Olympus 17mm 1:1.8 image samples

addieleman · #1 November 9th, 2012, 12:44 PM

Fresh image samples from this new lens can be found at 43rumors. I'll repeat my comment that I entered there.

Quote:

Edge and especially corner sharpness are not really great, even at f/5.6 there is a clear blurriness in the corners when looking at 100 % viewing. I think my Panny 20/1.7 will do equally well at smaller apertures, maybe a little less sharp wide-open. For an expected price of € 550 I expect a lens to be razor sharp at apertures of f/4 and smaller; sharpness and contrast in the centre wide-open are excellent however. In the out-of-focus areas distinct double lines are visible, this can be bothersome.

I expect this lens to focus faster and also show up with less shutter lag than the Panny 20/1.7, but that's about it. I was hoping to be blown away by the 17/1.8's image quality, but not so much.

mrjr · #2 November 9th, 2012, 01:08 PM

Compared to my 20, the wider FOV, presumably faster AF speed and build/features will get me on board if it's $500 ballpark. Need the extra speed to keep up with my soon-to-be-a-toddler, and would be more useful to me outdoors for everything else than a PL25.

I'm sure it's going to be plenty sharp.

Ulfric M Douglas · #3 November 9th, 2012, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by addieleman

... I was hoping to be blown away by the 17/1.8's image quality, but not so much.

Well ... there is a limit to image quality and sharpness.
Perhaps the 20mm hits close to that limit but is lacking focus speed.
If the new 17mm is also close to that limit but has a much faster focus speed : you can't really get better than that, right?
(I haven't looked.)

If, however, there's a major fault (such as too much CA or vibration blurring) then the stuff's going to hit the fan.

krugorg · #4 November 9th, 2012, 01:23 PM

It is hard for me to tell on those images what is unsharp edges and what is focus/DoF.

alessandro · #5 November 9th, 2012, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krugorg

It is hard for me to tell on those images what is unsharp edges and what is focus/DoF.

Even in the floor one? That's not too hard.
In those examples there's some CA and some edge softness, but it's indeniably too soon to take any conclusions.

ooops! I missed the second page. The wall at 5.6 doesn't look bad at all, given the huge software correction it needs. Get rid of the CA and it looks pretty good. Given the huge software correction... Uhmmm. Well, the panny 20mm needs it too, and it's a great lens.
So, we wanted small lenses. We have them, and we'll miss a truly optically corrected lens. When you slant those extreme borders, you will never get a perfect border at any aperture. That's stuff for larger and dearer lenses.

Kilauea · #6 November 9th, 2012, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krugorg

It is hard for me to tell on those images what is unsharp edges and what is focus/DoF.

I agree, is it out of focus or unsharp ? With such an image, it is incredibly hard - for me at least - to figure out what should be in focus and thus be sharp and what shouldn't. What is in focus is nice (even if I didn't look at it in all the possible ways.

uci2ci · #7 November 9th, 2012, 03:02 PM

on the floor shot, the right edge is way sharper than the left edge. Camera is held crocked putting the left edge out of focus. Not a good shot to measure sharpness

dav1dz · #8 November 9th, 2012, 04:45 PM

I think what you guys are looking at the compression artifacts.

I downloaded one of these JPEGs and it's only about 6 MB. I'm not home right now but can someone take a look at the RAW files?

The site linked from 43Rumors indicate it's shot with an E-M5, at 16 MP aren't the JPEGs quite a bit bigger?

Nevermind, just re-read the post and it says they shot with JPEG + RAW and it's OOC compression. Hmm...

I noticed at f/5.6 even the centre isn't THAT sharp. Maybe being a review copy some of these things will improve.

Promit · #9 November 9th, 2012, 05:27 PM

Let us hope that these are bad photos, and this is not a bad lens. But seriously -- when was the last time we got a bad Zuiko? Maybe the original EP1 lenses (17 and 14-42 I) but Olympus has a stellar track record. Let's not panic.

Amin Sabet · #10 November 9th, 2012, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alessandro

So, we wanted small lenses. We have them, and we'll miss a truly optically corrected lens. When you slant those extreme borders, you will never get a perfect border at any aperture. That's stuff for larger and dearer lenses.

I agree 100%, and these samples look GREAT to me. Very sharp throughout most of the frame, very pleasing bokeh quality, and very little axial CA. If this is less than $800, sign me up.

For those who want edge to edge superb performance, you won't find it in this size. I hope and expect that the Schneider Kreuznach 14mm lens will deliver the goods for those who need that kind of performance.