With a wide angle to telephoto range of 28-84mm (35mm film format equivalent), its zoom range is flexible enough to make it the right lens for taking most of the everyday scenes you would photograph, making it an ideal first lens to build the rest of your lens-system around. The 28mm (equivalent) setting is ideal for landscape, group people shots and general wide lens photography. Fully zoomed at 84mm, it becomes a flattering telephoto lens for portrait shots and close up photography.

This new version of the standard wide-angle lens features a totally redesigned optical and focusing system. Three aspherical lens elements are used in the lens design for high optical performance in a compact design. Olympus' proprietary MSC focus drive technology makes focusing not just quick, but almost totally silent so that you don't hear the focus motor when you're shooting HD video with your PEN camera.

The MSC system also enables a remarkably smooth focus-tracking capability, so that when you continually track-focus your subjects during video shooting, HD video capture will be as smooth as a camcorder with a gentle coming in and out of focus. This is big advantage over SLR type lenses which tend to have a jerky or stuttering continuous-autofocus behaviour in video applications.

A unique retracting lens barrel design minimises the physical size of the lens when in transport. A new reinforced barrel design enables the use of small and lightweight optional front lens accessories that include a fisheye, a macro and a wide angle converter.

L-R: Wide angle converter WCON-P01, Macro converter MCON-P01

The dedicated lens hood LH-40 not only enhances picture quality by protecting the front element from stray light, it gives the lens a uniquely stylish look.