cylinder, but OM System dropped it from the M.Zuiko 20mm.
Focus is available as close as 9.8 inches, good enough for a fairly standard 1: 9 life-size reproduction ratio. You will have no problem leaning in to get a snapshot of a friend or pet, but do not look to this one for pictures of bees pollinating flowers or the like. It is a limitation that is on par with the course with a light prime. Look at the M.Zuiko 30mm F3.5 Macro if you want a lens that brings small objects into free view.
M.Zuiko 20mm skips optical stabilization, but it’s not really expected or necessary here. Olympus cameras usually use in-body stabilization, and the feature is also included in most newer options from Panasonic. With the E-M1 Mark III, I had no trouble getting blurry images at shutter speeds as long as 1/4 second, and I managed a few good 1 second results with extra care. With such good stabilization, movement of the subject is a much greater concern than shaking hands for long-term exposure work.
M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 Pro: In the laboratory
I paired the M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 Pro with the 20MP Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III for field and laboratory testing. It scores well on Imatest’s resolution evaluation, and it delivers results in the very good range wide open (2,200 lines) and excellent from f / 2.8 to f / 5.6 (2,500 lines).
Micro Four Thirds sensors are slightly more prone to diffraction than full-frame models, so we see a little bit of resolution loss from f / 8 to f / 11, but the results are still very sharp. You will notice a softer overall look at f / 16, the smallest f-stop available.
However, you can still use f / 16 from time to time to get a sunshine effect in landscapes. M.Zuiko draws multi-point highlights at f / 11 and f / 16. It’s not the best lens we’ve seen for solar stars – the star eruptions are not perfectly defined, even at f / 16 – but it’s capable of delivering the look.
There is no distortion or visible vignette that degrades images. In-camera corrections take care of both for JPG photography, and the Raw images have a built-in profile, so you do not have to wait for Adobe or Phase One to make one.
I was surprised to see some lateral chromatic aberration in images when working with f / 2.8 and wider settings. The effect appears as a false purple color and is most visible around areas with very high contrast – just branches or telephone wires against a clear sky is the classic example.
With M.Zuiko 20 mm, the lateral aberration cuts through corrections in the camera and is displayed in JPGs. Photographers working in Raw are probably used to removing false purple color from images – it’s often just a matter of clicking on a checkbox in Lightroom Classic. Here you will have to go a little further and work with the defringe tool to wipe the purple halos away. I did not come across any cases where I was not able to treat the fringes away, but there is more chromatic aberration here than we expect from a Pro line lens.
20mm F1.4 takes pictures with soft unfocused backgrounds when used with a wider f-stop. There is not much bad to say about the quality of the blur (bokeh). Highlights show soft edges and are fairly round at f / 1.4 and f / 2, but give way to more defined, slightly octagonal shapes at f / 2.8 and f / 4. Overall, the lens does a good job with backgrounds, even difficult ones with lots of foliage.
The Olympus tradition continues in the OM system
Photo enthusiasts who have relied on Olympus equipment for years will definitely pay a little attention to the M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 Pro, the first lens released under the new OM System banner. We are happy to say that it is as well made as previous efforts. The all-weather construction in aluminum, which we have come to expect from the Olympus Pro Series lenses, holder, and anti-smear fluorine is a welcome touch.
The size is also reasonable, as the lens fits better on smaller cameras than those in the M.Zuiko F1.2 Pro series. It drops the manual focus switch function from these lenses, but how much it means depends on how you use your camera. If you are a full-time user of autofocus, you will not miss the clutch a bit.
We are generally satisfied with the optics – the details are sharp, the background blur is comfortable, and the autofocus is fast and silent. Purple fringe is more of an issue than with other lenses, and although you can suppress it by stopping the aperture down a bit, you will sacrifice the softened background look to get there.
There’s a lot more good than bad here, though we’ll count the M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 Pro’s $ 799 price among the latter. There are some very good alternatives available for less dollars, including the M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 ($ 499), a metal barrel prime with a focus clutch, and our Editors’ Choice, the Sigma 16mm F1.4 DG DN Contemporary, for $ 449.
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