If you shoot with Micro Four Thirds, then you probably crave great low-light performance. Sure, the zoom lenses are great. but they can’t compare to the primes. In this case, the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for low-light photography are some very fast aperture prime lenses. And lucky for you, we’ve tested a ton of them. Here’s the essential list to the gems you want.
How We Selected the Best Micro four Thirds Lenses for Low light Photography
Here’s some insight into how to use this roundup of the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for low light photography:
- Our Editorial Policies don’t allow us to include products we haven’t tried prominently in these roundups. Lucky for you, The Phoblographer has done real-world reviews of most lenses on the web! In fact, all the product and sample images were shot by us.
- When considering the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for low light photography, know that some of them have autofocus. However, a few don’t and have super fast apertures.
- One of these lenses achieves something very tough to do: Apochromatic lens elements. This lens from Laowa does a great job but sacrifices weather resistance and autofocus.
- The best Micro Four Thirds lenses for low light photography on this list will take full advantage of the system’s benefits. More of the scene will be in focus at a faster aperture.
- This is the Micro Four Thirds system. So, when you’re considering focal lengths, you have to multiply them by two. This means a 14mm lens is actually 28mm in traditional photography speak. It makes for excellent photography of wildlife and for getting more of a subject in focus.
- There’s a lot to take into consideration when it comes to editing portraits. You need to worry about color grading, skin smoothing, and so much more. In this case, the staff here recommend working with Capture One to get the best colors.
- All the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for low light photography in this roundup can be used with any Micro Four Thirds camera.
Special Mention: Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95
What We Think
Here’s a quote from our full review:
The color rendition is terrific and one obviously gets what they pay for when they purchase this lens. It tends to change over the apertures though. Wide open, everything will be super saturated and wonderfully creamy and warm. Stop down to f4 and narrower, and things start to become much cooler.
M.Zuiko 17mm F1.2 PRO
Pro
- Fast & Silent AF
- Great build quality
- Good low light performance
- Excellent Bokeh
- Weather Sealing
Con
- Large for a Micro Four Thirds lens
- Heavy for a Micro Four Thirds lens
- Very Expensive
What We Think
Here’s a quote from our full review:
Well, the 17mm F1.2 PRO is sharp. This may well be one of the sharpest lenses, even wide open, that we have ever had our hands on. It follows in the steps of the 25mm F1.2 PRO as being a great all around performer with good bokeh and image quality traits that will have Micro Four Thirds photographers droolings.
Laowa Argus 25mm f0.95 APO
PROS
- Very unique image quality. They kept the character in there!
- Beautiful render!
- Super nice colors!
- Metal
- F0.95
- Not too heavy
- Smooth focusing
CONS
- No weather sealing
- I wish it had AF contacts at least for focus confirmation.
What We Think
Here’s a quote from our full review:
Compared to the Voigtlander 25mm f0.95, the Laowa brings with it a few innovations that we’ve talked about previously. Laowa has nine aperture blades and a smooth aperture ring. This is better for video creators. But what’s even more important is the apochromatic lens element. These lens elements are incredibly important for photographers because of what they do. They add a lot more contrast to whatever is in focus, so you get a 3D look and render to the subject. More than anything, it will make the Laowa lens seem a lot sharper.
M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO
Pros
- Fast F1.2 Aperture
- Excellent manual focus control
- Quick and accurate AF
- Weather resistance
- Excellent build quality
Cons
- Price, you can get a lot more lens for the same money (or less) in other systems
- Weight the lens is a substantial chunk of glass on most Micro Four Thirds cameras.
What We Think
Here’s a quote from our full review:
Image quality-wise the lens has many of the known traits of micro four thirds lenses we have come to know and love. There is no reason to shoot this lens anywhere but wide open because, even at f1.2, this lens looks wonderful and especially in portrait settings really shines. You can stop the lens down if you want to or need to for exposure reasons, but this could be the best image quality we have seen out of an f1.2 lens shot wide open.
Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2
PROS
- Super sharp wide open. In fact, it’s the sharpest that we’ve ever tested for the system
- Beautiful build quality
- Nice aperture ring
- Fast to focus
CONS
- Aperture ring control only works with Panasonic cameras
- Expensive
- Not the smartest focusing with Olympus cameras unless a point is chosen beforehand.
What We Think
Here’s a quote from our full review:
If you’re in the market for an extremely sharp Micro Four Thirds lens of some sort, then you’re reading the right review. Panasonic’s 42.5mm f1.2 lens is–dare we say it–the sharpest lens for the system that we’ve ever tested. Panasonic put a lot of work into it, and you’re surely paying for it. Not only is this lens very sharp, but it focuses quickly, can have some very beautiful bokeh, great color rendition when working with skin tones and overall can present a great look for your subject.
The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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