Last Updated on 11/15/2012 by Chris Gampat
Editor’s Note: Available for Pre-Order from B&H Photo
Olympus is really starting to round out their collection of high quality of primes and today they are announcing the pricing and availability of the 17mm f1.8 lens. The lens is going to retail for $499 and be available in December. The 17mm lens is just 1.4 inches tall and has the same looks as the 45mm and 75mm in which all of them compliment the classic looks of the OM-D. It’s almost a pancake, but not really.
What’s so special about this lens? Well, it sports a metal body with the snapfocus feature found on the 12mm f2 previously reviewed.. For clarification, this allows the user to pull the focusing ring back for manual focus with the use if a distance scale. The lens also has 9 elements in six groups, Dual Super Aspherical element to correct aberrations, as well as a High Refractive index lens to correct high spherical aberrations. Olympus’ exclusive ZERO (ZUIKO Extra-low Reflection Optical Coating) lens coatings are applied to the elements to reduce lens flare and ghost images even when shooting into the light.
For a complete specs and details on the new Snapshot Focus mechanism please visit the Olympus website here.