Side Note:
1. This is a user experience based review.
2. All images were shot in RAW and developed to JPEG in Olympus Viewer 2.
3. General camera settings, Noise Filter = OFF, Contrast/Saturation/sharpness = 0, White Balance = Auto (with an option maintain warm color set to OFF), Gradation = Normal
4. Minimal post-processing applied to the images. Only exposure compensation (brightness/contrast) and cropping performed for better consistency and overall presentation. Apart from that, the images were as good as straight out of camera (color and sharpness)
Today I was contacted by Olympus Malaysia, the newly launched Olympus M.Zuiko 12-50mm F3.5-6.3 was finally available for my testing and review purposes.
Only F3.5-6.3?
A lot of buzz has been surrounding this new lens since its announcement, particularly the negative reaction towards the slow aperture range of F3.5-6.3. That alone is sufficient reason for many people to look away from the lens, and I must admit I cannot blame the crowd, expectations of larger aperture lenses have been the craze as of late. I personally think that Olympus has always prioritized size/weight over performance ratio, thus keeping the size small enough and comfortable enough to be used on the current PEN micro 4/3 bodies, the F2.8 constant aperture that everyone wanted would have doubled the size and weight, making it impractical at this stage. I dare admit that I too, wish that the lens had been wider in aperture, but I am not the lens maker, and we were given this new lens as an option. Choices are good, and we should not turn down this lens so quickly, even before looking at the other good things that it brings.
