Review on Olympus M Zuiko 17Mm 2 8 Lens by April Schol

I was tossing and turning between the Panasonic 20mm and 14mm when I saw this used lens on sale for only $130. I could not resist. Then I found a VF-1 optical viewfinder in Crutchfield for $29 - even better. With both installed on my Olympus E-PL1, not only does it look like an early Leica camera with a rangefinder, it's just as quick and easy to use as a Leica. Actually faster, since Oly offers auto exposure and auto focus. My favorite lens in my Nikon DSLR days was the 35mm f/2.0 and this lens is a great replacement while being a fraction of the size and weight. The Olympus 17mm lens is roughly equivalent in field of view to a Nikon lens, making it an excellent general purpose lens for everyday and object photography, especially with the VF-1 viewfinder. Speed is good enough for most indoors without a flash, and focusing is up to 8 inches, which is good enough for casual close-ups but not for actual macro photography. Contrast is very good, barrel distortion is minimal and everything can be processed in Lightroom, my favorite photo management platform. I am very happy with my purchase.