Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras

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I just took this on a trip to Arizona and it was my "go-to" lens everywhere I went. While its not anywhere nearly as light as a prime lens, it was so much more capable! It was just the right amount of zoom and a 2.8 F/stop makes great portraits that my wife loves a lot easier to take. :) Save up for this lens and buy it. Ive got a Tamron Big Zoom Telephoto lens ... but I dont see myself ever carrying it again.

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I have both Nikon and Olympus camera equipment. My preferred go-to camera is now the Olympus OM-D E-M1. Ive had the opportunity to use a fair amount of glass: 5 Nikon lenses, 3 Olympus lenses, and 2 Panasonic lenses (also used on the Olympus). Then I bought the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro. Hands down the best lens Ive ever owned. Sharp, sharp, sharp pictures! Great color rendition. Fast focusing in combination with the Olympus camera. Beautifully and solidly built. Did I say the pictures were superb? To me, this is such a great lens and so worth the money! I could not be happier. Update August 2015: This lens is on my camera 99% of the time. I havent needed or wanted anything else.

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Have owned Olympus cameras since the first Pen, have a lot of lenses and old lenses adapted to them. This was for the new EM-5 mark 11, in high res mode to shoot paintings and still art. It is sharp enough and fast enough for hand holding at night to 2 seconds if you are good, 1 second is no problem on that body, EM-5 mark 1, maybe less, but while its good for a weather proof lens in the swamps of Florida (as long as you do not change lenses in an insect cloud) its second use for me, is shooting paintings and flat art on a tripod to get the rich color and extra pop in crops that the sensor shift provides. So its both a studio camera for an artist, and while its not cheap, its better than four grand for the same rig in a Nikon. It may be a narrow function but it works. As a walking lens it covers wide to portrait very well. I find it stays on the camera. Very happy to have it. A bit heavier than a prime but I cannot change lenses in some situations.

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Excellent lens, my first Pro lens, top quality construction and feel, sharp and clear glass and good color rendition. Not a macro lens but gets close enough to be useful even when handheld. Got it for $799 and well worth the price. Im using it with an OMD E M5 and an OMD E M10 MK II, the M5 with the vertical battery grip feels well balanced, the M10 is too light for the lens and feels lens heavy. Eventually Ill mate it to the OMD E M1 or the OMD EM1 MK II, it all depends on the price $$$

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The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens is simply the best lens Ive ever owned. Its just as sharp, if not sharper, than all the m4/3 primes, including my beloved Olympus 75mm f/1.8. Yes its a little big and heavy for an m4/3 lens, but it replaces several primes that, together, would be bigger and heavier to carry. And compared to the "full-frame" equivalent f/2.8 zooms, its much smaller and lighter. Its a little on the pricey side, but if you can afford one, youll see that its worth every penny. On a side note, I ordered mine through Akiba Express in Japan. It arrived exactly one week after I placed the order. Great customer service.

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I use this on my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and so far its working great. I mostly use it for run and gun and interview shoots. Its very sharp, if its not wide open. At wide open youre risking a little distortion. I try to shoot at a f4 and its great. I have shot at wide open before with no problem but you really have to pay attention to it or else you could end up with an image that is softer than how it looks on your monitor. For the price, I cant complain.

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Superb lens for travel. Great build quality, good bokeh (albeit only 2.8). The lens hood very easily falls off. I lost it on literally the first day of shooting, so be careful. That said, the hood isnt very necessary for preventing unwanted flaring.

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This lens lives up to the reviews, and delivers sharp pictures all across the frame, with gorgeous color and, good bokeh, and fast focussing. Like the older superb 4/3ds 12-60 lens, this new 12-40 is wide enough to be useful indoors, and the micro4/3 system corrects for any distortion automatically. The constant f2.8 aperture makes a significant improvement at the long end over the 12-60 both for low light conditions and for controlling the depth of field. All in all it is another example of remarkable lens design from Olympus. It is also weather resistant to match the EM-5 and EM-1 bodies, and beautifully made. Does it improve ordinary photos over the kit lenses? Yes indeed!

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This lens was my first high quality lens, and I am truly blown away by the detail and bokeh. It focuses very quickly on my OM-D E-M5 Mark II, and I love how it has weatherproofing to go with my camera. It never ceases to amaze me, and the focal length range is invaluable. This is a perfect companion to my 40-150mm f2.8, also by Olympus.

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Ive just completed a project of photographing 23 members of an artists cooperative in Minneapolis. I wanted to take both close-up portraits and wider angle shots that showed them working in their studio spaces. I relied on available light, so a fast, wide-angle to moderate portrait lens was needed. The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 fit the bill perfectly.The lens focuses quickly and accurately on my Olympus OM-D E-M5. The artists are thrilled with the results, as am I. The lens is bigger and heavier than many of the other lenses in the micro-4/3 system, so it wouldnt be my choice for a general travel lens; but for existing light indoor work, or many kinds of street photography, its excellent.

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