Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 7-14mm f/4

Awesome lens, very expensive, but worth every single penny This is an awesome lens: the pictures are sharp, the colours vivid, the contrast excellent, the vignetting minimal (no small feat for an ultra-wide-angle lens). I use a Leica Vario-Elmarit 14-50 as a standard lens, which is still a bit sharper. But the Olympus 7-14 is by far the best wide-angle lens I have ever had, and it is exhilarating to work with. There three small downsides, though; - the front lens being almost hemisperical, it is very exposed and no filter can be fitted - the lens is large and heavy (meaning sturdily built, as an upside). - in bright sunshine, the side protection offered by the small built-in hood is minimal, and reflections are not always avoidable. The lens costs a multiple of what more ordinary lenses cost (a well-built Sigma of similar focal length for Nikon is just 1/3 of the price, and even more or less comparable original Nikon or Canon lenses are markedly cheaper), but if you can halfway afford it, scrape the money together - you won't regret it!Read full review

a terrific lens It's commonly said that ultra-wide lenses have only very specific uses---implying that one would use them far less often than their wide-to-normal range cousins. Much has been written that this lens, by its design offers no ability to place a filter in front of it. Having said that, I've used this lens quite a bit, and find it a delightful, nearly general-purpose lens for shooting landscape work. It's amazing lack of spherical (fisheye) distortion makes it possible to shoot outside scenes which convey all the spaciousness and scope that you often want. It has a phenomenal depth-of-field, and an amazing tolerance (for being such a big heavy lens) for being hand-held. This is an expensive lens, but then, you sort of get what you pay for.

Simply Incredible! This lens is sooo wide (Chorus: "How wide is it?") This lens is soooo wide, that when you take a picture on Wednesday, you have to be careful not to get Monday or Friday in the picture! Seriously, though, mind those feet and fingers! They have a way of finding their way into the image when shooting at 7mm. It is contrasty and sharp, and amazingly free of flare — which is important, and the sun is just as prone as your feet and fingers to getting in the frame. In practice, you'll see a few iris-shaped flares, but not the overall sharpness-reducing flare of lower-quality lenses. This lens really lends itself to "grab shots." After you've used it a bit, you'll learn its approximate field-of-view, and then you can casually hold your camera and click candid shots at parties and bars. People on the edges have no idea they're even in the photo. And it's super easy to include yourself in the image, if you desire. This lens has won me several magazine covers. In one, I was in the basket of a hot-air balloon with two other people. This was definitely a case where you don't simply "take a step back" to frame the shot! All of my shots on this shoot were "grab shots;" I never even looked through the viewfinder — there was no room for that! This freed me to try lots of weird stuff, low angles, high angles. The "money shot" was the person paying for the ride, delirious with joy, the balloon filling the top of the frame, and nearby trees and scenery behind — an impossible shot for almost any lens! People criticize the weight or the protruding front element, but you need to compare apples with apples — other lenses in this class are also sizeable and have a protruding front element. There's no way around that. If you managed to fit a filter to it, it would vignette. Just be careful to keep the lens cap on. Bottom line: if you love wide, you'll love this lens! And how much is love worth? Just pay the price and be happy!Read full review