My copy was very quiet, the zoom ring rotates somewhat cumbersome, but still good. The autofocus is relatively quick, especially compared to the Olympus kit lenses.
As a particularly bright can the lens with the best will not be called. In dark places, the autofocus sometimes fails, but this is less than the lens at the usual in the M4 / 3 system contrast autofocus. The image stabilization works; felt you win approximately 2 aperture. At long focal lengths and in low light a tripod is essential.
The imaging performance at low and medium focal lengths is good at high focal lengths (from 150mm) to be desired sharpness and contrast left. But it is enough for 10x15 cm prints in any case.
Unfortunately I have not really tested top lens in m4 / 3 format, so I can compare only with fixed focal lengths or L-zoom from Canon. The image quality, light intensity and autofocus speed is significantly worse than Canon, but the Panasonic is clearly superior in terms of weight and pack size. To be fair, one must also say that the mentioned lenses from Canon are considerably more expensive.
In low light or very fast motifs (birds at dawn?) Of this lens would certainly not on the short list. If, however, weight and pack size main criterion (for example as a travel lens) I would recommend it without reservation. Due to the price, it is also attractive for beginners or for situations where loss or damage are likely.
