Kowa Prominar 12mm f/1.8 Review

Kowa Prominar 12mm f/1.8 Performance

Centrally, sharpness is excellent at f/1.8 and remains excellent all the way through to f/11. It is still very good at f/16.

The edges are very good from f/1.8 through to f/11, remaining good at f/16. This is a very satisfactory performance and makes all the apertures very usable, perhaps avoiding f/16 at the edges if sharpness there is critical.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is very well controlled at the centre, the edges showing slight fringing that for many subjects may well not be noticed. Branches against bright sky and similar subjects may show some fringing, but this can always be corrected in software.

Interestingly, Kowa provides a distortion figure and they quote -0.59% barrel distortion. The measured figure is -1.42%, which is still very good for a wide angle lens. A zoom in this range would likely show much more distortion. If necessary, this can be tackled in software, although it may not be necessary for most of the subject matter that is likely to be covered by this lens.

Flare resistance is excellent even under the most arduous conditions, so will not be an issue.

Bokeh, the quality of the out of focus areas, is also hardly an issue as the gradation here is smooth and pleasing. There is much more possibility of getting those out of focus backgrounds with the 12mm, especially considering the f/1.8 bright aperture. There is still plenty of depth of field when stopped down, but at wider apertures, there is the potential for good differential focus when needed.

Overall, a very impressive performance that should result in excellent images with plenty of “character”, that indefinable aesthetic quality that separates out the lenses that become our favourites.

Value For Money

The Kowa Prominar 12mm f/1.8 lens is priced at £669. There are a handful of 12mm prime lenses that could be competitors, such as:

Samyang 12mm f/2 NCS CS, £305
Samyang 12mm T2.2 Video Lens, £359
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2, £549
SLR Magic 12mm T1.6 HyperPrime Cine Lens, £630
Meike 12mm f/2.8, £194

We might also consider:

Voigtlander 10.5mm f/0.95, £949
SLR Magic 10mm T2.1 HyperPrime Cine Lens, £894

Considering its quality of manufacture, the Prominar could be a strong contender for our cash. For more options have a look at the Top 35 Best Micro Four Thirds Lenses.

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