Stopping down to ƒ/4 to ƒ/5.6, you have the "sweet spot" of apertures for critical sharpness at all focal lengths. Corner to corner, the lens displays fantastically sharp images in this range of apertures. We did see some diffraction softness come into play at the smaller apertures such as ƒ/16-ƒ/22, but overall it wasn't very severe. The build quality is really good. Just like the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8. The Olympus is bigger and slightly heavier though. For a 24-70 f/2.8 equivalent it's pretty small of course. This is a lens that really makes me wonder if I should keep the Olympus 12mm f/2. The prime is slightly sharper in the center, but I doubt it will be visible in real world photography. I'm under the impression that the zoom is sharper in the corners, impressive!

To test the sharpness of the two zooms, I used them both on the Micro Four Thirds model with the highest megapixel count, the Panasonic Lumix GX8. ( The various real-world images, on the other hand, were shot with both the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and Lumix GX8.) Vignetting: Probably the worst of the traits of this lens. Even corrected the lens has high amounts of vignetting in the corners at 12mm (over one stop wide open, two-thirds of a stop even at f/8). Longer focal lengths do better, but I wouldn't call this good corner performance. The good news is that the area of highly vignetted results is very much pushed out into the corners, and it shows a circular pattern. The high overall vignetting levels seem to indicate to me that the image circle of this lens is barely covering the m4/3 frame.

Both lenses are metal and weather-sealed. It is worth bearing in mind that the weather-sealing makes more sense when combined with a weather-proof body such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 or Panasonic Lumix GH4. Olympus claims that the 12-40mm is dust, splash and freeze proof, while the Lumix is only dust and splash proof. Image Quality – Through the lens E-M1, 1/100, f/10, ISO 200 – M.Zuiko 12-40mm at 28mm GX8, 1/160, f/11, ISO 200 – Lumix 12-35mm at 33mm Focal Range I really wish OM System made an f2 or f1.7 zoom lens instead. This has the depth of field of an f5.6 lens on full-frame cameras when being used wide-open. And it leaves a lot to be desired.

I would like to produce something presentable for my meeting on Friday. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? The first one is just to show you what I'm trying to capture with the second one. This red, yellow and green leaf is the best of your bunch. I rather like this photo. The depth of field is very shallow, but at least the area in focus is the area you want in focus. Great subject as well. I do not have the Pen F, but do have an EM5 Mk1 and did have an EM5 Mk2 for about 6 months. I tested both the 12-35/2.8 and 12-40/2.8 on both of those cameras, which should have similar handling to the Pen F due to minimal/no grip. And whether you want to go into it or not, linear sensor response means that, so long as you're above the noise floor, it doesn't matter what digital number your exposure is recorded at.I wouldn't be afraid to use this lens at any focal length from f/2.8 to f/8, though technically f/4 is probably a slightly "best” aperture overall, and I mean slightly. That, too, is a bit unusual for a fast lens. One other thing that I found unusual: there's very little field curvature at 12mm (or anywhere in the lens, for that matter). I didn't really find myself having to adjust for field curvature or focus shift, which was a bit unexpected. Tipping the scales at 382 grams and measuring 84mm in length and 70mm in diameter, the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 25mm f/1.8 is quite a substantial standard zoom lens, but given the constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, that's perhaps no surprise. When it's zoomed out to 40mm, it measures nearly 13cms in length. Second, price. If you’re shooting on an Olympus body, the Olympus lens at MSRP is a bit less expensive, so becomes sort of a no-brainer. Neither Oly lens fulfills a critical need for me, but they would make taking photos more convenient in some situations. The lens barrel is constructed from high quality plastics, with a glossy finish and the bayonet is metal with a rubber gasket to prevent the ingress of dust and moisture into the camera body. Despite the robust construction the lens only weighs 382g. As far as size and handling are concerned, this lens is a perfect match for the Panasonic Lumix G6 camera body used for testing.

It doesn't do 1:1 macro, but it does have better close focusing capability than your typical standard zoom. YMMV - If you can, I would recommend going to a camera store and trying both on your camera before purchasing. The 12-100 is a compromise. A great lens, by all accounts, but still a compromise. You already state very clearly that you find this lens slow. I think you might find it a compromise too far. Many of the posters state that they use the 12-100 more than the 12-40 when they own both. I would totally expect this. Much more of my shooting is in good light than indoors or in poor light.Excuse my not quoting your shots. I find the problem with (my) macro is that I'm often not sure what I want the picture to be. Therefore I get the dof wrong or the composition is confused. The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens has optical stabilization so DUAL IS is an option when shooting with some Panasonic cameras. Also Panasonic's DFD autofocus only works with Panasonic lenses, so AF performance will be better when using Panasonic lenses on Panasonic cameras. Distortion is well corrected in camera, but without corrections applied, Imatest detected 5.51% barrel distortion at 12mm being replaced with only 0.965% pincushion distortion at 40mm. The level of distortion at 12mm will be quite noticeable in images with lines parallel to the edge of the frame, although the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame throughout the zoom range, which should make applying corrections in image editing software afterwards, relatively straightforward. In terms of image quality sharpness is outstanding throughout the zoom range enabling you to shoot it wide open at f/2.8 without concern. It can do everything from wide-angle landscapes to portraits and it does it all well. Yes other lenses may be better at specific roles but none offer the versatility and fixed bright aperture of this lens.

Meike 12mm f2.8: another 12mm manual focus lens designed for APS-C but it doesn’t make sense to list them all. Plus the 7artisans performs better. Overall, combined with the OM1, it feels a bit like the Nikon z9 before firmware updates. That’s to say that it’s good; but not fantastic. It’s miles ahead of the Fujifilm X Pro 3 comparatively speaking. At the same time, the Sony a7r III — a far older camera — can outdo this lens with a third-party option on it. I always support the camera by the lens whenever that is possible. For some smaller primes or pancake zooms, that is not, so the support comes from the right hand holding the camera. I've used the 12-40 on the PEN-F quite a few times and never had an issue with the combo. If you find that the weight of it just does not do well with you, an after market grip for those occasions would probably work out well. By the way, on the E-M1, the feel is much more comfortable, and even though the whole setup is heavier and larger, the better balance changes a lot.But those are properties of the sensor, not the lens. You literally had to speed up the exposure settings of the sensor because the M43 equivalent is 2 stops faster than the FF lens it's emulating. That's comparing sensors, not lenses. An interesting feature on this lens is the programmable L-Fn button near the lens mount along the upper left side. Presumably, standing for "Lens Function", the L-Fn button can be configured using compatible Olympus cameras to set various options -- and options not even related to the lens itself. You can program it to toggle adjustments such as white balance or RAW, but it can also be set as an AF-stop button. The placement is convenient as it's right near or under your thumb when using the proper camera holding technique to support the lens in your hand. (Note: Despite being part of the Micro Four Thirds system, the L-Fn button won't function with Panasonic cameras, although you can mount this lens to those cameras.) The new Olympus 12-40mm ƒ/2.8 Zuiko PRO was introduced alongside the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and is part of the company's new "Zuiko PRO" line of professional-grade Micro Four Thirds lenses. The 12-40mm focal range translates to a 24-80mm field of view in 35mm terms, and with the constant ƒ/2.8 aperture, this new Olympus lens is a very versatile lens that should work great in low-light. It's also a rugged lens with splash-, dust- and freeze-proof construction, which makes it a great match with the equally-rugged E-M1. Sorry if this lens is a rude word ;p but maybe give it 5mins consideration, I think it's a beautifully operating and looking lens. However having owned all 3 lenses and as an owner of the Panasonic GH5 and Olympus EM5 II I decided that the build quality of the Olympus 12-40mm edged out the Panasonic and so I kept it over its rivals. When I say edged out, it is night and day. The Panasonic’s feel like a consumer grade lens with very good optics. The Olympus 12-40mm feels like a professional grade lens in every way.