Panny 14-45 or 14-42 ii on OM-D E-M5

Hey Everyone,

So as the title suggests, I'm looking at either the Panasonic 14-45 or the Panasonic 14-24 ii to use on my E-M5. On my E-M10 I've used the Olympus 14-42 ii r, 14-42mm EZ, 45-450mm, and Panny 14-45 and 20 f/1.7. Camera bag got stolen on a trip this summer  so I'm starting over from scratch. I got a pretty good deal on a closeout E-M5 with 12-50mm for $415. Not sure if I'll keep the 12-50mm as a backup/weather sealed option, but if not I can sell it off later as it seems to hold its resale value pretty well on eBay and Amazon.

So right now I'm looking to buy a new kit zoom and am considering the 14-45 and the 14-42 ii. When I had the 14-45mm on my E-M10 I liked it quite a bit. It was a very noticeable step up in image quality from the Olympus kit zooms. There were two things that I did not love about it. First, it was noticeably, though not terribly, slower to focus than all of the other Olympus lenses. and two, it did not seem to have as much contrast/saturation as my Olympus lenses. So I'm looking for advice and people's experience on a few points:

1. How is the AF speed of the 14-42mm ii on Olympus bodies?

2. How well are CA controlled on Olympus bodies since the camera does not correct for them?

3. I recently came across a thread that said the f-stop is an issue on the 14-42mm ii because the aperture closes much more quickly as you zoom (i think like 5.1 at 25mm??)

4. Is there a noticeable difference in contrast and colors in the 14-42 ii over the 14-45?

It has been suggested to me before to look at getting a set of primes, but that's really not an option for me. As you can tell from my equipment choices, I am very much just a hobbyist looking to photograph and document family events and the like where switching lenses would just take too much time away from the action. Perhaps one day I will buy the Panny 12-35 or the Olympus 12-40, but that's just out of my price range right now.

I should also note that the smaller size and less extension during zooming of the 14-42 ii don't really hold any benefit for me. I never found the 14-45 too large or heavy

simp1yamazn wrote:

I should also note that the smaller size and less extension during zooming of the 14-42 ii don't really hold any benefit for me. I never found the 14-45 too large or heavy

14-45mm for me, a better performer and the two I've had never had any problems with colour and contrast, quite the opposite. I found the 14-42mm II to be poor on the long end, noticeably so, maybe I got a bad one. It was very sharp at the wide end but faded badly. No such problems with the 14-45mm, great lens, consistent all the way through.

I have the Panny 14-45, using it on E-PM2, great lens, only problem is that I get banding on high ISO, and only with this lens, I also have PanLeica 25mm, no banding, 14-54, 50mm macro, 50-200, 9mm fisheye BC lens, and had Oly 14-42, no banding whatsoever, but Panny 14-45, bends a lot. On my E-M1, different story, no banding with it.

I am also interested in this discussion...thanks.....

trotteritco wrote:

I have the Panny 14-45, using it on E-PM2, great lens, only problem is that I get banding on high ISO, and only with this lens, I also have PanLeica 25mm, no banding, 14-54, 50mm macro, 50-200, 9mm fisheye BC lens, and had Oly 14-42, no banding whatsoever, but Panny 14-45, bends a lot. On my E-M1, different story, no banding with it.

Hm, interesting observation. When I used my 14-45mm this summer, I didn't notice any banding. I took some high ISO long exposure shots with the 14-45mm but it was very dark, overlooking a dimly lit town. I didn't use high ISO for general low-light use, like indoor photography. Did you notice it with most high ISO shots or just under certain circumstances? And how high of an ISO are we talking about? 3200? 6400? IIRC, I didn't go above 1600

simp1yamazn wrote:

trotteritco wrote:

I have the Panny 14-45, using it on E-PM2, great lens, only problem is that I get banding on high ISO, and only with this lens, I also have PanLeica 25mm, no banding, 14-54, 50mm macro, 50-200, 9mm fisheye BC lens, and had Oly 14-42, no banding whatsoever, but Panny 14-45, bends a lot. On my E-M1, different story, no banding with it.

Hm, interesting observation. When I used my 14-45mm this summer, I didn't notice any banding. I took some high ISO long exposure shots with the 14-45mm but it was very dark, overlooking a dimly lit town. I didn't use high ISO for general low-light use, like indoor photography. Did you notice it with most high ISO shots or just under certain circumstances? And how high of an ISO are we talking about? 3200? 6400? IIRC, I didn't go above 1600

Mostly with ISO 3200 and above, indoor and outdoor. I think it has the same problem as 20mm 1.7

simp1yamazn wrote:

Hey Everyone,

So as the title suggests, I'm looking at either the Panasonic 14-45 or the Panasonic 14-24 ii to use on my E-M5.

2. How well are CA controlled on Olympus bodies since the camera does not correct for them?

I've seen some considerable CA using the 14-42ii on my E-P5. That camera, like the E-M5, doesn't correct CA in camera. You can see an example here in the lower left corner as well as in the trees half way down and to the right of the building.

Hm, that is concerning. Well, I think I'm leaning towards the 14-45mm. The 14-42mm ii is also more expensive if you want a metal mount. I found a nice 14-45mm for $130 that I may jump on.

simp1yamazn wrote:

Hm, that is concerning. Well, I think I'm leaning towards the 14-45mm. The 14-42mm ii is also more expensive if you want a metal mount. I found a nice 14-45mm for $130 that I may jump on.

I am a neutral party here - not Panasonic oriented (though I have two of their lenses) and I don't like zooms. But I have been around here for a long time and clearly remember seeing test results on the 14-45: it really had a sterling reputation. The E-M5 is probably a hefty enough camera to handle the size of the lens. Whatever you don't get a lens with a plastic mount.

I use an Oly 14-45mm on my M10 and it performs quite well..

The 14-45 is an excellent lens.  Very sharp and the design is of the non-extending type so less chance of dust intrusion.

1eyedjack wrote:

I use an Oly 14-45mm on my M10 and it performs quite well..

Yea, I used it on my oly M10 as well and liked it quite a bit. I was just trying to see if there is a compelling reason to switch to the 14-42mm ii this time around.

I just bought the 14-45mm last night for $130 so I'm pretty happy with that, typically I see them more in the $150-$170 range. I'm just excited to finally be buying new gear and getting back to taking photos!