Both of the next two lenses aren’t quite in the “love” category yet, both because they’re still new enough that I’m learning how to get the most out of them. Unlike the previous lenses that I know I’ll own forever, these are looking promising, but I’m not quite ready to commit just yet!

8mm f1.8 Fisheye PRO

Picked this lens up secondhand from a nice guy on the Gold Coast, which was also my first time trying Facebook Marketplace. The communications were great, the handoff was painless, had the chance to test the lens on my OM-1 before handing over the cash – overall, a perfect secondhand exchange.

And the lens!

I’d enjoyed playing around with a fisheye lens earlier in the year (a 9mm f8 bodycap I picked up back in Japan), but this is another level. Unlike the fixed f8, super cheap, no electronics bodycap, this lens feels (almost) as premium as the other Olympus/OM Systems lenses. The body feels premium, the weather sealing is world-beating, and the lens cap works well with the shape of the front element and the integrated lens cap – it’s only missing the manual focus clutch and the L-fn programmable button. I genuinely don’t miss the manual focus clutch that much – the depth of field is so wide on a fisheye, even at f1.8, that it’s harder to get things out of focus than in. I do miss the lens function button though, which I have programmed to swap between histogram and focus peaking on all the lenses that use it – being able to check focus quickly would be desirable, even though it’s almost certainly in focus regardless.

Some samples (click for a larger view):

I’m looking forward to taking this lens out on days when we’re heading to temples, castles and shrines in Japan, and continuing to try this lens in different circumstances to find what the fisheye perspective enhances. I’ve also had some success de-fishing this lens into a more rectilinear view, but in general, would probably prefer shooting with the 7-14mm f2.8 PRO in those instances. I might think differently when shooting inside in low-light situations though.

OM Systems 20mm f1.4 PRO

I picked up this lens for two reasons; I needed a faster prime for situations where I need the extra light-gathering that an f2.8 won’t be able to give me, and as a ‘bridge’ lens that works equally well on my OM-1 and my smaller, more casual PEN E-P7. The pro styling and weather sealing work perfectly with the OM-1 body, while the size and weight works perfectly with the smaller PEN camera. The 20mm (40mm equivalent) is my preferred focal length for street photography and documentary-style shooting, just capturing events as they happen.

This is the one lens in my current rotation that I don’t keep or use the lens hood with at all times, which does cause some issues with flaring, which will be discussed more below. It also lacks the manual focus clutch and L-fn button (like the f1.8 fisheye), but I miss the manual clutch more than with that lens. Unfortunately, the way around this would be to upgrade to the 17mm or 25mm f1.2 PRO lenses, which look incredible, but probably don’t make sense for my more travel-focused setup. Perhaps if I can find a good deal after Japan in January….

Some samples (click for a larger view):

Unfortunately, this lens had reports of some purple fringing, even when paired with Olympus bodies. I found some pretty severe fringing on the very first photo I took with this lens –

But, fortunately, correcting for it in Lightroom only takes a couple of clicks – the de-fringed version is one of the photos in the samples above, and has had the issue easily and satisfactorily resolved.

Exactly how much I am making this issue worse by not using the lens hood, I’m not entirely sure but the size without the hood feels better enough than the lens with the hood that I’m happy to wear the increased risk of damage and potentially extra work to remove some purple in the resulting images.

Overall, not quite 100% sold… but it does make an incredibly convenient second lens to have on my person when out shooting wildlife with the 300mm f4, or as a backup to the walkabout PEN E-P7 / 45mm f1.8 / 9-18mm f4-5.6 combo (which is my current plan for travel days where we’re expecting heavy shopping or other activities that will necessitate a smaller photog setup).