Is the Panny 14-140 worth $150 more than the Oly 14-150?

Allan,

wishful thinking for sure.  Our toys don't come cheap do they?

I apologize that I didn't have time to read the extensive responses above. But as I have owned both Olympus 14-150 lenses and both 14-140 Panasonic lenses I wanted to give you my take.

First I think it depends on the camera. I have owned a GX7 and now have EM1, EM5 and GX8.

from my experience if you have a GX8, the new Pana is the best choice due to the dual IS system. It is more effective than the EM1 with any of these lenses.  As the GX7 has image stabilization, you could use any of the lenses with roughly the same results for that camera. If your plans call for you to upgrade someday to a GX8, then I'd buy the newest Pano. I am most impressed with this combo.

For the newest Oly bodies, I think the latest Oly 14-150 is the better choice since IBIS is handling the stabilization and you gain the weatherproofing.

Impulses wrote:

Olympus is extending it's Black Friday 20% discount on outlet lenses, and they show the latest version of the 14-150 as in stock. After applying the coupon code in the link below the price is $319. I bought mine at this price on Black Friday and the deal on the 14-150 only lasted about 5 hours.

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/outlet/reconditioned-lenses.html

Uff, that's very tempting for me, if nothing else to gain one wether sealed lens to pair with my new E-M5 II.

I was concerned about the IQ, but compared it to my P45-150 (my favorite mid range tele) and I'll be putting the Panny up for sale. This lens is fun to shoot, too.

Ugh, it's still available a day later, still tempting me...

I don't habitually pack or buy lenses that large, but I really want something with WR, and baring any new primes that would probably be the cheapest and most logical option... Hrm. Must resist...

Thanks to a great group and the many helpful comments, I finally decided on the Olympus 14-150 lens. I decided that the $150 savings over the Panny was just too much to overlook. One could say that the savings paid for my new Panny 25mm f1.7 lens and filter.

I have of course been trying the Oly out and am really pleased with the range - kind of blows you away at first to have such a zoom range available. Even in my 35mm days, I never had access to anything close to a 300mm equivalent lens - sweet.

I've not had good enough weather and light to make a 'real test' of image quality, but my initial pixel peeping has not been disappointing.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments (and some images too).

Good choice....

I like my OLy 14-159 more with every outing.

Henry Richardson wrote:

Thanks to a great group and the many helpful comments, I finally decided on the Olympus 14-150 lens. I decided that the $150 savings over the Panny was just too much to overlook. One could say that the savings paid for my new Panny 25mm f1.7 lens and filter.

I have of course been trying the Oly out and am really pleased with the range - kind of blows you away at first to have such a zoom range available. Even in my 35mm days, I never had access to anything close to a 300mm equivalent lens - sweet.

I've not had good enough weather and light to make a 'real test' of image quality, but my initial pixel peeping has not been disappointing.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments (and some images too).

Hope it works out well for you. Getting the fast 25mm to go with it is good. I have the O 25mm and use it when the 14-150mm is too slow. Using both in India right now.

+1 on adding the 25, Henry. My Oly 14-150 and Oly 25 1.8, make a sweet, sharp, and compact travel/walk around kit. Hard to tell which one I like better, the 14-150 or the 25.

I still have not had good light to really try out the lens, but first results have been encouraging.  FYI, the GX7 has internal stabilization.  We'll see how well that works as I get better acquainted with the lens.

The zoom range is really sweet, I used it at a Christmas parade and also at my daughter's flute recital - very handy to be able to go from wide to tele without a lens change.

Still learning my way around this lens, but finding it to be very versatile. Street shooting today and ran across a local surf shop having a sale on sunglasses. Couldn't resist the mannequins with the reflections in the glass and in the sunglass lenses.