The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is a wide-angle zoom lens built for the Micro Four Thirds format. With an impressive 16-50mm full-frame equivalent focal length, the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens covers most landscape photography needs. It even acts as a nifty fifty when zoomed in, giving it an unusually wide range for everyday photography.With a maximum aperture of just f/4, it’s not the fastest lens in my bag, though. Do the pros outweigh the cons? I’ll answer that question in today’s review of the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro.
Table of Contents
Picking a Lens for Micro Four Thirds
Whenever I consider a new lens for the Micro Four Thirds system, I always pay extra close attention to these three aspects of a lens:
- Is the focal length useful?
- Is it fast?
- Is it compact?
These considerations are linked to the 2x crop factor of the Micro Four Thirds Format, which effectively doubles the focal length and f/stop in full frame equivalence terms. The result of the smaller sensor size (in general) is that more reach is achievable with smaller lenses, at the cost of an increase in noise.
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens has an equivalent focal length of 16-50mm, which is very versatile with a long zoom range. At f/4, which behaves similarly to f/8 on a full frame, the lens is not particularly fast. (I’ll get more into the low light abilities limitations of the lens further down.) Lastly, the lens is not the most compact Micro Four Thirds lens I’ve shot with, but it’s still not massive, weighing 411 grams (0.91 pounds).
Handling and build
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is a sturdily built, weatherproof zoom lens that features smooth focus and zoom rings, plus a customizable function button. When not in use, the lens can be retracted to fit more conveniently in a camera bag. To put the lens in and out of the storing position, simply rotate the zoom ring past the 8mm mark. There is no locking mechanism – you just have to push past the resistance at the 8mm mark.
The focus ring is smooth and works as expected. Akin to other Olympus Pro lenses, the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro features a manual focus clutch which toggles the lens between manual and autofocus by pushing the ring forward. I’m not a fan of this design because it can be easy to accidentally slide it out of the autofocus position, which has been a hindrance. That said, as a (mostly) landscape-oriented lens, this wasn’t too glaring of an issue.
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is weather sealed, tolerant of splashing and dust. Although I haven’t put it through as many trials as some of my other lenses, it feels sturdy and inspires confidence while shooting. This is despite the fact that it’s an externally zooming lens.
When extended, the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens reaches 4.5 inches long (11.4 cm). Compared to other wide-angle lenses for this system, it’s certainly on the large side. Shooting with the larger lens felt clunky at times, especially when shooting one-handed or when stability is key in any other awkward position. But it’s still smaller than a majority of wide-angle zooms for larger sensor sizes.
Performance
So what if the lens is a bit large – does it make up for it in performance? In my opinion, overwhelmingly yes.
1. Sharpness
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is a very sharp lens. Pixel peepers like myself can rest assured that the lens is more than adequately sharp, even corner to corner at f/4. The only time sharpness takes a slight hit is when at f/4 and at close focus. Otherwise, the lens excelled in sharpness.
A few crops of the below image show how tack sharp the lens is:
Center crop:
Corner crop:
A mild sharpness improvement is noticeable stopping down from f/4 to f/5.6 in the corners. For close focus, I was shooting happily at f/7.1. Still, I always felt like I could take full advantage of the f/4 aperture if I needed it.
2. Bokeh
As an f/4 lens, it comes as no surprise that the bokeh performance is nothing to write home about. I wouldn’t plan on using this lens for any sort of photography that counts on creamy bokeh. Even when focusing close, background details are kept mostly in-focus.
3. Chromatic Aberration
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens minimizes chromatic aberration. Upon extremely close inspection, some is noticeable but it is negligible and easy to correct. Overall the lens does an incredible job maintaining true colors.
4. Color Fidelity
One of the aspects that stood out to me the most about the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is how well it retained the natural colors of a scene, even when shooting in unfavorable lighting conditions.
The lens has little to no flare when shooting against the light. This is perhaps attributed to the Zuiko Extra-low Reflective Optical coating applied. It does wonders because I could shoot scenes into the sun and they were captured just as they appear with the human eye. This is not something I can say about my other favorite wide angle lens I use for close focus and astrophotography, the Panasonic Leica 9mm f/1.7.
5. Distortion
I observed little to no distortion when shooting with the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens. At 8mm, some horizon lines became ever so slightly curved at 8mm, though nothing uncorrectable.
Field Use and Versatility
The strengths of this lens comes in its versatility. It excels as a 50mm equivalent lens for natural compositions, and also as an ultra wide-angle lens. Additionally, it focuses close, yielding a 0.21x magnification ratio. If you’ve been watching my photography, you know how important close focus is to me!
1. Landscape Photography
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is an excellent choice for landscape photography, it is impeccably sharp, minimizes any distortion, maintains natural colors even with tough lighting conditions, and covers very useful focal lengths.
The only thing it lacks for landscapes is a fast aperture for astrophotography.
2. Close Focus Photography
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens has a minimum focusing distance of 9.1 inches (23 centimeters), yielding a maximum magnification of 0.21x. Whether at 8mm, 25mm, or something in between, the lens does a good job at enlarging small subjects.
I personally enjoy wider-than-usual focal lengths for close-ups of small animals because the perspective is more intimate than you would get with a more typical macro lens.
I recommend stopping down a bit at close focus to avoid some softness in the corners. I had the best luck with f/7.1. Even so, close-up photos are on par with my sharpness standards.
3. Low Light Photography
The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens isn’t meant to be hand-held in low light. I wouldn’t choose the lens for moving subjects or in my case, photographing a sea cave from a moving boat. I definitely wish I had my Panasonic 9mm f/1.7 with me this occasion! That being said, the in-body image stabilization of modern Olympus cameras lets you get away with a lot! I’ll note that the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens does not have its own image stabilization.
Similar Lenses
When it comes to a long zoom range for a wide-angle lens, the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is one of a kind. No other zoom by Panasonic or Olympus covers that range completely.
Closest is perhaps the Panasonic Leica 8-18mm f/2.8. This lens does have a considerable advantage with the much faster aperture. However, it doesn’t reach that 25mm focal length for the nifty-fifty look (it’s equivalent to a 16-36mm full-frame lens rather than a 16-50mm). The Panasonic lens also has a much worse maximum magnification of 0.12x compared to 0.21x. So, it’s faster if you want to work in low light, but it’s less versatile in other ways.
Olympus also offers some zooms that are not as ultra-wide, but extend further in the upper focal length range. The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO, Olympus 12-45mm f/4 PRO, and Olympus 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO lenses all extend past the 8-25mm on the telephoto end, and they’re all of commendable optical quality.
A final contender is the ever-intriguing Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7. Compared to the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens, the Panasonic offers a huge gain in light, while giving up a little bit of focal length on the wide end. This lens is also heavier and more expensive.
Of course, there are many faster primes out there, too. But what is so attractive about the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is that very versatile zoom range! Going from ultra-wide to nifty fifty is really useful. No other lens matches it for an interchangeable lens system, not even APS-C or full-frame lenses.
Weaknesses
It’s hard to come up with many weaknesses of the Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens because the optics are top tier. It is a virtually perfect 8-25mm f/4 lens. I certainly wish it were faster so that I could utilize it for astrophotography and other low-light situations, but that was always going to be the case for an f/4 Micro Four Thirds lens.
I should mention that it’s a clunkier lens than what I’m used to with Micro Four Thirds. At 411 grams (0.91 pounds), the lens weighs almost as much as my camera body. It’s also on the large side, even when retracted, taking up considerable space in my camera bag.
Finally, the price is on the higher side at $1100 (though sometimes on sale for as little as $800, making it a more attractive option). Considering the wide range of lens choices for Micro Four Thirds, there may be better options if you’re on a budget.
Buying Considerations
Reasons to buy
- Excellent image clarity, sharpness and color renditioning
- Zoom range covers most landscape photography needs
- Focus close for maximum magnification of 0.21X
Reasons not to buy
- Maximum aperture of f/4 not suitable for low light or astrophotography
- Not the most compact lens
- On the expensive side when not on sale
Verdict
Yes the lens could be faster, and I wish it were a little smaller, but the glass is extremely high quality and delivers well. The versatility of the 8-25mm focal length and close-focusing 0.21x magnification abilities are not to be underestimated. In short, this is one of the most versatile lenses available, yet you don’t pay too much of a penalty for it in other ways.
I enjoyed using the lens for both landscape and wide-angle wildlife photography. The Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro lens is an excellent walk-around lens that can be used for the right composition in almost any setting.
If you’re planning to purchase this lens, you can support our lens testing efforts by buying it through our affiliate links below. The lens costs $1100, but it sometimes goes on sale for $800.
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- Used/international on eBay
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Let me know in the comments section below if you have any questions or comments about this lens.
Olympus 8-25mm f/4 Pro
- Size and Weight
- Build Quality and Handling
- Sharpness Performance
- Other Image Quality
- Value
Photography Life Overall Rating
4.5
