Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12-50 mm f/3.5-6.3 ED EZ review - Introduction

Have you rated your lenses yet?

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12-50 mm f/3.5-6.3 ED EZ

16 March 2012

Arkadiusz Olech

1. Introduction

The Micro 4/3 system has been developing by leaps and bounds and the number of lenses, currently available, approaches 40 different models. There are a lot of ‘kit’ lenses of 14-42 mm class and also 14-140/150 mm megazoom devices. However none of the producers has offered a ‘kit’ lens which would give you a bit bigger focal length range and a wider angle of view at the same time.

Olympus was a trailblazer here - in December 2011 they presented the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12–50 mm f/3.5–6.3 ED EZ lens. Even before the official presentation there were some rumours concerning that device. Plenty of people thought it would be something like a very well-done and popular Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 12–60 mm f/2.8–4.0 SWD. Olympus approached the topic in a quite different way, though. The decision-makers from that company apparently have assumed that the users of the Micro 4/3 system would appreciate more a small, handy lens than a fast and big one; something with a dust and splash proof construction which features an MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) mechanism ensuring a smooth focal length change - useful when recording a video. The market will verify that decision for sure.

We can check the new construction’s optical and mechanical aspects. It is possible courtesy of the Fotozakupy.pl shop which sent us the lens for testing purposes as soon as it was possible.

Please Support Us

If you enjoy our reviews and articles, and you want us to continue our work please, support our website by donating through PayPal. The funds are going to be used for paying our editorial team, renting servers, and equipping our testing studio; only that way we will be able to continue providing you interesting content for free.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - advertisement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You are also invited to get acquainted with our test procedure, described in the article "How do we test lenses?" If you feel it’s still not enough, please go to our FAQ section where you can find some further explanation.