Micro 4/3 mirrorless camera lenses

[DaveO]

I have read that the original Panasonic 14-45mm lens in m4/3 was very good but the new 14-42mm was not as good. Are any of the mirror less lenses of high quality enough to get into a system, or would it be better to wait for the Zeiss lenses or spring for a Leica lens?

DaveO

 

[Ghosthunter]

With M4/3 you can use just about any Manual Focus lens with an adapter. I have the G3 and have both 14-42 and 14-45mm Kit lenses. The 14-45 is better and is superb (see pic below) and Panasonic are bringing out some new lenses called 'X' range. The 14-42 is really good and is a pancake lens costing about £350. There are loads of other lenses that are great inc the 20mm f1.7 and 25mm f1.4 Panasonic/Leica Summilux DG lens.

Don't forget that you can use the Olympus M4/3 lenses on the Panasonics also!!

Here is an image taken with the 14-45 kit lens and cropped by about 85%!!!

G3, 14-45mm kit lens by andywest1, on Flickr

 

[pdh]

They're all very very good really ... adding a Leica M lens via an adaptor won't turn a m43 camera into a Leica, but it will make an appreciable difference if you care to look carefully at your images ... I happen to have the "original" 14-45mm Panasonic and it's a very fine lens indeed ... but if you're thinking of buying into the m43 system, it also depends where you're starting from (in terms of how experienced you are as a photographer and what kit you're already used to) ... your images won't be worse (or better) from using a kit prime or a kit zoom ... the longer you wait for "the best" the fewer photographs you get to take :smile:

 

[Streetshooter]

Dave, the original Panny 14-45 was the best kit lens of any in any format. It's probably the best kit ever produced and destined to be a classic.
My next fav in m43 is the Oly 17. I know, but it draws exceptionally with a tonal separation better than most. If the contrast of a lens is to high, then tone seperation could suffer. Sometimes the more expensive a lens is, doesn't always make it better.
Sharpness in considered by most as a prime reason to buy a lens.
That's not always the case.
Don

 

[Amin]

I think all the kit lenses from all interchangeable lens systems are quite good, capable of brilliant pictures. However, none of them are fast, so low light and shallow depth of field opportunities are limited. The Panasonic 14-42 comes very close to the performance of the 14-45. The new Olympus 14-42 and the Sony 18-55 are also excellent.

If I were starting out with Micro 4/3 today, I would get the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 and the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 for an excellent and compact two lens kit that isn't very expensive.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Gordon]

With M4/3 you can use just about any Manual Focus lens with an adapter. I have the G3 and have both 14-42 and 14-45mm Kit lenses. The 14-45 is better and is superb (see pic below) and Panasonic are bringing out some new lenses called 'X' range. The 14-42 is really good and is a pancake lens costing about £350. There are loads of other lenses that are great inc the 20mm f1.7 and 25mm f1.4 Panasonic/Leica Summilux DG lens.

Don't forget that you can use the Olympus M4/3 lenses on the Panasonics also!!

Here is an image taken with the 14-45 kit lens and cropped by about 85%!!!

G3, 14-45mm kit lens by andywest1, on Flickr

Andy, that is simply gorgeous!!

 

[Djarum]

This may be slightly off topic, but relevant.

These are two shots of SLRgears review of the Panasonic 14mm and Olympus 14-42mm kit lens.

At f4, both are pretty darn sharp. While the 14mm obvously can get in more light being able to operate at f2.5.

I've been extremely impressed with the MKII Olympus kit lens, especially at the wide end.

 

[DaveO]

The flower picture is really impressive, especially if it is cropped down to 15% of the original. Can you still get the Panasonic 14-45mm lens and get it in the
camera kit instead of the 14-42mm?

DaveO

 

[Streetshooter]

The 14-45 is discontinued nut show up a mu-43.com from time to time.
Great lens.