14 DAY TRIAL // The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens was unveiled back in September along with the new Olympus flagship camera model, the OM-D E-M1.
DxO Labs has put the new Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens to the test and got some impressive results when compared with its direct rivals (Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH, Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM and Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM).
When compared directly with the Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH, the new Olympus lens seems to deliver similar results in terms of optical quality, with better sharpness uniformity across the image at wider apertures and shorter focal lengths.
Put side by side with lenses designed for APS-C cameras, particularly Sigma 17-50mm and Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8, the Olympus 12-40mm comes with a lower sharpness level, but considering the pixel count difference between E-M5 and EOS 70D, this doesn't affect overall image quality.
The test results concluded that the new Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens, although quite expensive (around $999 / €743), is capable of delivering very good optical quality on a Micro Four Thirds camera.
