Versatility of Olympus 12-50mm f 3.5-6.3

L0n3Gr3yW0lf wrote:

As much as I have been loving my Panasonic GX7 it's feeling very empty on the wide side of lenses because currently I own Sigma 19mm f 2.8 Art and Sigma 60mm f 2.8 Art as native lenses. I have been feeling the need for something around 12mm though I never experienced wider then 14mm (from the first version of the 14-42mm kit lens that I do not own anymore, and never seem particularly happy with the sharpness of it).

I found 2 offers for Olympus 12-50mm f 3.5-6.3 at 200 $ and 250 $ (used obviously) and I thought I don't like the size (very long lens even if its a pretty nice focal length) compared to 12-32mm f 3.5-5.6. But the idea of 0.72x macro power is very very tempting because I could cancel the wish to get an old 50 or 100mm macro lens and save up some money. And the 12mm is a lot more interesting then the 14mm from the 14-42mm f 3.5-5.6 MK II and 14-42mm f 3.5 5.6 PZ X. How does the Olympus handle with the GX7 ? I have also seen a few Panasonic 14-140mm at around 300 $ but I'm not sure the sharpness and distortions are to well balanced for such a big zoom range in just 7.5 cm size lens.

Can someone tell me how well does the Olympus 12-50mm f 3.5-5.6 for macro shots of eyes, something that I have been very interested lately but not very successful (and very difficult to do). Can I get better image quality and, hopefully, easier use then an old Revuenon 50mm f 1.8 M42 with 3 macro extension tubes ?

The 12-50mm is not a long lens, its not much bigger than any other standard length kit lens (especially when you take into account lens hoods)

Pictured alongside Panasonic`s old 14-42 (this one trombones a fair bit, the 12-50mm is a fixed length)