Olympus 15mm f/8.0 Body Cap Lens Review

Olympus 15mm f/8 Body Cap Handling and Features

The Olympus 15mm Body Cap lens is extremely compact, measuring just 9mm from front to back, with a diameter of 56mm, it weighs just 22 grams.

The focus lever has four positions, Off or closed, infinity focus, distant focus and close focus. Close focus puts the lens at it's closest focus distance of 30cm, and the lever can be set in between close and distant to set a different focus distance. When you switch the lever from off to "on" it automatically clicks into distant focus and switch to infinity you have to pull it back slightly, whilst making sure not to let any of the lens cover block the light path. There is a slight resistance to help you know when you have hit infinity, but it is quite subtle.

Trying to gauge the correct focus for close objects can be quite difficult due to most Olympus cameras lack of focus peaking, and the fixed aperture of f/8, as well as the general lack of sharpness from the lens. The aperture is fixed with a round disc in the middle of the lens.

Combined with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 it makes the camera quite pocketable, and if used with one of the more compact Olympus PEN cameras would be extremely compact.

Overall the lens feels well put together with tough black plastics used for the lens barrel and the lens mount. There is no filter thread, and all that is provided in the box is the rear lens cap, as the front lens cap is built in.

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