Tamron 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6 vs Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 Power OIS on E-M10

I am looking to find out if there are any E-M10 users who have used either the Tamron 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6 or the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 Power OIS on their E-M10. There isn't a great deal of   actual feedback for either lens and almost nothing about using one or the other with the E-M10. The Tamron has no OIS but the E-M10 of course has IBIS. The Panasonic has OIS that can be switched on or off, so I could use which ever is better. The Panasonic costs about $50 U.S. more and is 10mm shorter; is it worth it over the Tamron?

I presently have 2 EM10s (also EM1) an Olympus 14-150 and Tamron 14-150.  I've also had 2 different copies of the Panasonic 14-140 and both suffered from significant shutter shock on either EM10 or EM1.  I was quite disappointed in this as I liked the handling and build quality of the 14-140.  On one shoot w/ the 1st 14-140, out of about 400-500 photos, way more than 1/2 showed significant shutter shock-- same w/ the 2nd.  I sold both, hopefully to Panasonic owners.  It's a lens I wanted to like but in the 1/30 to 1/500 sec range (an important SS range IMO) neither was even close to acceptable-- that includes both copies.

I've had the Oly 14-150  (bought it refurbished) for a couple years and consider it a good decently sharp lens (for this class of lens).  The Oly is well built and nice to handle and to shoot with, and It's a very versatile lens that shows no evidence of shutter shock.  I bought the Tamron recently, and more out of curiosity than anything else, but I like it's appearance a lot better than the Oly-- bright black and industrial looking--  though they are about the same price at around $600. new cost.

The Tamron 14-150 is also decently sharp and nice to shoot with in good light.  Personally, I consider the Oly and Tamron about equal optically and it would likely  take rigorous testing to determine differences.  They are both a bit soft at max zoom, but that is normal for this class of lens and the files sharpen up pretty well-- I use PSP X7.  Both can be made to flare under severe conditions but I consider both to have fairly good flare resistance to flaring.  I don't pay much attention to CA but would notice it if serious, and I don't think it is though I've seen some at WA in high contrast areas.  Both have nice smooth well damped zoom action w/o being to loose or too tight, and they're really close in size and weight.  Barrel distortion must be corrected in the EM10 as it doesn't really show up with either.

The only reason I like the Tamron better is simply appearance.  Personally, I would recommend either the Olympus or Tamron 14-150 for general purpose shooting in decent lighting, and understanding their limitations e.g they're not prime sharp, nor even good zoom sharp, but I wouldn't hesitate to carry either if I wanted to pack light and didn't want to hassle with changing lenses.  Both of mine are adequately sharp.  I'm also going to try posting this as a Tamron 14-150 review-- sort of got carried away here.

Good Luck.  John

yycdave wrote:

Just out of curiosity is there any reason you're not looking at the Oly 14-150? I use it on my E-M10 and find it to be a great walk around lens. It's not as sharp as the primes or my 4/3 14-54 but it's pretty good to get the shot you may not otherwise get without the right lens, i.e. it's very versatile and does what it's designed to do well.

Oh, and if you're okay with rexurbs it's in the Get Olympus store right now for $399.

I was able to find a lot more feedback and reviews on the Olympus 14-140mm and more than half of it was negative. If you look at the specs, it's not much different than the other two but a lot of the owner comments and a couple of reviews implied that the performance was mediocre, the build quality was poor and mostly made of cheap plastic, and the price was too high for what you get. After tomorrow, when the latest Olympus sale ends, it goes back to being a $600 lens. So I scratched it off the list.

No, but I'musing the Olympus 14-150 on the EM10.

I' so surprised by its sharpness wide open, fully extended. I might have a good copy.

I'm extremely happy with it. I use with the Digital teleconverter sometimes with very nice results. Minimum focus distance is 50cm and this helps a lot!

I have used both the panny and the tamron. I found the panny sharper at 140 mm than the tamron. The panny also has a better lens hood which in certain circumstances could be better and improve picture quality. Also the panny has stabilization which could be an advantage if you ever get a panny camera

JohnLock wrote:

I presently have 2 EM10s (also EM1) an Olympus 14-150 and Tamron 14-150. I've also had 2 different copies of the Panasonic 14-140 and both suffered from significant shutter shock on either EM10 or EM1. I was quite disappointed in this as I liked the handling and build quality of the 14-140. On one shoot w/ the 1st 14-140, out of about 400-500 photos, way more than 1/2 showed significant shutter shock-- same w/ the 2nd. I sold both, hopefully to Panasonic owners. It's a lens I wanted to like but in the 1/30 to 1/500 sec range (an important SS range IMO) neither was even close to acceptable-- that includes both copies.

I'd bought 14-140 MII a week ago and the following were tested shots on GF3, that aged sensor body. No SS was observed:

They were shot by my wife using 1/60" and 1/100" but didn't look any soft to me. Indeed, I rated sharpness of the lens close to that of 14-45 and better than Panny's 14-42 MI. Would you be suffered from sample variation since EM10 should be a higher quality gear.

If you like macro shooting I would also look the 20mm/1.7 because of its sharpness and minimum focus range (20mm). I also have the 14-140 but find the 20mm more suitable for "pseudo" macro

I will be purchasing the Tamron lens soon, and after doing my own research here's why it's the winner for me. The Tamron is faster than and gets optical marks on par with the Olympus. It's longer than and doesn't suffer the shutter issues of the Panasonic. The Tamron is encased in metal while the others aren't, yet it's not particularly heavier or larger than the competition. (Least importantly, for me) it's often reposted to have better looks.