So I finally got around to picking up an Oly 12-40mm recently after many months mooning after it, and a couple more months justifying it to myself- but why? This site is not responsible for any damage that the information on this site may cause to your system.

The Panasonic’s performance is a bit more even as the lens can get slightly higher results on stopping down – it seems you should simply choose an option you personally care more about. With the E-M1 I have never had a problem whatsoever and I have managed to focus even in really dark conditions like a disco. it's razor sharp across the field, with only the very tiniest hint of softness at the extreme edges of the image. I switched from taking panoramas of a vast landscape, to pictures of my wife and dog in a dim forest, to bokeh-full shots of the wildlife and nature around me. Focusing is internal, so the length of the lens does not change, but the zoom ring is mechanical and the lens does extend as we zoom in to 40mm.

As you can see, if you set the lens to the maximum 40mm telephoto focal length, you can actually fill most of the frame. It was way back in 2014 that we reviewed the first version of this lens, but now we have an updated Mk II, with the new ZERO coating and IP53-rated dust and splashproof construction. The 8-25mm PRO is fully compatible with Olympus in-camera 5-Axis Image Stabilization, which compensates for all types of camera motion.

The compact, lightweight focusing unit consisting of two cemented lenses is powered by a linear motor driving MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) mechanism, resulting in high-speed, silent AF.

Moreover, it appears that the aperture blades in my sample have just a tiny bit of a joint point in them, as I can see that the circle has two distinct "points" on it as I stop down. Dust-, freeze-, and drip-proof design ensure the lens' performance in inclement and harsh conditions. The filter thread does not rotate on focus, which is great news for anyone intending to use a polariser or ND grads on the lens.

These primes fitted the early days of the system down to a tee, making good on the 'smaller, lighter' ethos which was the main draw of M4/3 and had never really been achieved by the legacy Four-Thirds DSLR system. dеѕіgnеd АF unіt іѕ роwеrеd bу thаt lіnеаr mоtоr drіvіng МЅС (Моvіе аnd Ѕtіll Соmраtіblе) mесhаnіѕm аnd іѕ еffесtіvе wіth bоth vіdео аnd ѕtіllѕ сарturе. For me, 12-40mm covers the focal lengths that I shoot at 95% of the time (my 45-150 covers the rest), and it has a fixed aperture of f2. I had a bunch of cameras like the NEX7, Fuji Xpro, for some reason, I never used them as a personal camera, I never shot personal images with them. The IP53-rating means it's highly weathersealed so you can shoot without worry in the most adverse conditions.

I tend to not use it too much however because not every lens that has it and I would probably end up looking for the same button when using other MFT lenses. It's never going to replace a dedicated lens but again, the purpose of a zoom, especially in this range, is flexibility, and the macro aspect adds yet facet to lens's multi-talented nature.

Distortion may be a little higher than the Olympus 12mm f/2 but I simply don't use that prime any more since getting the 12-40. Pro, Olympus employed a seven circular-bladed diaphragm, which produces some very nice bokeh, at least in our opinion. Flare is very well controlled, and although you'll still need to stop down to avoid excess coma that's hardly a fault unique to this design. It won’t give you real macro performance but it can let you focus on small objects fairly closely when you need to. By pulling the focus ring you can switch over to manual focusing without tweaking your camera-settings.

The latest manufacturing techniques suppress surface scattering on aspherical lenses, significantly reducing flares compared to conventional products, resulting in clearer optical performance. Photojournalists, landscape photographers, travel photographers, and passionate photographers who like taking photos in the rain will all adore this lens. The lens is obviously going to perform better than the Oly 12-50mm anyway, it’s going to be at least as sharp, and most of the time a lot more so- I’ll be honest I only briefly checked sharpness comparisons online to make sure it was decent- it’s way better than the Oly 12-50 as you’d expect. In extreme low-light situations you may experience a little focus hunting at the long end, but the constant f/2. On the other hand it can be of advantage if you wear the cam by strap on your shoulder, because by pointing down to the ground, it’s kept safely aligned to your body.