Review Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO
This review is based on the real-life use of the lens, and I used the lens a lot in the last few months. All statements are my opinion and are based on my style of use. This review is categorized into four sections, and after that, I give you my final thoughts on the lens. Let’s get started with the lens’s build quality. Also good to know is that I don't have any sponsorship I buy all lenses or gear reviewed with my own money.
Build quality 4.5/5 stars
This lens is from the Pro line lenses from Olympus that means that its fabrication is of the highest standards. I only can confirm that it feels like a very premium product. It has a good weight and solid feel to it. The rings are nice and wide and feel very smooth to turn. The focus ring clicks secure in the manual focus mode, and it has hard stops. When you zoom in and out, you feel that it's a very tight-made lens. The weather sealing gaskets are so tight that you feel air pomping out of the lens when you zoom. I can tell you from experience that this lens is extremely weather sealed. I used this lens in very wet conditions and in colder climates above the arctic circle. The only thing is the sun hood construction. This is well made, but to operate, it's a bit cumbersome later more about this. This lens never let me down, so for build quality is a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Handling of the lens 4.0/5 stars
I use this lens mainly on my Olympus Em1 mark2 or mark3 bodies. This combination gives an excellent balance and doesn't feel heavy at all. When I mount this lens on my Em5 mark2 or my Em10, it doesn't feel comfortable anymore. The lens on these smaller styled bodies is too front-heavy. Still, of course, it is usable, and it gives excellent results nonetheless. But for my preference, I use the bigger bodies with this lens. The lens is a great workhorse and provides an effective field of view of 24mm to 80mm with a light gathering capability of an f2.8. This means that the lens is very usable in lower light situations. And together with the in-body stabilization, a perfect way to minimize the need for a higher ISO. Of course, when you need to freeze a moving subject, the stabilization will not be effective, and you will need to use a higher ISO, and then again, the f2.8 lets you do this much more manageable. The lens can be used for all sorts of photography genres—kind of the bread and butter lens for a photographer. The lens even can be used for some semi macro shots. It focuses close. The lens has on the barrel a Function button. This can be reassigned to different functions like focus modes or set your focus point to the start setting etc., together with the custom buttons on the Em1 bodies; it's speedy to operate the camera and lens. Also, this lens, like all the Pro-line lenses, has a manual focus clutch. It means that you pull the focus ring to the back, and you are in manual focusing mode. For me, this is a lovely touch with the Olympus pro lenses, and it makes fine-tuning a shot so much easier. At the front, we have the included Olympus sun hood this I can't tell it with less urgency use it. One side protects the lens front glass I've you hit something, and second, it's protecting your photos from the flare of an incoming light source. This is not only for this particular lens but for all lenses; stop wasting money on UV filters. Just use your sun hood. Yet a bit more about this sun hood of the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 pro its a plastic material but made well. When you release the hood, Olympus made two buttons on the side of the hood strange that when you only press the left side button, the hood is already going off. This means that when you carry the camera and lens combination and accidentally bump it against your leg or something, the hood can fall off because the button is pressed. The idea behind the construction is good, but it is not the best working way to attach a sun hood in practice. The lens cap is, according to a lot of other users, not very nice to operate. I say this lens cap has my preference. It makes releasing a bit more complicated, but it also means it doesn't quickly drop from the front of the lens. And to be honest, I prefer a bit more safety than a bit more easy workflow. This cap needs to be enlarged for the Olympus 300mm f4 pro lens when you ask me. It's perfect. Handling the lens, I rate 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO
Optical performance 4.5/5 stars
Again we are talking about a pro-level glass from Olympus/Zuiko. And when you see you're photos, you can tell wide-open its tack sharp in the middle and nicely sharp at the edges. When you close down the lens to f4, it's sharp from corner to corner, and my lens has a sweet spot at f5.6 there is everything on the highest level of sharpness, but again from full opening, it's already very impressive. This lens is suitable for many different genres of photography. When you produce landscape shots with this lens, it's stunning. At maximal zoom, it also creates a beautiful bokeh very pleasing, not on the level of a Fullframe counterpart but also very usable. I always say that every format has its specific use and users. I can't be negative about the optical performance of this lens. It's a winner and a solid 5 out of 5 stars.
Af speed 5/5 stars
From the wide-angle 24mm, it's, of course, less critical to have blazing fast AF. But this lens has it anyway. It is blazing fast to focus. I tested it with the Em1 mark3 and the Em5 mark2. The last-mentioned uses a more primitive contrast-based detection system but also, with this setup, it works flawlessly. Of course, on the Em1 bodies, it will be snappier, but again on 24 fields of view, it is not that critical. When we zoom out and use this lens at an 80mm field of view, it is essential to have a fast-focusing lens and body. Also, here there is nothing more to wish for, and on both camera bodies, it works great. On the Em1, with the excellent eye detection, it's fantastic, for some portraits, an awesome setup. Also impressive is its close focus ability, I can say even a semi macro. The lens focuses 20cm from the sensor or 0,66ft with an equivalent magnification of 0.6 times. This is all the way zoomed out there. We can focus 7cm before the glass is amazing, and it makes this lens again more versatile. AF and its focus abilities are rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO
Conclusion 4.5/5 stars
What a fantastic lens Olympus created a very versatile lens, and it is worth the Pro badge. And I think this is the best lens to buy when you enter the Micro four-thirds world. It gives you everything a great light gather capability. Of course, it's not a cheap lens but compares to what? This lens is as evenly good as a pro-level Nikon or Canon, but these lenses sometimes cost three times the price. But again, every format has its strengths and weaknesses. And a real experience user will know exactly what those strengths are and therefore not have the need to bashing formats. They exploit the perfection within every single sensor format available. And I can tell from a good amount of experience that this lens is a perfect way to start finding the strengths of the micro four-thirds platform its a solid performer and a real workhorse of a lens.
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO
