Olympus 18180mm f/3.56.3 Zuiko Lens for E Series

Accurate Positive Reviews
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
One of my deciding factors on purchasing this lens was the positive reviews I read here and elsewhere. I recently decided after a lot of research to purchase the Olympus Evolt 500 camera body. Several reviews suggested the kit lenses were lesser quality than other options. So I purchased only the Evolt 500 body and began searching for a good lens that would handle the general picture taking tasks I envisioned that I would need. This 18-180mm zoom seemed to fit the bill. I read all the reviews I could find on the lens and found that the Amazon price gave me good value and the Amazon backing I’ve come to be comfortable with.

The lens is much faster than the standard lenses I demoed in the stores and focuses very accurately for indoor shots. The edge sharpness is very good and focusing is spot on. I haven’t had an opportunity to use the camera outdoors which will be approximately 60 percent of its intended use. I’ll update this review once I have some experience using it outdoors. But I’ve come to believe that if it performs well indoors the type of outdoor use I plan will probably be very satisfactory.

Bottom line is I am comfortable with my decision and believe this to be a superior option to the kit lenses.

A Christmas Gift
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens was purchased by me as a gift for my daughter who is now a very keen photographer .She and I are delighted with the results,the weight and compactness.

Her overall remark was I think this is a lens I will use more than 90% of the time.The images enlarge well with litttle if any loss of definition. EXCELLENT.

The Only Lens I Use
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the only lens I use on my 510 these days. I do a lot of Real Estate related photography and this lens seems to be the jack of all trades. Since most of my photos are shot in natural daylight, I get stunning results. I got two kit lenses with my camera when I bought it, but I honestly cannot tell you where they are now. I haven’t used them since I got this lens.

I have noticed some minor focusing issues with interior shots, but it just takes a little patience to get the shot. I take about 200 to 500 photos per month with this lens. I have no complaints regarding this lens. It saves me a lot of time.

who says it isn’t sharp?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
With all the reviews I read about its sharpness I was a bit apprehensive at first before ordering it. But then I needed a really good ranged travel lens for my E520. I initially was aiming for the Sigma 18-125mm but the price for 4/3rds mount suddenly went up to something unimaginable for a third party lens in this class. So, I went for the 18180 and did my own little test as soon as it arrived…mounted it on my E520 and Viola!!! I got really crisp, tack sharp images I wasn’t expecting from this lens. 18 all the way to 180, and even indoor shots. Maybe my requirements are a bit shallower than the rest or maybe my hands proved steadier but the IS in the E520 really worked wonders for this piece of glass. Not satisfied to what I saw on the LCD,I even took a quick look at the images on my PC monitor and was I happy to find they were SHARP as I’ve mentioned. Slow? That’s another thing. But I’ve got real praises for this lens and I said I even tried some indoor shots. Maybe not as slow as I previously read too. Maybe my copy was perfect or close. But one that’s not a maybe, I sure will recommend this lens to E5xx owners (those with IS) who are looking for a dependable one travel lens. Go for it!!!

Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for my Olympus E 500 around 6 months ago. I was looking for a tele photo lens in an affrodable price. This is a 10X Zoom lens which in the ideal conditions works extremly good!

This lens is ideal for landscapes shoots, sports and low light scenes. For low light scenes I would recomend to use a tripod. The lens is quite heavy for it’s size so maybe after a while your neck will feel tired.

This lens is not good for macro shots… or at least I haven’t found the way to use it for macro shots yet.

Other than that, I would say this lens is really good.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is my go to lens I almost never take it off of my camera. I have great clarity and no chromatic or optical aberrations the range of field is great. I can not say enough about this lens.

Great Zoom lens, ideal for daylight or bright light scenes
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve used this for about a month now and so far I’ve been quite pleased with the performance of this lens. Other than the impressive zoom, there really isn’t anything very impressive about the lens. The F3.5 falls off very quickly to F5.1 at about 50mm, which means the lens is overall pretty slow. Size-wise, the lens is quite compact, but not as light as I thought it would be. The lens is pretty heavy as compared to the kit lens (although this is understandable). However, I do find myself using this lens less often as compared to the kit lens especially because of the weight. The lens works really, really well in daylight and produces some stunning results, but I would definitely not recommend this for too much night scene photography. I’m contemplating the 18-50mm F2.8 Sigma which does seem like a great night scene lens.

Excellent 10X Zoom Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve found this makes a very nice one lens walk around kit with my E500. The sharpness is certainly equal to the Olympus 14-45mm lens where they overlap, and even sharper in the telephoto end. While not a macro lens, I’ve also gotten very nice closeup photos with the lens. Of course, it is not as sharp as the 50-200mm Olympus lens, which is a much bigger and more expensive lens. Autofocus is fast and accurate. But don’t take my word. Popular Photography has just tested the lens and called it among the top zooms in its class.

Less than ideal “one lens” solution
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The overall size and weight of the Olympus D-510 2 lens kit (14-42 and 45-150) offered a small, light kit that is very versatile. My only issue is I find myself in a lot of situations where a rapid lens change is required with this combination so I was looking for something in a single lens that offered a larger zoom range.

This lens offers the zoom range I was looking for, but its almost the size and weight of the two kit lenses put together and is slower than either. I did not have any color or clarity problems attributable to the optics in this lens and in theory its a step up from the kit lenses.

Unfortunately, largest aperture falls off to f6.3 rapidly and that makes for a slow lens over the majority of its zoom range, which also causes a dimmer viewfinder image, and slower auto focus.

Its not quite disappointing enough to return, but in general you are better off with the kit lenses from a size/weight/quality standpoint. If you REALLY need the zoom range in a single lens, this is worth considering, but the compromises that come with this lens are greater than I’ve seen in other third party lenses with a similar zoom range (admittedly for other lens mounts).

I think I’ll look towards the 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 Olympus lens next.

Good Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have the Olympus E420 since one year now. I bought the double zoom kit for incredible good price (299 Euro) in Germans electronic store called “Saturn”. When I made pictures during events like School performance for example, I had to change the two lenses all the time. Now with the super zoom this is not necessary any more. The quality of the pictures is good. Much better them expected, after reading some test reports. When I have more experience after Christmas time I will let you know.

The price of this lens in Germany is app. 500 Euro (750 US$). So I’m very happy that I could buy it in the US for almost the half price.

Klaus

As good as an “All in One” gets!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The quality is the highest I have seen with mega-zoom lenses. I was able to get exremely sharp focus on full 360mm shots. Even with no image stabilizer the pictures are still incredible. There is no “all in one” that is perfect but this is as close as you can get. I use it on an E-500. Construction is very high compared to some of my better nikon lenses. Olympus did this right with all the right compromises in my view. A+++++++++++

NEW COMBO LENSES.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A GREAT SUBSTITUTION FOR THOSE WHO DON’T LIKE TO CARRY AROUND A BAG WITH TWO KIT LENSES ALTHOUGH A BIT PRICEY. IT’S ONLY SLIGHTLY LARGER AND HEAVIER THAN THE KIT LENS, I FIND IT MORE CONVENIENT TO LEAVE ON THE CAMERA ALL THE TIME. ALTHOUGH I HAVEN’T USED THE TELE MUCH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING PRETTY WELL IN MACRO ZOOMING IN TO ABOUT 24 INCHES AND GETTING SHARP RESULTS.

AM NOT SORRY I SPENT THE EXTRA MONEY.

Great value for otherwise very expensive item.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens was an incredible value. I had priced new lenses and knew I couldn’t afford one. This used lens was in NEW condition and cost me about half the price.

The seller is fantastic! I have never bought anything this expensive over the internet, but this seller calmed my nerves. He kept in constand contact. The item arrived much quicker than I expected and was very, very soundly packaged. I would purchase again from him and recommend him to others.

All Purpose Lens and it Rocks… whatever the situation!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Finally! It’s here! The all purpose lens us Olympus E Series fans have been waiting for. And it is wonderful. Pictures are sharp edge to edge, indoor and out. Shots taken both Auto Focus and Manual have turned out well. I have no complaints. For an all purpose lens, it works well in a variety of light conditions, an area of concern when I bought the lens. Now I feel set. I can keep this one on the camera and I’m prepared for all those impromptu shoots you end up on. I’ll still use my other lenses, but only when I know the specifics of the shoot ahead of time. But now if I just want to grab the camera, sans the 10 lb. bag, and go shoot pictures of my kid at the zoo, I can. And like you, I love that freedom. Bottom line, I couldn’t be happier and if you are looking for an all purpose zoom lens for your E-300, E-500, E-1 (and soon to come E-3 and E-330) cameras, look no further. This is the one you want (trust me I tried the Sigma for Olympus alternative… stay clear of that one). I know it costs almost as much as your camera body, but in the end you’ll find the shots you end up with in the long term will more than make up for any buyer’s remorse you may suffer in the short term. So get off the fence, Click the Buy button, and get to work on those shots… whatever the situation.

For globetrotters
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very goog lens. You’ve not to change each time between two lenses, so less problem vith dust and you are always ready to shoot.

Olympus Zuiko 18-180mm lense
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens to go with my purchase of an Olympus e520 DSLR. I wanted one lens that would cover a multitude of situations since I don’t like to carry a lot of stuff. I am extremely pleased so far. The lens will capture what I want in most situations and is fairly compact and light. Pictures come out crisp and full colored.

The E-510 finally makes this lens a keeper
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I had previously owned one of these lenses and as I noted in an earlier review no one could have wanted this lens to be the great single lens “travel lens” more than I did, but alas the lens just came with too many shortcomings to work well with my E-500. Enter the E-510 with built in image stabilization and much better high-ISO performance and in my opinion a new day has dawned for this lens.

This is not a fast lens and that will never change but finally this is no longer a deal breaker. The lens has been performing very well indeed on my E-510 as long as I keep the design limitations of the lens in mind.

Points to consider:

- This lens is not super sharp wide open (maximum aperture) the way a Zuiko 12-60mm or 50-200mm lens would be – it’s “acceptable” for some but not for my needs.

- Stopped down about two notches or simply set to f/8 or f/11 this lens is very sharp indeed – it sharpens up nicely – however the depth of field at shorter focal lengths might be too generous for some shooters needs.

- The lens is not weather sealed and is not made to the same quality as the mid-grade or top pro-grade Zuiko lenses. It’s built to pretty much the same standards as a kit lens, which is to say just fine (it has a metal base).

- It focuses much closer than the Zuiko 50-200mm lens and makes a very good general purpose walkabout lens for use in strong lighting.

- The lens uses 62mm threads at the front and as a result several lens attachments from the old Olympus E-10/20 DSLRs will fit.

If you’re using an older E series Olympus camera I can’t recommend the lens without reservation, but for those shooting with the new image stabilized Olympus DSLRs I think that this lens can work very well as a travel lens or a general walkabout lens high on the convenience factor.

Bought it for my daughter
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am trying to get my daughter to use her Olympus 510 and this lens gives her a lot more flexibility. It is good quality and a much better range than the kit lens she was using.