Olympus Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 Digital ED SWD Lens Review
September 15th, 2009
Olympus Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 Digital ED SWD Lens Review from Derek Neufarth. Everything, but…., The Olympus flagship lens is everything you would expect it to be, but with one major flaw — autofocus. This lens is scary sharp from corner to corner at all focal lengths, and even wide open. It has beautiful out of focus characteristics, and it has beautiful color transmission. You sometimes may hear people talk about the “magic” qualities of lenses from Leica, or Zeiss, or even some Canon L series prime lenses — and they must now include this lens because it too, if used properly, will endow images with the same “Magic.” And did I mention its flawless construction, and its maximum f2.0 throughout the zoom range, and its nearly silent operation? WOW!
Why four stars for such a stellar lens? Because, while it autofocuses lightning fast in good light, it performs abysmally in low light, and not at all in poor light. I make this judgement based on use with the E-3, and in comparison to the autofocus performance of the 12-60 lens, which is faster by far in all lighting conditions. Even the 14-54 lens outperforms the 14-35. And a second copy of the lens, and many calls to Olympus have not eliminated the problem. I should say that if you like to manual focus then the focus ring is buttery smooth with a precise feel and movement.
So if you rely on autofocus this is not the lens for you, but for everyone else this is a nearly perfect lens. This lens and the Olympus 7-14 f4 lens are both excellent reasons to sign up with Olympus Digital — the E-3 is a sublime photographic tool with these lenses, and all of the Super High Grade lenses for that matter.
Olympus, if you will come up with a fix for the autofocus issue on the Zuiko Digital 14-35mm f2.0 SWD lens, then you will be the first to achieve perfection in a zoom lens.
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