It's arrived! A few quick test shots tell me that:
- At f8 it's almost, but not quite, as good as the 24-70 f4 in terms of overall performance. That's a high accolade since I really rate the 24-70 f4. It's certainly a lot better than "superzooms" of the past.
- Its main optical defect is purple fringing towards the edges of the frame. However, it's easily removed in PP.
- VR in conjunction with the IBIS works well. I can get sharp shots at 1/10s at 200mm.
So, overall, it'll do what I need it to do. Predictably though, it's not quite as good as the Olympus 12-100, esp the VR. The Sync IS combo of the Olympus E-M1ii (or iii) plus 12-100 is just so good as to be unreal (sharp shots at 8s at the wide-end!). Not surprisingly the 24-200 doesn't reach those levels, but I wasn't expecting it to, so that's OK.
I'll hopefully get the chance to take some real shots with it this weekend.