Versatility of Olympus 12-50mm f 3.5-6.3

Hmm, I think $200 for that lens is a steal, but also think you need to consider its pros and cons.

It is a very versatile and nice lens to use, with fast and silent AF, manual and electronic zoom, internal focus, weather sealing, and very nice 12mm at the wide end plus 50mm at the long end, plus the macro function.  It is perhaps the nicest m4/3 lens i own with respect to handling.  Photos have very nice color and contrast and are appealing.  It does not feel like a large lens (i use it on EM5).

But it is not the sharpest lens around.  Mine has consistently 'failed' every pixel level comparison with other standard zoom lenses that I own.  Having said that, I've never looked at an actual photo and though 'gee, I wished I used a sharper lens'.  Away from the computer and pixel level viewing, images look better than tests.

It has slow aperture speeds, which might be a problem for taking macro eye shots (how do you light them?).  And the macro is pretty limited and might show the lack of sharpness more acutely.  I'll try to take some test photos if my dog will cooperate.

BTW, when I first got my 60mm macro lens, I took eye shots of my dog just to see what the lens could do.  I was pretty freaked out when I actually saw what my dog's eyes looked like that close up!  Particularly when I saw all the gunk (sloughed skin, dirt, grease, who knows what else) accumulated around the eyelashes. Things I wish I hadn't seen!