Olympus 9-18mm ED f/4-5.6 ZUIKO

While the coverage of the Olympus 9-18mm ED f/4-5.6 ZUIKO may initially sound quite impressive, it’s dampened by the fact that you have to apply the 2x crop factor of the FourThirds system, which equates to a range of 18-36mm on a film camera.

If you want to go even wider than that, then you’ll have to dig a bit deeper for the Olympus 7-14mm f/4, which will set you back just over £1300. The variable aperture runs from f/4-5.6, while there’s no motor to dispel AF noise. It sports a compact design and is fairly lightweight, too, at only 280g, while the appearance and initial feel of the lens is in many respects similar to the standard 14-42mm kit lens and other more affordable FourThird offerings.
During focusing, there’s little if any hunting but it’s by no means fast, taking its time to lock on. As there’s no AF motor built into the lens, you’ll also experience some mechanical buzzes and whirrs during focusing. There’s a smooth shift through the rubberised zoom ring, while the manual focus ring is nicely weighted, allowing for good, precise control.  

Weight: 280g

www.olympus.co.uk