Designed for general photography, the new Olympus Zuiko Digital 12-60mm Pro lens is a high-performance standard wide zoom lens that is optimised for use with the E-3 DSLR camera.

We have chosen to use the Panasonic L10 as our standard test body for Four Thirds lenses purely because it gives the highest numbers in our resolution tests (which we believe is most likely due to it having a relatively weak anti-aliasing filter); this is intended simply to provide the fairest...

Very useful wideangle to telephoto range; Superb optics; Excellent build quality; dust and splash-proof; Impressive resistance to flare; Decent macro performance

Pronounced and complex distortion at wideangle; Slightly sub-par lens hood; Shadowing of built-in flash at wideangle on smaller bodies; Expensive

The Olympus Zuiko Digital 12-60mm 1:2.8-4 SWD was announced in October 2007, alongside the flagship E-3 DSLR. It's a standard Four Thirds lens which means it will work on any Four Thirds body, including those from Olympus, Panasonic and Leica, although it's physically best-matched to the larger...

Flexible 5x general purpose range, Quick and quiet SWD focusing, Excellent build quality; Dust and splash-proof, Very sharp results across frame and focal range

Shadow from popup flash on smaller bodies; Feels front-heavy on E-4xx series; No anti-shake on non-stabilised bodies; Imager AF not supported in Live View

Introduced with the Olympus E-3, this 24-120mm equivalent is the first Zuiko lens available in the U.S. that incorporates the company's Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) autofocus motor. Similar in concept to the USM and SWM motors from Canon and Nikon respectively, this system has not one but two motors,...

The build quality of the lens is exceptional. It is based on a combination of metal and high quality plastic parts. Typical for its lens class the Olympus lens extends when zooming towards the long end of the zoom range. As expected the lens suffers an only very marginal wobbling of inner lens tube.

I bought this to replace my 14-54 because I wanted a wider lens with more reach. It was the only lens I took on an 18 day European trip and never missed any of my other lenses. If I could only have one lens, this would be it, without any doubt!

Excellent focal range; pretty fast (light); fast focus (especially on the E-3 or E-30)

Price; but it's worth it

Handling and features Gary Wolstenholme takes a close look at this standard zoom for Four thirds SLRs from Olympus. This 12-60mm lens offers a field of view equivalent to a 24-120mm lens on a 35mm camera, with a relatively bright maximum aperture of f/2.8-4.

Excellent build quality; Good optical performance; Fast focusing; Useful minimum focus distance

Barrel distortion at 12mm

Boasting a 5x zoom range and an f/2.8 maximum aperture the 12-60mm zoom looks impressive with its extra-low dispersion (ED) glass and responsive, fast-focusing Sonic-Wave Drive...

Lovely feel; useful 5x zoom range; great image quality

Low CA does not always mean high resolution

The 12-60mm is an awesome lens. Very comparable to the 14-54mm. It is heavy and weather sealed. It looks, feels and performs like a pro lens. As far as focus well what can I say. It is fast and accurate, faster than the 14-54mm. Maybe but if so not by much.

Tough, Sharp, Fast, Weather sealed; Great range of focal length, A perfect walk around lens, splendid in low light

None that I see; If you don't want a heavy lens then maybe that could be a weakness

Very highly recommended but price might be a little steep for some

The resolution isn't very high; solid build; lightweight; fast focussing and quite versatile

Slight but hardly noticeable distortion at the widest angle