GX85+14-45 vs E-P5+14-42(ii r) comparison

buratino wrote:

Tech Head wrote:

I would rank the 12-60 (f3.5 to f5.6), the 12-32, and the 14-45 as the best small, slow kit lenses.

I would rank the Pana14-42 II as just slightly behind the top 3.

Then I would rank any other slow kit lens for MFT to be behind the top 4, including all Olympus kit lenses.

Interestingly, in my experience, Pana 12-60mm was unimpressive at all, definitely worse than 12-32mm. At the same time, both copies of 12-32 I had were equally satisfying. Probably, I got a bad copy of 12-60mm.

Because different reviews give markedly (sometimes wildly) different results for these lenses and because sometimes people get bad copies, I looked first at Panasonic's theoretical MTF charts for the lenses. I also looked at the pro reviews and user opinions.

The top 3 lenses I gave are the ones Panasonic actually claims are the sharpest on the long end. I didn't feel the consensus of reviews refuted this ranking. And Panasonic rates the 12-60 (f/3.5 to f.5.6) as their sharpest of the slow kit lenses.

When comparing Olympus kit lenses to Panasonic, I'm pretty much just quoting what I've read on this forum many times from many different users. It seems to be a consensus.

I did compare the Oly 14-42 I to the 12-60 f/3.5, and the latter was clearly superior optically. I don't have the EZ or the mark II.

The 12-50, in virtually every pro review, was found to be optically weaker than the 12-32 and 12-60. It seems to be a consensus.