Is Panasonic a superior lens maker? - Page 3

Pennington · #21 July 16th, 2012, 01:01 PM

This has occurred to be as well, since buying into the m4:3 system, and my personal opinion is that Panasonic has a much stronger lens system than Olympus does right now, if only because it has a better range of high-performing primes. (I think the zoom offerings are pretty disappointing all around.) With the exception of the 14-42 kit lens (and the Oly 75mm I have on order), my other AF lenses are all Panasonic.

Plus, my wish list of lenses doesn't include any Olys, but does have several Panasonics.

I had the Oly 45mm for a while and just couldn't fall in love with it, ended up selling it to a friend. I love my Pana/Leica 25mm so much more. The Panas just have a better feel to them, at least for me - both their images and the physical lenses themselves.

And on a purely visual note, I don't have much interest in the consumer zooms in either camp, but feel like the Olys look somewhat cheap and toyish against the Panas.

Art · #22 July 16th, 2012, 01:05 PM

Among the lenses I've tried so far, I think I prefer Panasonic. Panny 14, 20, 25, 14-45 are all great lenses with noticeably better build quality than anything I've seen from Oly. 45mm is the only Oly lens I like and while it does have a metal mount, the lens itself made of cheap plastic with toy-like decoration ring. I have little doubt that the silver paint will wear off over time. This contrasts sharply with Panny rubberized focus rings and metal base. To date, Panny has released more useful lenses but I think Oly will catch up.

dixeyk · #23 July 16th, 2012, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pennington

I had the Oly 45mm for a while and just couldn't fall in love with it, ended up selling it to a friend. I love my Pana/Leica 25mm so much more. The Panas just have a better feel to them, at least for me - both their images and the physical lenses themselves.

And on a purely visual note, I don't have much interest in the consumer zooms in either camp, but feel like the Olys look somewhat cheap and toyish against the Panas.

I agree on both points. The O45 is a funny duck. I appreciate it for what it is but don't use it much. I have it because I wanted that focal length in AF (and the PL45 was a bit out of my price range).

jnewell · #24 July 16th, 2012, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strang

Just throwing it out there. It seems like Panasonic is doing what things better than Olympus, such as the faster zooms in both mid-range and short telephoto, better pancakes, faster primes and wider UWA zooms.

When I look at the lens chart that I built for myself, seems like it just makes sense to invest in Panasonic more.

Very hard to say either is better than the other across the board. There are some real stand-outs in both lines, and if I could only buy from one or the other, to be honest, I'd be pretty happy.

Thinking about it from another angle, though, as a generalization, I think Olympus is (on the whole) doing more interesting things with primes right now, while Panasonic is currently doing more interesting things with zooms. All I can say is: choice is good, and we have lots of really good choices right now.

michaeln's Gallery · #25 July 16th, 2012, 01:55 PM

I just wish Olympus wouldn't make all their cool lenses SILVER.

Mijo · #26 July 16th, 2012, 02:21 PM

the only oly lens i own is the 12mm, which has been stuck on my GX1 since I bought it. all of my other lens are panny (8, 20, PL25, PL45 and the 14-42X). I'm more inclined to purchase panny lenses b/c all of the bodies I own are panny and i need the OIS. having said that I absolutely love Oly's 12mm, the look, build and feel of that lens is better (IMHO) than the panny lens that i own (of course it also cost more than any of my other lens).

strang · #27 July 16th, 2012, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT21

Here's my short comparison on these lens makers:
Filter Sizes
The Panny lenses have had some great easily matched filter sizes (46mm for 14, PL25 and PL45 and I think also the 45-200??), which I appreciate. I guess maybe Oly has that too with the 17, 14-42 and 45, but the first two lenses, to me, which are just "meh" so I don't really care about them sharing with the 45 (is the 12mm lens also 37mm filter?). The 9-18 is 52mm which I think is shared with the 40-150 and 14-150?? But not the primes like the 45.

I definitely wish Olympus was more consistent with filter sizes. Like Nikon, stick to one size!

With_Eyes_Unclouded · #28 July 16th, 2012, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strang

I definitely wish Olympus was more consistent with filter sizes. Like Nikon, stick to one size!

And don't forget the damn hoods. I mean, seriously, Olympus, how CHEAP can you get? 1000 euro lens without a hood?

Luckypenguin · #29 July 16th, 2012, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixeyk

My 45/1.8 reminds me a lot fo my of Canon 50/1.8 II. It was wonderfully sharp but felt a bit like a toy in hand. The 45 strikes me much the same way...of course that Canon 50 was all of $85 new.

I can't totally agree with this comparison. In the course of cycling through different Canon DSLR gear I must have used about five different samples of the Canon EF 50/1.8 II. The all felt like they were made from the cheapest grade plastic regardless of whether they were an early Made in Japan or a later Made in Malaysia model, I think they all exhibited either front or back focusing, none were sharp at wider than f/2.8 (not helped by the focusing issues), they all had horrible sounding focus motors, and one of them spat the entire lens group out the front in the course of trying achieve minimum focusing distance!

I'm not so keen on the silver finish of the Oly 45/1.8 and I removed the trim ring pretty much straight away, but overall it is a much better lens than the Canon in every way (except price!).

meyerweb · #30 July 16th, 2012, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demiro

I look at it this way: If I could choose only lenses from Olympus or from Panasonic which would I go with? Olympus without any hesitation.

I suspect that's because you prefer primes. I'd probably go the other way, and would have a hard time giving up the 7-14, the 12-35 (once I buy it) and probably the 35-100. Especially the 7-14.