First, sorry for my lack of enthusiasm in this video, I filmed this right after a 12 hour shoot that sucked the life out of me. Still after all of the debate I really wanted to find out more about the aperture flicker many of you were reporting. I’ve watched the test clips a number of times and at f2.8 the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 does flicker quite noticeably as you zoom in and out. The Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 seems to suffer from this as well though far less noticeably. Also the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 i’m testing seems to flicker at higher F-stops while the flicker on the Olympus completely goes away at f3.2 and above. Paul made a good point in the comment section

The aperture is not mechanically linked to the zoom in this case, the aperture jumps positions electronically as the focal length changes.

After using much bigger lenses, I hadn’t really thought about how the aperture is actually controlled in some of these M4/3 lenses. To make the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 as small as it is, it makes sense that they would have to use an electronically controlled aperture.

Olympus vs Panasonic (1 of 1)

Holding both of these lenses in my hands the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 feels a lot more substantial. The focus ring and zoom ring on the Olympus are metal and the rubber on the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 zoom ring makes it feel sort of like a kit lens. The Panasonic i’m borrowing has been in action for awhile (note the marks near the HD logo) so maybe it’s just been worn in, but in my personal opinion the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 feels like a nicer piece of kit.

The other major thing on my list to test is the image stabilization system. Hopefully I’ll have some time to play around with that today or tomorrow and see if that’s where the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 really shines. I have until Friday to squeeze in a full review, if I don’t get it done you might end up with a few short bits like the one above. If there is anything you guys want me to test, just let me know.

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