Panasonic 7-14 F4 vs Olympus 7-14 Pro F2.8

Andrew Ellis wrote:

I have the former lens (the Panasonic), and it's a very good performer on my 2 Olympus bodies (EM1 & EM5 II), however as has been very well documented, it does suffer from the ugly purple flare spots, when ever there's a bright light source in the image. I try to negate as much as possible by re-composing but sometimes its just unavoidable.

Reviewers say the Oly 2.8 is much less susceptible to flare. However, they also say field curvature is an issue, requiring front-focusing in order to keep both center and edges sharp.

Like a number of people, I'm therefore considering swapping for the new Olympus 7-14 F2.8 Pro version. I can part exchange the Panny (along with a couple of other bits and pieces) and get the Olympus version for just £100 ($150) trade up.

At that cost, the Oly looks like a good deal if you can live with the field curvature.

Question is to those who have had this lens, is it worth the trade up, will it be as sharp (or sharper) as my copy of the Panny 7-14, and does the Olympus resist flare much better than the Panny, and when it does occur, does it appear like normal lens flare (i.e. are the horrible purple blobs gone).

FWIW, the flare blobs are not purple and are less noticeable with this lens mounted on a Panasonic body. Some Oly shooters have resolved the purple blob issue by attaching a filter to the back of the lens. I'm not familiar with the details.

This would also complete my Olympus Trinity of 7-14 F2.8, 12-40 F2.8 & 40-150 F2.8 Pro lenses (which would be nice - but not the ultimate consideration really).

-- hide signature --

Lets make pictures, not war........