Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS review

The Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS is a super-skinny standard zoom for Micro Four Thirds cameras

Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS
(Image: © Panasonic)

Digital Camera World Verdict

This featherweight standard zoom has an effective 24-64mm zoom range on Micro Four Thirds cameras with a none too slow aperture rating of f/3.5-5.6, yet tips the scales at just 70g. Thanks to a retractable design, it’s also tiny enough to qualify as a pancake lens, being less than an inch thick. There’s no manual focus facility but overall performance and image quality are pleasing, making it a good walkabout lens.

Pros

  • +

    Tiny and lightweight

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    Optical image stabilizer

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    Inexpensive to buy

Cons

  • -

    No manual focus facility

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    A little barrel distortion at 12mm

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    No hood supplied

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Available in black or silver and supplied as a kit zoom with some Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS is a pretty direct competitor to the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ Pancake. Both are a similar size and weight. The Olympus has a longer zoom range and features a motorized zoom mechanism, whereas the Panasonic gives better wide-angle coverage and adds optical image stabilization, making it a steadier bet for cameras that lack in-body stabilizers.

Specifications

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.