Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 PRO Fisheye Lens

In summary
Users of the Olympus OM-D series M4/3 cameras who need with wide angle coverage will find this lens an excellent performer, particularly if they also require weatherproof sealing.
Underwater photographers will find the new fisheye lens can offer dramatically different viewpoints from the usual wide-angle lenses and its fast maximum aperture will be a genuine advantage. For these users, Olympus offers an optional PPO-EP02 underwater lens port that has been designed specifically for this lens. It is matched with the underwater case for the OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 cameras (but not the new E-M5 Mark II, so far). The hood section of the port can be removed to reduce waves for ‘over-under’ shots.
A new PPZR-EP05 focusing gear enables manual focus of the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO with underwater case attached. An additional light shield (POSR-EP10) prevent unwanted reflections from being captured in the dome port the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO is used. Both accessories are sold separately.
Full review
Launched with the 7-14mm f/2.8 wide angle zoom lens in May 2105, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 PRO fisheye is the fourth in Olympus’s top-end PRO lens line-up. For Micro Four Thirds (M4/3) cameras, it is the fastest available fisheye lens for serious photographers to offer a 16mm focal length equivalent with a diagonal angle of view of 180 degrees. It’s also one-and-a-third stops faster than its main rival, the Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm f/3.5.

Side view of the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f1.8 PRO fisheye lens. (Source: Olympus.)
Although fisheye lenses have rather limited applications, there’s a surprising amount of competition in this area within the Micro Four Thirds category. As well as the Panasonic 8mm f/2.8 lens, which includes autofocus and auto aperture control, there’s a Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 UMC Fisheye MFT with manual focusing and aperture control and Olympus’s own 9mm f/8 Body Cap Lens with no controls whatsoever. Olympus also produced an 8mm f/3.5 Zuiko Digital fisheye lens for its original DSLR cameras, although an adaptor would be required to use it on an M4/3 camera. Finally, both Olympus and Panasonic make fisheye converters for some of their kit zooms.

A dissected view of the lens showing its optical complexity. (Source: Olympus.)
The optical design of this lens is very sophisticated for its type, involving 17 lens elements arranged in 15 groups. Included among them are one aspherical element, three Super ED (Super Extra-Low Dispersion) elements, two ED elements, one Olympus proprietary Super HR (Super High Refractive) element and two HR (High Refractive index) elements. ZERO high performance multi-coating is applied to minimise flare and ghosting.
All these optical elements make the lens quite large, although its overall weight of 315 grams shows the designers have tried hard not to make it overly heavy. Like other PRO lenses, it is dust-, freeze- and splash-proof to match the OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 camera bodies.
A permanent lens hood is integrated into the lens barrel and the bulging front element is protected by a cup-shaped lens cap (LC-62), which attaches with generous, pinch-style clips. A soft carrying pouch is also provided.
Who’s it For?
Most photographers use fisheye lenses because their inherent high levels of barrel distortion can introduce interesting visual effects that can make picture-taking a lot of fun. They can also be handy for extra wide angle coverage, where they are sought-after by many underwater photographers and for astro-photography.
The main users are likely to be landscape photographers and those with serious interests in astronomy or underwater photography and other specialised areas where the ultra-wide angle of view can be of use.
Build and Ergonomics
The weight and optical complexity of this lens suggest it’s solidly constructed, although it’s actually the smallest lens in Olympus’s PRO line-up. It’s almost double the weight of its nearest rival, the Panasonic 8mm f/2.8, which measures 60.7 x 51.7 mm and weighs only 165 grams.
Build quality is in line with other Olympus PRO lenses and most of the lens barrel is made from metal, including the large manual focusing ring. The lens mount is also metal with a rubber flange to exclude moisture and dust particles. The solidly-constructed integrated lens hood is made from rigid polycarbonate plastic.
There’s only one control surface on this lens: the focusing ring, which is 27 mm wide and located about mid-way along the lens barrel. Its leading edge is about 40 mm behind the front edge of the lens hood, while its trailing edge is 15 mm in front of the mounting plate.
A 23 mm wide strip at the front of the focusing ring is covered with three rows of finely ridged plastic to provide a grip. The ring will turn through a full 360 degrees in either direction and has neither hard nor soft stops. Autofocusing is driven by a linear stepping motor, which is fast and almost silent.
Because the front element of the lens bulges forward it is impossible to fit filters in the regular position and the lens is un-threaded. No provision is made for fitting filters at the camera end of the lens.
Performance
Because of the inherent distortions in this lens we’ve been unable to conduct our usual Imatest testing and we have eliminated the TESTS section of the review. Fisheye lenses don’t provide long enough straight high-contrast edges that can be measured with any degree of precision or repeatability. Consequently, our conclusions are based upon subjective, instead of objective analysis.
To demonstrate different aspects of lens performance, we have relied upon cropping images at 100% magnification. The examples provided below demonstrate that the lens can produce sharp images and show up any aberrations we encountered as well as issues associated with normal usage.
Our distortion test shot provides a good indication of how much the fisheye design distorts the image and the parts of the frame where the distortion is greatest (the edges of the frame) ““ and least (the centre). We have also provided some test shots demonstrating this effect as well as others comparing centre and edge sharpness.
One of the more interesting issues we encountered when conducting our usual vignetting tests was the impossibility of photographing a 180-degree field of view without including some of the landscape and being affected by the sun, even when it is quite low in the sky. Exposure differences across the frame are obvious in these test shots but it’s impossible to determine which are caused by inherent vignetting and which by the field of view covered in the frame. (Other test shots suggest inherent vignetting is relatively low.)
We picked up some evidence of flare and ghosting in our vignetting test shots. These can be seen in the line of bright dots that cross the centre of the frame. Aside from this shot, the lens handled backlighting well and we encountered no further flare problems.
Test shots suggest the lens is capable of producing sharp images from edge to edge of the frame. However, with such a wide angle of view it’s easy to obtain sharp focus within the lens’s distance limits, particularly a few stops down from maximum aperture. Significantly, however, the corners of the frame, which are often soft in ultra-wide-angle lenses, were nice and sharp in images from the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 PRO fisheye lens.
Chromatic aberration is a common problem with wide-angle lenses but not a serious issue with the 8mm f/1.8 PRO fisheye. We found traces of coloured fringing in areas of high contrast near the edges of some frames but, aside from that, no other evidence of the problem.
Bokeh was generally attractive for a fisheye lens. Shooting at the maximum aperture with the minimum focusing distance allowed us to capture a close-up of a flower and render the surroundings out-of-focus. Background blurring was smoother than we expected for such a wide angle of view.
Conclusion
The M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 PRO fisheye is definitely a niche lens and its price tag will put off casual purchasers. However, users of the Olympus OM-D series M4/3 cameras who need with wide angle coverage will find it an excellent performer, particularly if they also require weatherproof sealing.
Underwater photographers will find the new fisheye lens can offer dramatically different viewpoints from the usual wide-angle lenses and its fast maximum aperture will be a genuine advantage. For these users, Olympus offers an optional PPO-EP02 underwater lens port that has been designed specifically for this lens. It is matched with the underwater case for the OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 cameras (but not the new E-M5 Mark II, so far). The hood section of the port can be removed to reduce waves for ‘over-under’ shots.
A new PPZR-EP05 focusing gear enables manual focus of the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO with underwater case attached. An additional light shield (POSR-EP10) prevent unwanted reflections from being captured in the dome port the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/1.8 Fisheye PRO is used. Both accessories are sold separately.
SPECS
Picture angle: 180 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 17 elements in 15 groups (including 1 aspherical element, 3 Super ED elements, 2 ED elements, 1 Super HR element, 2 HR elements)
Lens mounts: Micro Four Thirds
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Focus drive: Linear stepping motor with MSC (Movie and Still Image Compatible) support
Stabilisation: Integrated into camera bodies
Minimum focus: 12 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.2x
Filter size: n.a.
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 62 x 80 mm
Weight: 315 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps, lens case (LSC-0811-BLK)
SAMPLES

Vignetting at f/1.8.

Rectilinear distortion.

Close-up at f/1.8; ISO 100, 1/5000 second at f/1.8.

ISO 100, 1/25 second at f/8.

Crop from corner of the above image, enlarged to 100%.

Crop from right hand edge of the above image, enlarged to 100%, showing slight coloured fringing.

ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/8.

Crop from centre of the above image, enlarged to 100%.

ISO 3200, 1/8 second at f/4.5.

Crop from centre of the above image, enlarged to 100%, showing a lack of rectilinear distortion in this region.

The effects of distortion near the edges of the frame; ISO 3200, 1/5 second at f/8.

Creative use of peripheral distortions; ISO 1600, 1/3 second at f/6.3.

This frame demonstrates the amplification of distortion that occurs in close-up shots; ISO 3200, 1/4 second at f/4.5.

A demonstration of the E-M1’s sensor-shift stabilisation system: ISO 3200, 0.62 second at f/5.6.

ISO 3200, 1/2 second at f/7.1.

ISO 6400, 1/20 second at f/5.
Rating
RRP: AU$1399; US$1000
- Build: 9.0
- Handling: 8.8
- Image quality: 9.0
- Versatility: 8.5