OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 Pro Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras

Product Information

A petal-shaped hood is supplied with this lens, which does a reasonable job of shading the lens from extraneous light that may cause issues with loss of contrast or flare. Even without the hood in place, this lens is very resistant to flare and contrast levels hold up well when shooting into the light. The concerns of a M43 user about equivalence are mainly focal length so they know what FoV they're getting. Maybe a little DoF concern so they can get some subject separation. The lens has one L.Fn button located about where you would usually have your thumb if you’re holding your left hand under the lens. I outline the L.Fn functions in my 40-150mm review. Panasonic camera owners should be aware that the 12-40mm f/2.8 does not have image stabilization. This might be a deal breaker for some Panasonic camera users (Olympus uses sensor-based stabilization).

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 Cropping doesn't change the lens physics but it stops you taking the same photo. To take a comparable photo you'll need to zoom out (and open up the aperture if you want it to look like the original)"

Olympus PRO Advantage Registration

The 12–40mm F2.8 PRO II is an updated version of the original 2013 lens. It features improved sealing, taking it up to the IP53 standard and adds fluorine coating to keep water and dirt off the front element.

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 features, the M.ZUIKO Digital 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens has quite a lot to offer. For starters, it has a so-called L-Fn button, which allows users to temporarily suspend continuous auto focus when something suddenly comes between the lens and your intended subject. This is mostly useful when shooting a movie clip with C-AF enabled, but the feature can also be used when photographing action.This is a pro-grade optic that's one of the "holy trinity" lenses, offering a fast, fixed f/2.8 aperture and full weather sealing. (Indeed, as noted, it offers the best weather sealing in the business.) MPB puts photo and video kit into more hands, more sustainably. Every month, visual storytellers sell more than 20,000 cameras and lenses to MPB. Choose used and get affordable access to kit that doesn’t cost the earth. If you are shooting on a Panasonic body then perhaps you might prefer to go with the Panasonic lens to take advantage of Panasonic’s depth from defocus system and in the case of the mark ii lens their dual sync IS. The Panasonic lenses are both lighter than the Olympus.

Purchasing anything through the B&H Link below helps support Admiring Light at no additional cost to you: Falloff of illumination towards the corners is fairly typical for a standard zoom lens, and shouldn't pose too many issues. At 12mm and f/2.8 the comers are 1.35 stops darker than the centre of the image and at 40mm, and falloff is reduced and the corners are only 0.76 stops darker than the image centre. Stopping down to f/5.6 results in visually uniform illumination across the frame throughout the zoom range. 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. 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. Introducing A "New Classic" Standard Zoom Lens and the World's Most Compact, Lightweight 1 Telephoto Zoom Lens Available with both lensesThe Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 was the first in Olympus’ Pro series of lenses designed for Micro 4/3 cameras. It is a weatherproof (dust, splash and freeze proof) fixed aperture zoom lens offering the 35mm equivalent field of view of a 24-80mm lens. It has a fixed aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom range with a filter thread of 62mm. 62mm filter thread 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. Since the OM System branding is still new, it's worth pointing out that OM System lenses are fully compatible with Olympus cameras and vice versa. OM System lenses look exactly like previous Olympus lenses, save for the OM System name on the barrel and lens caps. And finally we come to the Micro Four Thirds to Full Frame SENSOR comparison and the insistence that discussing equivalence means that the M43 shooter is trying to get the same ISO noise performance.

Olympus OM-1 + OM System M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro II (1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO200) (Image credit: James Artaius) OM System M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro II: Key features As of February 15, 2022. The world's most compact, lightweight model as a fixed aperture, 300mm equivalent (35mm equivalent) telephoto zoom lens. Our in-house research.

Comments

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. ;-) 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 lens has a versatile focal range. At the 12mm end, the diagonal angle of view is 84°, i.e. the same as that of a 24mm lens in a 35mm system.