Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 Lens for Micro Four Thirds, Black

2023-06-14T10:31:16

I got this for a specific purpose. Along with the Olympus 75-300 II and a Panasonic Leica 24 f1.4 it forms up the core of my light carry kit. They are all very compact. The two Olympus lenses aren't all that fast but with 7 stops of stabilization the E-M1 Mark III it's still a pretty reasonably sized setup for hiking trails and street photography. I plan to expand it with other mini lenses but I've been pleased with this lens for the money. Thx Adomrama!

Curt B.

2020-01-25T04:16:22

Though I do intend to buy the Zuiko 7-14mm f2.8 lens, I bought this lens to use in the meantime partly because of budgetary concerns, but also due to its very compact size and low weight for when I'm traveling and don't need the wider focal length of the 7-14mm lens. The IQ seems to be living up to the reviews I read about the lens, producing sharp images from wide open to f8.

DONALD D.

2019-06-16T21:38:31

Well the lens is tiny the quality of its output is huge. I had this lens for about a year or two and almost never used it. I hate a folding lens. I hate a lens that extends as it zooms. So what happened? Went to New Mexico and Arizona. Hiking some canyons my Panny 12-35 was not wide enough. I experimented with using the panorama function on my GX8 and it works very well with a high sucess rate. There is alway wind and it is moving plants which spoils a landscape using the panorama mode. Started using the Oly at 9 mm and kept it on the camera most of the time. put the 12-35 on my GH3 and carried 2 bodies for a bit but it brought back ugly memories of film and carrying a color body and b&W body. So the tiny Oly worked great in the canyons, in Cathedrals using Panasonic panorama mode it just worked great. Used Apsc wide angles that were prone to flare and ghosting in the past and the little oly had no trouble in the brilliant southwestern sun. I pixel peep but hate to lens change so often would zoom out to 18 and was pleased with the performance. Read about a lot of M4/3 shooter sorry they sold this lens and got a big heavy pro zoom some of which are notorious for flare.

DENNIS E.

2018-06-04T20:00:00

Really great wide angle lens! You can fit a lot into the image

danny

Originally posted at

2018-05-15T20:00:00

I really enjoy using this lens for landscape shots while out on the trail. It takes excellent photos and has a wonderful zoom range for getting shots of nature. It's fun to use it for macro shots, too. The light weight of the lens makes it very easy to carry along on long, tough hikes.

Matt

Originally posted at

2018-04-10T20:00:00

At 9mm, this is obviously a great lens for interiors or panoramic views. But at the 18mm end it is a great general purpose lens with excellent sharpness and image quality. A great lightweight lens to keep on your camera at all times.

Torchy

Originally posted at

2018-02-09T19:00:00

Love this lens, but a strange aberration when shooting sun shots. F22 is spectacular for sunrays but be careful of the lens flash as i said above. I used this lens extensively in Nepal trekking its a great match for my Em-5MkII. Enjoyed the flexibility and the ultra wide angle while shooting the Himalayas.

Paul

Originally posted at

2017-08-20T20:00:00

This is my go to vacation lens. Takes great pictures and is lightweight, which I very much appreciate! Good pricepoint if you're looking to break into the wide angle lens game, as well!

Amber

Originally posted at

2017-07-15T20:00:00

This is a very decent lens and can give pretty good results. Its has range from wide (18mm full frame equivalent) to mid-wide (35mm), and I find that even though its just a 2x zoom, its a rather useful range. I also find that the small size is a huge plus, both in terms of its easy usability when on my E-PM2 or E-P5. Its smallness also makes it an easy one to have as a spare with you lens, even in my pants pocket.

KL

Originally posted at

2017-02-27T19:00:00

Great Little Lens, very compact when traveling!

Own's O.

Originally posted at

2016-10-03T08:30:08

Fantastic travel lens, very compact and light but renders very good results without flaring that can be troublesome with ultra wide angle lenses. Great travel companion.

Michael V.

2016-08-01T14:30:33

Owned this lenses before but sold it when I went to Sony cameras for awhile. I missed the Olympus brand so came back and purchased again...but I returned this one because I decided to go with the 7-14 Olympus Pro wide angle. If the7-14 is spectacular as they say and you can afford the difference, go 7-14.

James G.

2016-05-23T09:22:13

This is a very compact wide angle lens that is excellent if used properly. It much performs as has been written on many sites. The lens at f16 and below ( toward F22) degrades resolution of the image. My findings are consistent that highest resolution is 2 stops down from max of f4. I have printed up to 13x18 with excellent results at f8. One of the best street photo shooting lenses. I would not consider it a fine landscape type of lens.

GERALD S.

2016-01-31T19:00:00

I don't think there's a cheaper wide angle AF zoom lens available in any other system to date (don't quote me on this, I just haven't found one myself). That being said, this lens does the job of lenses 2 to 5 times its price (maybe even more), but it's far from perfect. The major drawback to this lens is its atrocious CA issues. There were times where I couldn't fix an otherwise perfect image in post. I got a bit creative, though, and now I have half of my shots with this lens in BnW, just to avoid the frustrations of dealing with it. I never use this lens beyond 12mm. In fact, if I could have a 9mm f4.0 prime lens, I would replace it in a heart beat. The collapsible feature is a nightmare when you catch yourself reaching for your camera to catch a fleeting moment just to realize you're lens needs to be expanded in order to turn on the darn camera. This lens is also not the sharpest in my collection, not even close. It sharpens up a hair when stepped down a stop, but not much. As much bad as I have to say about this lens, though, it's still a huge value compared to what's out there. I can't shoot at a 18mm FOV for cheaper and this lens doesn't do a "bad" job per se, just not perfect. Funny thing is, all of my favorite shots are with this lens. Not my long tele, my kit lens, my $500 prime, or any of my other prime jewels... nope. This lens has produced all of my personal best!

Philam

Originally posted at

2016-01-30T19:00:00

I have had many lenses over the past 30 years - mostly Nikon - from fast single focal length to large and heavy tele zooms. This is one of my favorites for many reasons. Very compact, very quiet focusing and very fast focusing (except in low light.) Of course it has a little trouble in low light and that should not be a surprise. In normal to bright conditions, this lens can't be better. It is very sharp, even wide open, and any distortion is handled via in-camera and desktop Olympus editing software. Highly recommended if you don't need a very fast lens.

Mark E.

Originally posted at

2015-10-29T20:00:00

For 700 bucks I expected this little lens to last longer. Sure the images it produces look great, but even though I've treated it with respect it now fails to focus (neither auto nor manual) when zoomed in towards the 18mm range. Camera body gives a range of error messages, but requires a reboot of the camera or lens to restore operation. Apparently this is a known problem with the lens as there are a number of reports detailing this issue online.

Stephen

Originally posted at

2015-09-23T20:00:00

Love this tiny little zoom lens. For anyone wanting to travel fast, light and compact this is a 18-36mm (equivalent) gem. Not fast at f4-5.6, but unlike so many other lenses it is sharp wide open and with the excellent Olympus in camera stabilization, it makes this lightweight lens more useful that it might first seem. Negatives might be a lack of a lens hood given the cost and having to extend and retract the lens is a bit slower than with a normal lens that doesn't have to be extended to be used. But the images are crisp and contrasty and very useable for larger prints.

Paul

Originally posted at

2015-08-31T21:00:00

It is small enough to not take up a ot of room in my carrying bag, and it covers sufficiently wide angles to satisfy most landscape photography needs. In addition, its minimum focasing distance of .25 meter enables getting large images of small close objects.

Joel F.

2015-04-11T20:00:00

I'm into my second year of digital photography and I find myself more and more shooting landscapes as my primary form of photography. I needed something wide and compact. The M.Zuiko 9-18mm has fulfilled my desires of a lightweight and compact landscape lens to go with my OM-D systems. Of all the MFT lenses I own, the 9-18mm sits on my OM-D EM5 MKII 80% of the time as I want to capture what I see in the moment in front of me without the need to haul large lenses like other APSC or FF systems. If need be it acts as a 36mm equivalent focal length dialed at 18mm in a pinch to take a nice portrait without the need to swap lenses. It may not be a fast lens but discreet and light is my landscape game and this lens is not to be underestimated.

Ken

Originally posted at

2015-04-03T20:00:00

Unless you desperately need the extra 4mm equivalent of a 7-14 and must have the extra stop or two (I don't), this is a very fine WA zoom. Pricey? A bit. Some distortion at full wide? A bit, but, easily corrected in post. It's light and small and the collapsing mechanism in ingenious. Unless you need the extra width or faster stops and want to spend lots of bucks and get a much bigger, heavier lens, this is the one.

Bruce

Originally posted at

2014-04-13T20:00:00

I had the 7-14 mm f4 lens but I found it to be too large and unwieldy to use. I also found the optical quality at 7 to 9mm to not meet my standards. Although the widest setting is not quite that of the 7-14mm f4 I find that it meets all my needs and the optical quality on the 9-18mm to be superior to that of 7-14mm f4. A great lens.

neal

Originally posted at

2014-03-31T21:00:00

This is an excptionally good lens for use underwater. It has the wide-angle perspective generally considered to be the best for undewater use. If your camera uses micro 4/3 lenses, and it fits into your underwater housing, it is a very good choice. Optical quality is excellent! Of course, it is not for underwater use without a housing!

flafrog

2014-03-13T20:00:00

I don't like zooms. In fact, this is the only zoom I actually own for any of my camera systems. I bought it because of the focal length and was won over by it's performance. It isn't cheap, but the range it covers means you won't be taking it off your camera very often. It's so useful I think it's a crime not to own it. Wide angles are hard enough to find interesting subject matter on both sides of the frame while keeping "clutter" out of your composition. With this lens, the zoom function is extremely helpful in this regard. I've always jumped for the long stuff first. I would suggest to anyone going into m43rds to make this your second choice behind the 45mm 1.8. Maybe even your first choice. 18-36 is so extremely usable you shouldn't be without it. This lens is also sharpest where it counts- at the wider angle. Everytime I vacation or go sight seeing this is the one that gets the most use. Downsides would be some corner softness and fairly pronounced distortion. But, this is to be expected for a wide angle. Have yet to own one that doesn't have some type of distortion. IQ on this lens really is stellar overall. I use it all the time and I highly suggest considering it. Build quality is very good as well. Buy it!

Thomas

Originally posted at

2014-02-17T19:00:00

I was lusting after the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 zoom, but it was just a little too much money. I wasn't sure I would use a wide angle that much.. I needn't have been concerned. I've been very pleased with this lens. The 18-36 mm full frame equivalent zoom range is much more useful than I expected, especially indoors. I'm almost always at the 9mm end of the zoom. It lets you take images that include everything, without any obvious distortion. It's size lets you use it more often than the larger Panasonic and it takes filters on the front and a simple lens cap. I haven't found the smaller max aperture to be any significant limitation. I can't see why anyone with an E-M5 or E-M1 would bother having with another lens in the same focal range. I have the 17mm f1.8 but I hardly ever use it in comparison. You just have to move around too much trying to get the right view. This lens is still fairly expensive. That's the only reason for four stars instead of five.

fpink3

Originally posted at

2013-10-30T20:00:00

I tried the 45mm prime and was hooked. I had most of the zooms and sold them all - except this one. The image quality was good enough that this lens was spared a listing on Craigslist! There is no prime this wide (9mm) so this is the only choice, and it is a good one.

David

Originally posted at

2013-03-02T19:00:00

I have had this lens for a month now, and used it with an EM-5. My results have been great. Images come out sharp and contrasty. I like using the "Sepia" setting of the Art Filters in the EM-5, and shooting railroad scenes, getting close enough to get the dramatic perspective affects... results have been really stunning! The price is a bit high, but the results obtained with this lens makes it well worth the cost. Colors come out rich and pure when shooting in normal modes, and (as other people have stated) the lens is light weight, compact, and easy to use. I am happy I got this lens, and I recommend it to anyone shooting the Pen or OMD EM-5 Cameras.

Jerry

Originally posted at

2013-02-04T19:00:00

I'm trying to complete a set of lenses for my E-P1 and this fits the bill for a wide-angled lens. The kit from Adorama is a good buy.

Gennie T.

2012-12-23T19:00:00

I like this lens a lot. It's about as wide as you can get without distortion (as long as you are level with the subject).

photman1950

2012-06-10T20:00:00

I did side-by-side with the another MFT lens and found the other one to be fractionally sharper, but stayed with this lens as the difference was not sufficient enough in regular use. Size is the killer app here. I read so many reviews of people with larger DSLR's who missed shots because they didn't carry the camera. Not an issue here. I so love this lens it's opened up new angles (literally!) of shooting. It's tiny, size of baby food jar. Frankly it's far better than it has a right to be considering the size, the laws of physics and the quality. I shoot at ISO 1600 and 3200 and with the lens, yes grain is there, but the super-wide lessens the apparent appearance. I'm now looking for a second body becasue I always want to have this lens mounted. I use it too much. Modern software can straighten the curves with ease in super wide mode.

Jimbo

Originally posted at

2012-02-16T19:00:00

I'm too old to lug a 6x17 to the top of a mountain anymore. But I still want to capture the wide mountain vistas. This lens provides that in a light and compact package. With power comes responsibility, distortion is present and must be managed. Careless shots may well look ridiculous.

Canockie

Originally posted at