Spanning a useful wide-angle to short telephoto range, the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 ASPH. POWER O.I.S. Lens from Panasonic is a 24-120mm equivalent zoom designed for Micro Four Thirds cameras. Designed in collaboration with Leica, this versatile lens utilizes four aspherical elements and two extra-low dispersion elements to deliver well-corrected, sharp image quality that is void of color fringing and distortions. The lens also makes use of a linear motor for fast, quiet, and precise autofocus performance, and the POWER Optical Image Stabilizer system helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake for sharper handheld shooting. Additionally, the durable metal body of the lens renders it splash, dust, and freezeproof to suit its use in trying environmental conditions.
- Micro Four Thirds System
- 24-120mm (35mm Equivalent)
- Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22
- Four Aspherical Elements
Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.... Overview
Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.... Specs
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Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.... Reviews
Digital Focus is weird
The lens has a digital focus ring that's all over the place. It is completely dependent on the speed at which you turn it, not the distance turned. If you quickly turn it a 1/16th of a turn if will focus to infinity, but if you turn slowly, it takes almost a full rotation of the focus wheel to get to infinity. If you work in a fast paced environment where you need to move quickly, this is not the lens for you.
Impressive
This lens is what I would expect from anything bearing the Leica name. It's fast, focusing is consistent, and it delivers sharp images. The feel is solid, with excellent haptics for the controls. It's not light, especially after a kit lens, but the weight is comfortable for anything but extended handheld use. Other reviews have commented that the color palette skews very slightly red: I cannot confirm that yet but first impressions are that is correct. This is easy to offset (or exaggerate, depending on your style) in-camera with color profiles. My one peeve is that the aperture narrows so quickly: by 20mm or so 4.0 is as wide as you can get. Bokeh from this lens is next to impossible. It's leaps and bounds above the kit lenses, though, and the OIS goes a long way toward offsetting the aperture shortcoming. I would recommend this for any MFT shooter.