Olympus M.Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO Review

Olympus M.Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO lens is perhaps the most exciting product that I look forward to reviewing this year. With the on-going global pandemic happening and not much news from the Micro Four Thirds camp, the launch of an Olympus PRO lens, with unmatched versatile zoom range, and a promise of high optical performance was good enough to get me thrilled, and thankfully I managed to get out of this lockdown situation in Malaysia which lasted for 4 months. Finally, I was out shooting freely and the first thing that I did with that newfound freedom - review this Olympus 8-25mm PRO!

I have also made a video review here (click). 

Another addition to F4 PRO zoom line-up for Olympus M.Zuiko

DISCLAIMER

I am currently still an Olympus Visionary, an ambassador to the Olympus brand. In contrary to that, Olympus, or OM Digital Solutions did not contact me or inform me about any development of this lens, and I was not told about its release either. I was kept in the dark until the launch, and was not provided a sample unit for review. Nevertheless, I have decided to purchase one with my own money, because I needed an ultra wide angle zoom for my arsenal, the missing link, which I have always borrowed from Olympus whenever I needed one in the past,. Since I bought the lens myself, I am free to say whatever I want, and this is as much of an independent review as it can get. As usual, my review is a subjective one, I am sharing my experience using the Olympus 8-25mm PRO as a professional photographer, with plenty of fresh sample photographs to back my findings and claims. This is not a technical analysis, you won't find graphs and charts. All images were shot with either E-M1 Mark III, E-M1 Mark II or E-M5 Mark III in raw and post-processed in Capture One Pro. Only slight adjustments were applied (white balance correction, exposure compensation, no crop, no straightening, no further color enhancement applied). 

LENS OVERVIEW

Olympus M.Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO

Weather-sealing rated IPX1 (splash, dust, freeze)

Metal lens body

Lens construction - 16 elements in 10 groups (1 DSA lens, 2 Aspherical ED lenses, 1 Super ED lens, 1 ED lens, 1 Super HR lens, 1 HR lens, 1 HD lens)

Closest focusing distance 0.23m for all zoom range

Maximum magnification 0.42x

Filter size 72mm

Weight 411g lens only. 

For full specifications, go to official product page here (click). 

WHY 8-25MM?

The Olympus 8-25mm offers a massive zoom range starting from 8mm, a true ultra wide angle coverage, all the way to 25mm, a normal perspective focal length. I treasure this versatile zoom range, as I can do a lot more with this lens, and not be stuck with just wide angle coverage. This is the main reason I opted for the 8-25mm versus 7-14mm PRO, the 7-14mm at the longest end 14mm is basically still a wide angle lens, and sometimes I just want to get out of wide angle quickly for a different composition. 

LENS DESIGN & BUILD

The Olympus 8-25mm PRO looks exactly like any other Olympus PRO lenses, the design is consistent. The lens is in all black, body is metallic in build and looks very sleek and professional. There are two controls on the lens, the manual focus clutch, which is a mainstay for all Olympus PRO lenses and the L-Fn (lens function) button, which you can assign a customizable function to. The lens mount is metal, the body construction is solid, there is no creaky or rattling experienced while using the lens, and as expected from a PRO lens, the build is excellent. The lens is also fully weather-sealed, which is something that I truly need as a photographer in Malaysian tropical weather. 

LENS HANDLING

My first impression was that the Olympus 8-25mm could have been a little smaller and lighter. However, after using it extensively, especially on my E-M1 bodies, I did not find it to be too large or too heavy. The size was just nice, it was only slightly larger than the 12-40mm PRO which fits nicely on any Olympus cameras, and the weight balances well. I had no issues carrying the camera and lens combo for hours walking around hot KL streets. I'd rather take this size and weight, with great image output, than making the lens any smaller with some compromises. 

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Superb sharpness and contrast captured

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Super sharp even at 25mm end

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Excellent corner sharpness

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High clarity and realistic rendering

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EXCELLENT OPTICS

The Olympus 8-25mm PRO produces excellent output. The images are incredibly sharp with plenty of fine details and great contrast, rendering super realistic looking results. The sharpness is already optimal at wide open F4, and I did not see any advantage stopping down further, and I would not hesitate shooting wide open F4 at any focal lengths for all my shots using this lens. The sharpness is also very consistent from edge to edge and corner to corner, the images show no traces of corner softness of vignetting, if there was any, they are negligible. I have shot about a thousand image samples with the 8-25mm and I must say, I am impressed with each and every single one of them. 

I suspect that the level of sharpness and contrast captured by the Olympus 8-25mm PRO is higher than the older 7-14mm PRO, based on my experience using both lenses extensively. However, I cannot make final conclusion, this was just an assumption, since I do not have the 7-14mm lens with me at the moment to do a side by side comparison to verify my claims. The take-away is - I am extremely impressed by what this Olympus 8-25mm PRO can do. 

LENS FLAW CONTROL

The technical controls of the lens is also top notch. 

Flare resistance is very good, I have to try very, very hard to get flare in my photograph, and that was shooting without a hood. Yes, lens hood is provided in the box, if you must use one. You should have no issue with flare or ghosting even in very challenging situations (shooting against strong source of light), the lens coating is very resistant of flare, and renders very high contrast images even in these conditions. 

I see no traces of chromatic aberration at all. Even in high contrast areas, both in and out of focus parts of the image, I see zero purple fringing, or any other color fringing at all. I tested most shots at wide open F4, and the chromatic aberration control was already excellent. 

I also did not notice any distortion, all straight lines appeared perfectly straight. Of course, there is some degree of software correction involved here to get rid of barrel distortion and chromatic aberration, to me that does not matter, all I care about is the results, and if I see my images free from any of these lens flaws, I am satisfied and I won't complain. 

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No distortion at 8mm

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25mm provides different framing

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Flare control is very good

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Have to try really hard to get some flare in the shot. This was taken without using a hood. 

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No Chromatic Aberration

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No Purple Fringing

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AUTOFOCUS

AF was extremely fast and reliable, and the Olympus 8-25mm PRO performed well in all 3 cameras I have tested it on, the E-M5 Mark III, E-M1 Mark II and E-M1 Mark III. The AF was fast at all focal lengths, and even shooting up close subjects, the AF works really well. 

CLOSE UP SHOOTING

The one huge advantage of using this Olympus 8-25mm PRO against any other ultra wide angle options for Micro Four Thirds - is close up shooting. The lens allows you to go as close as 0.23cm to the subject, irregardless of any focal lengths of the zoom, and at longest end 25mm, you can achieve the maximum magnification of 0.42x (in 35mm format equivalent) which is nothing short of impressive. Of course this is not a macro lens, and should not be treated as such, but being able to go so close, and get such high magnification adds more value to the lens, it can do a lot more and create more framing options. 

TAKES FILTERS DIRECTLY

Another big bonus on the Olympus 8-25mm PRO, especially versus the big brother 7-14mm PRO, is the ability to screw on filters directly onto the lens without additional adapters. The 7-14mm PRO has a bulbous front element that protrudes out significantly which prevented the mounting of filters directly onto it. Of course, many third party manufacturers have come up with accessories to fit on the 7-14mm PRO to adapt filters. These third party attachments are usually unsightly and huge, cumbersome to use, and extremely expensive. I find them impractical for my own photography and video workflow. Now that I am doing a bit more video, especially creating content for YouTube, I do need a wide angle lens from time to time, and being able to use filters directly save me a lot of trouble!

IS F4 ENOUGH?

Let's face it, when using an ultra wide angle lens, you aren't really looking to get much blur background to begin with. If you want to isolate your subject by using shallow depth of field, longer lenses would do better and more efficient job, say the Olympus 45mm F1.8, or 75mm F1.8, both capable of obliterating the background. Whenever I use an ultra wide, I tend to want to see as much in focus as possible, sometimes I want EVERYTHING in focus. F4 is most of the time good enough for that. If you do a lot of low light shooting, and you need an ultra wide for that, perhaps the 7-14mm F2.8 PRO is a better solution. The one stop advantage can mean a lot, doubling the amount of light captured by the lens, and you get to lower your ISO number by one stop. That can make a lot of difference. 

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There is one thing that I do not like about - the retracting locking mechanism. You need to extend the lens before us each and every time, and the camera won't let you take a photo if you don't do that. There is an error/warning message that will only go away after you fully unlock/extend the lens. I don't think this is a dealbreaker, it is a mere annoyance, but I can also see how this can make me miss some shots that I need to react reflexively to capture. I guess I need to use this lens a little more, building some muscle memory on how to quickly extend the lens without even thinking too much when shooting. 

I found myself loving the Olympus 8-25mm PRO lens a lot. It is extremely sharp, produces remarkable image output, focuses super fast and has very versatile zoom range that allows me a wide range of composition options. I also treasure the full weather-sealing, great build quality and respectable close up shooting. If you need a high performing ultra wide angle lens for your Micro Four Thirds system, you will be pleased with this option. 

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