Panasonic Standard Zoom Lens for Micro Four Thirds Lumix G Vario 12-32mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./MEGA O.I.S. Silver H-FS12032-S

Ok so this is my review on the lens. I have recently made the switch from full frame to micro 4/3s. That being said this lens is fantastic for the money. I shoot real estate photograph/video for my real estate listings. I also blog quite a bit and this lens holds it down. There is no loss of image quality at the edge of the frame which is something you can run into on wide angle lens. Range on this came is great and can be used for many applications, how ever if your looking for great bokeh this lens don't do a great job. I might look for a prime lens for that. The build is sturdy and easy to keep clean. Image and video quality is great I would recommend this lens for the price.

Used it for a trip overseas, but since it didn't zoom the same direction as my Olympus lenses, sometimes I pulled it the wrong direction. And it didn't take long for that action to break the lens, which seems a little silly.

I decided to check out this tiny lens while I was also checking out the far larger and heavier (and faster) 12mm f2 Samyang (three samples of that one were tried, but none was found that I wanted to keep). MUCH to my surprise, this little kit lens proved to be quite good in the sample I tried, even "wide" open! While not as sharp over much of the frame as the Samyang, its FAR lower CA, uniformly very good sharpness to the corners (unlike the Samyang 12mm f2), tiny size and weight, and moderate price were "winners" for me. This lens is also good with a +10 close-up lens on it for moderate macro photos (when well stopped down) - and it is also good for shooting infrared photos (although it's not as good for this as some other lenses I have). "But wait, there's more...!";-) I like fisheye lenses, and I have the Panasonic GFC-1 light-weight fisheye converter made for the Panasonic14-42mm PZ and 14mm pancake lenses (it works acceptably well on the 14-42mm PZ at f10, and less well on the 14mm at f11). On the 12-32mm (set at 15mm and used at f7.1), performance to the corners is surprisingly good, and this combination has become one of my "standard" lenses! More lens reviews (with samples) are here: http://www.david-ruether-photography.com/MFT-Lenses.htm --DR

I knew what I was getting when I purchased this lens. I wanted a flexible yet compact lens for travel. This is a great and versatile lens but it definitely comes with some flaws. The lack of a focus ring might be one but my gx8 has a decent af system and digital mf system so I’ve managed without it. I love how compact this lens is so I accept the compromise Panasonic made. It’s not the sharpest lens but it is sharp enough. It’s not the fastest lens but with good lighting or outdoor shots it is good. If you know what to expect and know it’s limitations it should not disappoint! Included are some pictures I took with it.

The lens is good but the quality is atrocious..dont drop it...don't bang it up against anything! nothing! this sucker will bend or dent so easy. I had it in my bad and a lens....rolled into it and it got all bent to hell..something so simple basically ruined it. Buy at your own risk..

Great, versatile and extremely compact kit lens. Very happy with the image quality and the wide angle capability. However, be aware that there is no manual focus ring on this lens. I have an Olympus body so this means I can't manually focus it at all. It's an acceptable sacrifice considering how small this lens is, but it's something to be aware of.

This is a great wide angle lens. No blur at the edges. Worth the money. Forget the converters. Spring for the real deal. I used this to do a bunch of group shots -- up to 75 -- it worked great. And you could see all the faces in the 75 person shot which shows I didn't have to back way off to get them all in. You need this lens....

The lens is a great idea, and maybe I just got a defective one, but it pretty much fell apart after a short while using it. I can make it work still but the outer ring popped off and some little tab inside broke off, so hard to zoom with it. I've bought dozens of lenses and never had one fail like this. I think its just a poor design.