Summary: Wonderful lens

Comment: I bought this lens to reduce the number of lenses I carry when traveling. I left three lenses home and used this lens exclusively on a recent trip.

The wide end let me take more photos in confined areas and the long end was long enough to get decent magnification on short telephoto shots. It also did a nice job on closeups, although I didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about that use.

I use an E-510 camera body and found that focusing was much faster and more precise with this lens than the the kit lenses. That was a major improvement.

I won't try to add to prior reviews that discuss more technical aspects of this lens, but I love it and think it was $780 well spent.

Summary: Excellent lens with some issues

Comment: I have owned and used this lens for about 4 months now and I must say I am very pleased with the lens. For starters, this lens would fall in the same category as the 14-54mm lens which was the kit lens for the E-1, I used this to replace my 14-54mm lens on the E-510. Initially I was a little disappointed with the large size and weight of the lens when compared to the 14-54mm, but then it made sense as I was getting an additional 8mm in focal length range as well as ED glass to prevent CA.

The lens is very well built and seems very solid in feel. The zoom action isn't as smooth as the 14-54mm, in fact it feels a little sticky. This will be very noticeable to any long time 14-54mm user, however you tend to get used to it with time.

The lens exhibits noticeable distortion at the wide end, so if you're shooting straight lines (architecture) or trying to fit a big group of people into a frame while shooting in a small room, the lines and faces at the edges will be visibly distorted and although lines can be corrected, faces cannot, so beware!

The lens also exhibits quite a bit of flaring, which was never an issue with the 14-54mm lens, in fact the lens exhibits flare even when shooting indoors with a small light source on the side. This can be very annoying and does spoil a lot of pictures.

Overall though, the lens has an extremely usable focal range which pretty much eliminates the need for any other lens if you're a casual shooter. The AF fast and silent even on the E-510. Contrast and colors are excellent and will never disappoint.

So if you can get over the bulk, mild wide-angle distortion and occasional flaring, this lens is for you!

Summary: The best lens for your E system camera

Comment: If you are looking to replace the kit lens of your E system camera, look no further, the 12-60 mm Zuiko is the best lens out there on the market.
Amazing clarity, ultra fast focussing, very good wide lens features all in one amazing peice of hardware.
The SWD on this lens provides u with a never vefore seen speed in auto focussing in any light conditions. This lens will allow you to shoot amazing portraits with its large aperture and also capture breath taking panoramas with its 84 degree field of view.
In a nutshell, its going to be the best companion for your Olympus e system camera and I never leave my house without it.
Yes it is a little pricey, but its worth it for the amazing build quality and crystal clear images you will get with it..

Summary: Absolutely fabulous

Comment: I use this lens on my E-3. I'm somewhere between and intermediate and advanced amateur. The 12-60mm lens has become my primary lens. I leave it attached for walk around photography. This lens has noticeably better image quality over the kit lenses I purchased with my E-500. This lens along with the 7-14mm and the 50-200mm provides the complete focal length range I was looking for.

I would have liked a more substantial lens hood. The plastic one is satisfactory. I'm very careful with this equipment.

I'm very brand loyal to Olympus. I've shot with Olympus cameras for 35 years. My one gripe with Olympus is the organization of their web site. Its very difficult to find accessories or the lens chart but this is nothing compared to the exceptional image quality from the E-3/12-60mm lens combination.

Summary: Best general zoom in the universe?

Comment: Okay, apologies, a slight exaggeration...

It is simply the best general zoom on this planet! :) Enough to make users of other brands with bigger market share give envious looks across their shoulder to see what the fuss is all about.

Olympus' expertise in optics shines through with this lens and has been commended from all corners from professionals to users to reviewers -- and rightly so. I have had this lens for over 3 months now and it is probably more popular on my E-420 than with the 25mm Pancake! If I don't need extreme portability, then this lens takes priority for good reasons.

Colour capture is stunning, detail is sharp, chromatic aberration is almost non-existent, AF speed is nippy and the 12mm to 60mm (24mm to 120mm) range is extremely useful. My favourite is using it at wide-angle but this lens is consistently great at all ranges. Macro shooting is great as well with nice bokeh at tele' end.

For negatives -- and I am nit-picking here -- there is slight complex distortion at 12mm but nothing that concerns me too much (and I shoot mostly in wide), it is a bit weighty on my E-420 to make it front heavy which might concern some people if they have a smaller body, but I quite like it like this, and, lastly, I cannot shoot with pop-up flash, but I tend to avoid using flash as much as possible as I like having natural light in my photos.

All in all, whether you are a current Olympus user or not, it is definitely recommended for all who are interested in an `all purpose lens', who are passionate about photography and value `it's the glass' philosophy that some people swear by. My photography has certainly come leaps and bounds from using `quality glass' and, in this Zuiko, it has certainly marked a standard that others still have to reach.

Happy lens hunting.

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