A faster M 4/3 zoom

Not much out there but the slower Olympus 12-50 zoom.  Panasonic has two fast zooms, but you will not like the price.  Check out the 12-35 f2.8 and 35-100 f2.8, both are the fastest native fully automatic zooms out there.

The only fast MFT zooms at present are the new Panasonic 12-35/2.8 and 35-100/2.8. Something inbetween these and the kit zooms (slightly longer range than 12-35 but not as fast as a constant 2.8) may well be in the works but nothing is known at present. So for now, you are left with the choice between a kit zoom, the new fast 2.8 zooms, and an adapted FT zoom.

As to the 14-45, it is generally considered the best of the many kit zooms. It is very good optically and its only serious weakness is that it is pretty slow. Personally, I solve that problem by supplementing it with fast primes (12, 20, 45).

if you already have a panny 14-45 i do not recommend getting the oly 12-50.

for 'overall IQ', i like the 14-45 better.  (sharpness especially)  it could be my version...  but i wish that i had saved the $ and put it toward the 12-35

Could you define a kit zoom for me? Does it have characteristics other than the fact that it's sold as a 'kit' with a new camera, compared to zooms that aren't?

"comes with the body"  e.g., was designed to go with the body, and make profits.

You have basially two options:

The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8, which costs $1300.

The Olympus 14-54 f/2.8-3.5 II, which costs $600. It's a lot bigger and heavier. It requires a 4/3-m4/3 adapter, but my usage of this lens has shown it to focus just as fast--and faster in a lot of conditions--on my Micro Four Thirds cameras than it did on comparably priced Four Thirds DSLRs. The only things it can't do are silent AF for video, and C-AF. It will focus a lot faster than your Leica 14-50.

--
http://www.photoklarno.com

Yes, I have the first version of the 14~50 which is MF only on my G1 with adapter. I'll need to check that the lens you mention will AF with G1.

Other characteristics of MFT kit zooms are that they have a range starting somewhere between 12 and 14 mm and ending somewhere between 42 and 50 mm. Most are 14-42, one is 14-45, and one is 12-50. As to max aperture, they all start with f/3.5 at the wide end and finish with f/5.6 (mostly) or f/6.3 (the 12-50) at the long end. I wouldn't say these characteristics define kit zooms but they do describe them as matters stand right now.

Yes, but aren't all M 4/3 lenses designed to go with M 4/3 bodies, so the implication here is that a 'lens designed to go with the body' and sold with it as a package is likely to be inferior in some way?

The type of lenses we are talking about here, as I described the category in my post just above, are inferior to other zooms having roughly the same range of FLs in that they are rather slow. Some also have inferior build (e.g., a plastic mount). However, they are not necessarily poor optically. The 14-45 that you have is in my opinion, and that of many other people here, a very good lens whose only major shortcoming is that it is slow. If you can live with that, e.g., by supplementing it with fast primes that will help you out even better in low light and/or for shallow DoF than any zoom can, I don't think there is any reason to replace it.

My first MFT equipment consisted of a G1, a 14-45, and a 45-200, all of which bought used about one and a half years ago. A major reason for the purchase was that I wanted the 14-45. The G1 as well as the 45-200 will probably go back on our local equivalent on ebay soon (I have since bought an E-M5 and a 100-300 among other things) but the 14-45 most certainly won't.

Many thanks, that's very helpful, as have been the other replies.

The other point in favour of the 14~45 is its size, making the package ideal for travelling.

I think a long time ago I read that this lens comes in two versions and that mine, being the earlier one, isn't as good as the second.

You have it reversed.  The first highly regarded 14-45 was replaced by a 14-42 f3.5-5.6 that is considered inferior on several levels, though it is lighter in weight.  The 14-42 is not as good optically, but close, has no dedicated OIS button, has a plastic, not metal lens mount, and is more cheaply made.  It is functionally the same but made to reduce costs.

Thanks, you're right, I had it the wrong way round.

No, the G Vario 14-45 exists in one version only. It is the very first MFT kit lens, and the best of the bunch optically speaking. It is also well built (metal mount, OIS switch on the barrel). After a short while, however, Panasonic introduced a new, "cheaper" kit lens, the G Vario 14-42 (plastic mount, no OIS switch on the barrel). So when you have heard of two versions, it is probably these two (14-45 and 14-42) rather than two different versions of the 14-45. And the first (14-45), not the second (14-42), is regarded as the better one. Just look at DPR's reviews of the two:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicGF1/page19.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicDMCG2/13

I'd certainly hold on to that 14-45 if I were you. Search this forum, and you'll find almost universal praise.

Many thanks. I certainly will.

I guess another issue with a slow lens is how good the camera is at higher ISO. I tend to stay down at 200 or below and haven't really tested the G1.

Were the G1's successors notably better at higher ISO?

Regards

Just wondering if that leica 14-50 would autofocus with some newer body?

I'm not sure. I would need advice, but my recollection is that when discussing the matter some years back on the Panasonic forum I understood that it was the lens itself.

But having remembered incorrectly on the 14~45 I could be wrong.

This from a post by Godfrey 3 years ago. I doubt that it will AF with any later camera.

'I didn't say anything about autofocus. The Leica 14-50/2.8-3.5 is manual focus only on the G1, GH1 and GF1 bodies'

None of the Panasonic sensor are good at high ISOs. The G3 wasn't better than the G1 it only had more resolution. The G5 has the better GH2 sensor, meaning less noise at lower ISOs, but not really at higher ISOs (if I remember correctly). The best sensors are found in the new Olympus cameras : the E-M5 and theE-Pl5 and E-Pm2, recently announced the last two are not yet shipping in all countries. These three models share the same Sony sensor and mark a real progress, both in dynamical range and higher ISOs. It is a break through for mft cameras.

--

rrr_hhh