At that price it should be constant aperture. At 200mm, the performance is almost as good as that of the panasonic leica 200mm f/2.8. Your copy of the pana 200mm 2.8 is good but not outstanding, where as the copy that lenstip tested breaks all records…
Leica 50200mm f2.84 review Cameralabs
For me, it appears the left image is much softer than the right.
The olympus has slightly closer focus but is the slightly larger lens via weight and length.
Om digital is considering making future 8k cameras with 32 megapixel sensors. Indeed, one usually prefers fixed over variable aperture. It’s a tough one to weigh up. Panasonic says it is committed to develop the “full mft.
But we also need to be realistic within the constraints of the concepts of the m43 system.
If you’re comparing these lenses, you should also consider the pricing. 4.has a silent focus motor built into the lens. At full aperture (~f/2.8) at the short focal lengths and (~f/4) at the longer focal lengths, the vignetting can be visible in images with smooth surfaces (skies). Has a silent focus motor built into the lens.
What i don’t see is a lens foot.
The zoom positions are marked at 40, 50, 70, 100, and 150mm, and the zoom rotation is less than a quarter turn from minimum to maximum. Close focus is a very close 2.3 feet (0.7m), which gives it a reasonable 1:5 maximum magnification. Panasonic working on phase detection af for future models, and new mft lenses are coming too. The olympus is an astoundingly good lens even with the tc.
Af should work on an olympus micro4/3 camera though.