Lens review

Olympus Zuiko Digital 25 mm f/2.8

11. Summary

Pros:

• original, interesting and solid lens body,
• very small dimensions and weight,
• very good frame center quality,
• good frame edge quality,
• coma and astigmatism sensibly corrected,
• very good against the bright light work,
• good autofocus performance.

• distortion a bit too high,
• visible vignetting .

Here is the answer - the Zuiko Digital 25 mm f/2.8 is certainly not a mere toy but a fully-fledged prime lens which can take sharp pictures at all apertures. There were some errors but rather unimportant and they are overshadowed by the many advantages. I don’t doubt that this lens will find a lot of happy, enthusiastic users. I don’t doubt there would be more of them if it was a bit faster. This is what the whole Four Third System was just about – to offer the smallest, the lightest and the fastest lenses. This last words of criticism are not meant nastily, it’s only the necessity when we take into account the existence of such a good lens as ZD 12-60 mm. That lens, at 25 mm and wide open (f/3.4) reached minimally better results than ZD 2.8/25 both for the frame center and the frame corner. Whether the small gain in fastness and a small loss in sharpness will induce the ZD 12-60 mm owners to buy the ZD 2.8/25 is yet to be seen. It would be far easier to decide, if the new “pancake” had the aperture at least of f/2.4 or, of f/2.0.

Sample shots

Camera: Olympus E-3 Parametry: 25 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/2000 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.1 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parametry: 25 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/500 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.2 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parametry: 25 mm, f/11.0, exp. 1/125 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 7.0 MB
Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/200 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.2 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/3.5, exp. 1/125 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.2 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/160 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 5.3 MB
Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/2000 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 5.6 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/4.5, exp. 1/1000 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.2 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/1250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.3 MB
Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/500 sec., ISO 200 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.1 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/400 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.1 MB	Camera: Olympus E-3 Parameters: 25 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/200 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3648x2736 pix, 6.1 MB