Olympus G.Zuiko Auto S 40mm f/1.4 Performance

Central sharpness is soft at f/1.4, good at f/2, very good at f/2.8 and excellent from f/4 through to f/8. It is still very good at f/11 and f/16. Sadly, the edges are not exciting, being poor at f/1.4, only fair at f/2 and f/2.8 but rising to a good level from f/4 to f/16.

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Olympus G.Zuiko Auto S 40mm f/1.4 MTF Charts

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is well controlled centrally, but the edges do show distinct colour fringing with the usual problem subjects, such as branches against a bright sky and black and white buildings. Correction can be made in software.

Olympus G.Zuiko Auto S 40mm f/1.4 Chromatic Aberration Charts

Distortion is impressively low at -0.60% barrel.

Bokeh, the quality of the out of focus areas in an image, is not the strong point of the lens. The highlights show doughnut shapes and rings at the edges of the out of focus points and it's all a bit untidy. However, this is not a problem with many subjects.

Flare is nowhere near as well controlled as with a modern multi-coated lens. Pointing towards the light, the lens shows an instant drop in contrast. If a strong light source is included, then we see a mass of artefacts and reflections. Lighting should, therefore, be watched carefully if these defects are to be avoided.

Vignetting is around -1 stop throughout the aperture range, a reasonable result and one that is unlikely to be noticed.

Although sharp images can be expected, especially at the centre, the lens is, as far as technical results go, a bit disappointing overall.

Olympus G.Zuiko Auto S 40mm f/1.4 Sample Photos

Olympus G.Zuiko Auto S 40mm f/1.4 Aperture range

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