An early morning shot outside of Asheville, NC.
I recently bought a brand new Leica Panasonic 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 zoom lens as a back up for the Olympus 12-100mm Pro zoom lens I purchased last year. There are a number of reasons to have two different versions of your most used lenses, not the least of which is the security of having a back up in case a lens is damaged in transit or accidentally dropped. Also, from time to time, even the best lenses can have a defect that renders them unusable and in need of repair.
I bought the Panasonic/Leica as a second lens because I'm been using the Olympus lens non-stop and rely on it for most of my video and photography projects (both personal and professional). Since the Panasonic/Leica covers most of the range it was a good choice. An added bonus is that it works with the dual image stabilization feature on the G9 cameras. With the two camera bodies and two lenses I feel prepared to handle just about anything a typical job tosses my way...
I had read a few reviews on the web that suggested the P/L lens was less sharp than the Oly, and just as many reviews that praised the P/L for its sharpness, so I decided to find out for myself. I would never use a camera body or lens which I have not tested myself on a job so I did a general test last weekend. I found the new lens to be sharp and have good imaging characteristics. It also feels a bit better balanced on a G9 than my Oly 12/100. But the real proof is in day-to-day use.
I have now used it for the last two days and find it to be a very good lens. Interchangeable, for the most part, within the focal length range, with the Olympus lens. It does a great job rendering flesh tones and, like the Olympus, can be too sharp for portraits of people unless their skin is perfect and the light is gentle. Using with correct profiles settings gets you a lens with good fine detail and nice micro-contrast.
I'll keep using it and shooting with it and report what I find.
6 comments:
That’s encouraging. I’d always assumed that if the lottery were to come through I’d move to Panasonic for its video advantage over my EM5.2. The obvious lens choice was the 12-35 for its constant 2.8 aperture. But if the 12-60 is as good as the 12-100 Olympus in comparable focal lengths that changes things. (Still hypothetical things, however.) The 2.8 at the wide end is a bonus, and the drop to f/4 at the long end is no disadvantage. Unlike the dark tunnel of my 3.5-6.3 Olympus 12-50 zoom which seems to move to 6.3 much more quickly than is reasonable.
It will be interesting to see what you think of this lens compared to the kit lens that you had with the G85 since that is a pretty good lens.
I would have got the 25/1.2 PRO myself to serve as a low light lens, or a 45/1.2 for portraits, or even the 12-40mm f2.8 Olympus if you really wanted another zoom. The Leica is only f2.8 at 12mm, so you are not really gaining much in light gathering for most of the focal length range. I assume an advantage of the 12-60mm is it is smaller and lighter than the 12-100, but still. Each to their own. All of these lenses are good.
That lens plus the 15mm/1.7 are the ones I'm using most of the time on my GX80/85. Both are excellent, very sharp and great color rendition.
for those of you who use the panasonic 12-60/2.8-4, at approx what field of view/mm does the f/stop change? thanks in advance to those who care to share. thumbs up.
I'll be interested to read your report.
I got that lens a year ago but it's my first zoom lens in forever and don't quite know what to think of it.
I don't like the distortion at 12mm but might be spoiled by 24mm prime on my fullframe camera.
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