Not sure how I feel about the 12-100 f/4 Pro

I carry it and I bought it. Its utility is entirely based on it existing. It is soft. It is slow. It zooms the wrong way. It's annoying to use.

Funkmon said:

I carry it and I bought it. Its utility is entirely based on it existing. It is soft. It is slow. It zooms the wrong way. It's annoying to use.

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and yet it’s with me when the alternative would be a phone…

Andrew

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post

your not going mad, when i owned m43 i went to a camera shop to buy the 12 100. took my 14 150 oly mk1 (which is better than the mk2) and shot some test shots. i walked out not buying the 12 100 for the same reasons. it brought nothing to the table other that being over priced and over weight.

Rp

unhappymeal said:

This is the second time I have purchased this lens and...I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. It's such a weird lens. It's sharp, but not near prime sharp like the 12-40, 12-45 or 12-35. It's got a decent aperture, but not fast enough for indoor use. The sync IS is neat, but I haven't had magical increases in handheld speeds like other people claim. It's really big and heavy for a m4/3 lens. When I look at shots taken with it and the 14-140 II, I'm just not seeing a lot of difference. I guess it has more contrast in the rendering? A few sample images below. Does anyone else get a 'meh' feeling from this lens?

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This lens is at least as sharp as the 12-40 and pL12-60 I have. Certainly sharper than my 14-140ii.

It's a superb travel, portrait, landscape.. lens with a crazy oIS. Paired with the G9 I don't miss dual IS other luumix or PL lenses offer.

I am.. sorry you have this bad or uncertain feeling about it.

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If only closed minds came with closed mouths..

I don't know why I still persevere with my ancient GM5 camera bodies even though the 12-100/4.0 and all the other stabilised lenses make for a well stabilised body as well ....

Maybe I should try FF? Oh .... I forgot the S1 is quite a lot larger.

If I can't justify or just don't like a lens, I give it a spot on the shelf for a month or two and then take a week and shoot with it. If I feel the same the second time around, I get rid of it.

At some point in time, I've owned the Panasonic 12-35 I, Olympus 12-40 I, Olympus 12-45, Pansonic 14-140 II, Olympus 14-150 II, and all of the kit zooms.

I kept the 12-45 and the 12-100. My copies of the 12-45 and 12-100 are optically better than the copies I had of all of the above listed lenses. I kept the 12-45 for when I'm traveling personal item only and pair it with an EM5 III and whatever prime I feel like using. If it wasn't for that use case, I'd probably let that lens go as well.

If I could only keep one lens for any system that I've used, it'd be the 12-100. I'm not trying to discount your experience, mine has just been different.

unhappymeal said:

This is the second time I have purchased this lens and...I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. It's such a weird lens. It's sharp, but not near prime sharp like the 12-40, 12-45 or 12-35. It's got a decent aperture, but not fast enough for indoor use. The sync IS is neat, but I haven't had magical increases in handheld speeds like other people claim. It's really big and heavy for a m4/3 lens. When I look at shots taken with it and the 14-140 II, I'm just not seeing a lot of difference. I guess it has more contrast in the rendering? A few sample images below. Does anyone else get a 'meh' feeling from this lens?

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Being Objective, and looking at the images for focus and focal point and what else might cause focus issues.
#1 seems the focus point might be on the STOP sign? DOF for M43 80mm at f4 is quite shallow at that distance. If one looks at the street stones (even though they're not image center) the sharpest point is just before the heels of Blue Maria. Red Maria is already quite out of what might be the acceptable DOF. DOF is receding quickly on Blue Maria's head and everything else thereafter.
AND the sharpest areas are not very sharp - my perception for a $1200 lens compared to a kit lens...
#2 Nothing seems much 'infocus'- where is the center of focus? There's no where on the street stones/block (Katzenköpf) where focus settles... Nowhere on the letters is focus sharp, nowhere else. If focus was an important element of the image, I'd be very disappointed. ;-(
#3 Focus seems to be on the facial side of the 'infused' Nordstream pipleine patient. DOF receding in both dept directions puts the people out of DOF.
#4 Is a small crop and so quite hard to determine if the Focal point is even in the image as shown - and, as I've found my both my 14-140s, focus gets soft after about 120mm...
This can sometimes when one focuses and then re-composes.

Overall, I would also be very disappointed in this particular 12-100. I'd send it back, as I just did with a 40-150 f4 PRO (also not up to my expectations).
Possible issue with the photog using the equipment? Maybe, and training does continue, some days better than most - But I can't 'Return' him, OEM stuff... LOL!
If the camera has given much sharper images with other lenses, then it's not likely a camera body/focus issue.
If I had this lens.
Before returning, I would try to set up an imaging session which takes as many variables out of consideration as possible. Shoot something which would clearly show focal point and DOF, shoot on a tripod with decent light. Shoot with at least 2 other lens you consider 'good' and cover also same Focal Length & f-stop. I think f5.6 for this type of lens should give good results, for center sharpness. Then decide, irrespective of what the 'Group Speak' is... Occam's razor...
Vielen dank
Yuri

--
" For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” - Henry Beston

The first image is very sharp to me where subjects are in the plane of focus. The second image with the big red letters is soft and seems not to have a plane of focus. Can you ever get a sharp image at this focal length? It could be a lens alignment issue.

All the lenses i was impressed with had an aperture between f1.7 and f2.8, doesn't matter what system i was using.

As a general purpose zoom lens with f4 constant aperture, OP`s lens is sharp enough but maybe it's not the best lens for artistic expression, i'd prefer something smaller and faster, doesn't matter if i sacrificed the zoom range.

That's the trouble with all-purpose lens, they do everything but don't particularly excell at anything.

Is your camera set up for focus priority? The second shot is a bit soft, almost as though you mashed the shutter button as the lens was coming to focus and focus priority was not selected.

My 12-100 just does what I ask of it, no muss, no fuss. Sharpness is not lacking. Test results that I have seen show that the lens is sharpest in the center wide open. Yes, it is rather large and heavy (for the format), but I can't fault its performance, and the versatility is unmatched.

Rambow said:

All the lenses i was impressed with had an aperture between f1.7 and f2.8, doesn't matter what system i was using.

As a general purpose zoom lens with f4 constant aperture, OP`s lens is sharp enough but maybe it's not the best lens for artistic expression, i'd prefer something smaller and faster, doesn't matter if i sacrificed the zoom range.

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Rambow said:

That's the trouble with all-purpose lens, they do everything but don't particularly excell at anything.

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IMO the 12-100/4 excels as a travel lens.

On a vacation, walking in city streets etc, I have zero interest in carrying around a bunch of little primes and worse, changing lenses at busy venues, end even worse getting the “hurry up and take the shot” from my wife while I put the right lens on the camera.

The 12-100/4 excels as an all-purpose lens

Peter

Considering the size of these sensors a lens like this is just too slow to be of any real world value. You're honestly better off with a cheap zoom combined with fast primes.

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Soft, slow and annoying.

This is the lens that I've struggled whether to buy or not.

It's definitely a convenient lens, but the price of the weight and size is too high. I've tried it with my OM-1.

So I have purchased 12-40 and 40-150 F4.

However, I found that 40-150 F4 focusing is not as fast as I wish. I know 12-100 is 50fps under OM-1. So I am considering it again.

Anyone know if it focus really faster than 40-150 F4?

Nice pictures though.

Totally agree! My 12-100 is outstanding a rarely leaves my OM1.

i too have purchased this lens twice. the second time was after i briefly left mft in the mistaken pursuit of greatness in the ff arena , on my return to mft, its the first lens i purchased for my om-1.

i am still not disappointed and really really love the combo. versatile and for me a great combined image stab. so i disagree with your assessment. its the lens for me but obviously not for you. good job we all have choices.

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Brian

unhappymeal said:

This is the second time I have purchased this lens and...I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. It's such a weird lens. It's sharp, but not near prime sharp like the 12-40, 12-45 or 12-35. It's got a decent aperture, but not fast enough for indoor use. The sync IS is neat, but I haven't had magical increases in handheld speeds like other people claim. It's really big and heavy for a m4/3 lens. When I look at shots taken with it and the 14-140 II, I'm just not seeing a lot of difference. I guess it has more contrast in the rendering? A few sample images below. Does anyone else get a 'meh' feeling from this lens?

Click to expand...

I've had little desire to buy one although its reputation is excellent. I've seen great shots made with it but the weight & size & aperture don't appeal to me.

But, I have a good assortment of f1.8/2/2.8 O. primes from 8mm 1.8 FE to 75 1.8. I'd have little to gain with the 12-100. Perhaps if I was starting over...

I have a friend who has it but he hates changing lenses away from home. Me, I'll swap lenses in snowstorms and hurricanes while balancing on one leg leaning over a cliff without a second thought. Maybe it appeals to those whom are more reluctant to change lenses, and it certainly doesn't lack IQ prowess.

on the windy sandy beaches around my area its not a great place to swap lenses or around the steaming hot springs in yellowstone for that matter. but i get your point:-D

I love mine. I find its rendering subtler and preferable to my 12-40 while still being just as sharp. It is heavier and larger than I'd like but still totally manageable and for the huge convenience and great IQ I get I can't complain.