Popco (Click here) posted a nice set of sexy 12-35mm X lens pictures including a “weight comparison”! And they made a autofocus speed test you can see on vimeo (Click here). A new set of image samples can be found here at Flickr. And there is another full review at Camerastuffreview (Click here). The conclusion are very positive like it was at Photographyblog, ePhotozine, SLRgear and DSLRmagazine. The only flaw of that lens may be the missing powerzoom (hey I am a film maker, for me that would have been a nice addition).
Lens preorders:
in USA at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
in Europe at FotoHanzKeuzekamp (Click here).
in Asia at Amazon Japan (Click here) and Digitalrev (Click here).
71 Responses
it needs to be more expensive so that the filthy plebeians can not use it
If the filthy rich are using leica? Who will buy this lens?
Filthy trolls like you?
Also, that AF test would have been better if they dimmed the lights. I also couldn’t help but think how sweet a GX-2 with a RF styled EVF would be.
LOL.
Careful, this sort of humour is rarely understood. They will treat you with feathers and tar.
This may be the best comment I’ve ever seen on this site!
..the filthy plebeians are using Russian/Japanese manual lenses and can achieve better results 🙂
Plebeians?
BAH!
We’re a bunch of overeducated, well scrubbed aesthetes! 😉
This is a lens product, Olympus should take as an example! High quality optics, excellent build, lens hood and bag included! Shame on Olympus that the latter two aren’t in the box, are expensive and usually difficult to get.
Panasonic deserves an applause that it does not follow the route of Olympus of delivering incomplete product packages.
(the same goes for the EM-5: the naked camera without the grip is so awkward to hold, that the grip should have been included in the standard package, or they should have given the body a more ergonomic shape. But they failed to do so during the whole PEN line, so no surprise here)
I agree with your point about the lens but not about the camera. There are a lot of users that want the camera as compact as possible – your ergonomic preferences are not universal. That they should pay extra for something they don’t need or want is not a good idea, but giving the option for those that do want them is very good.
Agree about the grip for sure….. The nice this about having two companies sharing a standard is that they can each approach it from a different angle….
@mahler, I agree with Tim here. I have no interest in making my compact camera larger with what is, for me, an unnecessarily large grip. I certainly don’t want to pay extra for it! Are you not at least happy that they gave you the option?
I do agree with you regarding the lenses – the difference is that a lens hood etc. should be of negligible cost; the camera grip would definitely add a lot more to the cost of an EM-5.
> making my compact camera larger
And you failed to find enough compact cameras from markets and hence want to de-evolve all system cameras to unergonomically small and controlless?
Except for lens mount instead of fixed lens whole current m4/3 body range is functionally at level of various digicompacts markets are full and there’s no body offering ergonomy and controls comparable to above entry-level DSLRs.
No grip or extra grip, E-M5 fails to reach ergonomy and controls of fixed lens EVF-based prosumers from bare decade ago. Which is rather pathetic for cameras which are supposed to be the future.
As I said, if the body is supposed to be used alone, it should have given a more ergonomic shape. Currently, the grip is a necessary accessory without that the camera isn’t comfortable to hold for a longer time.
While the add on grip is better then no option, I don’t like the fact that you have to add bulk and wait to the bottom of the camera just to give it a place to hold on to. You can’t please everyone and if they had added a grip they would have had room for the electronics to remove the hump so no bulk added. It was all done for a retro look and not for ergonomics. If this works for them and they sell more cameras (never know) then great for them. It didn’t get me to buy one though.
Why all this hostility? You should be proud today. Excellent results from the 12-35. Keep your inferiority complex for more relevant posts.
heh… there are a few Olympus lenses on my short list and that won’t stop me.
Speaking of lense hood, is there any alternative to the lousy PL25 square hood? I don’t care how cool it looks, I’m willing to pay extra to have one that is practical to use and store!
It seems weird to me that the hood for the 25mm is so deep and the 45mm so shallow. I’ve found them to be pretty much interchangeable. The hood from the 45 may be more manageable for you though neither is reversible on the lenses. I don’t think anything aftermarket would be either.
At least the hoods for the oly 45mm, 9-18mm, 14-42mm, 14-150mm, 40-150mm are reversible. But they werent included as they should be (like before) as well as pouches.
This nickel and dime-ing by oly is doing nothing but leave customers with a bad after taste. I don’t think they make or save enough money by selling these ceperately. I certainly didn’t give the awesome 45/1.8 a perfect score just because of that and didn’t buy any original oly hoods – all are cheap 3rd party.
+1on lousy hoods. M43 is all about portability, reversible hoods should be the norm for proper storage, don’t you think? Neither the 45mm or leica 25mm or upcoming 75mm have reversible hoods. Crazy!
Any third party manufacturer hearing? Pretty please…?
Ebay seller, anything!
I like the E-M5 without the grip and I am glad that I’m not forced to pay for it. But I agree about the lens hood and pouch, products in this price range should exceed expectations, and not leave any feeling of disappointment. The most unforgivable thing about the Olympus “strategy” is that it has caused me to finally agree with Mahler about something 🙂
This lens is looking excellent and it seems that Panasonic has the high-quality zoom market covered (actually, despite being an Oly ‘fanboy’ I have only one Oly lens, 45mm, and three excellent Pannys, 14mm 20mm 7-14mm).
Having said that, I hope there is enough of a market for Olympus to release their own high quality, fast zoom because I would rather have these lenses without OIS. You should be able to make the lenses more compact or less expensive without in-lens stabilization, and those of us from the future no longer need it.
Snap! We’ve got exact same lens collection… other than I also have two forgettable kit zooms.
And I also agree that agreeing with Mahler leaves a bad taste in the mouth. If he is so against it, maybe Oly is right tl leave out hood and pouch and I am wrong for feeling a bit short changed by it…
But I am glad that for now Oly and Pana are giving compeltely different options than a bunch of mediocre zooms with close to exact same specs. So, I am glad one is releasing quality primes while other releases quality zooms – gives everyone some options for their needs.
As for grip – I still haven’t decided if I like it or not. m43s has many champions on size front, but, for me, nothing on ergonomics front. I find both GH2 and OM-D annoy me in different ways compared to the pleasure of my Nikon (which has massive weight and size issues).
Grip? You KNOW you’re supposed to suffer for fashion. 😉
“A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic.”
George Bernard Shaw
Mahler
I agree that the grip (or the lack thereof) diminishes the user experience. But it’s not just Oly that is chasing legacy designs and not following the criteria of function.
Panasonic should be applauded for their product philosophy of including the basics of a lens product.
“Chasing legacy designs”? Was the E-420 a legacy design, too?
That was my first DSLR and I have been looking for something that handled as well since then. Canon, Pentax and Samsung have failed me so I’m off back to Olympus when I can afford the E-M5.
Saying that a grip is better for handling is largely a matter of personal taste, I fear.
E-400/420’s reasonable size rear display left more space for rear controls and good empty space for thumb to support grip from camera.
With real estate on cameras being wasted for oversize travel TVs haven’t seen as comfortable gripless camera since then.
I have no problems holding the naked camera. When you hold a naked thing, you may have to hold it differently, though. I have the grip (included with the kit), but I will learn to use the camera without the grip first, to be able to move with the smallest possible equipment.
No Camera is ever going to fit everyone’s hand shape/size perfectly. For many the camera is fine without the grip and they would not be happy to have a higher price that forced you to have it.
Yes it is nice that the hood is included but for many the case is not required because the lens will wither be on the camera or in a camera bag.
Seeing the lens like this in the photo I have to say the lens does very much look like it is Olympus designed and made on behalf of Panasonic. Would not be a great surprise as they are meant to be making other equipment for Panasonic already. The lens casing looks very Olympus extended like that.
That’s all great – but wasn’t also the G5 supposed to be released on 21th? What happened?
That was just a rumor. There was supposed to be some product announcement on the 21st and people rolled out their Xmas lists and started assuming the G5 would be announced.
🙁 ’cause it was an FT5…so I’ll go and get my G3 then.!
Maybe it’s just me, but the lens doesn’t seem that sharp at all…
Agreed. At least based on the photos I have seen so far.
Wait a minute ? the lens is purple ???
they do not have a black version ?
only the hood and the focus ring looks black on all the images here , and on photography blog ?
is it for real ?
Harold
a hint the GH3 will be purple too.
Lol
It is a secret sign — it will be weather sealed: “purple rain, purple rain”.
I was going to post the same question….uh purple….?? Who want their expensive lens in purple ??
I reckon…. :O
Purple lens is kind of annoying, unless it comes out in different colours (which seems strange) but it looked a little off on all of those cameras except the G3 I found..
Purple lens lol what? It’s not necessary but would have been much better if M43 had standardised the colouring to two (or how ever many) distinct styles, because this lens throws another weird colour into the mix, it just makes things feel slightly off.. I made myself deal with the silver primes on black body, that’s not too bad although still annoying.
The pictures must have been taken with a Leica M8! 🙂
The lens pictures must have been taken with a Leica M8! That would explain the purple 🙂
The pre-production lenses are purple, the final lens will be black. So I was told at the Panasonic booth at a show yesterday.
I read somewhere that the purpleness was a preproduction thing.
There is also this review of the 12-35:
http://m.cnet.com/news/wide-angle-panasonic-x-series/57437452?tag=TOCcarouselMain.2
I’m not sure if Admin already posted it somewhere.
The best part is that that article only has one comment, and it’s on equivalence. LOL
I’ve replied to him 🙂 (as woofwoof.)
im actually really glad they did not make it a powerzoom lens
I kind of wish they had made it a power zoom – then I wouldn’t be tempted to buy it!
The evolution of digital cameras:
http://j.mp/LECqBF
In film it was 8″x10″ -> 4″x5″ -> 120 -> 135
Maybe in digital it will be Full frame (so called) -> APS-C -> m4/3 ?
Already Pre-ordered! Looking forward to trying this puppy for myself!!!
The pure is the color of the pre producgion samples.
I think DPR mentioned in their preview that Panasonic said to them the final finish will be the usual gray…
That purple look reminds me of Mark Levinson and other hi fi stuff. It’s a tone they aquire during annodization. It’s not bad
I pulled out the 12/2 14/2.5 20/1.7 25/1.4 and 45/1.8 blur index graphs and compared them side-by-side to the 12-35’s at the corresponding focal lengths[ish] at f/2.8 and f/5.6.
I’d say that whatever price they set for this lens, it’ll be worth it – compared to the total price for the above individual primes [OK, less the 45].
The primes may have the DoF and shutter speed advantage but the zoom scores on sheer convenience for the Panny user without IS. It’s a little bigger than the pancakes but for a coat pocket, single lens solution it seems an absolute no-brainer.
Simonl,
Is this zoom sharper than those lenses at f2.8 and f5.6? If so, that is an incredible feat.
I wonder how its sharpness at the end of its zoom range compares to the sharpness at 12mm. Usually there is a degradation as you zoom out.
Fish,
The long end compares very favourably with the wide end considering it’s a 3x zoom.
No, not sharper but, considering it’s a zoom, it stands up incredibly well against such an array of primes – some of which are very well thought of.
I doubt the Mark 1 eyeball would ever tell much of a difference on a print – although the pixel peepers might………….
The purple is exactly the color of titanium aluminum nitride, which is a super hard, scratch resistant PVD coating.
“A little bigger”?! Sorry, but it’s not a coat pocket solution at all. Even the pancakes are hardly pocketable when mounted, although they surely can fill that role much better than this lens.
Also, summing all primes for comparison against a zoom is excessive. Don’t forget you didn’t include the two Sigma primes and Oly 17/2.8. The total would be about $2700 and 900 grams. A set of just 3 primes would suffice.
“The only flaw” of this lens is it costs 2.5x times the Oly 14-54 while apparently falling very short of *exceeding* it by the same 2.5x amount in value, even when size difference is considered.
It is called the law of diminishing returns. For example, a Leica M9 costs about five times a GH2, but it is patently not five times better (however you want to define better).
It exceeds it just fine due to 100x faster AF.
Wrong. It’s less than 2x times slower than the fastest native MFT lenses.
14-54 mkII is miles better lens, and when mounted on OM-D it focuses with almost same speed, CAF was added in revision.
yet is solo much cheaper, so the only advantage I see is 12mm, which is handy indeed, but not that often like 54…
35mm is limiting as a all around carry lens unless we have D800 sensor and we can crop all the time…
I was quite happy with the 24-70/2.8 Nikkor on the D300, i.e 36-105 equivalent: a useful range. Of course, the 28-112 range of the XZ-1 is even better :-). The 14-54 almost equals the range of the XZ-1. But the 14-54 is considerable bigger/heavier than the 12-35, I guess…
It’s slower, twice the size, and doesn’t do IS on Pany cameras. I liked my 14-54 when I had one, but this is a million times more suitable for m4/3.
Massive size is limiting for a carry-around lens, as well. I’m impressed that they got the 12-35 so compact.
Panasonic spokesman said…
I just wonder you had Only lens, as it is still f2.8 at 35mm,so how come you call it slower?
also is only cca 100g heavier and a bit bigger, definitely not twice the size…
As a G2/GH2 owner I’m just happy there’s finally some good Panny news after the OM-D deluge!
The 12-35 is also an “HD” lens. I think this point gets lost among photographers, but the faster aperture, OIS, and HD designation means a lot to videographers. And video is becoming more and more important these days. Just thought I’d point it out.
This lens isn’t cheap, but it is performing very well.
Like everyone else, I recognize that the faster aperture is valuable. I can also understand how OIS would be important to videographers. But I don’t see how the HD designation is of value to anyone. I thought that the “HD” was just a marketing gimmick, the addition of some tacky text that gives a slightly amateurish look to an otherwise professional lens.
Forgive my ignorance if the text actually means something, but I thought it was like the “HD designation” given to convenience-store sunglasses that enable you see the world in ‘High Definition’.
More good reviews of the 12-35. The only thing holding me up from pre-ordering it is knowing if it will be a kit lens option with the GH3 or not because the price savings is usually worth the wait.
Bring more high quality lenses out, Panasonic and Olympus! 🙂
I think the lens that will come with gh3 as a kit lens is this one:
http://www.43rumors.com/new-panasonic-12-60mm-f4-5-5-6-patent/
(I might be wrong though)
I like the finish of the preproduction lens. Anyway, I don’t like that it does extend, looks like a cheap Sigma/Tamron zoom lens.