M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 II lens
In summary
The tried-and-proven optical design, light weight and compact size combine with an affordable price tag to make this lens desirable to owners of M4/3 cameras looking for a standard wide-angle zoom lens. With coverage equivalent to an 18-36mm lens on a 35mm camera, this 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II lens is pleasing to use as long as you’re happy with its retracting design.
The light weight of this lens makes it ideal for landscape photographers who hike to out-of-the-way places and its compact size means it will fit neatly into a traveller’s camera bag. Both features make it suitable for use with gimbals and for some kinds of vlogging.
The fact that it’s not particularly fast will only deter photographers who shoot in very low light levels and those who want extremely shallow depths of focus.
Full review
We didn’t review the original M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4-5.6 lens, which was announced in February 2010, so we’ve taken the opportunity to review the second generation model, which was announced on 30 January 2024, concurrently with the OM-1 Mark II camera and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 IS lens (a review will be published in the near future). The main differences between the new lens and its predecessor are physical; specifically in the new model’s all black cladding and the OM System branding, which make it fit in better with the latest cameras.
Two views of the M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II lens showing it retracted for storage and extended for use. (Source: OM Digital Solutions.)
The original M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4-5.6 lens was based on a similar lens designed for Olympus DSLR cameras and released in May 2008. That lens introduced a new Dual Super Aspherical (DSA) lens element to keep it as small and light as possible at only 280 grams. This element was challenging to manufacture because its centre was thin and fragile; but it performed so well it has been used in subsequent M4/3 designs.
Aside from the physical changes, the 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II model now comes with a LH-55D lens hood, whereas the previous model didn’t. The petal-shaped hood can be inverted over the barrel when not in use.
The optical design contains 12 elements in eight groups and includes two Dual Super Aspherical elements, one aspherical element and a high refractive index (HR) element to control spherical aberrations and distortion, along with one extra-low dispersion (ED) element to minimise chromatic aberrations. Focusing is driven by an internal stepping motor that moves a single lightweight element.
The minimum focusing distance is 25cm, which provides a workable distance for shooting close-ups. We tested this lens on the OM-1 Mark II camera, which is reviewed separately.
Who’s it For?
The light weight of this lens makes it ideal for landscape photographers who hike to out-of-the-way places and its compact size means it will fit neatly into a traveller’s camera bag. Both features make it suitable for use with gimbals and for some kinds of vlogging.
The fact that it’s not particularly fast will only deter photographers who shoot in very low light levels and those who want extremely shallow depths of focus. Bundling the lens hood with the lens is sensible for a lens of this type and should have happened with the previous model.
Another potentially negative feature is the lack of weather-resistant sealing, which makes it a less suitable partner for most OM System cameras than the slightly wider but much faster (and larger) M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens. However, unlike that lens, the 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II accepts screw-in filters, whereas the 7-14mm f/2.8 requires a special adapter, which is a more cumbersome optional add-on.
Photographers looking for a longer zoom range, weatherproof sealing and the quick-to-use Manual Focus Clutch for switching between auto and manual focusing could consider the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm f/4.0 PRO. It’s larger and more than double the weight of the 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II lens but a superior performer. Potential purchasers should note the 9-18mm f/4-5.6 II lens isn’t compatible with teleconverters and while it can take advantage of the IBIS in OM System cameras, it’s not compatible with 5-axis synch IS.
Build and Ergonomics
While its mainly plastic construction feels reasonably sturdy, this lens doesn’t reach the standards of the company’s PRO grade lenses, which have a high percentage of metal in their construction. But if you want the lightest possible weight with a reasonable degree of strength and stability plus an ‘affordable’ price tag, plastic is a good option.
Another potentially negative feature is the retracting barrel, which many photographers don’t like because of the time involved in extending the lens before you can take a shot. This delay can cause shots to be missed and will be an issue, for street photographers. Over time, repeatedly extending and retracting the lens will also cause wear and tear in the mechanism.
When retracted for storage, the barrel is only 49.3 mm long, making this a very compact lens. Extending the inner barrel to the 9mm focal length position adds 29 mm to the overall length, while moving to the 18mm position pulls it back by about 10 mm. The inner barrel doesn’t rotate during zooming facilitating the use of the lens with angle-critical filters.
The front element of the lens is approximately 28 mm in diameter and surrounded by a raised filter thread, which accepts 52 mm diameter screw-in filters. Its outer edge has a bayonet fitting for the supplied petal-shaped lens hood, which is made of hard black plastic.
A silver and blue branding ring is located around the front of the outer barrel. Immediately behind it is the focusing ring, which is 7 mm wide and rotates through 360 degrees when power is off as focusing is driven from the camera.
The zoom ring is located just behind the control ring. It’s roughly 20 mm wide with a 12 mm wide band of moulded ribbing around its middle. The leading edge of the zoom ring is stamped with markings for the 9mm, 11mm, 14mm and 18mm focal length settings. They line up against an index mark located just in front of the OM System branding on the fixed, 3 mm wide section of the barrel between the focusing and zoom rings.
Behind the zoom ring is another fixed section of the barrel, which is 6 mm wide and carries the red index dot for aligning the lens when fitting it to a camera. Also printed on this section is the focus limit for the lens, which ranges from 0.25 metres to infinity.
The lens barrel ends in a solid, chromed metal plate with a bayonet mount. Inside the mount are 11 gold-plated contacts for connecting the lens to the camera to exchange electronic signals. The lens is supplied with front and rear caps plus the petal-shaped LH-55D lens hood and a printed instruction manual.
Performance
Our test images and sample shots were captured with the lens on the OM-1 Mark II body. The shots were generally sharp across the image frame, with a slight decline towards the corners but excellent centre sharpness was across the range from 9mm to 18mm.
The resulting images had well-balanced contrast and accurate colour and tonal rendition, and this was confirmed by our Imatest tests. They showed the review lens to be very competent for its type, with measured resolution in the centre of the frame in JPEG files slightly exceeding expectations and raw files recorded at the same time well above the expected values.
The highest resolutions were obtained at the 9mm focal length with the aperture at f/4. As anticipated, resolution declined towards the edges of the frame for both JPEG and raw files, although not quite to the degree we had expected. It also fell off as the lens aperture was stopped down, with diffraction having a noticeable effect from about f/8 onwards, as shown in the graph of our JPEG results below.
Because the OM-1 II camera provides internal corrections for JPEGs, our lateral chromatic aberration measurements are based on ORF.RAW files with optical corrections disabled in Adobe Camera Raw. The graph of our test results below, shows the test results fell mainly within the ‘negligible’ band, the upper end of which is marked by the vertical red line.
Like chromatic aberration, vignetting and rectilinear distortion had to be assessed through raw files with all optical and profile corrections disabled in Adobe Camera Raw. Vignetting was much less than we expected from such a wide-angle lens and, although obvious barrel distortion could be seen at 9mm and 11mm, the levels of distortion were also less than expected. Both issues are effectively addressed with automatic in-camera correction for JPEGs and adjustments most raw file converters.
Test shots showed the review lens to be very flare-resistant, which is for such a wide-angled lens. Even when the sun was inside the frame, we found very little loss of contrast and colour saturation in the shots we took, especially with raw files.
The seven-bladed iris diaphragm produced 14-pointed sunstars when the lens was stopped down to its minimum aperture. However, the edges of the stars were softened by diffraction. At the widest angles of view the stars on bright highlights were very small within the frame.
Bokeh was much as we expected from an ultra-wide zoom lens since it’s difficult to blur the background satisfactorily at the minimum focus distance with wide angle of view. But few photographers would consider using this lens for close-ups with a shallow depth of field when better alternatives exist.
Autofocusing was generally fast and accurate with most types of subjects in different lighting conditions and able to adjust quickly as conditions changed. It was also very quiet, thanks to the stepping motor drive. We found no evidence of focus breathing.
Although stabilisation is seldom needed in ultra-wide angle lenses, this lens benefits from excellent built-in OIS, which can work with the in-camera stabilisation in the OM-1 II camera we used for our tests. We were able to obtain a high percentage of shake-free images at shutter speeds of half a second or slower with the 18mm focal length. Examples are provided in the Samples section below.
Conclusion
Please Login or Register to access the Conclusion.
SPECS
Picture angle: 100 to 62 degrees diagonal
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 12 elements in 8 groups including two DSA (Dual Super Aspherical), one aspherical, one ED and one HR elements
Lens mounts: Micro Four Thirds
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (rounded aperture)
Weather resistance: Dust and weather-resistant sealing in 10 locations
Focus drive: High-speed imager AF (MSC) using stepping motor
Stabilisation: No; relies on camera’s IBIS
Minimum focus: 25 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.05x to 0.1x (0.11x to 0.2x 35mm equivalent)
Filter size: 52 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 56.2 x 49.3 mm
Weight: 154 grams (without lens cap, rear cap and lens hood)
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps plus LH-55D lens hood
Distributor: OM Digital Solutions Australia, Ph: 1300 659 678
TESTS
Based on JPEG images captured with the OM-1 Mark II camera.
Based on ORF.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 9mm f/4.
Vignetting at 11mm f/4.
Vignetting at 14mm f/4.
Vignetting at 18mm f/4.
Rectilinear distortion at 9mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 11mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 14mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 18mm.
9mm focal length, ISO 500, 1 second exposure at f/8.
18mm focal length, ISO 320, 1 second exposure at f/8.
Sunstar at 9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/320 second at f/22.
Contre-jour lighting 9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/160 second at f/22.
Portrait at 9mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/15 second at f/5.6.
Portrait at 18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/5 second at f/7.1.
Close-up at 18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/4 second at f/5.
18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/2 second at f/7.1.
9mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/5 second at f/7.1.
18mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/2 second at f/6.3.
9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/5 second at f/5.6.
9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/10 second at f/8.
9mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/2 second at f/7.1.
11mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/500 second at f/9.
18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/1000 second at f/11.
18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/400 second at f/11.
9mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/100 second at f/10.
18mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/500 second at f/11.
18mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/800 second at f/8.
9mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/400 second at f/11.
9mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/30 second at f/11.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the OM-1 Mark II camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$999
- Build: 8.8
- Handling: 8.9
- Image quality: 9.0
- Autofocusing: 9.0
- Versatility: 8.9
BUY