Olympus Zuiko 11 22mm F2 8 3 5 Review | 54 Data compared

The Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 is a well-engineered, splash-resistant Four Thirds zoom lens offering excellent build quality and good image quality for versatile shooting. However, its 22-44mm equivalent field-of-view may not be wide enough for some landscapes, and it suffers from a "fly-by-wire" focus system and a challenging lens cap design when the hood is attached.

The LensTip review of the Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22 mm f/2.8-3.5 highlights a highly capable wide-angle zoom lens designed for the Four Thirds system, evaluating its build quality, optical performance, and mechanics. LensTip praises the lens for its solid barrel construction and its very quick, accurate autofocus mechanism. Optically, the lens delivers very good to outstanding image quality at the center of the frame across its zoom range. It also stands out for maintaining relatively low geometric distortion (beating some of its direct competitors), showing only slight vignetting, and providing well-corrected astigmatism in the middle of its focal range. However, the review outlines several optical compromises when pushing the lens to its limits. A major drawback is the average picture quality at the frame edges when shooting at the maximum relative aperture. Additionally, the lens suffers from high chromatic aberration at its shortest 11 mm focal length, which decreases very slowly when stopping down. LensTip testers also noted noticeable coma and found that its performance against bright light leaves room for improvement, as capturing the sun in the corner of...

The Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 lens is an excellent, high-grade super-wide-angle zoom designed for the Four Thirds system. The reviewer notes that the lens features a robust, chunkier chassis constructed from a sturdy metal alloy body with textured engineering plastic overlays, providing a highly tactile and well-balanced feel on the E-1 camera. Optically, the lens delivers outstanding native sharpness, superior contrast, and exceptional colour and texture rendering that heavily outperforms the standard 14-54mm zoom lens within their overlapping focal ranges. It also boasts impressive close-focus capabilities, achieving a macro-equivalent ratio of roughly 0.13:1 at its minimum distance. However, the lens comes with a few notable drawbacks, starting with its high price tag, which ranges from £560 to £625 in the UK and $700 to $850 in the US. Mechanically, it features a bulbous front element and exhibits a slightly noisy zoom action that physically extends the lens barrel outward by 10mm during full focal travel. From a usability perspective, the limited 2x zoom range requires photographers to accept dramatic vertical and perspective distortions typical of super-wide-angle shooting, necessitating very...