questions for oly 12-60 users

[tacotim]

1. How long is the focus throw on this lens and what is the action like on the focus ring, is it really loose or more smooth like the canons?

2. Does the focus ring have a hard stop at the ends or does it keep turning when you reach infinity?

2. If you manually set the aperture to 4 or higher and then zoom in, does the image darken during the zoom?

Many thanks in advanced.

 

[Eithcowich]

1. I'd say it's about 90 degrees. I don't have experience with the canons so I can't answer that.

2. It has semi-hard stops. In other words you feel it when it reaches infinity, but you can also continue turning it.

3. It doesn't darken.

 

[Kenny_G]

It looks softer with f4 when you go past 50mm

 

[ScottNelson]

I owned a 12-60 for about a month and returned it for the 14-54. Couldn't stand the constantly changing f/stop and felt it was severely overpriced. The 14-54 isn't a lot better but was $300 less expensive and only loses 1/2 stop (2.8-3.5) with the changing focal length. It does however, ramp up to 3.5 a lot slower that the 12-60 got to f/4 and has push/autofocus, something the 12-60 wouldn't/couldn't do. I'd say the 14-54 is worth the $ where the 12-60 was not.

Reply: I found that f/stop did shift when zooming, even above a manually set f/4. Zooming during a shot was not smooth and is not at all advised - this is a still camera lens, not a film/video lens. The push/autofocus is a feature I find useful for occasional use, something that I was surprised to find on the 14-54.

 

[tacotim]

Many thanks both of you for your input.

I owned a 12-60 for about a month and returned it for the 14-54. Couldn't stand the constantly changing f/stop and felt it was severely overpriced. The 14-54 isn't a whole lot better but was $300 less expensive and only loses 1/2 stop (2.8-3.5) with the changing focal length. It does, however ramp up to 3.5 a lot slower that the 12-60 got to f/4 and has push/auto focus, something the 12-60 wouldn't/couldn't do. I'd say the 14-54 is worth the $ where the 12-60 was not.

When you say "constantly changing aperture" What exactly do you mean? According to elthcowich it doesn't change once you lock it in at 4 or above. are you referring to the change when the aperture is open and you are zooming? Is that coupled with the price what swayed you from the lens? Push button auto focus isn't really helpful for me, and i can live with locking the aperture at 4 when i plan on zooming during a shot. I think i'll probably rent the lens to see if it's what i'm looking for.

Right now i'm really pretty happy with my sigma 18-50 2.8 but i just crave a little bit wider on the short end.