Sharpness at 45mm

The sharpness tests for this review were carried out using a real-world subject rather than a test chart. The Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens was attached to an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II body, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. The self-timer was activated. Slight tonal changes are due to slight changes in natural light during the session. The 100% crops represent about 1/300th of the total frame area.

The full frame

In the frame centre, the lens is a little soft wide open, but commendably already tack-sharp at f/1.4. Impresively, the edges aren't very far behind. The "sweet spot" is f/2.8-f/5.6, but we would not hesitate to use it at any f-stop except f/16 where diffraction robs you of too much detail.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/1.2
f/1.4
f/2
f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16