The Complete Micro 4/3 Lens List

Panasonic unveiled the micro 4/3 format in September, 2008. Since then, there have been a steady stream of new lenses released for the format. As of August 2020, there are currently more than 150 different lens models available in the micro 4/3 mount (64 of them with autofocus), and more are steadily being added.

Below is a listing of all native micro 4/3 lenses currently released or announced. It follows the format used by J. Andrzej Wrotniak's invaluable 4/3 lens list. Generally speaking, any micro 4/3 lens will be fully functional on any micro 4/3 body. There are a few caveats though:

1. Manual lenses: Meike, Samyang, SLR Magic, Tokina, Venusand Voigtlander lenses do not have any electronics and so do not communicate with the camera. As a result, they don't support autofocus, the aperture must be set on the lens, and the camera will not record any information about the lens in the EXIF tags.
2. Software correction: All Olympus and Panasonic m4/3 lenses are automatically corrected for distortion on all micro 4/3 camera bodies. Lateral chromatic aberration (CA) is automatically corrected with all lenses on newer Panasonic bodies (G5 and newer) and newer Olympus bodies (E-M1 and newer). Older Panasonic bodies correct lateral CA only for Panasonic lenses, and older Olympus bodies do not correct lateral CA at all.
3. Optical Image Stabilization (OIS): Many Panasonic lenses feature OIS. Panasonic cameras and Olympus cameras announced after June 2012 (E-PL5 and newer) support OIS on all those lenses. Older Olympus bodies (E-M5 and older) support OIS only on lenses with a physical switch for the OIS. Lenses without that switch are labeled in the table below. A few Olympus lenses support OIS, and these work on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies.
4. In-body Image Stabilization (IBIS): All Olympus cameras and recent Panasonic cameras (G9, G85, GH85, GX7, GX8, GX9, GX85) include IBIS. IBIS can be used with any lens. However, OIS and IBIS should only be enabled at the same time on models supporting Dual-IS or they can conflict.
5. Depth-from-Defocus (DFD): Newer Panasonic bodies use DFD to improve autofocus speeds (particularly continuous autofocus) over the standard contrast-detect autofocus (CDAF) provided by all micro 4/3 cameras. DFD is available with any Panasonic lens on Panasonic's newer cameras (G7, G85, G9, GH4, GH5, GX8, GX85 and GX9).
6. Minimum aperture: the minimum aperture on micro 4/3 and 4/3 lenses is f/22, except where otherwise noted.
7. Aperture ring: some Panasonic lenses have an aperture ring (the 15/1.7 for example). It works only on Panasonic bodies. On Olympus bodies, aperture can only be set from the camera.
8. 4/3 lenses: these are not native lenses but can be used on micro 4/3 cameras with an adapter and have varying degrees of functionality. See the 4/3 addendum below.

The list is divided between autofocus and manual focus lenses, and between prime and zoom lenses. It is ordered by focal length. Prices shown are current US prices available from B&H. Focal length (FL) is the actual focal length, so to compare with lenses on 35mm cameras, multiply by 2 (a 20mm lens on a micro 4/3 body provides the same angle-of-view as a 40mm lens on a 35mm film camera). Magnification (Mag) is with respect to the micro 4/3 sensor (size is generally 17.3x13.0mm), so to compare with 35mm cameras, it too should be multiplied by 2. Lens size is given in terms of diameter x length. Lens colors are indicated as B(lack), S(ilver) and G(rey).

Key: Currently available lenses are labeled blue. Lenses that have been discontinued are in red. Lenses that have been announced (or pre-announced) but are not yet available are in yellow.

Autofocus Micro 4/3 lenses

Manual Focus Micro 4/3 Lenses

As mentioned above, there are a number of manual focus lenses available for micro 4/3. These lenses have no electronics and so all operations (focusing, setting the aperture) must be performed manually. Note that Samyang lenses may also be branded as Bower, Rokinon and Wallimex. While the labeling is different, the optics are the same.

Lens Accessories

1. Conversion lenses: Olympus and Panasonic both offer a set of screw-in conversion lenses that can be used to conver their kit lenses for fisheye, macro and wide-angle capabilities. Panasonic also makes a tele-converter conversion lens.
2. Extension tubes: Kenko-Tokina has announced a set of 10mm and 16mm extension tubes for close-up photography. The set is available for ~$200.

Specialty Lenses

In addition to the lenses above which are intended for general-purpose photography, there are a number of lenses available in micro 4/3 mount that are designed for specific uses or effects. These include:

1. Holga lenses: modeled after the Holga - the original 'low-fidelity' camera - these very inexpensive plastic lenses feature vignetting, blur and other distortions for a distinctive effect. Each lens includes a set of filters and converters.
2. Lensbaby tilt lenses: the Lensbaby Composer and similar models allow for selective blurring of portions of the image by tilting the focal plane of the lens. They feature a variety of different optics, some plastic, others glass.
3. Panasonic 12.5mm 3D lens: the Lumix G 12.5mm f/12 lens creates images that are recorded in a special 3D format. It provides a 65mm equivalent angle-of-view.
4. SLR Magic toy lenses: recently announced by SLR Magic, these lenses provide are intended to provide special artistic effects including fisheye, pinhole and selective focus.
5. Yasuhara super-macro: the Yasuhara Nanoha is provides microscope-like optics, allowing extreme close-up photograph, with up to 5x magnification of the subject. (similar to Canon's MPE-65). It includes a built-in illumination system.
6. Zeiss cinema lenses: Carl Zeiss's Compact Prime line is a series of fast prime lenses designed specifically with professional video capture in mind. Features include precise manual focus mechanisms, rugged build and interchangeable mounts. They are priced accordingly.

4/3 lens addendum

The 4/3 system is the ancestor of micro 4/3 and as such Panasonic and Olympus have made some provision for using 4/3 (non micro) lenses on micro 4/3 cameras. This requires an adapter but unlike other adapted lenses*(1), 4/3 lenses do support autofocus, aperture control from the body and other standard functions on m4/3 cameras. As there are a number of high quality 4/3 lenses without current micro 4/3 alternatives, they can be an attractive option. Optics are generally good and many of the lenses are also weather-sealed. Due to the discontinuation of all 4/3 cameras, many 4/3 lenses are available on the secondhand market for attractive prices.

For a full list of 4/3 lenses, please look below.

Limitations

1. No continous autofocus: aside from Olympus's E-M1, no micro 4/3 bodies can do continuous (tracking) autofocus using 4/3 lenses.
2. CDAF-optimized lenses: some 4/3 lenses have been updated to better support the contrast detect autofocus (CDAF) system used by micro 4/3 cameras. These lenses support AF on all micro 4/3 cameras, and generally focus reasonably quietly and quickly with good accuracy.
3. Non-optimized lenses: most 4/3 lenses have not been updated for CDAF. These lenses will autofocus on all bodies except the Panasonic G1, GF1 and GH1. Autofocus is slower and noisier than with CDAF-optimized lenses and accuracy is less certain.
4. AF speed: on average, CDAF-optimized lenses focus in 1-2 seconds, while the other take anywhere from 2-6 seconds. The exception is Olympus's E-M1 body which focuses all 4/3 lenses at roughly the same speed as native micro 4/3 lenses.
5. Lens size: 4/3 lenses are larger than m4/3 lenses. Particularly on the smaller m4/3 bodies, ergonomics can be an issue.

Adapters

4/3 to micro 4/3 lens adapters are made by Olympus, Panasonic as well as a few no-name vendors. Functionality is essentially identical and mixing and matching among adapter vendors (say a Panasonic adapter with an Olympus body) is fine. As of this writing, the most affordable name-brand adapter is the Panasonic DMW-MA1 which goes for around $115. Non-brand adapters should work fine, so long as they specify having electronics (purely mechanical adapters will not work).

CDAF-optimized 4/3 Lenses

Non-optimized Autofocus 4/3 Lenses

Manual Focus 4/3 Lenses

Other Lens Mounts

A wide variety of adapter are available for micro 4/3 allowing the use of practically any lens on micro 4/3 bodies. With one notable exception, these adapters have two limitations:

1. Focus is manual.
2. Metering is stop-down.

For certain uses however (slow-moving or static subjects), these can provide excellent low-priced alternatives to native lenses.

Additionally, there are now a number of Canon EF 'smart' adapters which provide both autofocus and auto-aperture (aperture control from the camera body) for most EF and EF-S lenses on most micro 4/3 cameras. The primary caveat is that autofocus speed and accuracy are quite variable - both across different lenses and across different bodies. Typically, newer lenses perform the best, as do the flagship Olympus and Panasonic bodies.

Last update: April 1, 2024