Olympus 12-60 on GH2 question

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milo12

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Does anyone know exactly what capabilities are lost with the Olympus 12-60 vs the kit 14-140 lens?

From what I see the Olympus is a better quality lens but I am not sure it will function correctly on the GH2.
 
I asked my friend (and yours) Roger at LensRentals.com to test out the Olympus 12-60 on one of their rental AF-100s (and yes, Roger, I'm still upset that you have yours and I do not. :D).

Here's what his techs had to say about it…

"It does not auto-focus. It does auto-iris, although it makes an audible clicking sound when doing so - although there is a new firmware upgrade we haven't done on our copies yet that might make that better. Manual Iris works fine, but with the same clicking. I wouldn't think that would be an issue unless someone was using an on camera mic for audio, and probably not even then."

I hope this helps, and thanks to Roger for checking this out for you/us. :beer:
 
Does anyone know of a link where we can hear of this iris clicking to see if its worthwhile?
The range of the 12-60 is perfect.
 
xenogears said:
Here´s a test from Ipowell´s but with the 14-54mm
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?247397-I-want-to-love-the-12-60-so-bad-But-I-can-t

Cheers
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That's a different lens with a different type of ramping of the iris as you zoom according to SLRGear's review.
I was hoping to a see a similar video test for the 12-60 by Lpowell but no luck as I guess he didn't get a chance to use it.
The 14-54 MKII looks nice and will actually autofocus on the GH2 (perfect for run n gun and stills right)
I realize there will never be a perfect lens as there will always be a compromise (cine glass has price as a deterrent lol)
So I'm just looking for a good first zoom for the GH2. I think I've found it now.
 
I used to have that lens and can confirm that it won´t do AF. I am not sure what´s meant by "auto iris" so I won´t comment on that.

But I can tell you that this is a superbe lens, way sharper than the 14-54 (old version) and also sharper than the 20mm1,7 if I remember correctly.
It is quite a big guy in MFT world but still good to handle. It is so wide that you won´t be able to use more that 2 filters on it at 12mm without starting to see vignetting.
I shoot a whole week on it last august and it´s that lens, that you´ll hesitate to change just because it can do almost everything.

I only sold it because it would have been lying around for quite a while and I needed the good money you still have to pay for it, plus, as I pushed my still photography "career" after using it, I wanted to use something WITH auto focus....still looking there though.
 
JackBayer said:
I used to have that lens and can confirm that it won´t do AF. I am not sure what´s meant by "auto iris" so I won´t comment on that.

But I can tell you that this is a superbe lens, way sharper than the 14-54 (old version) and also sharper than the 20mm1,7 if I remember correctly.
It is quite a big guy in MFT world but still good to handle. It is so wide that you won´t be able to use more that 2 filters on it at 12mm without starting to see vignetting.
I shoot a whole week on it last august and it´s that lens, that you´ll hesitate to change just because it can do almost everything.

I only sold it because it would have been lying around for quite a while and I needed the good money you still have to pay for it, plus, as I pushed my still photography "career" after using it, I wanted to use something WITH auto focus....still looking there though.
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So would you recommend someone get the 12-60 as their firsty zoom lens for the GH2?
Or would you recommend they go with the cheaper 14-54mm MKII and use the extra $400 for something else?
We know the 14-54 MKII will autofocus on the GH2 and the 12-60 will not.
Was the ramping of the lens (how fast the lens changes exposure as you zoom) a big concern?
I dont plan to zoom during shots but plan to use it as a variable prime.
 
Boncrek said:
So would you recommend someone get the 12-60 as their firsty zoom lens for the GH2?
Or would you recommend they go with the cheaper 14-54mm MKII and use the extra $400 for something else?
We know the 14-54 MKII will autofocus on the GH2 and the 12-60 will not.
Was the ramping of the lens (how fast the lens changes exposure as you zoom) a big concern?
I dont plan to zoom during shots but plan to use it as a variable prime.
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For the 14-54 II I seem to remember reading here that the focus wheel was an actual mechanical wheel, which is much better of course for rack focussing than the digital wheels. But please try to confirm that...I am not 100% sure. There was a thread about this lens somewhere here.

If I am right though, I´d go with the 14-54 II today, as I do a lot of stills now too and this lens seems very very good in its specs and reviews.

But you know how difficult it is to get wider than this on MFT cameras, so that´s where I would make my decision if you´re all about video.

As for the ramping, sure the lens steps down from wide to tele, but that are usually also two complete new shots to setup with your actors, light and crew. I don´t think it´s problematic.
 
JackBayer said:
For the 14-54 II I seem to remember reading here that the focus wheel was an actual mechanical wheel, which is much better of course for rack focussing than the digital wheels. But please try to confirm that...I am not 100% sure. There was a thread about this lens somewhere here.

If I am right though, I´d go with the 14-54 II today, as I do a lot of stills now too and this lens seems very very good in its specs and reviews.

But you know how difficult it is to get wider than this on MFT cameras, so that´s where I would make my decision if you´re all about video.

As for the ramping, sure the lens steps down from wide to tele, but that are usually also two complete new shots to setup with your actors, light and crew. I don´t think it´s problematic.
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The 12-60 is actually the lens you're refferring to with the manual focus ring as it has SWD focusing. Thats part of why its more expensive than the 14-54MKII.
I guess Im just trying to see if that $400 is worth it.
If I plan to use a follow focus in the future the nthe 12-60 makes sense now as a follow focus will not work with the 14-54 at all.
 
According to Panasonic's GH2 Lens Compatibility chart, the Olympus 12-60mm will auto-focus on the GH2, but not on the GH1:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/gh2.html

I used to own an Olympus 14-54mm MkII, and it did auto-focus on the GH1 as well as the GH2. The 14-54mm has completely electronic focus and iris mechanisms, and at wide apertures its iris clicks and flickers quite noticeably when zooming:


I'm not surprised to hear that the Olympus 12-60mm does not auto-focus on the AF100. According to Panasonic, the AF100 is not fully compatible with legacy Four Thirds lenses:

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/af100/lens_compatibility.html
 
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lpowell said:
According to Panasonic's GH2 Lens Compatibility chart, the Olympus 12-60mm will auto-focus on the GH2, but not on the GH1:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/gh2.html

I used to own an Olympus 14-54mm MkII, and it did auto-focus on the GH1 as well as the GH2. The 14-54mm has completely electronic focus and iris mechanisms, and at wide apertures its iris clicks and flickers quite noticeably when zooming:


I'm not surprised to hear that the Olympus 12-60mm does not auto-focus on the AF100. According to Panasonic, the AF100 is not fully compatible with legacy Four Thirds lenses:

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/af100/lens_compatibility.html
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've been reading those links all year and I think I've decided on the 12-60.
Its gonna be sweet on the glidecam for sure.
 
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