Digital Camera World - UK (2020-04)

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com APRIL 2020 DIGITAL CAMERA^123

Olympus

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14-42mm f/3.5-5.6

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£255/$224

A pancake that doesn’t fall flat

Olympus

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12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

£699/$849

Boasts a constant aperture

Digital Camera verdict Digital Camera verdict

3.5 Very good 4.5 Outstanding

Features Build & Performance Value Features Performance Value

handling

Build &

handling

Adding to the slimline,
travel-friendly
credentials of Olympus
Micro Four Thirds
cameras, this is a
neat lens that takes
up next to no room at
all when it’s retracted.

Lab test results don’t

tell the full story: this

lens was an excellent

performer throughout

all of our ‘real-world’

procedures, and

delivers pictorially

gorgeous results.

4.5

his ‘pancake’ zoom from
Olympus follows the same
basic script as the Fujinon
15-45mm kit lens on test.
It’s available in black or silver and has
a retractable design with a motorised
zoom mechanism. However, it’s even
smaller and lighter than the Fujinon.
The speed of the zoom motor
increases if you twist the zoom ring
further, but precise adjustments for
stills capture can be tricky. Build
quality is good: surprisingly for such a
lightweight kit lens, the mounting plate
is made from metal rather than plastic.

Performance
Upmarket optics include three
aspherical elements, one aspherical
ED element and a Super HR (High
Refractive index) element, along with
Olympus’s A Zero coating. Outright
sharpness is a little mediocre, but
image quality on the whole is
good for a lens this small.

oming in at three times

the price of the Olympus

pancake zoom and four

times the weight, this is

very much the pro-grade big brother

for Micro Four Thirds cameras. Indeed,

the constant f/2.8 aperture rating

makes this lens two f-stops faster

than the Olympus pancake zoom

at the long end of the zoom range.

The weather-sealed build quality

is excellent, while handling luxuries

include a physical focus distance

scale and a neat customisable

Lens-Function button.

Performance

Optical highlights include two

aspherical, one dual-surface

aspherical, one ED aspherical,

two ED and two HR elements, along

with A Zero coating. Sharpness and

contrast proved excellent in our

real-world testing, although lab

results weren’t overly inspiring.

TC

Sharpness

Sharpness drops off towards

the edges when you use wide

apertures in the short half.

Sharpness

Results for sharpness don’t

look particularly good, but

the lens performs beautifully.

Fringing

Short 1.41 Long 0.52

Minimal fringing at the short

end vanishes at the long end.

Fringing

Short 0.3 Long 0.53

There’s no fringing to be seen

after in-camera corrections.

Distortion

Short -1.67 Long -0.21

After in-camera corrections,

it’s a distortion-free lens.

Distortion

Short 0.04 Long 0.2

Distortions are kept firmly

at bay with auto corrections.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

f/3.5 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

14mm 22mm

30mm 42mm

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

12mm 18mm

25mm 40mm

3.5 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.5 4.5 4.5

BEST FOR

OLYMPUS

Standard zooms Group Test