DPReview.com is closing April 10th - Find out more

Oly 12-40 Pro 'out'..Panny 14-45 'in'..well maybe.

Started Jul 12, 2015 | Discussions thread
captura Forum Pro • Posts: 27,478
Re: Oly 12-40 Pro 'out'..Panny 14-45 'in'..well maybe.

AdamT wrote:

Not sure why there is all this nostalgia for an early Panasonic lens; the 14-45 may give OK IQ, but it lacks in so many other areas that it just doesn't seem a sensible choice to me; and I

certainly wouldn't pay a premium for it.

It`s because in its day all there was were 1:- the Shutter shock prone Oly 14-42 which was sharper than the Panny 14-45 at the wide end but only when the shutter wasn`t jiggling the wobbly front element about and 2:- the first 14-42 which was a downgrade in optics and was bigger than the 14-45 ... Pannys 14-140 then was a video lens and compromised optically for stills

People have hung onto all that and haven't realised or found out that the 14-45 is actually quite low in the pecking order now - even the 14-140-II, a Superzoom beats it comfortably for everything bar 14mm wideopen at the edges and even there it matches it ! (Exceeds it at F5.6 through the range) . the Oly 14-42-R beats it and the 12-32 makes a monkey of for sharpness & colour . so in the 14-45 you`re looking at a merely OK lens, this is reflected in the heavy downturn of used prices (in the UK at least) .

I recall that both DxO and Roger Cicala's Imatests (LensRentals) don't bear that out, and that the 14-45 still scores highly.

 captura's gear list:captura's gear list
Sony Alpha NEX-7 Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Sony a7 Olympus OM-D E-M10 Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM +3 more
Post (hide subjects) Posted by
(unknown member)
Keyboard shortcuts:
FForum PPrevious NNext WNext unread UUpvote SSubscribe RReply QQuote BBookmark MMy threads
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow