{"id":5391,"date":"2015-08-15T20:15:58","date_gmt":"2015-08-16T01:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=5391"},"modified":"2015-08-15T20:17:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-16T01:17:27","slug":"review-olympus-m-zuiko-7-14mm-f2-8-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-olympus-m-zuiko-7-14mm-f2-8-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO adds the ultra-wide angle range to the PRO line of f\/2.8 zoom lenses recently introduced by Olympus for the Micro 4\/3 system. \u00a0The 7-14mm f\/2.8 is a faster and supposedly superior optic to Panasonic’s excellent 7-14mm f\/4 lens that has been a staple of the Micro 4\/3 system for many years. \u00a0The extra speed and quality comes at a price, however, with a $1299 cost of entry for this versatile wide-zoom. \u00a0Is it worth the extra dough?<\/p>\n

\"Olympus<\/a>
Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 Pro on the OM-D E-M5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Construction and Handling<\/h3>\n

When compared to other micro 4\/3 lenses, the 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO is a hefty beast. \u00a0It’s significantly larger than any other ultra-wide for the system, and has a substantial and bulbous front element. \u00a0However, you’ll find it’s similar in size to many other ultra-wide lenses for other mirrorless systems, such as the Fuji 10-24mm f\/4 and the Sony FE 16-35mm f\/4. \u00a0The lens is made for the serious shooter, and is really intended for use on the cameras with more substantial grips, such as the Panasonic GH4, Olympus OM-D E-M1 and so on.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 7-14mm f\/2.8 is a large lens for Micro 4\/3, but isn’t overly large compared to many wide-angle zooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I tested the camera using my Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the horizontal grip, which made the lens easy to handle in the field. \u00a0The width of the main barrel of the lens does make clearance a bit tight with this grip, but it’s not bad at all. \u00a0I wouldn’t recommend the lens for use with the smaller bodies such as any of the Olympus PEN series or the Panasonic GM series.<\/p>\n

The lens is constructed predominantly of metal, and the overall build quality is very good. \u00a0The large permanent lens hood is made of plastic, and feels a bit cheaper than the rest of the lens, but the overall impression is one of quality. \u00a0The zoom and focus rings move smoothly, with nice damping, though the zoom ring sort of ‘snaps’ into the 7mm setting. \u00a0It’s a minor thing to note, but it did take away slightly from the otherwise excellent haptics.<\/p>\n

The 7-14mm features a focus clutch mechanism like the other PRO series zooms, providing instant access to manual focus by pulling back the ring. \u00a0This also reveals a focus scale and has hard stops for the ends of the focus range. Manually focusing is easy, and the focus ring provides adequate resistance for a nice focus feel. \u00a0 The 7-14mm, like many Olympus lenses, features\u00a0a programmable L-Fn button that can come in handy for quick access to settings on the camera.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The broad zoom ring sits below the focus clutch focus ring, which reveals a distance scale when pulled to the rear<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lens is sealed against dust and moisture, and while I didn’t have an opportunity to thoroughly test the weather sealing, I have confidence in it given the strong showings Olympus has shown in this area with all of its sealed Micro 4\/3 lenses.<\/p>\n

Autofocus<\/h4>\n

There’s not too much to talk about with regards to autofocus, given the very wide field of view. \u00a0The focus throw of such a lens is always going to be short, so it’s no surprise that the Olympus 7-14mm PRO is a very fast focusing lens. \u00a0In essentially any lighting situation, I found the 7-14mm very quick and very accurate with regards to autofocus. \u00a0Certainly nothing to worry about here.<\/p>\n

The 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO does not have an optical stabilizer, as all Olympus Micro 4\/3 bodies have in-body stabilization. \u00a0For Panasonic shooters, it’s still not anything that is really too much to worry about, especially given the performance at f\/2.8. \u00a0While stabilization is always nice, it’s not essential on a fast ultra-wide angle lens.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

The Olympus PRO lineup of f\/2.8 zooms is known for their excellent image quality. \u00a0When I reviewed the 12-40mm f\/2.8<\/a> and the 40-150mm f\/2.8<\/a>, I was very impressed by the overall optical quality, and I’m glad to say the 7-14mm is similarly impressive for the most part, though it is not a flawless lens.<\/p>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n

The 7-14mm f\/2.8 is an ambitious lens design, as only a handful of wide zooms have fields of view that start as wide as the 7-14mm. \u00a0Thankfully, Olympus has done a remarkable job with regards to image sharpness. \u00a0Images are sharp over almost the entire frame right from f\/2.8. \u00a0While the corners are a bit softer at f\/2.8 than they are in the center, even wide open shots show good edge-to-edge sharpness. \u00a0Stopping down to f\/4-f\/5.6 yields images that are impressively sharp from corner to corner. \u00a0The center does retain a slight edge over the corners, but that’s the case with any ultra-wide zoom. \u00a0The shot below was taken at 7mm at f\/5.6, and provides excellent resolution across the frame. \u00a0Click on the image for a larger version, and click here for a 100% crop<\/a> of the lower right corner of the frame.<\/p>\n

\"Morning<\/a>
Morning on the River – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 7mm, f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

Ultra-wide lenses aren’t known for their ability to blur the background very much, and this is especially true on the smaller formats like Micro 4\/3. \u00a0However, it is still possible to achieve some background separation when shooting close to your subject, and when this is the case, the 7-14mm does a fine job at rendering a smooth background. \u00a0While the lens won’t win any awards for smoothest bokeh, things are relatively neutral here, with only a very slight bright outline around specular highlights. Still, given the nature of the lens, bokeh isn’t something you’ll generally be concerning yourself with.<\/p>\n

\"Morning<\/a>
Morning View – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 14mm, f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

The Olympus 7-14mm displays excellent contrast throughout the focal and aperture ranges. \u00a0As such, the rendering of the lens is similar whether shooting at f\/2.8 or f\/8. \u00a0Contrast is nice and crisp without being overly strong, while colors are rich and faithful.<\/p>\n

The 7-14mm PRO is not great, however, when it comes to chromatic aberration control. \u00a0Lateral CA is visible at all focal lengths, but is especially pronounced at the wide end of the zoom range. \u00a0The edges of the frame at the wide end display red\/green chromatic aberration that is several pixels wide, and will be visible in the final image unless corrected in postprocessing.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

Like most Micro 4\/3 lenses, the Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO makes extensive use of built-in distortion correction algorithms. \u00a0These are baked into the RAW file, and so when using a compatible RAW converter, such as Adobe Lightroom, you won’t ever see the uncorrected image. \u00a0Some people take issue with this, while others only care about the final result. \u00a0I’m fairly pragmatic when it comes to automatic distortion correction: I don’t mind if a lens was designed with it in mind, as long as the corrected version doesn’t show obvious issues as a result of the correction. \u00a0With the 7-14mm, I am honestly fine with it. \u00a0The distortion correction, I’m sure, takes a few lp\/mm out of the resolving ability at the corners, but in my experience with the lens, sharpness is nothing to worry about, even at the corners on distortion corrected images.<\/p>\n

On those corrected images, there is very little visible distortion remaining, and for the most part, you won’t notice it. \u00a0In shots where there are a lot of straight lines, there is a bit of residual mustache distortion at the wide end, though it’s quite minor. \u00a0When looking at the uncorrected images, however, the lens shows very pronounced barrel distortion at the wider focal lengths that softens to a more negligible profile at the longer end of the zoom range. \u00a0An uncorrected image at 7mm can be seen below. \u00a0The corrected version of the image below can be found in the image samples on the next page.<\/p>\n

\"Palace<\/a>
Palace Restaurant (uncorrected distortion) – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 7mm, f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lens performs much better with regards to vignetting. \u00a0Vignetting is very minor with the 7-14mm, even at f\/2.8. \u00a0Even when using a converter that doesn’t utilize profile corrections, vignetting is generally quite minor.<\/p>\n

The same can not, however, be said for flare. \u00a0While the distortion correction I view as essentially a non-issue, and the chromatic aberration is notable, but again correctable, the 7-14mm earns poor marks with respect to performance against bright light. \u00a0With any bright light in the frame, small discs of flare can be seen around the light source, but thing get especially egregious when the sun is in the frame. \u00a0Given the wide-angle field of view, the sun can often be in the frame when shooting outdoors. While the 7-14mm will not lose contrast across the frame when bright light sources are present, there is a local loss of contrast around the light source.<\/p>\n

\"City<\/a>
City at Dawn – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 7-14mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 12mm, f\/5.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the sun, large multicolored ghosts are spread across large portions of the image. In some cases, these provide a neat effect. \u00a0In many images, it will ruin the picture. \u00a0Placing the sun near the edge of the frame will also result in bright purple ghosts smeared out from the light source. \u00a0Flare is an issue with the lens at all focal lengths and all apertures as well, so you really must plan accordingly when using the lens with the sun in the frame. \u00a0See the image above\u00a0for a typical scenario.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n