Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is a Variable aperture Auto Focus (AF)
Super Telephoto Zoom lens with FourThirds max sensor coverage, and it is designed to be used with
MFT cameras.
What type of photography is the Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 lens good for?
The type of photography that you are planning to use the Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated its suitability to various photography scenarios:
Reasons to Buy Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 Lens
Here we've included a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 lens in a list form to help you determine whether it offers the features you need.
Weather-sealed |
Autofocus |
Hood supplied |
Full-time Manual Focusing |
Versatile Lens with a Zoom Ratio of 16x |
Minimum focus distance of 0.22m / 8.7 inch |
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Lens Extends while zooming |
Slow Aperture at Tele end |
Variable Aperture |
Lens Mount
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is compatible with cameras that have a Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Micro Four Thirds lenses are Panasonic G9 II, OM System OM-5 and Panasonic GH6.
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Size, Weight and Filter Thread
Size and weight is a very important decision factor when searching for your next lens. Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 has a maximum diameter of 78mm and total length of 100mm when not extended. It weighs 455g / 16.0 oz.
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 has a filter thread of 72mm. Below are links to the filters that we recommend you to consider for your Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3:
Focal Range
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 has a focal range of 12-200mm and 16.7X zoom ratio which has a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-400mm when used on a FourThirds format camera.
Weather Sealings
The Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is a weather-sealed lens, which provides extra protection to prevent water and dust get inside the lens and camera body under light rain, snow and wind. In order to have effective protection, you have to pair the Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 with a weather-sealed camera body such as the Panasonic G9 II, OM System OM-5 and Panasonic GH6.
Optical Image Stabilization
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 doesn't have an optical image stabilization system so the only option to stabilize the image taken with this lens is to mount on a camera body with IBIS (sensor based In-body image stabilization).
Zoom Method
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 features Rotary (extending) zoom method where the length of the lens changes as you zoom in or out. This makes it possible to design the lens with a smaller minimum length ( generally when it is zoomed out) compared to internal zoom lenses. The disadvantages of this design are being harder to seal against dust and moisture, weight balance shifting while zooming and zoom creep in certain lenses.
Maximum Magnification Ratio
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 has a Max Magnification Ratio of 0.46x and has a minimum focusing distance of 0.22m. For a non-macro lens, the 0.46x is considered a high magnification and will come handy for close-up shots.
Below are the 3 Super Telephoto Zoom type MFT mount lens alternatives with highest max magnification ratios:
Aperture
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is a variable aperture lens with a max aperture of f3.5 and a minimum aperture of f22 at 12mm, and a max aperture of f6.3 and minimum aperture of f22 at 200mm .
Focal Length |
Max Aperture |
Min Aperture |
12mm
|
F3.5 |
F22 |
200mm
|
F6.3 |
F22 |
Optical Formula
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3's optical formula consists of 16 elements in 11 groups . Following special elements are used in this design:
- 3 Aspherical lenses
- 2 Super ED
- 2 ED
- 1 Super HR
- 2 HR elements
- ZERO coating
Lens Hood
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 comes with a removable lens hood which is handy to reduce lens flare and glare in your photos.
Body Colour
Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 is available in Black color.
Popular Comparisons of Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3
Here are the eight most popular comparisons of the Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 amongst Camera Decision readers.
Top Alternatives of Olympus 12-200mm F3.5-6.3 Lens
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