Sample Images & Verdict

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Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 12.0mm Aperture: f/2.8 Exposure 1/500s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 40.0mm Aperture: f/2.8 Exposure 1/800s
Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 40.0mm Aperture: f/2.8 Exposure 1/320s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 12.0mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure 1/200s
Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 40.0mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure 1/320s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 40.0mm Aperture: f/4.0 Exposure 1/400s
Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 31.0mm Aperture: f/4.0 Exposure 1/800s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 14.0mm Aperture: f/8.0 Exposure 1/100s
Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 26.0mm Aperture: f/4.0 Exposure 1/125s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 12.0mm Aperture: f/4.0 Exposure 1/640s
Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 25.0mm Aperture: f/4.0 Exposure 1/800s	Make Panasonic Model DMC-GX7 ISO Speed 200 Focal Length 12.0mm Aperture: f/5.6 Exposure 1/200s

Verdict

Upon first contact you will immediately fall in love with the Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm f/2.8 as the mechanical implementation is exemplary and meets the expectations of a pro lens. Features like the manual focus clutch mechanism or the L-FN button will make photographers likewise movie enthusiasts happy and both will appreciate the fast and silent operation of the autofocus.
The optical quality of this standard zoom is impressive, with an extremely sharp centre zone whereas the border and corner resolution is very good. This perception is once more leveraged by the low amount of lateral CAs. Furthermore the distortion level is fine from a user perspective, but technically it relies on a drastic amount of auto-correction by the system or a RAW-converter - especially at 12mm wide-open. The quality of the bokeh is not overly impressive but still acceptable for a zoom lens.
Nevertheless, the vignetting results are pretty disappointing and a visible annoyance at 12mm and only slightly better beyond this focal length.
Although Olympus first pro zoom may not be perfect there's much to like about this beautiful lens and while the pricing is a little too steep in our opinion it’s still in line with its direct competitor from Panasonic.

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