| Support this site by shopping via these links |
|
|
Olympus ZD 12-60mm colour fringing comparison
|
 |
|
To measure colour fringing caused
by lens chromatic aberrations and sensor blooming, we photographed a test
chart, left, with areas of very high contrast.
We tested each lens at its
widest and longest focal lengths with the aperture wide open in Aperture Priority mode. The crops are taken from the upper left
corner of the chart and presented here at 100%. |
| All four lenses exhibited some fringing at wide angle. Zoomed-in to their longest focal lengths,
the four lenses were much improved in this respect, although only the Leica completely eliminates it here. |
Olympus ZD 12-60mm |
|
Olympus ZD 14-42mm |
|
Olympus ZD 14-45mm |
|
Leica 14-50mm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-60mm at 12mm f2.8 |
|
14-42mm at 14mm f3.5 |
|
14-45mm at 14mm f3.5 |
|
14-50mm at 14mm f2.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-60mm at 60mm f4 |
|
14-42mm at 42mm f5.6 |
|
14-45mm at 45mm f5.6 |
|
14-50mm at 50mm f3.5 |
Olympus ZD 12-60mm macro comparison
 |
|
To measure and compare the Olympus 12-60mm's macro performance we photographed
a custom chart using it and a number of rival lenses.
Each camera was positioned at a distance and set to a focal length which
delivered the maximum possible reproduction.
The dark lines are 10mm apart and the result is not cropped. Smaller areas
are preferred in this test.
The image left was taken with the Olympus 12-60mm. |
12-60mm at 60mm f8
Max area of 58x44mm |
| |
Like most DSLR lenses, the greatest macro reproduction was achieved with the lens zoomed-into its longest focal length. There the Olympus 12-60mm captured an area measuring 58x44mm, which is comfortably better than any of the other lenses shown here, although the latest 14-42mm kit zoom comes close.
If you want serious macro performance on a Four Thirds body, you should consider the Olympus Zuiko Digital 50mm. This lens can deliver a field measuring 34x26mm. Now let's move onto our geometric distortion tests. |
Olympus ZD ED 14-42mm |
|
Olympus ZD
14-45mm |
|
Leica D 14-50mm |
|
|
|
|
|
14-42mm at 42mm f8
Max area of 68x50mm |
|
14-45mm at 45mm f8
Max area of 112x84mm |
|
14-50mm at 50mm f8
Max area of 108x80mm |
|
