Pana 14/2.5 versus Oly 14-42 - experiences?

I looked at this specifically about three years ago. I had an E-PL3 with the 14-42 II and the Panny 14 as the main lenses.

They are both excellent lenses. I mostly used the 14 as my walk around lens with either the Oly 45 or the Oly 40-150 (4-5.6) in my pocket. The E-PL3 with the 14 was pretty much pocketable, you see -- even lighter and more compact than the 14-42.

I never had any complaints about either in terms of general lens performance, they were both excellent -- but one day, out of boredom and idle curiosity (or maybe someone making idiot claims on this forum), I tested the 14 against the 14-42 @ 14 by shooting my neighbor's picket fence across the road (at an angle to check the corners too) and concluded that for sharpness they were both excellent, virtually identical. The 14 might have had a little more contrast.

EDIT: After posting, I saw addlightness's post which appeared while I was working on mine. Check the lensrental link he gave. Whoa! Look at the results for the 14mm! Either my 14-42 II was an exceptionally good copy or my testing wasn't nearly stringent enough! Certainly there was nothing wrong with my 14 -- a lovely lens.

One or twice (literally, once or twice), the 14 caught me out with some flare from strong, dispersed light sources just outside the frame; I remember this because I was surprised by it -- the main memory of this is taking some shots on a big open shed with bright light coming in from one side. I don't remember the same thing with the 14-42 but I shot a lot less in varied circumstances with that. Both handled light sources within the frame very well -- but here, the 14 was better. Close it down a bit and you got those nice starry looking images.

Both focused fast and accurately -- but the 14 did have an edge there, it focused at warp speed in virtually any circumstances. I think it was the fastest focusing lens I have owned.

And, of course, with f2.5 the 14 had that bit more aperture for low light.

One thing both have that is not often acknowledged -- you can get the accessory lens to turn them into a 10-11mm UWA, with the Panny being a touch wider than the Oly (x0.7 vs x0.75). Think of that with the 14. Fit the Panny w/a accessory lens to it and you have an f2.5 10mm!!! Say what? A post or three on this forum has spoken of excellent results with it. I did not have that, but I did have the Oly w/a accessory lens for the 14-42 and it was fun, fun, fun all the way with a notably wider FoV.

Nowadays, I have sacrificed both for the Panny 12-32. Love that extra bit of width in the FoV and it is an excellent performing lens as well. My favorite walkabout lens on the GX7.

14-42@14 with w/a accessory lens fitted to make it an f3.5 11mm. There is some barrel distortion but it is very regular and easily fixed if need be (e.g. if you take architectual pix with edge lines near the edge of the frame). In a pic like this, I like the barrel distortion -- I think it adds to the pic.

14-42@14. pretty darned nice! Handling the sun to the lower right very well.

The 14 using its f2.5 to best effect. Practically dark, but it focused at warp speed on the singer's face. I then used a slow shutter speed to deliberately blur the background with movement to provide liveliness to the pic, which otherwise would have been just a straight flash shot of the singer.

The 14mm at work. Instant focus. One of he best pix of this genre I have ever taken, I think.