Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Pro Reviews

Olympus is well-known for its great lenses, but testing this one on a new E-5 body was a disappointment. Colour fringing was very noticeable and sharpness and contrast were poor throughout the entire zoom range, but vignetting and distortion were well contained. Lenses with pro aspirations need to be able to cope with inclement weather. This Olympus has a rubber sealing ring incorporated into the mounting plate to guard against the ingress of dust and moisture.

Overall, this is an affordable and unobtrusive lens that has great ergonomics and resolution, but it is just a little bit disappointing on account of its chromatic aberrations.

Clearly, there are a number of options in this range of both focal length and price point. You do get what you pay for - the quality gap between the 14-54mm ƒ/2.8-3.5 and the 14-42mm Olympus lenses is noticeable. In this case however the more relevant question could be for Olympus users looking to upgrade to the 14-54mm category: do you spend top dollar for the latest mark 2 version, or if a deal were to be had on a clearance or used mark 1 version, is it worth it? Both lenses responded well to our tests, and so it really comes down to the small things: rounded diaphragm elements to improve bokeh performance, enabling live view autofocus, and a new blue ring on the front. That decision aside, the 14-54mm ƒ/2.8-3.5 is still one of Olympus' best-performing lenses, especially considering the relatively reasonable price.