Panasonic 35-100 f2.8 over Olympus 40-150 f2.8?

pxchoi wrote:

I think the Olympus 40-150 looks great on paper but after looking at the sample images, I'm not sure if I'm convinced. In my personal opinion, I feel like the out of focus areas in the Panasonic lens is far better than the Olympus. In certain situation, the out of focus blur just looks terrible.

The 35-100 definitely has better OOF blur.

http://www.photozone.de/m43/852_panasonic35100f28?start=1

http://www.photozone.de/m43/945_olympus40150f28pro?start=1

It's not even close really. And you can actually generalize this among Panasonic vs. Olympus premium zooms. The 12-35 also has much better bokeh than the 12-40.

http://www.lenstip.com/392.7-Lens_review-Olympus_M.Zuiko_Digital_12-40_mm_f_2.8_ED_PRO_Coma__astigmatism_and_bokeh.html
http://www.lenstip.com/367.7-Lens_review-Panasonic_G_X_VARIO_12-35_mm_f_2.8_ASPH._P.O.I.S_Coma__astigmatism_and_bokeh.html

Again, I would say the Panny is much better here.

Other people have mentioned that the Panny softens a little at 100mm f/2.8. Some of the reviews have noted this. But if you look at the DxO tests, the Panny actually reaches its absolute sharpest at 100mm f/4. This is sharper than any other FL or aperture. So just stopping down a little "fixes" it and it's clear that there are no major optical issues at 100mm.

Similarly, the Oly 40-150 Pro softens at 150mm f/2.8. But I don't know how well this corrects on stopping down. I'm not saying it doesn't but DxO didn't test this lens, so it's tough to do comparisons. The 40-150 Pro may be sharper than the Panny at 100mm f/2.8 though.

It should also be noted that the 35-100 is sharper in the corners at its widest angle than the Oly lens. The Oly doesn't have good corner sharpness at 40mm, although it improves as you increase the FL.

The extra reach would be nice, but the Panasonic lens is so much smaller.

Am I crazy to think that the Panasonic is the better lens here? - if you don't need the extra range.

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