Panasonic vs Olympus Lenses Cost Inquiry

Hard to say. I have compared the Panasonic 100-300 with the Olympus 75-300. The 100-300 is much better.

Re. lenses, depends on what your needs are. The Olympus 45-150 is a sharp, but slow lens. So is the excellent 12-50 kit lens. That is why I just bought the Panasonic 12-35 and 35-100 lenses. I need the 2.8 vs. 4 to 5.6f stops for the photos I take. (try taking aerial photos at 1/1000 sec, iso 2000, 5.6 and then blowing them up.)

The Panasonic 7-14 is a great lens if you can deal with the chromatic aberations. I take most of my photos with it. I also own a bunch of Olympus and Panasonic primes to get to 1.8 for indoor use.

I love the OM-D with internal IS. The lack of that capability eliminates Panasonic for me. And the Olympus IS is better that the Pansonic's IS in the 100-300.

Regarding the compact alternatives, good choice only if cost or size is a factor. The OM-D viewer is much better than the auxiliary viewer on the EPL-3, which I own as a backup.

I have not noticed any fall off in quality since I sold my Canon full frame equipment and huge lenses.