Since my earliest days with a camera, I’ve always loved shooting wide angle photos. Back then, 24mm was considered a very wide lens but today, well, things have moved on a fair bit. The all new M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4.0 PRO lens from Olympus may have a crazy long official name (hereafter simply called the Olympus 8-25mm lens) but it’s great for anyone looking for a zoom that also happens to be an ultra wide angle lens.
If you’re more used to full frame lens length, a Micro 4/3 8mm to 25mm lens gives a comparative field of view equivalent to a 16mm to 50mm lens. To put it another way, this lens goes from super wide to—more or less—what your eye sees.
Olympus 8-25mm F4.0 Lens
Olympus didn’t stop there. Thanks to some clever engineering, the Olympus 8-25mm collapses to a compact size for travel. In order to save you from the same time-wasting mistake I made, there is no lock/unlock button on the lens. Instead, you give the lens a firm turn past its 8mm stop to lock it. Then, twist in the other direction to unlock. It was disconcerting at first but the system feels solid and I quickly got used to it. Don’t worry—you’ll get a warning message on screen should you try and use the lens in its locked position.
Once opened, the front element does move a little through the zoom range but not by much. The zoom feels super smooth with no signs of slipping. It’s also worth mentioning that the lens hood is included as standard.
The Olympus 8-25mm is from their “Pro” range which means it is dust-, freeze-, and splash-proof. That’s great news for landscape photographers, especially if you also like to shoot on beaches, at waterfalls, or in the snow.
So far, this lens is stacking up to be a real winner. Speaking of stacking, I should mention this supports focus stacking on compatible cameras. While it’s not going to replace your macro lens, it does have a respectable close focus distance of 9 inches (23cm) and shooting magnification of 0.42x.
Pro Olympus Legacy
The Olympus 8-25mm joins an ever growing range of pro Olympus lenses. The Olympus 7-14mm is about 1mm wider than this new model and is faster by one stop at f/2.8. Although there’s one tiny detail about the Olympus 8-25mm that will make it a clear favorite for many photographers and it’s something we take for granted on almost every lens apart from the super wides. The Olympus 8-25mm has—wait for it—a filter thread!
Yes, I know that doesn’t sound like much but what that means is you can use any filter with this lens. How about 10 stop ND? No problem! Circular Polarizer? Absolutely! Clear protection filter? Sure thing!
There’s only one caveat with filters. Anything thicker then 4mm will vignette at the 8mm wide end of the lens. So, take a tip from me: buy the next filter size up and use a stepping ring to fit mount your filter to the lens. I tested my 77mm polarizer with a 77-72mm stepping ring and found zero vignetting.
The M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4.0 PRO lens from Olympus is a fabulous lens that offers an amazingly useful focal range in a small and light package that will last you for years. Take a look below for some photos I took using the lens.
Finally, check out my video on AdoramaTV for a closer look at the lens and its possibilities:
