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Olympus has just released the M.Zuiko 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 which joins their current two superzoom lenses, the 12-100mm F4 IS PRO and the 14-150mm F4-5.6. The new 12-200mm lens has weather-sealing but is not positioned as a PRO grade lens. The existing 12-100mm F4 IS PRO (review here) is an exceptionally sharp lens for such a long zoom range. While the non-PRO 14-150mm F4-5.6 lens (article here) may not achieve the same level of optical performance as the 12-100mm PRO, it performs slightly better than basic kit lenses offered by Olympus, and has weather-sealing making it a great all-in-one solution. In this article, I want to test the newly launched 12-200mm lens and find out where it sits in the lineup.

Before we proceed, I must reiterate my position as Olympus Visionary, a brand ambassador for Olympus Malaysia. This article is not a review of the 12-200mm lens but simply me sharing my experience with it as a photographer. There will be no direct side by side comparison between this and other lenses. The 12-200mm lens was on loan from Olympus Malaysia and has since been returned. Another note worth mentioning – I am not a fan of superzoom lenses. No matter how optimized a superzoom lens may be, it is almost impossible to surpass the optical quality of a prime lens. I acknowledge this may be my personal preference and for others, the convenience of having a versatile zoom range outweighs ultimate image quality.

The 12-200mm lens is quite compact but it does extend quite a bit at the longest tele-end.

Looking at the official specification sheet, the Olympus M.Zuiko 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 lens does not have anything extraordinary to shout about (except for the first of its kind 24mm to 400mm zoom range). Olympus has managed to manufacture a reasonably compact lens at a comfortable weight of 455g, of course the tradeoff is variable aperture of F3.5 to 6.3. While the lens takes a 72mm filter, the overall barrel diameter is smaller. The lens does extend to almost twice its original length at the long end (200mm) and close up shooting is rated at a maximum of 0.46x magnification, which is respectable. The 12-200mm is weather-sealed against dust and splash and has special nano coating to mitigate flare and ghosting problem. A plastic flower-petal design hood is provided.

For a full specifications list of the Olympus 12-200mm lens, check out the official product page here.

To test this lens, I subjected it to various shooting conditions, from typical wide angle cityscapes, street photography at the medium-telephoto end and lastly, bird photography to test the telephoto end of the lens. I even tested under harsh and high contrast situations for flare and chromatic aberration control. As the 12-200mm is not a PRO grade lens, I was not expecting the optical performance to match the 12-100 F4 PRO lens. All images are shot with Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II in RAW and post-processed with Capture One Pro software. All images are uncropped, unless otherwise mentioned.

So the big question is: can Olympus truly make a lens with such an incredible zoom range from 12 to 200mm without compromising optical performance too much?



200mm, F6.3, 1/1250sec, ISO200



200mm, F6.3, 1/20sec, ISO400



crop from previous image



200mm, F6.3, 1/320sec, ISO400



200mm, F6.3, 1/80sec, ISO640

Starting the test at 200mm, I was not blown away: I was expecting the signature crisp results from the Olympus JPEG previews that I am so used to seeing, especially when using a PRO lens like the 40-150mm F2.8 PRO and 300mm F4 PRO. That was my problem, my expectations were too high and I had to remind myself the 12-200mm is not a PRO lens and I should not treat it as such. Recalibrating for my expectations, the results were reasonably sharp and usable. The sharpness is similar to what I remember seeing from the 75-300mm and 40-150mm R lenses, with the 12-200mm having a slight advantage in terms of overall detail retention and having better contrast.

If you paid attention to the bird shots above, you will also notice that they were all under heavy shade and light was not ideal. An aperture of F6.3 can be an issue for wildlife under less than ideal light. The birds kept moving and in order to have sufficient shutter speed to freeze movement, you may have to bump up the ISO. I opted to stay at lower ISOs and waited patiently for the birds to stop moving before taking my shot. I relied on the 5-Axis Image Stabilization on the E-M1 Mark II to stabilize my shot, and it worked effectively. I managed sharp images, provided a perfectly still subject, even at a slow shutter speed of 1/20th second.



200mm, F6.3, 1/500sec, ISO250



Crop from previous image



200mm, F8, 1/200sec, ISO200



Crop from previous image



200mm, F6.3, 1/50sec, ISO200



200mm, F7.1, 1/160sec, ISO200

For those of you interested in finding out how quickly the widest F-number changes with the zoom, here is quick list of focal length vs maximum aperture:

12mm – F3.5, 17mm – F4.2, 25mm – F4.7, 40mm – F5.3, 50mm – F5.7, 75mm – F6.1, 100mm – F6.2, 112mm onward – F6.3

It is interesting to note that from 12mm to 50mm, the aperture range is F3.5-5.7, which is similar to the basic kit lenses offerings from Olympus. I was hoping to have F5.0 up till 100mm, but it was already at F6.2 – not very helpful when shooting in dim light. Don’t forget that at such narrow apertures openings plus the smaller sensor, achieving a shallow depth of field will be difficult. If you use Micro Four Thirds and you intend to have nice out of focus backgrounds in your shots, I’d direct you to the many prime lenses with a fast F1.8 aperture.

Next, in examining the mid range zoom performance of the lens, I found that anything longer than 100mm on the lens shows a decline in overall sharpness. From 12mm to 100mm, the lens performs better than I anticipated. It’s sharper than the basic kit lenses that over the same focal lengths.



63mm, F5.9, 1/50sec, ISO200



70mm, F6.1, 1/1600sec, ISO200



37mm, F6.3, 1/400sec, ISO200



25mm, F5.6, 1/160sec, ISO200



50mm, F5.7, 1/500sec, ISO200



56mm, F5.8, 1/2500sec, ISO200

There is obvious software correction at work to reduce chromatic aberration as well as manage barrel and pincushion distortions. The in-camera correction data is also stored in the RAW file, which allowed easy one click correction when using any post-processing software. After the optimization, I find the images to be distortion free and can find little to no purple fringing even at wide angles under harsh light. The software does struggle in an extreme scenario with high frequency detail and cannot successfully get rid of all traces of purple fringing. Even so, a quick retouching with any software can rectify the purple fringing.

What I was surprised with was the flare resistance, the nano coating on the lens is, I’m happy to report, not just a marketing trick and is effective. This is probably an area where the 12-200mm outperforms many of the higher grade Olympus lenses. I can get flare with less effort with 12-40mm and 12-100mm PRO lenses. I had the hood attached at all times during my shooting with the 12-200mm lens so I did remove it just to see if the lens gets more susceptible to flare and ghosting, but the results remain unchanged.



12mm, F22, 1/160sec, ISO200, The starburst effect is quite pleasant at wide angle 12mm



94mm, F8, 1/8000sec, ISO200, backlight shooting is very good with this lens. Yes there are dust spots and I should get the sensor cleaned soon.



12mm, F5.6, 1/1600sec, ISO200, distortion is well controlled, and no purple fringing observed. Effective in camera software correction at work here.



12mm, F5.6, 1/1600sec, ISo200, No chromatic aberration observed at harsh and high contrast areas of the frame



12mm, F5.6, 1/125sec, ISO200, for more complicated image with unpredictable patterns, purple fringing may not be fully corrected. Observe the window panels at both top left and right of the frame.

At 455g, the lens does not feel heavy at all, even though it is about 100g heavier than the 12-40mm F2.8 PRO. It is still about 100g lighter than the 12-100mm F4 PRO. While the 12-200mm feels balanced on the E-M1 Mark II, I cannot say the same if you are using smaller cameras like the PEN E-PL9. There is nothing much to say about autofocus performance – it is exactly the same as any other new M.Zuiko lens from Olympus. I’d highly recommend using this lens on OM-D bodies with powerful 5-Axis IS to get the best out of the lens.

The close up shooting of the 12-200mm is quite impressive. At wide angle 12mm, the lens can get as close as 10cm to the subject, creating an interesting wide angle macro perspective, which I rarely use in my own shooting. At the telephoto end, the lens can still achieve magnification of 0.46x, that can be useful for some quick pseudo-macro shots in the absence of a macro lens.



12mm, F5.6, 1/1000sec, ISO200, an example of wide angle close up shooting. Sharpness is very good in close up shots.



200mm, F6.3, 1/250sec, ISO200, telephoto macro shooting is also very good, but noticeably less detailed than wide angle macro.



200mm, F8, 1/250sec, ISO200

For anyone looking for a comparison against the 14-150mm lens, the extra 50mm at the telephoto end won’t mean much, but the 12mm wider angle can make a difference in fitting more into the frame in tight spaces. Also, based on my personal shooting experience, the 12-200mm is noticeably sharper (though by small margin) at the wider end. If you want to compare against the 12-100mm F4 PRO lens, the 12-100mm lens is superior in every aspect. However, it is also larger, heavier and more expensive.

I do think that the Olympus 12-200mm is quite an interesting lens. While the lens may not give you the typical Olympus razor sharp image output at the longer end, it performs very well in the 12-100mm zoom range. If you are looking for absolute sharpness, there are PRO grade lenses with superior optics to consider, as well as high quality prime lenses from Olympus or Panasonic. What impressed me most was the flare control of the lens and the fact that despite such a massive zoom range, Olympus managed to keep the size and weight down to a comfortable level. Weather-sealing is a welcome bonus. As long as you do not shoot constantly in dim light, I see no reason the 12-200mm cannot deliver satisfactory results.

The Olympus M.Zuiko 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 lens is available for pre-order from B&H

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