If you had about $650

burritosandbeer wrote:

Would you buy a used Panasonic 7-14mm f/4, or nab a new G85?

I liove my G7, but the better shutter and ibis of the G85 makes it an awfully tempting item. Or keep my G7 another year and nab an UWA lens as it's one of the gaps in my lens collection.

If you had a limited budget and had to pick one, which would you get?

It always depends on what you shoot. I bought both Olympus 9-18mm's (classic 4/3rds and micro 4/3rds), and in 2018, I shot about 1.5% of my shots with interchangeable lens cameras with both lenses. So far in 2019, I haven't used either lens. So, I'm not as drawn to wide angle lenses as I originally thought. Maybe you are more drawn to wide angle subjects that I am.

If you find yourself often shooting at 12mm or 14mm, depending on your base lenses, and wishing you had more, then it might tilt the balance to getting the lens.

The one niche where I do like using the 9-18mm is for fall pictures, where I tend to bring out my older cameras. I like using the classic 4/3rds 9-18mm on my E-1, particularly since I don't have to worry as much about keeping the shutter speed fast enough (E-1 didn't have IBIS). However, in general, you typically want to have something close to the camera in focus, rather than just w/a.

Also note, as you go wider, you may not want to have people towards the edges. There is distortion in all wide angle lenses as you go wider, and look at the sides.

I do tend to throw in the micro 4/3rds 9-18mm into the bag, because it is so small. But as I said, I'm not often drawn to use it.

I would say go for the G85.  One factor to consider is the G85 is splash proof, and if you pick up the 12-60mm 'kit' f/3.5-5.6 lens at the same time, you have a splash resistant combination.  You might not plan to shoot in the rain, but rain does happen, and it can be useful to be prepared, particularly if you are shooting things for other people, you might not have an option to abandon a shot due to rain.

I don't know if the G7 offers unlimited video recording, but the non-European G85 does.  You might not need it, but if you are recording video for live events, you might run into situations where you need to record more than 29 minutes and 59 seconds.