Best Compact Kit Lens? 12-32 vs 14-42 ED - G X or G Vario

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

I recently grabbed myself an Panasonic Gx9 for a bargain on ebay without a lens and wanted to grab one of the cheap kit compact lenses to throw on to get me by until i'm able to afford one of the better lenses. (probably primes lens, one of 20/25mm & 42,5mm)

For now I'm stuck between these compact lens

1) Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ (2014)
2) Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS (2011)
3)Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 Mega OIS (2013)
4)Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II ASPH Mega OIS (2013)

I was wondering which one you will pickup?

Thanks.

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

Oh wow! this response was very helpful indeed, you made all my doubts clear up instantly , thanks you.

P.s probably next days/weeks i will ask the same question for some prime lens

Adam-T · Apr 28, 2020

Zodd said:
Oh wow! this response was very helpful indeed, you made all my doubts clear up instantly , thanks you.

P.s probably next days/weeks i will ask the same question for some prime lens

Hopefully someone far more prime Centric will step in - the Panny 14mm F2.8 and Oly 45mm F1.8 are my limit there

Barry Twycross · Apr 28, 2020

geejay101 said:
There is one cheap and super excellent lens you should consider:

The Panasonic 14-45 is one of the best zooms ever produced for m43 and goes for only 100$ these days on Ebay. Just took it out on a city tour with the 15mm 1.7 Pana Leica and could not tell the difference afterwards.

300$ Pana Leica 15mm 1.7 vs 100$ Panasonic 14-45 at f5 - which one is the PanaLeica?

Just about any lens will look good at 2Mpix. The top one looks a little sharper, or has better contrast.

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

14mm but f2.8 it's not "too much" for a prime? :O instead an Oly 17mm f1.8? or pana 20mm f 1.7?

And what you think about Pana 42.5 mm f1,7? (because on Gx9 ==> Dual IS)

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

14-45 it's just a little big nad a little heavy , so instead you suggest the 14-42-II?

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

Thank you for your advice, I appreciate

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

Thank you for your advice, I appreciate

, i woul also buy a Prime (20mm 1.7 or 25mm etc) for low light situation and bit more shallow depth of field ! and one 42.5 pr 45mm for portraits .

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

Thank you for your advice, I appreciate , i know the 12-60 it's a very good all around lens but it's 71mm i prefer one more compact for street/travel comodity. (and maybe some prime lens for low light situation/portrait)

Zodd · Apr 28, 2020

Thank you for your advice, I appreciate .

I know the 12-60 it's a very good all around lens but it's 71mm i prefer one more compact for street/travel comodity and maybe some prime lens for low light situation/portrait DFD.

Eric Nepean · Apr 28, 2020

Zodd said:
I recently grabbed myself an Panasonic Gx9 for a bargain on ebay without a lens and wanted to grab one of the cheap kit compact lenses to throw on to get me by until i'm able to afford one of the better lenses. (probably primes lens, one of 20/25mm & 42,5mm)

For now I'm stuck between these compact lens

1) Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ (2014)
2) Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS (2011)
3)Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 Mega OIS (2013)
4)Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II ASPH Mega OIS (2013)

I was wondering which one you will pickup?

Thanks.

I find that my 14-45 F3.5-5.6 is a very decent lens considering that it is a kit lens, and I like it better than the 12-32.

I highly reccomend it.

New ones are still available on eBay.

alcelc · Apr 28, 2020

AdamT said:
Adam-T said:

1) Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ (2014)

Click to expand...

this lens is mediocre from experience, Oly make some great glass but kit lenses were never a strong point, I found this to be even worse than the regular Oly 14-42

Adam-T said:

2) Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS (2011)

Click to expand...

I`d ignore this, optically as bad as the Olympus above, used a few copies and I`d leave it

Optically this lens is a tag better than my copy of 12~32.

However I won't recommend it since:

Size and weight ( after launching of 12~32, 14~42 PZ is no longer the smallest regular zoom lens),
14 vs 12 (I prefer the flexibility of 12 personally),
14~42 PZ should cost more than 12~32 (a new dekitted 12~32 is usually below US$100),
Power zoom is not for every one.

14~42 PZ is never popular because:

when it was launched with GX1, the unfamiliar shutter shock at that time had produced medicore review.
It was an expensive lens vs the cheaper (most Panny user already had one) excellent 14~45 at that time for the only selling point on size (but not weight),
not everybody were willing to pay a premium price for the video oriented feature...

Put this lens on any latest models support e-shuter, it is in fact very comparable to any other kit class lenses of Panny.

On certain lower lighting condition my copy of 12~32 has resolving difficulty on tiny objects off center. On GX85 I also experienced false AF confirmation when it will be dark.

It never happens on 14~42 PZ (in deed no other Panny lens of mine suffered from these). Therefore if 14, power zoom and non DUAL IS are acceptable, it could be a better all round player.

Sadly it is not my favour.

Adam-T said:
Adam-T said:

3)Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 Mega OIS (2013)

Click to expand...

These are excellent, had a couple of samples and sharp edge to edge end to end at F5.6 throughout , handling is a pain as you have to open it up before you can shoot and the action is cheap but optically a little Gem , distorts like crazy at 12mm which can come across as softedges In OOC JPGs in some images but if developed in Capture one with no correction its sharp edge to edge (and more like 11mm too so you get a bit more wide) add how much correction you need to taste .

Adam-T said:

4)Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II ASPH Mega OIS (2013)

Click to expand...

Optically the best of the lot , mine is perfect everywhere wideopen for sharpness, has a lot less distortion than the others here - the achilles heel is vignetting which can be corrected - Lovely colour and Microcontrast ..

Remember first that you`ll get DUAL-IS with the GX9 and Panasonic lenses, Oly lenses will rely on the cameras IBIS only

From experience Sample variation is rife with all these bar the tiny Pan 12-32 amazingly , I`ve owned two and used about 5 in total and all were bang on , the Pan 14-42-II I have now came with the GX7 and is perfect, I have seen decentered ones though ,

if you can put up with the 14mm wide end (rather than 12mm) and a slightly larger lens, a good copy of the Pan 14-42-II is well worth searching out - sharpest, most consistent across the frame , least distortion , nicest colour and Microcontrast and handles the best by a mile ..... best of all its the CHEAPEST .............. other wise go for the Pan 12-32 , easier to find a good one but get a recent one , the ones supplied with GM series cams with metal mounts tend to fall to bits .

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

--
Albert

JakeJY · Apr 28, 2020

I have the 12-32mm. Other than having no manual focus ring and being manual opening and collapsing (which as its advantages and disadvantages), it's a great lens for its size. Also works with DFD and Dual IS given you have a Panasonic camera.

I like shooting wide, so having that 12mm end makes a big difference. If you get this lens you can get the JJC Z-O14-42B auto cap (also works with the Olympus 14-42mm EZ) which saves from having to deal with the tiny cap.

And whichever lens you consider, you should get a dekitted one to save money as they tend to be readily available. A retail boxed version usually costs a lot more.

Tech Head · Apr 28, 2020

Zodd said:
I recently grabbed myself an Panasonic Gx9 for a bargain on ebay without a lens and wanted to grab one of the cheap kit compact lenses to throw on to get me by until i'm able to afford one of the better lenses. (probably primes lens, one of 20/25mm & 42,5mm)

For now I'm stuck between these compact lens

1) Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ (2014)
2) Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS (2011)
3)Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 Mega OIS (2013)
4)Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II ASPH Mega OIS (2013)

I was wondering which one you will pickup?

Thanks.

Panasonic actually publishes MTF charts for all their lenses and they rate the 12-32 as their second best non-premium kit lens, next to the 12-60. Since Olympus doesn’t make any competitive non-premium or non-Pro kit lenses (i.e. Panasonic makes all the good non-Pro kit lenses), the 12-32 is probably the second best one in the whole system, next to the 12-60.

Panasonic actually rates the 14-45 as their third sharpest and the 14-42 II as their fourth sharpest.

I’m not one of those guys who buys every lens available so I can’t give you a comparison. I only have the 12-60 and an Olympus 14-42.

The 12-32 is a no brainer IMO because of the size (which you value), the 12mm on the wide end, and Panasonic’s MTF charts.

Adam-T · Apr 28, 2020

Zodd said:
14mm but f2.8 it's not "too much" for a prime? :O instead an Oly 17mm f1.8? or pana 20mm f 1.7?

I like the 14 Pan because of its size , the Oly 17 is too long let alone the Pan 20 , I wanted a 28mm FOV

Zodd said:
And what you think about Pana 42.5 mm f1,7? (because on Gx9 ==> Dual IS)

No idea as I say I`m not a prime guy - i got the Oly when I had a GX7 6 years ago

alcelc · Apr 28, 2020

thinkinginimages said:
Zodd said:

I recently grabbed myself an Panasonic Gx9 for a bargain on ebay without a lens and wanted to grab one of the cheap kit compact lenses to throw on to get me by until i'm able to afford one of the better lenses. (probably primes lens, one of 20/25mm & 42,5mm)

For now I'm stuck between these compact lens

1) Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ (2014)
2) Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS (2011)
3)Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 Mega OIS (2013)
4)Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II ASPH Mega OIS (2013)

I was wondering which one you will pickup?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

3 and 4. Optically, they've been discussed at length. Handling?

1. I found strangely big, yet somehow not all that solid feeling.

2. A stiff zoom ring, cheap feel

One lens you left out, there is a Panasonic 14-42 PZ, a power zoom/focus. Rather nice, smooth, handling for video, and it collapses. Optically, pretty good. There's a matching longer power zoom as well (doesn't collapse).

It is the #2 lens.

Barry Twycross · Apr 28, 2020

AdamT said:
Zodd said:

14mm but f2.8 it's not "too much" for a prime? :O instead an Oly 17mm f1.8? or pana 20mm f 1.7?

Click to expand...

I like the 14 Pan because of its size , the Oly 17 is too long let alone the Pan 20 , I wanted a 28mm FOV

?? The Panasonic 20/1.7 is a lot shorter than the 17. It's only 5mm longer than the 14/2.5, you don't get many shorter lenses.

alcelc · Apr 28, 2020

[No message]

Barry Twycross · Apr 28, 2020

I was just wondering that, but to reference "size" and then use "length" to mean focal length, not physical length in one sentence is a bit confusing.

Adam-T · Apr 29, 2020

Barry Twycross said:
AdamT said:

Zodd said:

14mm but f2.8 it's not "too much" for a prime? :O instead an Oly 17mm f1.8? or pana 20mm f 1.7?

Click to expand...

I like the 14 Pan because of its size , the Oly 17 is too long let alone the Pan 20 , I wanted a 28mm FOV

Click to expand...

?? The Panasonic 20/1.7 is a lot shorter than the 17. It's only 5mm longer than the 14/2.5, you don't get many shorter lenses.

I said I wanted a 28mm FOV not 35 or 40 . I like the 14mm`s size over a faster larger 14mm

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

Adam-T · Apr 29, 2020

alcelc said:
Optically this lens is a tag better than my copy of 12~32.

it`d have to be a rare bad 12-32, all the ones I`ve owned or used have been crystal sharp edge to edge . I`ve used a few of those Pan PZs and they were all mediocre at best - decentered and mediocre at worst .. maybe its a lens which is really bad for sample Variation like the Fuji 18-55 F2.8-4 ?

it`s usually cameras which cause false AF confirmations, the AF system in most panasonics is as good as this gets (though all AFs can give false confirms now and again) - Found the issue a lot worse with Olympus and Sony

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

Best Compact Kit Lens? 12-32 vs 14-42 ED - G X or G Vario

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