Well ok, its not the sharpest and widest you can get on M4/3, Panny 7-14 is excellent in that regard. But how much it matter, is really something that matters :) There are a few too many M.Zuiko lenses to cram into a single guide, and they cater for a multitude of purposes and user types, so we've split our guide into four sections: Press Release: ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 (18-36mm) * extreme wide angle lens for a unique perspective It’s definitely not a lens that you use on a daily basis, unless you’re a landscape or architectural photographer. During my summer holidays in the Alps, this was my most used lens, as I frequently found myself in situations where I wanted to capture the full extent of a landscape. So I made frequent use of the 9mm setting. When promenading through towns and villages, the 18mm setting came in handy, as it is the ideal focal length for street photography. In that regard, the focal length range of the lens proved to be ideal. Image Quality

Olympus 9-18 mm f/4-5.6 ED M.Zuiko Digital (M43) Review Olympus 9-18 mm f/4-5.6 ED M.Zuiko Digital (M43)

At 9mm, this lens is capable of producing images with excellent resolution at moderate apertures. Wide open, the lens performs acceptably, but stopping down to f/8 produces images with excellent centre sharpness. Unfortunately the resolution towards the edge of the frame never exceeds good on our scale, and it just reaches this level at f/8. The lens' lightweight design coupled with In-Body Image Stabilization - available in the flagship E-3, It takes filter so add on a small UV filter (Hoya HD Pro UV is my choice) and you are safe with the glass. I lost the lens cap (at western wall), so UV filter is all I am having on it now. Actually its good in a way, I dont have to keep worrying about removing and placing cap, all the time now.Now why people take so many great images with it? well it's so small it's owners will bring it everywhere creating that wide FoV for interesting images. Which enthousiast doesn't have a tripod? Carrying one defeats the benefits of this system though. If i have to take a tripod i can bring a fullframe Dslr too. I haven't shot much video with my 8-25 yet, but I expect it to work very well. It handles very similarly to the 12-40 and the build quality seems excellent, but I haven't challenged the lens much yet. Especially at the wide end, the M.Zuiko 9-18 exhibits some slight barrel distortion. You probably won’t notice it in a landscape picture, but in architectural shots or scenes with lots of parallel lines it will be noticeable. Again, this is something that can easily be dealt with in post-processing. Lightroom has the option to create a lens profile, and the corrections can then be automatically applied to all images taken with the lens.

Olympus 9-18 vs Panasonic 7-14 - Digital Photography Review Olympus 9-18 vs Panasonic 7-14 - Digital Photography Review

There's a few key usage questions IMO, have you shot UWA in the past? What are you pairing this UWA with? What will you use it for? The prime can obviously open up the opportunity for stuff like wide field astro, but the zoom is far more versatile when you're just out and about looking for an angle that might work at the wide end... Can't find it? Shoot away at 12-18mm.

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Does the 8-25 not do this? The 7-14 is a huge moneymaker for me, I almost never use it at 7mm but I do shoot a ton of architecture, and resolving power using multi shot is the most important part of that to me. An excellent little lens with a useful range for many interests. No doubt it could replace the 7-14 PRO for many but I may not be one of them - choosing instead to use both a bit differently.

Olympus Wide Angle Zooms 9-18 vs 7-14 Review Part 3 Olympus Wide Angle Zooms 9-18 vs 7-14 Review Part 3

Olympus and Panasonic bodies - as well as most raw converters - correct geometric distortion automatically. Even the live image seen on the LCD screen or through the electronic viewfinder - if your camera has one - is auto-corrected for distortion. In the case of the 9-18mm Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital lens, the correction is highly successful, with only a minimum of "residual" barrel distortion seen in photos taken at a focal length of 9mm.

It's worth noting that the best aperture for optimum sharpness with most Micro Four Thirds lenses is around f/4. Since both of these lenses start there, they only suffer in terms of resolution from stopping down. Of course, to get the ideal depth of field for landscape shots you might need to do so anyway, so the good news is that while there's a dropoff in sharpness, it's remarkably gentle. Image Quality Comparison: Field Shooting I’ve always been satisfied with the speed and accuracy of Micro Four Thirds lenses, and the Leica 8-18mm and Olympus 9-18mm are no exception. Even though the Olympus is one of the older lenses for the system, it had no trouble focusing in various light conditions on the Lumix GX85, Lumix GH5 and Olympus OM-D E-M1. Both also feature a very silent autofocus mechanism.