Received the 12mm lens today; great lens. It seems to beat the 20mm F/1.7 for image quality. Absolutely beautiful images.

Can't post anything right now, but I can tell you I left my ND filter on by mistake for indoor commercial shoot, and images came out great anyway. Felt like an idiot afterwards, and I wondered what the heck was going on when I was shooting, but it didn't matter in the end, crisp clear and the sharpest images for video I could hope for.

I have a feeling if I were to look up the definition of the word "sharp" in Webster's dictionary, there would be a picture of this lens next to it.

It is wide, expensive, and worth every penny, highly recommended. It is also nice in low light.

Oh, and did I say it's sharp?

When I ordered the lens I had immediatel case of buyers remorse, but after working with on a job today, I was happier shooting with the GH2 than I've ever felt since I bought the camera.

Let me add, to assit those considering the lens, that the lens works like any Panasonic lens, completely functional. As pointed out I cannot get continuous focus to work yet, and I have to admit that is a real bummer, but haven't had time to find out whether it's my settings of the lens.

The focus ring is very nice, this is a real "pro" level lens, made of metal. The silver color is a bit odd on black but I have a silver GH2 that I put it on, and it looks better there.

The lens hood is not available domestically yet, the opportunists in Hong Kong are selling them for $100.

The lens is also being sold on ebay for way over $1000, which makes no sense since it's available in many places at it's proper price of $799. I am really beginning to hate ebay, this is a normal occurence with many products nowadays, inflated prices for items available elsewhere at fair prices.

That sounds like a fantastic lens. I'll need to borrow it sometime in november.

Would love to see some footage from it eventually,

Which lens exactly?

Jeff...let me know where your lens is going to be Saturday night and at which times it would most likely not be guarded, k ??? :-)

Which lens exactly?

Me too.....Ethan I think Jeff may be talking about the lens in the Olympus 14-54 thread below....but not sure as it is referred to as 12 f2, 12-60f2.8.....guess we'll have to wait on Jeff!

Mark

Guys, my apologies, I've been talking about two lenses. In this case I'm talking about this lens. Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 (for Micro 4/3) Review - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN4I4KcvAL0&feature=player_embedded#)!

I just shot with it today again and I don't want to take it off the camera. My biggest anxiety for my wedding this weekend is how can I shoot using this lens all day. I don't want to shoot with anything else, it's that nice.

I've also been talking about a 12-60 F/2.8 as you said Mark.

I'm on a mission to go with all (or most) Panasonic and Olympus lenses. The reason for this is because I sent a shooter out on a wedding as back up using only the 20mm f/1.7 and using AWB the color came out close to perfect all day for her, and the reason is because the GH2 works best with it's own lenses.

I on the other hand shot with four different lenses same night and all my camera's footage looked different, as usual. Hard to match in post, etc. So I ordered the not yet released Olympus 45mm f/1.8, the 12mm F/2.0 which I received yesterday, and I bought a used 12-60 Olympus zoom. So at some point in the not so distant future I'll have lenses that will assist with giving me consistent looking footage. The Canon 50mm is not too awfully bad, and my Sigma 18-50 F/2.8 is reasonably close. So instead of the wide issue most of us have had previously with these cameras, my primary issue will be with long range. I think I'm going to try a Canon 135mm F/2.0 to replace my F/2.5 which is nice but not as sharp as I would like and maybe I'll have things covered.

I have the Olympus 12mm 2.0 lens and use it on my AF100 all the time for event work. Used it on 8 jobs already. Very sharp lens with a large aperture that is wide. It looks ridiculous on my AF100 but the image is spectacular! The auto-focus is spectacular! Works very well. Struggles in low contrast areas but every camera does.

Yes Monday, the autofocus seems almost pefect in it's accuracy. You're right it looks a little "different" on the camera, but as you infer, who cares? It works!

You mentioned it "seems" to beat the 20mm Lumix. Is it twice the price beat?? I've used the 14 and 20 a couple of times (rental) and have not found them lacking in quality.

Mark

Mark I can't say if that would be true for you. I've read more than one "buyer review " of the 14mm where a disappointed user claimed to be unhappy with the lens (due to the F/2.5 vs F/1.7), but others really like it. The 14mm f/2.5 is obviously a decent lens, but where are you using it? Do you need F/2.0 enough to justify the cost?

I would suspect if you're asking the question then it might not be worth it to you. I shoot in low-light scenarios a lot (weddings) where a fast lens is very desireable. Could I get by without the lens? Absolutely.

Better than the F/1.7? As a novice I cannot truly know. But my eyes tell me it's is sharper. I feel the lens is worth it's cost.

It's kind of "you get what you pay for". It looks, feels, and performs the way I might imagine a premium lens would perform.

I'm on the hunt for a wide fast lens. I need it for receptions mostly. I have a fair amount of reception venues that are small and it would be nice to be able to get a wide shot of the dance floor without going to the extreme of a fisheye. Although I use reception lights....they only go so far.....so the need for wide and fast.

Mark

If you want wide and fast, and you want full compatibility with the GH2, this is the only lens to buy. There is nothing else. If you do the small venues like you say, this would be perfect. I have not researched other fast and wide angled lenses, but it's my guess this lens is a bargain for what you get.

Just shot a wedding using the 20mm, 12mm, and a zoom. I normally run 4 cameras, but today cut back, it's too much work, and sometimes the work suffers running too many by yourself.

Anyway, my preliminary opinion on the 12mm vs the 20mm after 8 hours of shooting with it and comparing the footage from both against each other is that the 12mm does seem to be a sharper lens. In low light they are comparable.

I ran all three of my lenses in AWB and they did just fine. The 12mm width is very useful in a large range of applications, and I will never do a wedding without it. Great lens.

Just shot a wedding, and the 12mm F/2.0 lens proved to be the best lens in my kit, hands down.

For the ceremony from the rear, sharp as a tack, and gorgeous footage. For reception, I used it handheld and it was the perfect lens. It is as close to perfect as any lens could be for the GH2. I went onto the dancefloor and spent 3 hours shooting handlheld with it. I can be a couple of feet from people dancing and I get it all. The camera, is of course unobtrusive anyway, and with the width of the lens I could walk around with a minimum of shakiness.

you aren't very popular with my wife right now Jeff!!! She wanted to know where I got the idea to spend more $$ on glass.....sorry but I had to cough up your name!!!!

Mark

Oooops, sorry about that, Mark!

If you buy it, I hope you like it as much as I do. With all of the complaints we've had about not having a wide, fast lens, I'm surprised there aren't more of us raving about it. It costs, but you do get what you pay for in this case.

DOF is deep, which makes it so much easier to work with. I can walk around with it and virtually all of my shots are in focus, which feels close to a miracle. I am not using any regular video cameras at this time, so it is really handy for me.

There is a crusty old guy that works at a camera store locally, and I asked him what lens he uses most, and he answered without hesitation "wide". Now I see why!

So Jeff, do you think this lens will take the place of the 20mm pancake? Do you still feel they are comparable in low light?

Hi Tim. The 20mm is F/1.7, certainly better in low light, but f/2.0 is comparable.

The 12mm will not take the place of the 20mm for me. I need both. They really are completely different lenses. I am using the 12mm for things I used to use the 20 for, with more success. I can take the camera off the tripod with the 12mm attached and dive into the dance floor when it's packed and get stable footage I couldn't with the 20mm. With the 20mm it's too tight to do that when your in the middle of the partiers, cause you keep having to watch focus, and often you must back away to get a whole scene in the frame. The 12mm has such a deep DOF focus has become a non-issue. I lightly depress the shutter button to achieve focus, and I'm there, without things going from out of focus to focus in obvious fashion, it's just smoother with the 12mm, cause it tends to be close to in-focus most of the time anyway. The 20mm is more of a problem in that department.

It is still a fixed lens, and whenever I run the thing I am wishing it had a zoom, but it doesn't, of course.

I am finding the whole format restrictive, but that is my own fault for going with all GH2s. My videos no longer have the extreme closeups they used to, and it has really killed the emotional impact of the videos I make. I really miss/want/need a video camera.

....
I wish I had not read this post either...
The wife is going to be pissed if I spend more $$ LOL

Story of my life. The better question is when is my wife not upset with me for buying new toys. I was just considering buying a telephoto lens but now Jeff has the the gears turning in my head again.

For all the reasons Jeff likes the 12mm is the reason I almost bought the 14mm pancake. Easy to use in run and gun and quick auto focus. The 12mm is so much better in low light however.

Tough choices.

As a follow up, I've shot four weddings using the 12mm as of this past weekend.

It is still my favorite lens for general purposes. I am not very skilled using the GH2, I should be clear about that firstly. I am 55years old, and it is true we learn slower as we get older, and I never was a fast learner to begin with.

With this in mind, I like the 12mm because it: A. captures great images B. It is easy to use.

I shot a getting ready segment using the lens this past Saturday, all hand held, and the footage came out great. You can get moving shots with it using the classic handheld methods. I'm not very steady, and my footage looked pretty damned good. Mind you my exposures were not perfect, nor my focus, but that has more to do with me than the lens.

If you are a wedding shooter, it is almost a must have, IMO. The Olympus 12-60mm F/2.8-4.0 is also extremely handy, just as wide, but with a zoom, and of course you lose lowlight ability when you zoom, but I still love that lens also.

If you are a casual shooter or hobbyist, the 12mm F/2.0 might be skipped for the 12mm-60mm or the Olympus 14-54mm F/2.8-3.5. If I didn't shoot weddings, I'd definitely skip the prime and go for the zoom, same price and you get alot more bang for the buck.

Hey Jeff, I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on the 12mm. I just have one question for ya, how well is the auto focus working in low light at receptions? That's my main concern because I will be using it on a steady cam some and will not be able to use manual focus. From what I've read, the continous focus is working really well on the 12mm, just not sure about how well it does in low light. I'm guessing not to well if there is back light from bands etc.

Tim when there's low contrast in the scene the lens has a hard time auto focusing. Any camcorder does. I use it all the time on my glidecam and the af100 at the reception. Works incredibly well on a large sensor camcorder. I give it a double thumbs up. Check your email as I'll send you a link to a job I did using that lens.

Tim, just watch this, and you'll not hesitate for one second: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-event-videography-techniques/501168-gh2-hack-wedding-new-12mm-olympus.html#post1685554

Tim, it's a near perfect lens for me, it's auto focus is superb.

Thanks for the link. I had just watched that film the night before I posted you the question and the reason I got so interested in the 12mm. No doubt, those are some beautiful images......most of it is in very good lighting though. 90% of the weddings I do have bands with a very dark dance floor, so it's up to me to light it up but you can only do so much.

Would love to see some footage of the 12mm on a steadycam using auto focus..... in a darker reception hall.

Tim, in low light any lens will have issues with continual autofocus, it's just the nature of the beast. But the feature works better on that lens than on any M4.3 lens with the GH2, so there's no where else to go. For a steady cam, in low light, 12mm at f/2.0 is as fast and wide as we will probably ever see for M/4.3, but hey, I've been wrong many times before. I would ask, what are the better alternatives? There are none, at least that I know of.

The depth of field is such on that lens you could adjust it to a fixed focus, and just stay good just by watching where you go with the steadicam, and then readjust as needed between flights.

Good suggestion Jeff.

The lens is on it's way just in time for Saturdays wedding. It will be my first wedding with the GH2.

Congrats Tim. I mentioned fixed focus, but as I recall Gary H used continuous auto focus for his clip, didn't he? It really works well, but you'll have to test it in lighting similar to what you'll be exposed to, I guess. Good luck, you'll like the lens, I'm sure.

Does anyone know how well the new 12mm works when adapted to a follow-focus?

In one review that I read, it mentioned that the focus-by-wire adjusted differently depending on how fast you turned the focus ring. When using a follow-focus (which isn't the most necessary thing in the world on a wide lens, but it can be useful), it is important to have consistently repeatable focus adjustments. I understand that some focus-by-wire systems are pretty consistent once you get them set up (and don't turn the camera off between takes, etc.), but if there's variability from shot-to-shot, this diminishes the usefulness of the lens for "cinema" applications.

I thought I would revive this thread to share a test video I made to showcase the shallow DOF capabilities of the Olympus 12mm on the GH2.

My Messy Office - GH2 Olympus 12mm - Shallow DOF Tests on Vimeo

The production and cinematography was quick and raw - so don't expect anything pretty. This was shot the first 5 minutes after un-boxing the lens. I'll post some more attractive video once I spend a little more time getting used to the camera setup. My paid gigs are still on a Sony NX5 & Canon GH10...for now!


Thanks,
Angelo