Conclusion

Whereas the Olympus 9mm f/8 Fisheye lens we recently reviewed has managed to surprise us with its better-than-expected optical performance, the image quality of the BCL 15mm f/8 Body Cap is a lot closer to what you would expect from a “toy” lens. Its centre sharpness is good but the rest of the frame – especially the peripheral areas – are very soft. Add to this the fact that you actually have to focus it quite carefully to achieve optimum results, and you begin to question the whole point of this lens. After all, you can get better results from the kit zoom that came with your camera. In its favour, the Olympus BCL 15mm f/8 Body Cap Lens is indeed very slim, has fairly low levels of vignetting and almost zero chromatic aberration. As long as you don't intend to make large prints, the 15mm body cap works quite well as an ultra-discreet street photography / walk-around lens, especially when used in combination with a matching digital Art Filter such as Grainy Film, Dramatic Tone or Pin Hole. And at £60 / $49 it's also considerably cheaper than the more “serious” pancake lenses available for the Micro Four Thirds system, such as the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 or the Olympus 17mm f/2.8.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	3
Features	2
Ease-of-use	3.5
Image quality	2.5
Value for money	3.5