Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18 mm F4.0-5.6 Lens, Wide Angle Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

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Well 35mm sensors just perform better due to having the laws of physics behind them. However those same laws make the camera's and lenses bulky and unwieldy. m43 compromises High ISO in favour of having a smaller more nimble system. Whether one thinks it's a good trade-off is personal opinion. Chromatic aberrations towards the edges of the frame are well controlled at 9mm, but increase to noticeable levels with the lens zoomed beyond 14mm. Care may need to be taken when photographing scenes with high contrast edges places near the periphery of the image area. However, those drawn to the Leica’s versatile zoom range may also find themselves wondering how it compares to another wide angle zoom for the system with an almost identical range of focal lengths: the Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6. At the mean time, the Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm is a great option for ultra wide angle photography for Micro Four Thirds users. Do you own one? What are your experiences using this lens? Do share your thoughts!

Olympus 9-18mm M. photos on Flickr | Flickr Olympus 9-18mm M. photos on Flickr | Flickr

As it stands in the range, it is currently the best value ultra-wide for MFT and the collapsible, lightweight design means that it is perfect for taking on your travels.Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create. The Olympus 7-14 is big, heavy, and does not take filters naturally (I do have an adapter that lets me mount 105mm filters). Especially at the wide end, the M.Zuiko 9-18 exhibits some slight barrel distortion. You probably won’t notice it in a landscape picture, but in architectural shots or scenes with lots of parallel lines it will be noticeable. Again, this is something that can easily be dealt with in post-processing. Lightroom has the option to create a lens profile, and the corrections can then be automatically applied to all images taken with the lens.

Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4 - 5.6: Digital Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4 - 5.6: Digital

The M.Zuiko 9-18mm is as straightforward to use as any Micro Four Thirds zoom lens. Only the collapsing mechanism might be a little awkward for first time users. This being a super wide-angle lens though, the vastness of the scene appearing on the screen when the lens is set to 9mm might be frightening at first. There are situations where an extreme angle-of-view such as this is beneficial, but in other situations, even the 18mm setting won’t get you close enough.The 9-18mm's only direct competitor in the Four Thirds system is the Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM, which at the time of writing is rather cheaper and features ultrasonic-type focusing, but loses at the wide end where every millimetre of focal length counts (9mm offers an extra 5 degrees angle of view over 10mm). The Sigma will be subject of a future review; for now let's see how the 9-18mm fares in our tests. Use of the Panasonic L10 as Four Thirds test body