Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsJust crunch the numbers and you’ll know what this lens is and isn’t good for.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018
It’s not a fast lens, nor a sharp one. You won’t get much bokeh unless you focus on something very close to you. It’s a wide angle at minimum zoom but even at that focal length, is an F3.5. Nothing to write home about.
There are two reasons to buy this lens. One is that while you run around in a neat location in the middle of the day, you don’t want to shoulder multiple lenses. Who does? This is an excellent lens for that! Image quality is a bit soft, to allow for its versatility and price. That said, it’s more realistic to how we see things. If you snap well framed photos of something interesting, you’ll have captured exactly that. This lens goes from wide angle to 42mm, covering the range of three M.Zuiko primes in a single more compact lens.
The other reason to buy this is to have a way to convert your Oly to a point and shoot when you go out on the town at night. That, unfortunately, is where this lens falls flat on its face. It can take wide angle shots like you’ll need indoors, but the glass is too slow to take good ones without a flash. If you’re considering this lens for that, think again.
My own personal solution for this doesn’t involve my micro four-thirds at all. Instead, I invested in a Moment system. They offer a case for my iPhone 8 that costs $35 and a wide angle lens that adds another $60. For a hundred bucks, my F2.0 iPhone is perfect for nightlife photography, as much as a camera with such a tiny sensor and limited dynamic range can be. It’s an excellent solution and the lens fits in either front jeans pocket when not attached to the phone.
Bottom line, this is an excellent lens for running around and not carrying other lenses with you, sight seeing during the day when you don’t want to be completely focused on photography but still want to shoot what interesting things you stumble across. When night falls, if you’re still taking photos, best you find a better solution.
I ordered this lens here, without warranty, and so far it’s worked just fine. Then again, I’ve never had to send an Olympus lens back for warranty repairs. Your mileage may vary, but I never would have purchased this lens for full price. I anticipated its limitations and don’t feel that it’s worth full retail price. As I’m reviewing this particular purchase, five full stars. It’s only good for what it’s good for, but it handles that with dispatch.
