Got a wee package from Hong Kong today (courtesy of DigitalRev). I'm evaluating it as a (partial) replacement for my current short gen purpose zoom, the Leica D 14-50/2.8-3.5
- This thing is TINY for a 3:1 f2.8 zoom. About the same size as the Lumix 7-14, or slightly larger overall than your averge legacy 50+adapter. Guess that's what m4/3 gets you.
- very nice build quality, as good if not better than the 14-50; my sample arrived crystal clean, no detectable dust anywhere.
- similarly smooth zoom and focus rings. No "fidgety focus" characteristics like the 14-50 sometimes exhibits. No noticeable breathing.
- AF works like a camcorder - fast n silent.
- extends with zoom
- Parfocal (or close enough to parfocal that its varifocality isn't noticeable)
- Iris stays constant through the zoom range (no visible adjusting/stepping)
- image looks right nice. Very sharp, good color, good contrast.
- The lens cap is too flashy. You're a lens cap. Control yourself, please.
If I had any letdowns, they'd be:
- price (ooch). But I paid it anyway.
- size. It looks a smidge out of place and is a touch fiddly to handle on a shoulder-and-monitored-up AF. Splendid fit for the GH2, though.
- the tulip lens cap is too tulipy... there are no straight front edges to set the lens down upon
Overall, it looks nifty so far - if anything, it whets my appetite more for the eventual 35-100/2.8, which is what I really need & want.
May have a chance to shoot some stuff soon, but I'm not going outside tomorrow if I can help it. I'll post what I can when I can.
- This thing is TINY for a 3:1 f2.8 zoom. About the same size as the Lumix 7-14, or slightly larger overall than your averge legacy 50+adapter. Guess that's what m4/3 gets you.
- very nice build quality, as good if not better than the 14-50; my sample arrived crystal clean, no detectable dust anywhere.
- similarly smooth zoom and focus rings. No "fidgety focus" characteristics like the 14-50 sometimes exhibits. No noticeable breathing.
- AF works like a camcorder - fast n silent.
- extends with zoom
- Parfocal (or close enough to parfocal that its varifocality isn't noticeable)
- Iris stays constant through the zoom range (no visible adjusting/stepping)
- image looks right nice. Very sharp, good color, good contrast.
- The lens cap is too flashy. You're a lens cap. Control yourself, please.
If I had any letdowns, they'd be:
- price (ooch). But I paid it anyway.
- size. It looks a smidge out of place and is a touch fiddly to handle on a shoulder-and-monitored-up AF. Splendid fit for the GH2, though.
- the tulip lens cap is too tulipy... there are no straight front edges to set the lens down upon
Overall, it looks nifty so far - if anything, it whets my appetite more for the eventual 35-100/2.8, which is what I really need & want.
May have a chance to shoot some stuff soon, but I'm not going outside tomorrow if I can help it. I'll post what I can when I can.
I'm not sure if I'm looking forward more to putting this baby on my GH2 than the AF-100, but for handheld and light weight rigs this is going to be an awesome lens. Please test the parfocal abilities. Thats a big deal and a huge time saver for focusing and recomposing. 
rogar-Love(DBG):