Panasonic LUMIX Gレンズ 25mm F1.7 ASPH ミラーレスマイクロ4/3 H-H025K (USAブラック) 45-200MM H-FS045200

There is a lot of what's called "copy variation" among zoom lenses. Buy a bunch and they're likely to perform differently from one another. My first copy of this lens was defective - it couldn't focus accurately and had some centering issues. My second purchase is a winner. The lens is a bit odd, though not in a bad way. It's most compact when zoomed in a bit - so that's how I'm likely to store it in my bag. It autofocuses very reliably, but toward the back of the field of focus - meaning most of what's in focus is in front of your AF target, with the background usually out of focus. This makes it easy to focus, though - just pick a target as far away as you want focus to be sharp and the foreground will follow suit according to aperture. The lens comes with a hood that fastens securely onto the front. It's light and compact, plastic yet solid with very smooth operation. Like many zooms, this one exhibits some decentering, but Panasonic tends to be consistent: the decentering is minor and relegated to one extreme corner - thus, it's easily overcome or ignored. At all focal lengths, I find the image to be sharp edge to edge. This is especially so at 12mm. In the 40-60mm range, best sharpness requires stopping down more and won't be as good as at the wide end. You'll do better with the Leica-branded 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 lens, but that one's heavier and larger and not that much sharper for the money when comparing good copies. I suggest the Leica is best if you want sharp results at wider apertures and better contrast straight out of camera without post-processing. For general use, the cheaper 12-60 doesn't disappoint me. The image quality is outstanding, showing a lot of detail - it just tends to look a bit flat compared with higher-cost lenses. This is easily overcome: I can make my images pop nicely by shooting RAW and simply adding contrast/microcontrast in post. I'm not impressed with the in-lens stabilization. When I rely on that, I don't get the best results. Focus can be a bit off. However, using in-body stabilization (IBIS) or a combination of IBIS and lens OIS (some Panasonic cameras) gives great results. Full retail price is rather high for a slow kit zoom. If you decide to get this used or grey-market, be sure you can return it if it's defective. Panasonic has quality control issues and this lens is particularly infamous, anecdotally, for defects on arrival.

This lens is a perfect match for the G series cameras (I use it with a Panny G1), though it can be used with any m4/3 camera, and is a superb value. It doesn't get any better than this - a stabilized, high quality 45-200mm zoom for less than 300 dollars? You bet! Sure the aperture is f/4.0-5.6, but that's pretty typical for a low cost zoom. What's not so typical is the superb image quality, great stabilization, and quality build. It gives you good coverage at the long end up to a nice 400mm equivalent, perfect for wildlife and nature photography. The short end is a nice portrait length and you can easily go tight when you need to. It's easy to handle and fairly smooth in operation. It's mostly all been covered in the other reviews here, so I won't repeat all that, but this is a superb value and a great lens. I matched this up with the great Panasonic 14-45mm zoom to cover the short end and the highly regarded panny 20mm f/1.7 pancake prime (for best available light close-in shooting) together with my G1 and really feel like I have it covered. Possibly the nicest, lightest, most compact kit I've ever assembled (not to mention low cost as well). I am able to get some great hand-held shots and overall sharpness is very good. The OIS stabilization seems to work very well and this is definitely the easiest lens I have ever used hand-held at the full 200mm (400mm). 2012-02-19 Update: See the comments for some good info (thanks, Les!) on the "extended zoom" features -- hand-held shots at 800mm - wow! ;) 2012-04-29 Update: Still loving this lens. Wonderfully useful range, if I only take one lens, this is often my choice, though the 14-45mm is pretty handy as well. The 20mm is also very nice, but, obviously, for more specific uses. (If you're in situations where you can "zoom with your feet" it's great. Also wonderful in low light.) 2012-07-07 Update: I love this lens! I get an impressively high percentage of good shots with this lens. The quality is superb and it is a joy to shoot with. When you shoot with a fine lens, it really does make a difference. For the price asked, this one is hard to beat.

Replaced my 14-42 on my OM-D EM5 Mk2 with this lens. Considerably larger but better range and still quite light. Crisp and good contrast. Very happy

Bought in "Used - very good condition" and was very pleased with the condition it was in on arrival. I like the x5 range of focal length and used it as my main lens on a recent holiday. A really good purchase.

Many have written about it. I have only one thing to say. It does not respond to auto focus quickly. I have to nudge it to happen by tweaking focus button. Picture is sharp. Good range. less weight. plastic body does not look that bad. But plastic is plastic. For indoors, light support is a must. Out doors, its performance is good. Useful kit lens.