Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40 mm F2.8 PRO Lens, Universal Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

Product Information

If I take an image on a 150mm F4 lens on micro four thirds, and one at 300mm F8 on full frame for the same exposure time, then both sensors will be exposed to the same number of photons. It doesn't matter what ISO rating is recorded in the EXIF: if you view them the same size, they'll have the same depth-of-field, the same diffraction and very similar tonal quality and noise. In most almost way they'll look essentially the same. Though the thread is quite old, it is still found by people searching the lens, so I will still add my experience: Further, the OM System 12-40mm f2.8 Pro II struggles more with exposure preview settings activated. If you’re using the simulated OVF function, you’ll get the best autofocus performance in terms of accuracy, speed, and all. 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.

As of today, there are two mid-range constant aperture zooms for Micro Four Thirds. The Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm has been around since mid-2012, while the M.Zuiko 12-40mm made its appearance in late 2013 when the OM-D E-M1 was launched. Both feature a constant aperture of 2.8, meaning that they can be used even in difficult light conditions.

Latest Reviews

I almost didn’t include this lens on the list, but that would have been a bit unfair given the unique characteristics this Nokton has to offer. Like the 10.5mm, the 0.95 aperture coupled with Voigtländer’s distinctive colour rendering and bokeh gives your images a different look. It is not as sharp, contrasty or precise as modern digital lenses, but this might be exactly what you are looking for. I think the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro is a great lens and definitively worth it's somewhat hefty price tag. Anyway, in my opinion it lives up to its 'Pro' label.

Standard zoom lenses, whether premium or kit, start from 12mm or 14mm. This gives you an equivalent angle of view of 24/28mm which gives you lots of flexibility if you’re interested in landscapes or architecture. Of course you don’t get the extreme view shorter focal lengths can deliver, but you have a longer reach when zooming in. 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. Zooming to 40mm results in a slight reduction in sharpness at maximum aperture, although performance is still very good in the centre of the frame and good towards the edges of the frame at f/2.8. Stopping down to between f/4 and f/5.6 results in outstanding sharpness across the frame at this focal length. You can get really close with this lens. I think it's a very nice option to have and I can imagine that many photographers don't need an extra macro lens. This Olympus 12-40mm might very well be the only lens many people ever need. Especially when combined with the very efficient Olympus in body stabilization. It's a do it all kind of lens. And it does it well too.Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the M.ZUIKO Digital 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro, Olympus employed a seven circular-bladed diaphragm, which produces some very nice bokeh, at least in our opinion. However, recognising that bokeh evaluation is subjective, we have provided a few examples for your perusal. If you are trying to decide between this lens and the Panasonic 12-35mm (mark i or mark II) then it really comes down to a few factors as optically they are very similar. The Olympus is better at the wide end and offers a little more range at the long end. However the Panasonic is slightly sharper at 35m than the Olympus is at 40mm. The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 was the first of its Pro lineup of lenses, eventually going to be a set of four (7-14mm f/2.8, 12-40mm f/2.8, 40-150mm f/2.8, 300mm f/4). As such, it’s a high performance lens that’s been built at a high level of quality, as well. Weather resistance aside, this lens is fantastic when it comes to build quality. It’s lightweight and feels awesome in your hand. And I can’t really complain too much about that at all. It’s a lens that you’ll want to bring with you everywhere you go. Ease of Use

I have both lenses and a GH5. Optically the 12-40 is better at the frame edges at the wide settings at longer focusing distances. As a 'landscape' type shooter this would be the deal breaker. On the other hand the the 12-35 is smaller, lighter and has lens stabilisation. The 12-40 has better manual focus control which if you shoot video is an advantage. I also have the 12-60 2.8-4 and I'd say this is again better than the 12-35 at 12mm ( but not as good as the 12-40) but bigger and slower. In the end I mainly use the 12-40 as I can confidently shoot at 2.8 throughout the zoom range without worrying I need to stop down to get optimal sharpness. The 12-35 doesn't improve much when stopped down and the 12-60 needs to be at 5.6 at the longer end to achieve optimal performance at the frame edges. Sample variations may apply to my copy of the 12-60 but my 12-35 vs 12-40 results seem in line with most if not all tests I have seen over the years. Neither Oly lens fulfills a critical need for me, but they would make taking photos more convenient in some situations. There are two rings on this lens, the zoom ring and the focus ring. The zoom ring is located closer to the camera body and is about one inch long and has metal ribbing for an easy grip. It rotates smoothly, but has a nice resistance, which is stiff enough that it won't creep, but it definitely takes two fingers to rotate. This lens, while an internally focusing lens, is not an internally zooming lens, and will extend while zooming. It actually extends ever so slightly from 12mm until about 18mm, then from 18mm onwards, it extends more significantly, about an extra inch or so. If you are about to spend this kind of money, you want to make sure that the lens delivers proper optical performance and one thing is for sure: the 12mm is sharp. Right from 1.4 it delivers excellent results which means it becomes an interesting option for low light events, weddings and astro-photography. Distortion and chromatic aberration are a non-issue.It’s tiny but mighty. If you were ever a fan of the dwarves in Warhammer, Gimli in Lord of the Rings, or the astonishing efficiency of dishwater cleaning tablets, you’ll like this. Small can be awesome for sure. Autofocus 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. There is only a minimum of light fall-off in the corners, which you will probably not even notice in your real-world photos, and distortion is commendably kept well under control too. The Lumix too has a ribbed manual focus and zoom ring but the latter is covered in rubber. Though it attracts more dust, I actually prefer rubber rings as they are more comfortable to use on cold days. It doesn’t have a clutch mechanism nor a function button but it does benefit from a Power O.I.S. (optical image stabilisation) switch, a feature I’ll discuss in more detail later on. The Power O.I.S. switch on the Lumix 12-35mm

Biggest problem here is that the coloris clipped badly. Dial it down in post. If you shot raw this might be recoverable. Hard to see what else is happening here because of the clipped color. 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 As I explained in my full review of the Lumix 12-35mm, the optical stabilisation is very good, delivering sharp results down to an average of 1.3s at 12mm and 1/10s at 35mm. When updated with the newest firmware and paired with the GX8’s Dual I.S. system, you can achieve even better results – specifically, an average of 1s at 12mm and 1/3s at 35mm. DMC-GX8, 1 sec, f/ 3,2, ISO 200 – Lumix 12-35mm In my case, going either way would make other lenses in my collection obsolete, the 12-40 would replace my old 12-60, already a stellar performer but the adapter and slower contrast detect AF are annoying. On the other hand, the 12-100 would completely crush my 14-150 II, a practical lens but one I never was quite pleased with the IQ ("kit zoom IQ"). Kowa Prominar 8.5mm f2.8: I saw this lens at the Photography Show in Birmingham 5 years ago but never got the chance to test a full production sample. The 17mm equivalent field of view is interesting but now that the smaller Laowa 9mm is out, I see little reason to get this one, especially considering the high price.

Impulses: "I'd be curious how well those hold up at 42-61MP" -- not great... which is often better than the very best MFT lenses have ever done. ;-)