How does this compare at 12mm to the oly 12mm f2? i wanted to get the 12mm for street photography at f2.

We returned the 12-35mm lens because of the aperture glitches, summarized here:

A call to Panasonic (and their natural-language-phone-tree-from-HELL) confirmed that this is a "design feature" of the lens.

I'm back to using the Oly 14-54mkII which is optically similar but has the same aperture blade "jumps" and is noisy as well. However, my wife's documentary work really requires a lens in that 28mm-70mm equivalent range, parfocal, quiet and with constant aperture.

I have not really found anything equivalent to what the 12-35mm was supposed to be for the GH2. My 16mm roots has me thinking of trying an old Angenieux zoom. Ok, just typing that made me cringe... there's got to be something better.

how to check optical stabilization? I turn on\off, but I can't see difference.

I use firmware 444 sharp.In 24p mode with 12-35mm lense not switch in ExTele mode, the menu set is not activated. Why?

I have this lens and have no aperture issues.

wouldn't zooming in and out be a "zooming" issue instead of an aperture issue? I'm going to make a test video for you as soon as I make this post.

All "issues" aside, VERY VERY rarely will I zoom in and out during a shot and typically I will have the aperture set before I begin a shot. I exchanged the voightlander 25mm for 17mm for the de clicked aperture, and purchased the rokinon 35 t1.5 because of it's de clicked aperture (if you couldn't tell de clicked is the route I will try and stick with from here on out with lenses because I'm in love with it) But like I said, I try to stay away from having to change from extreme apertures during a shot.

@GravitateMediaGroup

I do understand your opinion. Nevertheless, nobody's saying someone wanna try "to change from extreme apertures during a shot". A lot of people bought this lens just because they thought it would have a true constant aperture during zooming in and out. Cinema-like lens... People were wrong, just as I was.

@valpopando WOW. great looking footage.

I've decided to cancel my order for this lens.

It is indeed very sharp, but its sharpness looks somehow artificial to me on all the test shootings I saw here, it does not look cinematic to me at all. Of course many could disagree about what I say, but I can't change my feelings about this. I mean it has kind of all-in-focus like on the paintings of Hyeronimus Bosch (who I admire).

Its OIS and weather sealing are ceirtanly great features for all those who need them. I do not need them for my purposes.

The biggest disappointment for me is the barrel distortion of nearly 6% on its short end. Only Panasonic cameras seem to be capable of correcting it, @kodakmoment it is exactly what you commented here middle of July, the newest Photozone review of this lens confirms it. For my own needs, its short end was the most interesting part and I really expected less barrel distortion from a "X" lens in the price category just next to the professional Nikkors and Canons. VK has written in the GH3 topic a hard true: "X is just marketing moniker". I really don't wanna say that anybody who buys this lens does anything wrong, I don't mean that. In different shooting subjects and circumstances than I need this could be a dream lens for many and I am really happy for all of you guys who got here the one you have been waiting for. I didn't.

@tetakpatak

Strange comments.

Oly 12mm has 5.45% barrel distortion (compared to 5.71% for 12-35 at 12mm). Corrected on the gh2 for video it looks like shit if you try to pan / tilt. Panny 12-35 seems to have a much better correction, panning and tilting looks OK. You must have been watching a lot of gh3 test-videos or simply don´t like a "modern" looking lens..

It seems like you are complaining about the depth of field as well.. all of that is down to the user of the lens. At f2.8 it´s fully possible to have a short DOF if that is what you want.

Simply put, the 12-35 is technically the best lens on the market, between 12-16mm for m43.

With that said, everyone has to consider what fits their needs and technically good is not always the most fun.

@B3Guy My guess is someone else will do it before panasonic. This should be the perfect timing for some of the zoom companies to produce a cheap "cine" zoom for m43 mount. Hell, they can even make the same zoom in two versions with different housing.