I began using 4/3 system cameras before the advent of micro 4/3. One of my favorite 4/3 lenses of that period was the Olympus Zuiko 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD. The 24-120 (full frame equivalent) range is extremely useful, especially for traveling. Thus, I was intrigued in knowing if the new Panasonic-Leica 12-60 f2.8-4 would fill that gap again for me. I have also used the excellent Olympus 12-40 f2.8 as well as the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8. The Olympus 12-40 is a great lens, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little more reach. Although both Olympus and Panasonic have made cheaper lenses, whose ranges are useful (e.g., the Olympus 12-50 3.5-6.3 and Panasonic 12-60 f3.5-5.6), these lenses are slower and seem to be not up to the same quality standards as the Olympus pro lenses and the Panasonic-Leica lenses.
In the first few weeks of use, I have been very impressed by the Panasonic-Leica 12-60 f2.8-4 image quality, sharpness, and color rendition. I have been using it on both the Panasonic GX 8 and the OMD EM1 Mark ii. It is nicely balanced on both cameras. Its image stabilization (IS) only works in sync with the newer Panasonic bodies, but not Olympus bodies. Nevertheless, the five-axis stabilization of the new Olympus OMD is outstanding, so I haven’t noticed any issues in using this lens on the Olympus body.
The zoom is silky smooth, the lens is fast focusing, and its construction is very good and weather resistant, although it does not seem to have the more substantial build-quality feel of the Panasonic-Leica f42.5mm Nocticron lens, which is one of my favorites. The f2.8 is also nice to have at its 12 mm length, but it starts creeping up to 3.0 and ultimately 4.0 fairly rapidly when you begin to zoom in closer.
In terms of size, it is nearly comparable to the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 (diameter 70 mm Oly vs. 68 mm Pan-Leica; length 84 mm Oly vs. 86 mm Pan-Leica). Both use a 62 mm filter thread. In terms of weight, the Pana-Leica is only 320 g compared to the Oly 12-40 at 382 g. When compared to the excellent new Olympus 12-100 f4.0 at 561 g, the Pan-Leica is considerable lighter, although without the tele-zoom reach. I considered the new Olympus 12-100 mm, but the Pan-Leica is about $300 cheaper and more compact, with a faster aperture at the wide range. The lens is also purported to be very good for video, although my primary purpose in using it is for stills.
I intend to use this lens particularly for travel purposes and some street photography. Overall, I find it to be a nice compromise between the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 and the Olympus 12-100 f4.0 both in size, range, and price. You won’t regret have any of these lenses, but I am, thus far, pleased with my choice as I am also trying to reduce the total number of lenses I use.
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PANASONIC LUMIX G LEICA DG VARIO-ELMARIT PROFESSIONAL LENS, 12-60MM, F2.8-4.0 ASPH, MIRRORLESS MICRO FOUR THIRDS, POWER O.I.S, H-ES12060 (Renewed) $634.95 & FREE Shipping
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This Item  Panasonic LUMIX Professional 12-60mm Camera Lens, Leica DG Vario-ELMARIT, F2.8-4.0 ASPH, Dual I.S. 2.0 with Power O.I.S, Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds, H-ES12060 (Black) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | -10% $897.99 List: $999.99 | -10% $447.99 Typical: $497.99 | $1,797.99 | -11% $797.99 List: $899.99 | -23% $347.99 List: $449.99 | -41% $147.99 List: $249.99 |
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| Customer Ratings | ||||||
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| Sold By | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| lens type | Standard | Wide Angle | Standard | Wide Angle | Standard | Standard |
| compatible mountings | Olympus/Panasonic Standard 4/3, Olympus/Panasonic Micro 4/3 | Micro Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Four Thirds | Leica L | Micro Four Thirds |
| lens design | Zoom | Prime | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom |
| focus type | Auto Focus | Auto Focus | Auto Focus | automatic | Auto Focus | Auto Focus |
| minimum focal length | 12 millimeters | 9 millimeters | 25 millimeters | 12 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 25 millimeters |
| max focal length | 60 millimeters | 9 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 35 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 25 millimeters |
| fixed focal length | 60 millimeters | 9 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 35 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 25 millimeters |
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PANASONIC LUMIX Professional 12-60mm Camera Lens, H-ES12060
Panasonic CE
Reviews with images
The best lense I own across every platform, hands down.
Theres just something magical about this paired with my EM5 ii. This photo was taken with the 12-60, and I wouldn't have gotten it with my canon lenses. Why? Because by comparison they are so heavy I leave them at home 99.9% of the time. As someone with over..... yikes, 25 lenses and several primes, this is my holy grail lens. Just get it.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2020
Image quality at 12mm is very sharp in the center with some barrel distortion at the very far corners. At the wide end, don't expect perfectly sharp images across the entire scene - this is a trade-off to be expected in a wide to medium tele. I see a largely clean, distortion free image about 18-20mm and beyond. In the video world this is less of an issue than for photographers. The range you get for size make it worth it to me for the range that you get.
Aperture reduces immediately to f/2.9 at 13mm and continues down from there until you hit f/4 at about 55mm. Since I am mostly shooting landscape in video in 4K, I rarely use f/2.8 - however this does come into play in vlogging shots. I find that f/2.8 is the sweet spot for walking & talking on camera in order to produce the ideal amount of background blur while avoiding focus breathing. I find the bokeh at f/2.8 to be pleasing with circular bokeh balls thanks to the 9 bladed aperture. Defocused backgrounds look smooth to me. I am usually at f/5.6 to f/7 when shooting landscape at 12mm and around f/8 to f/11 when closer to 60mm; you will notice diffraction kicking around f/11 but it's not so bad as to be unusable.
Chromatic aberration is largely corrected for but you will see some green & magenta tinting with sun flares. This is better to me than having full-on sun flares in the shot.
Another plus is the weather sealing. This lens does not see a ton of foul wet weather but living and shooting in the desert I enounter a lot
The only major con I have come across is that (1) this lens is heavier than the cheaper plastic counterparts; though to me this is a pro adding durability.
I am happy with the images this lens produces; I believe this lens is suitable for someone who normally would carry a wide lend and medium telephoto who wants to reduce weight and complexity of their setup. This is probably going to be as close as you'll get to a do-it-all lens on the M43 system.
Great Wide to Medium Telephoto & Videography Lens
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2020
I bought this lens to do videography for my outdoors Youtube channel on my Panasonic Lumix G9. It fits this use-case excellently with a 12mm wide angle with an effective 5X optical zoom. If you utilize the Ex. Teleconv feature on recent Panasonic cameras you can get an effective 7X lossless zoom for free. If you shoot landscapes and mostly static subjects like I do, then a camera with a sensor shift hi-res mode can increase your range even further than that.Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2020
Image quality at 12mm is very sharp in the center with some barrel distortion at the very far corners. At the wide end, don't expect perfectly sharp images across the entire scene - this is a trade-off to be expected in a wide to medium tele. I see a largely clean, distortion free image about 18-20mm and beyond. In the video world this is less of an issue than for photographers. The range you get for size make it worth it to me for the range that you get.
Aperture reduces immediately to f/2.9 at 13mm and continues down from there until you hit f/4 at about 55mm. Since I am mostly shooting landscape in video in 4K, I rarely use f/2.8 - however this does come into play in vlogging shots. I find that f/2.8 is the sweet spot for walking & talking on camera in order to produce the ideal amount of background blur while avoiding focus breathing. I find the bokeh at f/2.8 to be pleasing with circular bokeh balls thanks to the 9 bladed aperture. Defocused backgrounds look smooth to me. I am usually at f/5.6 to f/7 when shooting landscape at 12mm and around f/8 to f/11 when closer to 60mm; you will notice diffraction kicking around f/11 but it's not so bad as to be unusable.
Chromatic aberration is largely corrected for but you will see some green & magenta tinting with sun flares. This is better to me than having full-on sun flares in the shot.
Another plus is the weather sealing. This lens does not see a ton of foul wet weather but living and shooting in the desert I enounter a lot
The only major con I have come across is that (1) this lens is heavier than the cheaper plastic counterparts; though to me this is a pro adding durability.
I am happy with the images this lens produces; I believe this lens is suitable for someone who normally would carry a wide lend and medium telephoto who wants to reduce weight and complexity of their setup. This is probably going to be as close as you'll get to a do-it-all lens on the M43 system.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
The best lense I own across every platform, hands down.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
Theres just something magical about this paired with my EM5 ii. This photo was taken with the 12-60, and I wouldn't have gotten it with my canon lenses. Why? Because by comparison they are so heavy I leave them at home 99.9% of the time. As someone with over..... yikes, 25 lenses and several primes, this is my holy grail lens. Just get it.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
John N. Burnett
Excellent build quality and overall image quality
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2018