Olympus 45mm f/1.8 vs Voigtlander 42.5mm f/0.95 vs Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.2
 

Trying to figure out which way to go. Any thoughts?

Olympus:
Pros: auto focus, CHEAP
Cons: focus by wire, expensive lens hood

Voigtlander
Pros: aperture ring, traditional focus ring, FAST
Cons: expensive, heavy, no image stability

Panasonic:
Pros: aperture ring, auto focus, IMAGE STABILIZATION
Cons: expensive, focus by wire, not available yet (and thus, image quality not confirmed)

Re: Olympus 45mm f/1.8 vs Voigtlander 42.5mm f/0.95 vs Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.2
 

I went for the Olympus 45mm f1.8 without comparing with anything (Except a Nikkor AI-S 50mm f1.8 which came nowhere near the Oly in IQ). Sample images from a number of early adopters convinced me it was a good buy and for me it is. (Again some superb images from Robin Wong confirmed I had made a good purchase).

This lens is amazingly small, it with with 14mm f2.5 and the 20mm f1.7 take up the smallest corner of a reasonably small bag you can imagine, an easier to manage set of travel lenses you won't find.

Don't even consider the expensive hood. I went with a rubber hood from B&H for less than $10

Re: Olympus 45mm f/1.8 vs Voigtlander 42.5mm f/0.95 vs Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.2
 

Once you start looking at large heavy manual lenses you are negating one of the key advantages of MFT cameras i.e. small light lenses. I am also not a fan of old manual lenses allegedly with an image full of character which to me just means they are soft & blurry. At one time I had a full set of Canon FD 'L' lenses for use on my AF101 which were beautiful artefacts & wonderful objects to hold but I prefer to have sharp clear modern Panasonic lenses with AF designed for the camera. Likewise with Canon DSLRs I prefer EF lenses to vintage Nikon or whatever.