That's how much B&H has it listed for today. Amazon has it knocked down to $1499. By far my most used lens in the system when I shot M43 predominately. Such an incredible lens. Just seems obscenely overpriced new. Thankfully they show up for reasonable amounts in the second hand market. All systems have lenses like this. The Zeiss Batis 135mm F2.8 for E-Mount is currently listed at $1739 which is even dumber than the 12-100 pricing but you can get good copies for under $600 second hand.
I'm putting together a little OM-3 travel kit and was thinking of just this lens plus a prime but now I might pivot to the PanaLeica 12-60 and 50-200 combo. Or maybe the 12-45. Dunno.
Most of the current prices on M43 gear, new and used, are a bit nuts right now. Also very random. On eBay, OM System is selling refurbed 100-400 Mark I and Mark II lenses ... for the same price.
Maybe take a look at the Lumix 14-140 ll. I've found it makes a great all in one travel lens. Small, light, great FL coverage and very reasonably priced. I've never used the 12-100 so can't speak on the difference in IQ but I've always been curious about that. I've often considered trading up to the 12-100 but by all accounts there's not much of a difference. I've often thought about renting one to see for myself if it's worth the extra money. For my uses the constant vs variable aperture is a non factor but of course your uses may be different. One downside is no sync IS but I've never found that to be an issue either.
Gary
