Review of Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO

[wonglp]

beautiful composite shots, and kudos for the in-depth review.
looks like you're right, the sweet spot for this is in the 5.6-8.0 range.
I'm impressed that even at 2.8 the CA is quite suppressed.

Thanks! It is well controlled, I see very minor in Raw, even so, have to zoom in. I'll show some CA comparison when time permits.

Good stuff Mod. Thanks for the photos. Your efforts I am sure are well appreciated by everyone.

There's quite a lot of difference in detail and dynamic range between the regular 16MP and the 40MP special mode.

What tripod did you use? I understand that any small tremble can affect the capture quality.

Thanks again! I use a delay setting which is within the menu for hi res shot, it helps alot in eliminating shakes, I used a small clamp for the hi res shot

 

[wonglp]

bro this one is very nice... i am more intrigue by the water trail then the star trail... definitely made an interesting impact to the shot. Very curious do u know what cause this?

I'm guessing it to be light painting.

Light came from the street, the squiggly stuff are some fallen leaves it's distracting to me though

 

[iluvs90]

Light came from the street, the squiggly stuff are some fallen leaves it's distracting to me though

Looks like Pollock's painting though. Thanks for this review.

 

[mabmy]

wow this lens is really poisonous! I can't wait for it to be available so that I can test it!

 

[wonglp]

Looks like Pollock's painting though. Thanks for this review.

Thanks bro, had to google that hehe

wow this lens is really poisonous! I can't wait for it to be available so that I can test it!

Yes bro!

 

[wonglp]

Some street photography with Olympus 7-14, the wideness and zoom can be very useful.


EM5MarkII @7mm, ISO200, 1/40s, F6.3, jpeg, cropped only.



EM5MarkII @7mm, ISO100, 1/5s, F6.3, OOC jpeg


EM5MarkII @7mm, ISO100, 1/640s, F7.1, OOC jpeg


EM5MarkII @7mm, ISO200, 1/200s, F7.1, OOC jpeg

 

[wonglp]

Did a selfie today

7mm @F2.8, ISO800, 1/20s with EM5markII, slight rotation and crop.




Shot a moving puffer fish, with some blur background. 7mm, F2.8, 1/50s, ,ISO800

 

[cereal]

This lens is very nice indeed... but I would like to ask a silly question, how do I protect the lens beside putting on a lens cap.. normally all my lens, I juz dump it into my bag without putting on a cap, this is the only concern that I have that stop me from getting this lens currently.

 

[wonglp]

This lens is very nice indeed... but I would like to ask a silly question, how do I protect the lens beside putting on a lens cap.. normally all my lens, I juz dump it into my bag without putting on a cap, this is the only concern that I have that stop me from getting this lens currently.

The glass is most protruded at 7mm, still the hood is there to "protect" the glass from big flat objects as it's slightly more extended than the glass, on your due diligence, you would want to be sure there's nothing other than pads inside your bag, no lens caps, no key, no coin, nothing. You could retract the glass with 14mm setting and perhaps that helps a bit...hope that helps

 

[cereal]

ok thanks!

 

[wonglp]

Night shot flare and star burst. A shot that slows the traffic down, for the wrong reason Can see some flare from the street lamp, and also some internal sensor reflection (i think) - small colored dots near the nearest street lamp, which I tend to get with other lenses and mirrorless system as well. All out of camera Jpegs shot with EM5MarkII, pardon the slight perspective distortions

F11, 7mm, 13sec, ISO100.


F16, 7mm, 13sec, ISO200.


F22, 7mm, 25s, ISO200

 

[wonglp]

Olympus has ZERO multicoating (Zuiko Extra-low Reflectance Optical) applied on all lens surfaces of both lenses to effectively suppress ghosting and flare, here's some shots to show, some very harsh situations. All OOC jpegs. Certainly not devoid of flares, though I think it did well to control it. At a smaller aperture, flare seems to have a more impact.

@F7.1, 7mm


@F9, 7mm


@F14, 7mm


@F22, 7mm

 

[wonglp]

More flare test, night. All OOC jpeg, EM5MarkII. Flare gets more distinct as aperture becomes smaller

@F2.8


@F5.6


@F11


@F16


@F22

 

[wonglp]

One issue with this lens is the lack of a filter thread or a filter holder accessory. For one who loves long exposure photography, this is a big problem, luckily, I had managed to fit my Panasonic 7-14 DIY on this, albeit tight. I shared it a few times on the forum, a spin off DIY from moderator Francis247 idea, in case it's of any use. Here's the version I did here

And here's a shot of long exposure, with Haida ND3.0 (10 stopper) with 84dot5mm soft edge GND 0.9 stacked. 200secs shot, F7, ISO200, 7mm, EM5MarkII, jpeg shot processed by Lightroom.

 

[wonglp]

Last shot for this review before wrapping up some thoughts:

F11, 7mm, ISO200, 1/10s with reverse GND. Jpeg processed by Lightroom.


- Excellent sharpness even at F2.8
- Terrific built, the only thing I didn't test was under the rain though, but pretty sure it's capable for those situations.
- CA was never an issue so far.
- Flare seems well controlled, although not devoid of it, still get it in some harsh situations of strong light (sun, street lamp) source.
- Love the starburst!
- Distortion, can't see much of distortion issues.
- Superbly fast AF as with a lot of the m43 lenses these days,
- The manual clutch mechanism is so useful for landscape and low light situations. Turn on focus peaking and magnification to have it work even better.
I would love to have this lens, but on my EM10 it would be difficult to handle for long travels and extended hours of using, it would certainly be a good combi on EM1, or EM5/MarkII with grip. It's certainly not a small/light lens to handle as well. For those who's into astrophotography, the F2.8 would certainly be very useful. No filter holder for it might be a show stopper for some, but if you can find a way to DIY certainly it would certainly be icing on the cake.

Hope the review helps some who are considering to enter m43 system, or currently is using m43 and considering a capable UWA. Next up will be the review for the Olympus 8mm Fisheye PRO. Stay tuned.

 

[icaremuch]

Thanks for all the detailed posts with the photos. I'll be picking up this lens this month after I sell my Panasonic 7-14mm. I'm impressed with the shallow depth of field shots at close focal range. Can you post a couple of more shots in that faux-macro style?

 

[wonglp]

Thanks for all the detailed posts with the photos. I'll be picking up this lens this month after I sell my Panasonic 7-14mm. I'm impressed with the shallow depth of field shots at close focal range. Can you post a couple of more shots in that faux-macro style?

I have a couple more I think in my computer, had since return the lens. Will see what I have. Cheers

 

[bhtan83]

Still no pricing for the new lens yet...

 

[wonglp]

Some close up shots if that helps

7mm, f2.8, ooc jpeg


7mm, f2.8, ooc jpeg

 

[caroland]

Nice!!! Olympus are slowly overtaking with success, wonderful focal length for interior design use.
Take my money!!!