Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14 mm F2.8 PRO Lens, Wide Angle Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), Black

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For me, I'm trying to figure out if it stays in my m4/3 kit. I think so. There's not a better choice that I can see at the moment. Still, I can't but feel like there's just that little bit extra that's missing on this lens, and that little bit extra that would make it highly recommended instead of just recommended. At 8mm and f/2.8, the Olympus lens is actually a little sharper than the Pana-Leica at the same value. However, as you stop down, the results become almost identical. Had the Pana 7-14 and enjoyed using it but eventually the random (very difficult to predict and to see in camera) purple blobby thing got to me. nice well balanced lens

The zoom ring also goes from minimum to maximum in about a quarter of a turn, with markings at 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14mm. The manual focus experience is good on both lenses as well, though you probably won’t feel the need to switch over to MF all that often unless you are doing astrophotography. Both rings offer a good resistance and the ribbed design makes them easy to grab onto. Used MPB to swap the Pana for the Oly. Excellent service and I get the Oly for less than half price. It looks like new My favourite three high-end general-purpose zooms are the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO (which offers a useful 24-80mm equivalent range with a constant f2.8 aperture but no optical stabilisation), the Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f2.8-4 OIS (costing a tad more and losing the constant aperture, but extending the range to 24-120mm equivalent and including optical stabilisation), and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f4 IS PRO (which costs around 50% more, but boasts an even longer 24-200mm equivalent range, as well as being one of the few Olympus lenses with optical stabilisation).

Design and ease of use

I guess if I had to be pressed on providing a subjective conclusion on the corners for the 7-14mm, I'd call them only good to very good, and then only if you've got the right subject, focus point, and depth of field. This isn't really a lens for in-city architecture. If I ever get in a fight I know my heavyweight friend will help me out. I just hope I don't drop it. It'll probably kill someone It's sharp and the close focus distance is really nice on an ultra wide angle zoom. Build quality is (as with all pros) really good. I used Imatest to evaluate the 7-14mm's performance when paired with the 16-megapixel OM-D E-M1. At 7mm f/2.8 the lens scores 2,463 lines per picture height on a center-weighted test. Thats' better than the 1,800 lines we want to see at a minimum. Image quality is even through most of the frame, but the outer third portion is weaker, though it still shows better than 1,900 lines. Image quality is basically the same as the aperture is narrowed through f/5.6. At f/8 the edges improve, scoring just shy of 2,200 lines. Diffraction is a minor issue at f/11, but the lens still shows 2,384 lines. At f/16 there's a more noticeable drop (1,983 lines), and you should avoid using f/22 as the sharpness decreases drastically to 1,383 lines.

Measuring 79mm in diameter and 106mm in length, the 7-14mm turns out to be almost exactly the same size as the 12-40mm when the latter has its lens hood attached and is set to it shortest physical length (16mm position on the zoom). But at 540g it’s considerably heavier, with the additional weight front-loaded in the large domed front element. Zooming and focusing are both internal, so the lens’s length and balance on the camera never changes. Fancy putting together a triplet of top-end zooms? How about the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 7-14mm f2.8 PRO, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12-40mm f2.8 PRO and Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f2.8 PRO, giving you an equivalent range of 14-300mm with a constant f2.8 aperture. Or if you’re willing to sacrifice the constant f2.8 aperture for a smaller and lighter triplet with f2.8-4 apertures, I’m very fond of the Panasonic Leica DG 8-18mm f2.8-4, Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm f2.8-4 and Panasonic Leica DG 50-200mm f2.8-4, giving you an equivalent range of 16-400mm.Since the Olympus lens has a constant aperture of 2.8, you can achieve a slightly more pleasant out-of-focus rendering at 10mm, 12mm and 14mm compared to the Pana-Leica whose aperture is variable between 2.8 and 4.

Measuring 79mm in diameter and 106mm in length, the 7-14mm turns out to be almost exactly the same size as the 12-40mm when the latter has its lens hood attached and is set to it shortest physical length (16mm position on the zoom). But at 540g it’s considerably heavier, with the additional weight front-loaded in the large domed front element. Zooming and focusing are both internal, so the lens’s length and balance on the camera never changes.

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Before moving on though I’d like to mention the older Olympus 7-14mm f4 lens for the Four Thirds DSLR system. This model measured 87x120mm and weighed 780g, making it larger and heavier than the new Olympus 7-14mm f2.8. So while the new 7-14mm f2.8 may be heftier than the Lumix G 7-14mm f4, it’s still smaller, lighter and brighter than the old Four Thirds model, while maintaining weather-sealing and also boasting an aperture that’s one stop brighter! With the launch of the much-anticipated and long awaited Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark 2, you’re now able to find lots of offers and bundles on Olympus PRO lenses too. Most notably a few of the larger and well known camera stores here in the U.K are promoting the E-M1 mark ii bundled with the 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO for example. But today, I want to emplore and encourage you to take a serious look at the wonderful Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens. In terms of the optical construction, the new Olympus 7-14mm ƒ/2.8 Pro is comprised of 14 elements in 11 groups, including 2 aspherical ED, 1 double-sided aspherical element, 1 standard aspherical element, 3 Super ED, 1 ED and 2 HR elements. It has a 7-bladed circular aperture that stops down to ƒ/22. For example, at 7mm, corrected data has a bit more than 1% barrel distortion, but pure raw data has a whopping 7% barrel distortion, with a slight non-linear aspect to it. At 14mm, the irony is that the lens corrections overcorrect, creating a really small and ignorable faux pincushion from a small and ignorable real barrel distortion. This performance reminds me a lot of the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: some people don't think that lens performs all that well, but that's because they're trying to make it capture flat fields and aren't compensating for the field curvature.