A Star Performer
That mirrorless cameras are coming of age is very clear from the two professional lenses launched by Panasonic in 2012. The first is the 12-35mm f/2.8 G X Vario Lumix lens and the second is the 35100mm f/2.8 G X Vario Lumix lens. In this review, we look at the first lens which is the first Micro Four Thirds zoom with a constant speed of f/2.8. In mirrorless cameras, the focal length of 12-35mm translates to a 35mm equivalent of 24-70mm. Compared to its 35mm equivalents, the Lumix lens is almost tiny but does it perform and if so, how well? Read on...
Design and Build Quality
The 12-35mm Lumix lens is beautifully finished in black. Build quality of the lens is high but the dimensions are small at 67.6 x 73.8mm. The lens weighs 305 g and is sold complete with a lens hood and lens storage bag. Just for comparison, the 24-70mm f/2.8 L2 USM lens from Canon weighs 805 g. The Nikon equivalent weighs 900 g. Again, the lens is both dust and splash proof.
Key Features
Panasonic has used 14 elements in 9 groups to make this lens. This includes one ultra extra low dispersion ( UED) lens, one ultra high refractive ( UHR) lens and four aspherical lenses. Panasonic has further added Nano surface coating to minimise ghost and flaring. The lens has a closest focussing distance of 0.25 meters and maximum image magnification of 0.17x. It accepts a filter size of 58mm. Since the front ring does not move during focussing, there is no need to reset filters. The lens also features built-in image stabilisation.
Ergonomics
The lens combines extremely well with the G3 and GX1 bodies without seeming disproportionate in size. This is one of the strengths of the Micro Four Thirds System. The zooming and focussing again is smooth and precise. Full marks to Panasonic here.
Performance
The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens was tested using a Lumix G3 body. Autofocussing was fast and accurate, even in reasonably low light. Overall, the lens is sharp. It stops down to f/22 but at f/22 and f/16, images were softer compared to the other apertures. This is due to the effects of diffraction of light at very narrow openings. We felt that the optimum aperture was between f/5.6 and f/8. Darkening of corners was apparent not only with the lens wide open (at 12mm), but could be noticed all the way down.
On the distortion front, there was very slight barrel distortion at the 12 and 14mm focal lengths, but we saw no distortion (either barrel or pin cushion) at the other focal lengths. As expected, the Power O.I.S. ( Panasonic’s optical image stabiliser) performed very well, allowing us to take sharp images at lower shutter speeds. Flare was well controlled, thanks to the Nano surface coat. Control over chromatic aberration too was very good. A super performer!
Value For Money
Since the lens has just been introduced in the world market, it carries currently a price of around 875 Stg. Pounds (including 20% Value Added Tax) in the UK. This compares very favourably with the price of a similar Canon lens at 1850 Stg. Pounds and a similar Nikon lens at 1300 Stg. Pounds.
Even then, at 700 Stg. Pounds (875 minus 20%), equivalent to Rs.57,400, it could be considered an expensive Micro Four Thirds lens.
SPECIFICATIONS
Focal length : 12-35mm Equivalent to : 24-70mm in the 35mm format Aperture range : F/ 2.8- 22 Lens construction : 14 elements in 9 groups Format : Micro Four Thirds Angle of view : 84-34 degrees Magnification : 0.17- 0.34x Min. Focus Distance : 25 cm ( 9.84”) Image stabilisation : Built- in Filter thread : 58mm Dimensions : 67.6 x 73.8mm (2.66 x 2.91”) Weight : 305 g