When I have one of my K&F Concept 58mm variable ND filters on the front of my regular lens hood then it doesn’t have a hood of its own, well it does now!. The filters both have a 62mm thread on the end of them so I fitted a metal 62mm screw-on wide angle hood to this so that I still have a hood fitted whilst using the filter. It does vignette at 12-13mm F.O.V but doesn’t if I remove the clear glass protection filter that I have fitted to the lens, in this case, my Lumix 12-32mm and I can use this arrangement on several of my other lenses fitted with hoods which accept a 58mm filter on the end. I also have a 62mm three-stage collapsible rubber lens hood which might prove a better all-round solution.
Continuing this morning where I left off yesterday. I thought I’d conduct a few more lens comparisons between my Lumix 12-32mm “kit” lens and some more prime lenses. This time I’m comparing it with my Lumix 14mm f/2.5, Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 and Lumix 20mm f/1.7 lenses. All shots taken at ISO 200 f/5.6, electronic shutter and tripod mounted with a shutter release. As per my previous comparisons the tiny little 12-32mm stacks up extremely well. At 14mm there’s very little in it, perhaps the 14mm prime lens is a tad sharper but it’s very close. The 17mm results surprised me as, at this focal length the 12-32mm is a bit sharper overall but both lenses are very soft in the corners. Lastly at 20mm there’s very little to tell between them but perhaps the 12-32mm is a tad sharper but it’s splitting hairs. Where there is a difference in sharpness one way or the other between any of the primes and the 12-32mm it is minor in all cases and not what one might be led to expect of a kit lens.
So, in conclusion, the little pancake 12-32mm zoom stacks up extremely well against all five of the prime lenses that I’ve compared it to and, in quite a few cases it is sharper. I might repeat the 17mm test as the results, especially in the corners are disappointing. I’m not claiming that these comparisons are carried out under laboratory conditions, I don’t have a laboratory 🙂 but they are interesting nether-the-less. Apart from the poor corner performance of both lenses at 17mm I’d be pretty happy with all of the lenses I’ve “tested” but, I feel more than justified in my choice of the 12-32mm as my favourite every day lens especially when one takes size, weight (70g) and of course cost into the equation. At full price it’s a good bet, if one can pick up a good used copy then it’s an absolute bargain! and it punches well above its weight both literally and metaphorically. 🙂 . When one uses a lens as much as I have used this little lens then one instinctively gets a pretty good feel for how good or bad it is and the 12-32mm has never disappointed me so I’m not that surprised by my findings.
