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Is the Panny 14-140 worth $150 more than the Oly 14-150?

Started Dec 5, 2015 | Discussions thread
CrisPhoto
CrisPhoto Senior Member • Posts: 1,749
Re: Is the Panny 14-140 worth $150 more than the Oly 14-150?
3

I searched a superzoom last summer. Tried all except the Tamron lens.

I made some dozen test shots (architecture, close up, portrait) and gave "points" to the result.

Here is my averaged rating (10=perfect even for pixel peepers like me, 5=shows weakness on web sized photo or small print):

  1. 9,5/10 Olympus PRO 12-40 / 40-150
  2. 8,2/10 Pana Leica 14-150
  3. 7,2/10 Panasonic 14-140 II
  4. 6,5/10 Olympus 14-150 I
  5. ~6/10 Panasonic 14-140 I (did not do further testing)

The two lenses you asked for have these properties (note that Oly I and II are quite similar, as far as I have heard from other people, the new version has same optical formula but seems to have better colors/coating and less onion effect in bokeh):

  • Olympus 14-150 I:
    + Quite good from 18-50mm, smooth bokeh for a 10x zoom
    - very soft close up, little bit soft at long end
  • Pany 14-140 II:
    + Quite good from 70-140mm, good close up lens, OIS for pany bodies
    - little bit soft from 14-40mm, susceptible to shutter shock (use fast speed, EFC or electronic shutter)

Choose whatever you need most (wide angle versus tele and close-up), I choose PL14-150(good but heavy) + O14-150 (not perfect at all but light) but could have been happy with 14-140 II alone.

Christof

Here are some 100% crops to illustrate what I was talking about:

Architecture shot, 100% crops from center

Architecture shot, 100% crops from left edge

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OM-D + Sam7.5, O25, O60, O75
O12-40, O40-150, P 14-140

 CrisPhoto's gear list:CrisPhoto's gear list
Olympus E-M1 II Samyang 7.5mm F3.5 Fisheye Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm F1.8 Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 O.I.S Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm F1.7 ASPH +9 more
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