Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm f/2.8 - Review / Test Report - Samples & Verdict
Lens Reviews - (Micro-)Four-Thirds

Sample Images & Verdict

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Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 12.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/500s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 40.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/800s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 40.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/320s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 12.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/200s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 40.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/320s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 40.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure 1/400s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 31.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure 1/800s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 14.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/100s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 26.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure 1/125s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 12.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure 1/640s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 25.0mm
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure 1/800s
Make Panasonic
Model DMC-GX7
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 12.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/200s

Verdict

Upon first contact you will immediately fall in love with the Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm f/2.8 as the mechanical implementation is exemplary and meets the expectations of a pro lens. Features like the manual focus clutch mechanism or the L-FN button will make photographers likewise movie enthusiasts happy and both will appreciate the fast and silent operation of the autofocus.
The optical quality of this standard zoom is impressive, with an extremely sharp centre zone whereas the border and corner resolution is very good. This perception is once more leveraged by the low amount of lateral CAs. Furthermore the distortion level is fine from a user perspective, but technically it relies on a drastic amount of auto-correction by the system or a RAW-converter - especially at 12mm wide-open. The quality of the bokeh is not overly impressive but still acceptable for a zoom lens.
Nevertheless, the vignetting results are pretty disappointing and a visible annoyance at 12mm and only slightly better beyond this focal length.
Although Olympus first pro zoom may not be perfect there's much to like about this beautiful lens and while the pricing is a little too steep in our opinion it’s still in line with its direct competitor from Panasonic.

Optical Quality: to
Mechanical Quality:
Price/Performance:
      
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