(UPDATED) First $75 price drop on the 12-35mm X zoom (and GH2 price drop too).
There is an unexpected $75 discount on the new 12-35mm X zoom lens at Amazon (Click here). After clicking the link scroll down to “The Android Outlet” and order the lens. They have it in Stock shipping from Indiana. Seller rating is also very good!
UPDATE: The Gh2 with lens now got a new price drop. it’s $729 now at Amazon (Click here).
Meantime the E-M5 is in Stock in all possible kits thanks also to via third patry resellers at Amazon (Click here). But the most sold camera of the moment is the GF3 (here the ranking).
Darwin
10 months ago |Wow, this really is the FIRST discount I’ve seen on this lens in the states…
carpandean
10 months ago |That’s a start. I’ve told myself that I’ll wait for $999 or below. Probably won’t be soon or for very long, if it does get that low (though, maybe if/when Olympus releases some fast zooms), but I’ll sell off my P45/2.8 (don’t do much macro work anyway), plus a couple of others, to get it when it does.
Darwin
10 months ago |I’d actually like to see Olympus answer this with a 12-35 f/2.
Would it have to be the same size as the 4/3 14-35 in order to do that?
ulli
10 months ago |I wonder about that too, but regarding to the rumors about the unorthodox design/concept of the FT’s 14-35 & 35-100, a MFT version in a smaller size could be possible, but if it would maintain the same SHG quality….?
kesztió
10 months ago |Still very pricey as long you can buy 3 (three!) high quality bright primes by this money: Oly 12/2, Pana 20/1.7, Oly 45/1.8.
Roy
10 months ago |The primes don’t offer the zoom’s convenience and OIS though.
JP
10 months ago |Well, if you have an EM-5, the stability is superior to any of the OIS systems built into the lens. And the color and clarity of the prime lenses is better than the 12-35. The 12-35 is weather sealed, and is only one lens, still, the Oly answer to this will be superior.
Needless to say, the 12-35 is seriously overpriced.
Bart
10 months ago |The 12mm prime is also seriously overpriced
JF
10 months ago |+1
for me in france I can have the 12mm for 650 euro, I bought the 12-35mm for 999 euro. So for 350 euro more I have the 12-35 focal range and weather sealing. I loose 1 stop @ 12mm, it’s probably a bit less sharp (but the 12-35 is very sharp !) and it is heavier…ok I don’t have the nice mechanical focus but I relly don’t care about it…
Roy
10 months ago |Whether or not the body offers IS doesn’t discount the fact that you pay for it as a lens feature. Not needing that particular feature does not imply that the lens is overpriced.
I would hope that the primes are better optically; that’s what most of us buy them for. My point was that you’ll always pay extra for the convenience of a zoom, simply because they are more difficult to design and manufacture.
As for the faster aperture of the primes: IS allows you to stop down (for better optical performance or DOF reasons) and still mitigate the effects of camera shake. And it is generally more effective than the 1-2 stop advantage offered by the primes.
FWIW: I own and use the three aforementioned primes myself. I just think that the prime vs. zoom debates are often over-simplified and based on an incomplete picture of what is involved in creating and using these lenses.
Bart
10 months ago |But if the camera has IS, you don’t need it in lenses, making them a bit cheaper to make, lighter and mechanically less complicated. Hence, if Lumix would wake up and start putting it in the camera, they could either offer a better price, or get a better margin on the lens, or a bit of both.
Good zooms cost, true, but the 12-35 range is pretty crowded both with very nice primes (if we ignore the 17mm) , and zooms offering a somewhat reasonable aperture (1/2 to 1 stop slower in that range) with decent performance. You can have both a zoom and one or two primes close to the focal lengths you use most, and as a result I find it hard to justify this lens, unlike the 35-100 even if the later were some 30-40% more expensive, but I guess thats just my personal priorities
But if you want the highest quality you can get while keeping ‘zoom convenience’, then there is no alternative for the 12-35 in the m4/3 system, and in that sense (and technically) I don’t think it is ‘too expensive’.
Roy
10 months ago |Ever since I bought the second IS-equipped lens for my DSLR system, I’ve been an advocate for in-body IS. So I’m quite happy that I ended up with a brand that not only offers IBIS, but also managed to make it work beyond reproach. I definitely feel for Panasonic owners who still pay for IS with every lens purchase. And as a consequence, I’m a bit miffed that I still have to pay for it when buying a Panasonic lens with OIS, full knowing that I’ll never use it.
Not sure if I’m interpreting your post correctly, but are you saying that there is a zoom that is 1/2 to 1 stop slower than the 12-35 in the same range? If so, then I’m assuming that you’re referring to a 4/3 or third party lens?
The bottom line is that we’ve been offered yet another option in the m4/3 line-up: either go for the convenience of a zoom, or the optical performance and compactness (unless of course you bring all three) of some great primes. And that’s one of the main reasons why I chose m4/3 over the competing offerings.
Bart
10 months ago |@Roy, the ‘standard’ zooms for m4/3 start at f3.5 at the widest end, which is only about half a stop slower then the 12-35/2.8. I was mistaken however, at the long end of the 12-35 range, they tend to be about 1 1/2 stop slower, not 1 stop.
The 12-50 fully covers the range of the 12-35, and within that range actually performs pretty decent, it starts dropping off at around 40mm (tho the 43mm macro mode is actually quite nice)
If I were to include 4/3 zooms, I could get something 1 stop better then the 12-35
(tho, its lacking 2mm at the wide end which is quite a bit) or something that is between 0 – ~1/3 stop slower if I’d opt for the 12-60mm, but, I wasn’t thinking about 4/3 zooms really.
Bart
10 months ago |The primes offer a faster aperture (at least 1 stop) however, so more DOF control, and you won’t need stabilization as often.
Its too bad Lumix is too stubborn to implement IBIS, it removes the ‘but that lens has no OIS’ issue very nicely as Olympus users can tell from experience (not to mention not having to pay over and over for the same thing)
JP
10 months ago |I want to want the 12-35, for convenience, I just think the OIS adds too much to the cost, and I think Olympus builds a better zoom lens, at least they did in the FT days. I hope they come out with one. My 12 mm f/2.0 is a lot of fun though. At $799 it is pretty pricey, but it is extremely well built and all metal. And who else offers a f/2.0 12 mm? 20 mm is one of the better Panasonics, and I probably shouldn’t have sold mine, I just got tired of the Panasonic colors. Maybe, I will get the 20 mm again, especially considering I sold it at a slight profit (thanks to Panasonics stock issues, when I sold it they were out of stock everywhere, so somebody paid more than I had originally paid. Not usually the case with used camera gear.)
ulli
10 months ago |but the 12-35 is weathersealed if i am right, and if you dont mind the 1 stop loss & bigger size, there is no hassle in changing your lens. But if I had to choose between this one and your trio, i would prob go for the primes solution as it would enable me to go compact with a pancake, and i always prefer to shoot as wideopen as possible.
anonymous
10 months ago |the cheap price at simply-electronics is a bit misleading – or at least it has been in the past for me, as they couldn’t (didn’t want to?) supply a VAT invoice. Their reply to me was that they sell without VAT, and thus can offer a competitive price (sounds flaky to me).
When you deduct VAT from other sellers’ price, who always sell VAT included, the simply-electronics price ends up higher – so I’ve stopped shopping with them…
alexander
10 months ago |i like to have 12-60mm rather than two lenses (sorry marketing guys..)
Chad
10 months ago |Though a good lens, it was always too expensive at $1299 for a m/43 lens, regardless of the it’s equivalent performance comparison to nikon/canon lens.
I would get it when it drops to under 1K. I’ve been following the prices on Ebay and it has dropped about $20~30 a week since it was available. It is now only $1060 AUD. 3 more weeks to go!!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Panasonic-Lumix-G-X-Vario-12-35mm-f2-8-Asph-power-O-i-s-H-hs12035-Lens-/330772110619?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item4d038ddd1b#ht_1689wt_1140
Yun
10 months ago |This lens to me is a bit overpriced so it should drop a bit .
Whatever it is , I still waiting something like F2.0 will skip this one .
kesztió
10 months ago |The F2.8 is a bit overpriced so you’re waiting for F2.0?
LOL…
Aly
10 months ago |Oh wow, just $1225? Heck at that price I can afford two!
dau
10 months ago |Im willing to walk that zoom range. Using my 20 or 25mm primes which are both cheaper , and 1+ stop faster. Yes a zoom is more conveniant but its a pitifully small zoom range , easily walkable. To me, the only real advantage of this lens is the weather sealing…
Alan Halfhill
10 months ago |Bought It!. It has arrived. GREAT! Will be reviewing soon @ frugal filmmakers.com