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For such an expensive lens of such a high class the work against bright light fell short of our expectations. After all the lack of artifacts connected with it was supposed to be one of the assets of the Four Thirds system. Here, as it becomes evident looking at the examples below, it is no asset at all. The results are average already at the maximum aperture but on stopping down near f/8.0 the situation is really bad. In the frame corners opposite to the bright light source we can catch even quite significant flares without any problems. We decidedly don’t like it.
As an excuse for the Olympus we can add that Canon lenses of 70-200 mm class didn’t fare well in this category either. A big number of elements and a huge number of air-to-glass surfaces to cover (here as many as 36) are the reason why the transmission doesn’t exceed 90% even with the help of excellent anti-reflection coatings. It makes the reflected light simply wander around the lens producing such artifacts as those which can be admired in the photographs below.
