Yes - this shot was at F/2.8 @ focal length of 23mm.... essentially near my PL 25. And, this lens, right off the bat seems to exude a hint of that Leica-ness. I know Leica die0hards would never admit it--and I would agree that this lens is not a Summicron--but the Pana 12-35 is waaaaaay finer than I really imagined it would be. Can't wait to shoot this outdoors tomorrow.

Yes - for me. I'm a family guy, but I like doing walkabouts and Street Photography in addition to my kids/family. Ergo, what I used to photograph with PL 25, is now going to be replaced with this.

This lens will now be GLUED to my E-M5!!!

And that 12/2.0 I was thinking of getting? No way. Simply no need.

Can't see it "This video is unlisted. Only those with the link can see it." comes up on the page and comments are disabled. Why so shy?

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Yes, sir. Much as I LOVE my 14-45, 14mm (28mm equivalent) is not my preferred wide end for a normal-range zoom. I MUCH prefer the 12mm (24mm FOV) for the wide end. Add that it's f/2.8 across the range, and crisp as a newly minted bill, while WIDE OPEN.... yes... to me this will be a much used lens that probably will rarely leave one body.

I'm not big on doing lens changes when I'm traveling/touristing, except when needed for a special application, and this lens on one body will be the perfect compliment to a 7-14 on another body for a nearly no-lens-swap, two-body kit.

EDITED to add... as Amin mentioned, for a lot of shooters, this lens will replace the 12, 14, 20, 25... except for applications requiring much wider apertures for either low light or shallow DOF. But even this lens, wide-open, with clean higher-ISO capability will do many lower-light situations and with close camera-to-subject distance will yield somewhat shallow DOF.

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Don

I have a sneaking suspicion that the zoom will be better than the prime optically too.

I think we're going to see an indication soon of the percentage of folks who prefer zooms to primes...

DH

Eh? Click the link - it should work. It's worked for 74 other people in the past few hours. I posted the video as Unlisted because I didnt think it needed to be on YouTube, in general, but rather just to fellow photogs from this site. :) Just a preference, not really a shy thing.

Panasonic 12-35/2.8 unboxing - YouTube

I got that error from my laptop, but could see it fine from my desktop. Not sure what the issue is.

I have the 12mm already and really like it. That said, I would not be ordering it now with the 12-35 on order as well. I used my 12mm last weekend at a ball game for a wide stadium shot, and really liked it's rendering. I will have to see if it stays when the 12-35 shows up.

I just wish the Olympus 12-50 was faster, because I really like the range of that zoom.

Cliff

Would it be a possible replacement for Oly 45 for portrait use I wonder?

I've been wondering the same... I imagine the 45mm f/1.8 will be a better portrait lens with the thinner DOF control and longer focal length. That said, the 12-35 @ f/2.8 might be "good enough" for my purposes the vast majority of the time.

This lens will definitely be replacing my Oly 12mm, but I'm starting to wonder after seeing how crisp it is wide open if it might replace my 25mm f/1.4 too. If it's close enough to the 45mm f/1.8 as a portrait lens I might just be swapping 3 primes for a zoom

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