{"id":2982,"date":"2014-01-23T16:17:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T21:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=2982"},"modified":"2014-02-10T15:57:20","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T20:57:20","slug":"review-panasonic-lumix-12-32mm-f3-5-5-6-ois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-panasonic-lumix-12-32mm-f3-5-5-6-ois\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 OIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new Panasonic GM1<\/a> was created with small size in mind. \u00a0To that effect, Panasonic saw fit to design a new kit lens for the tiny camera. \u00a0The result is the collapsing Panasonic 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 OIS. \u00a0Panasonic not only managed to make a lens that is barely larger than the miniscule 14mm f\/2.5 pancake, but they also created a wider lens to boot, starting at a super-wide 12mm.<\/p>\n

\"Panasonic<\/a>
Panasonic 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 OIS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Around the Lens: Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n
\"Panasonic<\/a>
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 with the 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6, collapsed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Panasonic 12-32mm is an interesting lens. It’s got a somewhat odd focal range, but one I find quite useful. It starts at a wider-than normal 12mm and is a little shorter at the long end than the average kit zoom. \u00a0The lens has a field of view similar to a 24-64mm lens on a full-frame camera. \u00a0The lens has a collapsing design, and when the lens is retracted, it’s less than one inch thick. \u00a0The tiny size meshes well not only with the GM1 it comes with, but with any of the small Micro 4\/3 lenses.<\/p>\n

The lens is readied for operation by simply twisting the zoom barrel to the 12mm mark. \u00a0Unlike the collapsing lenses from Olympus, there is no ‘lock’ switch to prevent accidental closing of the lens during use, but rather the lens has a firm detent at the 12mm mark. It’s firm enough to make it feel natural during use, but a quick twist past the stopping point and the lens closes. \u00a0The 12-32mm is built with a lightweight metal exterior and extending lens barrel made of high quality plastics. \u00a0It’s relatively tightly assembled, and better constructed than some of the other Micro 4\/3 kit zooms, though it’s not going to rival a pro-grade lens.<\/p>\n

Of course, with a lens this small, handling is easy. \u00a0The 12-32mm weighs next to nothing and \u00a0the zoom ring is well damped. \u00a0The one big ergonomic issue is with manual focus. \u00a0The 12-32mm doesn’t have a manual focus ring, and as such, manual focus can only be performed by using a rocker toggle on the touch screen of the GM1. \u00a0The GM1 comes out of the box with the ability to manually focus the 12-32mm, though other Panasonic cameras will require a firmware update.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 OIS, extended and ready at 12mm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Focus Performance and Image Stabilization<\/h3>\n

The 12-32mm is very quick to focus and operates silently. \u00a0I found the lens to be very accurate and quick to lock, with minimal hunting. \u00a0In lower light, focus may slow down a little, but overall, there’s nothing to complain about here.<\/p>\n

I found the image stabilization to work very well on the Panasonic 12-32mm. \u00a0It uses what Panasonic considers its ‘mid-range’ stabilizer, called Mega OIS. I found the OIS on the 12-32mm to perform perhaps a little better than other Panasonic lenses with this stabilizer. \u00a0I was able to consistently get three stops of stabilization from this lens, which I view as a great performance, especially while using a body without a viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n
\"Ohio<\/a>
Ohio National Bank – Panasonic 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 OIS @ 12mm, f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starting back with the original Panasonic Micro 4\/3 kit zoom, the 14-45, there have been many slow standard zooms released by Panasonic, and while good, none really touched the quality of that first lens. \u00a0 What is exciting, is that despite the wider starting angle and the collapsing design, the 12-32mm is as sharp if not sharper than that original outstanding lens.<\/p>\n

The 12-32mm produces very sharp images throughout the entire zoom range, with only a little softening as you get into the extreme corners. While it isn’t going to best the very best prime lenses, there is no real visible softness at any aperture or focal length until you start seeing diffraction effects at very small apertures. \u00a0This is an extremely good result for such a small kit zoom. The image to the upper right was taken at 12mm and f\/5.6. \u00a0Click for a larger image and click the green arrow at the bottom (if necessary on your monitor) to view large.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

Because of the relatively slow maximum aperture and the limited telephoto range of the lens, the 12-32mm doesn’t create a ton of background blur, though it is possible to get some separation. \u00a0 It’s hard to get great bokeh out of a kit zoom…I’ve only seen a handful that do, and the 12-32mm doesn’t break new ground here. \u00a0Bokeh is unremarkable – neither good nor terrible.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bokeh from the 12-32mm is mediocre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is some onion-like rings in the specular highlights and some general nervousness to the out of focus rendering. \u00a0Nothing too bad, but it’s certainly not going to be called creamy. \u00a0If you’re looking for beautiful blur, you’ll want to look to one of the many excellent prime lenses for Micro 4\/3, or the Panasonic 35-100mm f\/2.8…not a slow kit zoom.<\/p>\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

The 12-32mm produces images with nice rich color and good contrast throughout the range. \u00a0Images are crisp and provide some punch to the images. \u00a0It does have a little of that sterile rendering that many kit lenses have, unfortunately, but the good color and contrast do provide a nice start for further post processing.<\/p>\n

One thing that did surprise me was the low level of chromatic aberrations presented by the lens. \u00a0While not completely devoid of CA, it is very minimal and if desired, it can be very easily corrected in post.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

In another surprise, the 12-32mm also controls distortion exceptionally well. \u00a0Distortion is minimal at the wide-angle and non-existent at the longer focal lengths. \u00a0Of course, Panasonic utilizes firmware corrections, and it is impossible to determine what the optical distortion levels are without viewing the images in a RAW converter that doesn’t utilize those corrections. \u00a0Since these were all processed in Lightroom 5.3, any corrections are baked in. \u00a0Still, given the high edge sharpness, I am not prone to care whether distortion is optically corrected or the result of software manipulation.<\/p>\n

The 12-32 also exhibited minimal vignetting at all apertures and focal lengths. \u00a0 Unfortunately, due to the times I could get out to shoot and the weather that was around during the testing period, I didn’t really get to shoot much with the sun in or just out of the frame. \u00a0I didn’t notice any obvious issues with flare from indoor light sources, though the jury is out for me on this one.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n