I just got my hands on the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 lens and shot this quick hands on video. The Design feels pretty solid and I think there might actually be more metal on the Olympus than the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8. Build quality is top notch.

Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 (1 of 6)

I know there was a pretty strong divide between a number of you when it comes to the Olympus versus the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 lens. There was a big enough conflict that I talked a friend into lending me his Panasonic GH3 and 12-35mm f2.8 for a week to test and compare to the two lenses. I’ll be squeezing this in before I leave for NAB so I can’t promise the most in depth review but I definitely welcome any test ideas.

As a long time Canon owner, I’d never really set a full frame lens next to it’s micro 4/3 equivalent. A number of you mentioned that the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 lens was a bit on the heavy side of things and a little chunky. While it does feel nice and solid, it looks like a starving supermodel next to the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens I normally use. If the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 represents a rather heavy micro 4/3 lens, that’s pretty impressive. I’ve very interested to see how the Olympus and Panasonic stack up.

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