Compact lens choices for E-PM2

I'm looking for a compact lens for my wife's E-PM2, preferably a zoom. The choices I have found are:

Oly 14-42 EZ (new)

Oly 17/2.8

Lumix 12-32

Lumix 14/2.5

Lumix 20/1.7

The Oly 14-42EZ sounds like it may be a bit soft, at best probably matching the 14-42 IIR. For $350 I'd like a step up in quality. Likewise for the Oly 17/2.8.

The Lumix 12-32 gives me 12mm, and seems pretty sharp by test results, but lacks MF ring. (can any Oly bodies focus this lens manually? How does it perform on an Oly body?)

Both Lumix primes seem pretty decent, and can be found for a good price.

I may get a zoom and a prime, so I have a compact lens for both MFT bodies.

I welcome any input on the above and other lenses matching the criteria.

Thanks

The Panasonic primes are nice and the 14 is of course a perfect match for the small E-PM2.

Look out for banding with the 20.

The 12-32 is wide and sharp but too slow for me.

Small lenses that worked well on my EPM1 were the 7.5mm fisheye, 9-18mm zoom, 14mm f2.5, 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.8 and 45mm f1.8.

I've never used the Sigma 19, 30, or 60, but they aren't too big.

The WA 9-18 zoom is a good travel lens in the daytime. I don't know if it's worth putting $350 into the EZ 14-42 or Panasonic 12-32 just to be able to slip the rig into a pocket, not if one is carrying a bag or purse anyway.

baxters wrote:

Small lenses that worked well on my EPM1 were the 7.5mm fisheye, 9-18mm zoom, 14mm f2.5, 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.8 and 45mm f1.8.

I've never used the Sigma 19, 30, or 60, but they aren't too big.

The WA 9-18 zoom is a good travel lens in the daytime. I don't know if it's worth putting $350 into the EZ 14-42 or Panasonic 12-32 just to be able to slip the rig into a pocket, not if one is carrying a bag or purse anyway.

I agree about spending $350 just for compact size with no IQ gain. The Sigmas don't appear too compact for their FL, I assume since they are APS-C designs.

I guess I can add the Oly 17/1.8 and 25/1.8 as they are both smaller than the kit lens.

How does the Lumix 14-42 PZ fare? It seems fairly sharp in tests, but how well/fast does it focus. Used ones are around $200.

zuikowesty wrote:

I'm looking for a compact lens for my wife's E-PM2, preferably a zoom. The choices I have found are:

Oly 14-42 EZ (new)

Oly 17/2.8

Lumix 12-32

Lumix 14/2.5

Lumix 20/1.7

The Oly 14-42EZ sounds like it may be a bit soft, at best probably matching the 14-42 IIR. For $350 I'd like a step up in quality. Likewise for the Oly 17/2.8.

Forget the 17/2.8 - you're better of with the II R zoom.  The 14-42 EZ may be a step up in quality, it's hard to say since nobody's actually shot them outside of a few chosen previewers.

The Lumix 12-32 gives me 12mm, and seems pretty sharp by test results, but lacks MF ring. (can any Oly bodies focus this lens manually? How does it perform on an Oly body?)

No, but why would you want to?  These are grab and go lenses.  If you're on a tripod, you'd use something else.

Both Lumix primes seem pretty decent, and can be found for a good price.

The 14/2.5 is cute and small, but it's not notably better than the II R.  The 20/1.7 has banding issues.

I may get a zoom and a prime, so I have a compact lens for both MFT bodies.

If you live with banding at high ISOs, the 20/1.7 is still the best compact option.  If not, the 17/1.8 isn't as good a lens and is more expensive, but it has no banding and AFs quickly.

For the zoom, I'd stick with the II R kit zoom for now.  The Panasonic 14-42 II is a decent step up (and is smaller, despite ditching the collapsing mechanism), but at $50 (in the kit) vs. $150 (secondhand) it may not be worth the modest improvement.  The 12-32 looks like the best bet of the lot for image quality, but the price is steep and the range may feel a bit limiting.

I have a E-PM2 and the Panasonic 12-32 lens and am very happy with the combination. I sold my Panasonic 14 2.5 after trying out the 12-32.  The best thing about this lens is the 12mm at the short end and it's size and weight.  There is a huge difference between 12 and 14.  The manual focus does not work on Oly bodies but for a lens like this I don't really miss it.  The auto focus is very fast and accurate and the lens is wide angle and slow aperture so I have not run into a situation where I needed to use manual focus like I do with longer and faster lenses. The lens is sharp with nice color and at equivalent apertures and focal length (25mm f5.2) it is hard to tell any difference between this lens and my PL 25 which gives you some idea of the how good the IQ is.  The size and weight is fantastic with the E-PM2 and makes it easy have with you where ever you go.

The downside of this lens is that it's slow aperture makes it difficult to use in less than ideal light and makes it unsuitable for subject isolation/shallow DOF. Also since I carry it around in a pocket a lot it would have been nice to have a "automatic" lens cap on it like the new Oly EZ 14-42.

Hope this helps

zuikowesty wrote:

baxters wrote:

Small lenses that worked well on my EPM1 were the 7.5mm fisheye, 9-18mm zoom, 14mm f2.5, 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.8 and 45mm f1.8.

I've never used the Sigma 19, 30, or 60, but they aren't too big.

The WA 9-18 zoom is a good travel lens in the daytime. I don't know if it's worth putting $350 into the EZ 14-42 or Panasonic 12-32 just to be able to slip the rig into a pocket, not if one is carrying a bag or purse anyway.

I agree about spending $350 just for compact size with no IQ gain. The Sigmas don't appear too compact for their FL, I assume since they are APS-C designs.

I guess I can add the Oly 17/1.8 and 25/1.8 as they are both smaller than the kit lens.

How does the Lumix 14-42 PZ fare? It seems fairly sharp in tests, but how well/fast does it focus. Used ones are around $200.

I've heard the 14-42 PZ is prone to shutter shock/double image issues across much of the useful shutter speed range, and that there's not much one can do about it. Panasonic never bothered to fix the lens and released the 12-32 as its de facto replacement instead.

If you're looking strictly for pancakes, I think you've got them all. There's also a 25mm f2.8 4/3 pancake, but it would require an adapter to m4/3, and I have no idea how fast the focusing is.

I recently replaced the Panasonic 14-42 with a Panny 14-42 II on my GF's GF3. Haven't done any real shooting with it yet, but it's much smaller and lighter than the original lens and feels significantly less chintzy than the Oly 14-42 IIR. For $160 it's not so bad.

The 14mm f2.5 is a great grab and go lens - I steal it from my GF whenever I can because it turns my E-PM2 into something nice and svelte. My only other 14mm option right now is my Oly 14-54 II, which is a monster of a 4/3 lens.

Another option that should be hitting the market in the next couple of months is the Leica 15mm f1.7 - maybe half an inch deeper than the 14mm, but gives you an extra stop to play with. That's the lens I'm waiting for...