Panasonic 12-32 on Olympus E-PM2

I have an Olympus E-PM2, and have been using the Sigma 19mm and 30mm primes. I've been happy with the results, but they aren't that small and I have to carry them both around. How happy would I be with the Panasonic 12-32mm "kit" lens? I realize the low light performance isn't as good, but how is it aside from that? It would be nice to be able to go a bit wider, and I wouldn't mind carrying a smaller camera.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

-David

dgbaldwin wrote:

I have an Olympus E-PM2, and have been using the Sigma 19mm and 30mm primes. I've been happy with the results, but they aren't that small and I have to carry them both around. How happy would I be with the Panasonic 12-32mm "kit" lens? I realize the low light performance isn't as good, but how is it aside from that? It would be nice to be able to go a bit wider, and I wouldn't mind carrying a smaller camera.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

-David

The 12-32mm seems prone to shutter shock (mine is), and the E-PM2 is also prone to it. With that in mind, there's a very high likelihood that you'd see noticeable effects of shutter shock in the danger zone of shutter speeds (roughly 1/40-1/320 for that combination, I'd guess).

Otherwise, I like the lens. It's compact and works well on a camera with an electronic shutter and/or an electronic first curtain shutter.

IQ is supposed to be good for a kit lens and definitely the best out of the pancake kit lenses on m43. Best of all, you get a stabilized lens on a stabilized body so you'll get to choose whichever IS system suits you best.
The only limitation is the lack of the focus ring on the lens.

I suppose one could go on bantering back and forth with the argument that this or that lens (camera combo) suffers from shutter shock.  I won't go there...

I will say that I keep the 12-32 (I have two copies) on both the Olympus E-PL7 and the Panny GF-6 and I couldn't be happier.  This 12-32 is perhaps one of the finest kit lenses out there and is optically superb IMO.  It's very sharp, almost to the point of being clinical (which in this case is not a bad thing).  Now I will say that just like any lens on the market, you may experience copy-to-copy variations, but for the most part these lenses are stayin' on the cameras I mentioned because they are so good (and extremely compact - wait till you see it).

As for the E-PM2, I don't have that model.  I have the E-M5 and I haven't tried this lens on there yet because I keep either the Panny 14-140 or the older Panny 14-45 OIS (which is another extremely sharp lens).  Overall, I prefer the Olympus bodies, but somehow find myself preferring using Panasonic lenses.

Ben Herrmann wrote:

I suppose one could go on bantering back and forth with the argument that this or that lens (camera combo) suffers from shutter shock. I won't go there...

I will say that I keep the 12-32 (I have two copies) on both the Olympus E-PL7 and the Panny GF-6 and I couldn't be happier. This 12-32 is perhaps one of the finest kit lenses out there and is optically superb IMO. It's very sharp, almost to the point of being clinical (which in this case is not a bad thing). Now I will say that just like any lens on the market, you may experience copy-to-copy variations, but for the most part these lenses are stayin' on the cameras I mentioned because they are so good (and extremely compact - wait till you see it).

As for the E-PM2, I don't have that model. I have the E-M5 and I haven't tried this lens on there yet because I keep either the Panny 14-140 or the older Panny 14-45 OIS (which is another extremely sharp lens). Overall, I prefer the Olympus bodies, but somehow find myself preferring using Panasonic lenses.

I like the lens, but I'm not the first to remark that it seems prone to shutter shock. Here are a couple of example sets I took earlier this week with my E-M5II (full mechanical shutter):

I am happy to use it on a body with either EFCS or an electronic shutter (I use it on a GM5 and E-M5II), but I think the evidence is pretty clear - the results (at least with my copy on my E-M5II) with the full mechanical shutter are visibly less sharp than those taken with the electronic shutter.

The 12-32 is small, light and sharp on Panasonic bodies and I would think that it would be the same on your Olympus.

I was going to ask that also - as some folks don't realize that you can select the "lens IS priority" to "Off" in the menu (or something like that).  This way the body stabilizer works solely.

kanati wrote:

Just out of curiosity, do you use the IBIS system or the lens stabilizer? I ask because I haven't noticed any shutter shock issues with the 12-32 on my E-M10. I use the in-lens stabilizer, since it slightly outperforms the 3-axis system in the E-M10, and now I'm wondering if that might have an effect.

I generally use IBIS (Lens Priority = Off), and the example images I shared in this thread were taken using that setting.

At your suggestion, I just repeated the 32mm test (same settings and target), this time using the lens IS (Lens Priority = On), and the results were more or less the same - the photos taken with the electronic shutter were consistently and obviously sharper than those taken with the mechanical shutter.

kanati wrote:

texinwien wrote:

kanati wrote:

Just out of curiosity, do you use the IBIS system or the lens stabilizer? I ask because I haven't noticed any shutter shock issues with the 12-32 on my E-M10. I use the in-lens stabilizer, since it slightly outperforms the 3-axis system in the E-M10, and now I'm wondering if that might have an effect.

I generally use IBIS (Lens Priority = Off), and the example images I shared in this thread were taken using that setting.

At your suggestion, I just repeated the 32mm test (same settings and target), this time using the lens IS (Lens Priority = On), and the results were more or less the same - the photos taken with the electronic shutter were consistently and obviously sharper than those taken with the mechanical shutter.

Interesting... maybe I'll do some tests as well. By electronic shutter, do you mean electronic first curtain?

By electronic shutter, I mean the full electronic shutter, not EFCS.

E-PM2 and 12-32 is my daylight walkaround kit, usually along with an Oly 17 (for low light) or Oly 40-150 (for full range coverage).

I've never experienced any noticeable shutter shock, but my biggest qualm with the lens is that the vignetting is pretty strong at wide angle and f/3.5 - I usually run the lens as a f/5.6 constant outdoors, especially if I'm taking in a lot of sky in my photos. One of my peeves is when sky turns dark in the corners.

Otherwise, it makes my E-PM2 nearly as small as my XZ-1. No complaints here.

dgbaldwin wrote:

I have an Olympus E-PM2, and have been using the Sigma 19mm and 30mm primes. I've been happy with the results, but they aren't that small and I have to carry them both around. How happy would I be with the Panasonic 12-32mm "kit" lens? I realize the low light performance isn't as good, but how is it aside from that? It would be nice to be able to go a bit wider, and I wouldn't mind carrying a smaller camera.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

-David

It is a sad thing to see you, David, ask a question and the general thrust of the thread goes in a direction that would discourage an average person from a purchase. I know everyone here is trying to help in their own way, but I cannot get over just how negative so many threads go.

As Ben Herrmann said, the lens is probably the best kit zoom in m4/3 and among the best anywhere. I believe it would be a fine addition to your E-PM2.

Now, if you want a small camera with a really fine and fast zoom, take a look at the Lumix LX-100. Yes, I know, $800 USD.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA

Actually I'm thrilled to get all the information. It looks like it wouldn't be a problem outside during the day, when I generally shoot at higher shutter speeds anyway. I'm really curious to know how it compares with my two Sigma lenses (19 & 30mm). I would be selling them to get the 12-32 instead since it covers the focal lengths of both Rhodes lenses.

Now I'm sort of wishing I had a GM1 with its electronic shutter and minuscule size.

Thanks everyone and I'm looking forward to more comments and debate. I'm learning a lot.