PANASONIC LUMIX Professional 12-60mm Camera Lens, Leica DG Vario-ELMARIT, F2.8-4.0 ASPH, Dual I.S. 2.0 with Power O.I.S, Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds, H-ES12060 (Black)

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To answer the question everyone asks: f/2.8 at 12mm (drops to f/2.9 at 13mm), f/3.2 at 18mm, f/3.5 at 25mm, f/3.9 at 40mm to 50mm, f/4 from 51mm to 60mm. If you are looking for a high quality general puprose zoom for your m43 camera, look no further. This lens is a fine perforrmer everywhere except in the corners at 12mm. Even there, its ok if you stop down a bit. And if I didnt have the 12-35 f/2.8 lens to compare with, I would have left it at that. However, since I have the 12-35/2.8, making a comparison was inevitable and the 12-35 is a little better, especially at 12mm. The issue seems to be field curvature because comparing images of a flat subject, shot with both lenses, at the wide end, the 12-60 images appear convex (center is closer than the edges) whereas the 12-35 images are almost flat. With either lens, the barrel distorion is mostly corrected automatically, and with the 12-60 it may be that moving the pixels to correct for distortion afffects corner sharpness at 12mm. But you probably dont plan on using this lens to photograph flat objects, and if the extreme corners at 12mm are a concern, youre better off not using a zoom in the first place. I doubt anybody will be dissapoined with this lens, but like the 24-120 lenses for full frame cameras, when you try to be both a wide angle and a telephoto, there are compromises. Since I dont want to carry both the 12-35 and the 12-60, I have a difficult decision to make.

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Everything about this lens is great. It is a perfect zoom range (35mm eq 24mm-120mm), and the constant aperture of f/4 is plenty bright. It is basically equivalent to the Nikon 24-120 f/4 zoom. The images are beautiful. The feel of the zoom is smooth, and the lens feels well balanced. For travel I dont think you can do better.

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The Leica DG Vario Elmarit 12-60mm is incredibly sharp, fast, stable. It has great edge to edge clarity, is silent and stable. With this lens and my Panasonic GH5 Ill rarely have need for a tripod and rarely have need to carry a second walk around lens. It is a bit heavy, but with no need to carry a second lens Im happy.

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I began using 4/3 system cameras before the advent of micro 4/3. One of my favorite 4/3 lenses of that period was the Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD. The 24-120 (full frame equivalent) range is extremely useful, especially for traveling. Thus, I was intrigued in knowing if the new Panasonic-Leica 12-60 f2.8-4 would fill that gap again for me. I have also used the excellent Olympus 12-40 f2.8 as well as the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8. The Olympus 12-40 is a great lens, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little more reach. Although both Olympus and Panasonic have made cheaper lenses, whose ranges are useful (e.g., the Olympus 12-50 3.5-6.3 and Panasonic 12-60 f3.5-5.6), these lenses are slower and seem to be not up to the same quality standards as the Olympus pro lenses and the Panasonic-Leica lenses. In the first few weeks of use, I have been very impressed by the Panasonic-Leica 12-60 f2.8-4 image quality, sharpness, and color rendition. I have been using it on both the Panasonic GX 8 and the OMD EM1 Mark ii. It is nicely balanced on both cameras. Its image stabilization (IS) only works in sync with the newer Panasonic bodies, but not Olympus bodies. Nevertheless, the five-axis stabilization of the new Olympus OMD is outstanding, so I haven’t noticed any issues in using this lens on the Olympus body. The zoom is silky smooth, the lens is fast focusing, and its construction is very good and weather resistant, although it does not seem to have the more substantial build-quality feel of the Panasonic-Leica f42.5mm Nocticron lens, which is one of my favorites. The f2.8 is also nice to have at its 12 mm length, but it starts creeping up to 3.0 and ultimately 4.0 fairly rapidly when you begin to zoom in closer. In terms of size, it is nearly comparable to the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 (diameter 70 mm Oly vs. 68 mm Pan-Leica; length 84 mm Oly vs. 86 mm Pan-Leica). Both use a 62 mm filter thread. In terms of weight, the Pana-Leica is only 320 g compared to the Oly 12-40 at 382 g. When compared to the excellent new Olympus 12-100 f4.0 at 561 g, the Pan-Leica is considerable lighter, although without the tele-zoom reach. I considered the new Olympus 12-100 mm, but the Pan-Leica is about $300 cheaper and more compact, with a faster aperture at the wide range. The lens is also purported to be very good for video, although my primary purpose in using it is for stills. I intend to use this lens particularly for travel purposes and some street photography. Overall, I find it to be a nice compromise between the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 and the Olympus 12-100 f4.0 both in size, range, and price. You won’t regret have any of these lenses, but I am, thus far, pleased with my choice as I am also trying to reduce the total number of lenses I use.

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In a lot of GH5 test videos this lens was used, which got me looking into to more closely for when I ordered my GH5 Some youtubers said that its the one lens to have if you can only buy one lens, and they arent wrong. It is a stunning lens in person and works beautifully. It is an excellent mid range lens and works great for photos and video. I was able to film from the back of our auditorium with little issue. If you are looking into doing extreme closeups or long distance shooting/photography you will definitely want one with more zoom, but this lens will work perfectly for me for most of my videography events.

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I bought this lens for the Lumix G85 instead of the LUMIX G Vario Lens, 12-60mm, F3.5-5.6 that is typically included in the G85 kit. The Leica 12-60mm has an F2.8-4.0 and that makes a big difference. Its pricier but that was worth it to me. The results are stunningly crisp and clear pictures. This is meant to be my "workhorse" lens and I have excellent results in all conditions. No regrets of any kind.

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Perfect walkaround. Could you get sharper with primes? I doubt you would see a difference, and you would have to swap lenses in the field. beautiful design and feel and sharp. You can shoot in confidence at most any aperture and have sharp shots edge to edge.

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I bought this to replace a 12-60mm f3.5 kit lens (which was actually an OK lens) and have no regrets. The images with this lens are very good as far as color and image quality. This is a little bigger and heavier then the 12-60mm kit lens but paired with my Panasonic G9 it is just fine. I have also used it some on a smaller camera and it was still OK although some may say it becomes a little front heavy.

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I have been waiting forever to be able to buy this lens. I have not shot a lot on it but what I have shot it has been nice. The build quality feels better than the Canon 24-105mm that I use at work. My only concern is it had a slight flaw in glass, but it was not noticeable in the photos. I can deal with it for now. I would definitely buy it again...but now the Lumix S1R is out....

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Amazing. Wonderful. Great stabilization and a very useful range in a small package. Even having the 12-35 and 35-100 and 42.5 1.2 and 20 1.7, this has a permanemt place on one of my GH5 bodies.

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