Your mistake is forgetting the micro 4/3s sensor is 1/4 of the size, so it doesn't need the same amount of photons to properly expose it. It only needs 1/4 of the photons to expose 1/4 as many photoreceptors.

I really wish OM System made an f2 or f1.7 zoom lens instead. This has the depth of field of an f5.6 lens on full-frame cameras when being used wide-open. And it leaves a lot to be desired.

Ease of Use

For the most part, the lens lives up to what you’d expect in this department, with a tightly assembled body with high-quality plastics and a metal shell over most of the lens body. However, I felt that it fell a bit short of what I would generally consider a ‘Pro’ build. The inner lens tube rubbed slightly when turning the zoom ring, and the extending tube has a small amount of play. Overall, it’s a well-built lens, but the sister to this lens, the 40-150mm f/2.8, has a more solid construction in my opinion. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

Off center performance is good enough that I’m not at all reluctant to put subjects well off center. Yes, this is the full frame I took. Both lenses are metal and weather-sealed. It is worth bearing in mind that the weather-sealing makes more sense when combined with a weather-proof body such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 or Panasonic Lumix GH4. Olympus claims that the 12-40mm is dust, splash and freeze proof, while the Lumix is only dust and splash proof. This lens isn’t specifically built for macro, with a maximum magnification ratio of 0.3x / 1:3.3 (0.6x / 1:1.7 in 35mm eq.) and a minimum close-focusing distance of around 20cm (7.87 in.). Still, the Olympus 12-40mm ƒ/2.8 Zuiko PRO provides a respectable performance in the macro category.No M43 shooter is worried about that, we know the performance will be a bit nosier than the FF and the resolution will likely be a bit smaller, we're fine with that. In terms of design and build, there isn’t much that can be said against either lens. If I had to say which feels sturdier, I’d give the prize to the Olympus, but there is much to be said for the diminutive size and weight of the Lumix. Neither Oly lens fulfills a critical need for me, but they would make taking photos more convenient in some situations. Weather resistance aside, this lens is fantastic when it comes to build quality. It’s lightweight and feels awesome in your hand. And I can’t really complain too much about that at all. It’s a lens that you’ll want to bring with you everywhere you go. Ease of Use I would like to produce something presentable for my meeting on Friday. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? The first one is just to show you what I'm trying to capture with the second one.

Cropping doesn't change the lens physics but it stops you taking the same photo. To take a comparable photo you'll need to zoom out (and open up the aperture if you want it to look like the original)"PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. This is regardless of whether or not the scene detection is on. So with all this said, you’ll have to give the OM System 12-40mm f2.8 Pro II a bit of focusing assistance by choosing an area for it to focus on. This is in some ways an antiquated way of thinking for a lens like this. If it were a much longer focal length and photographing birds, it would be different. But there were surely times where the OM System 12-40mm f2.8 Pro II frustrated me over a period of a few months of testing.

The concerns of a M43 user about equivalence are mainly focal length so they know what FoV they're getting. Maybe a little DoF concern so they can get some subject separation. Overall I would rate the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 as one of the best zooms I have used. It is very well-built and combined with my EM5II or an EM1 series body offers excellent weather-sealing and a very useful focal range. Of course the camera's built-in corrections take care of much of this, though with a bit of strangeness. At 12mm corrected JPEGs have about a half percent barrel distortion. The oddity is that the camera takes the modest amount of pin cushion distortion at marked 25mm focal length and changes it into a modest amount of barrel distortion! This tells me that the table the camera is using is more a smoothed curve than a very precise set of values for each and every focal length. The Panny 35-100 F2.8 ii would, for many, get you the range 12-100 F2.8 in a smaller combo, but, since you only want to buy Oly lenses, the two Oly Pro zooms would be my recommendation. This lens appears to be particularly affected by diffraction at small aperture settings, with a dramatic reduction in sharpness being visible at f/22. Although this may not be an issue for many, those wishing to use small apertures for longer exposures, might want to use a neutral density filter instead so that the lens can be kept closer to its optimum aperture range.

Defy the moment

I wouldn't be afraid to use this lens at any focal length from f/2.8 to f/8, though technically f/4 is probably a slightly "best” aperture overall, and I mean slightly. That, too, is a bit unusual for a fast lens. One other thing that I found unusual: there's very little field curvature at 12mm (or anywhere in the lens, for that matter). I didn't really find myself having to adjust for field curvature or focus shift, which was a bit unexpected. Panasonic 8mm f3.5 Fisheye: another one we haven’t tried is the first fisheye designed for the system (if my memory serves me well). It’s almost double the price of the Samyang, but you get autofocus. Did you try using a tripod? That will make it much easier to judge focus, and to get your focus precise. You need to stop down as well because depth of field will be so narrow. Without a tripod autofocus is easier for close-up, but you still need to stop down for enough DOF. A macro focusing rail for a tripod is also a very useful thing, because it's often difficult to position a tripod exactly where you want it. In terms of the optical construction, the new Olympus 12-40mm ƒ/2.8 Zuiko PRO is comprised of 14 elements in 9 groups, with two EF elements, 1 EDA lens, 2 HR lenses, 1 HD lens, 1 DSA lens and 2 aspherical lenses. It has a 7-bladed circular aperture that stops down to ƒ/22. 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.