Panasonic 25mm 1.7....or.....Olympus 25mm 1.8 lens

[DlanorSekao]

In keeping with the spirit of small and lightweight camera systems , I'm having trouble choosing between these two lenses. I would love to have the 25 mm 1.2 Pro lens but that is just simply out of the question.
My main camera body is an Olympus OMD em10 ll.
I'm planning on buying brand new from Amazon and find the Panasonic 25 mm 1.7 lens for about $150 and I find the Olympus 25 mm 1.8 lens for just under $300.
I don't have any real particularly use for the lens other than a nice Prime for portrait like photography and I also do quite a bit of landscape. I like to have a subject in sharp focus in the immediate foreground with nice bokeh.
I tend to think I'm kind of overthinking this as I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference between the two lenses in the native image thread.
At any rate I thought I would come on here and ask some of my experience micro four-thirds Forum Family what their opinions were ? Save a little bit of money and get the Panasonic or spend about double the money and go for the Olympus and possibly have slightly better or sharper lens?
Well what did my brethren think?

 

[frankmulder]

The Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 suffers from focus shift. The Olympus 25mm f/1.8 is more compact.

Get the Panasonic 'Leica' 25mm f/1.4.

 

[DeeJayK]

Why not buy used? Just choose the one that you find at the best price. And then if you don't like it for whatever reason you can resell (probably for what you paid, or close) and try something different.

I don't have experience with either of these two to share as I have the venerable PL 25/1.4 to cover that focal length.

- K

 

[emorgan451]

I have loved my panasonic 25 f1.7, but I wanted the Olympus version. I only bought the panasonic at the release deal of $99 new so it was hard to pass on.

I agree with the sentiment of buy used or refurbished and go with the Olympus

 

[DlanorSekao]

I suppose buying used from a reputable source is definitely a viable option

 

[DlanorSekao]

I haven't looked at the pl25 1.4 yet think I need to go check some images and reviews

 

[DlanorSekao]

This will probably be the shortest Post in recent history.
I just went on the native sample image section and within five minutes I'm completely sold on the suggestion above to get the PL 25mm 1.4 !
If I buy lightly used I'm still way underneath my limit of $300.
This lens looks like a serious upgrade to the two I enquired about originally in this post.
At the moment I would say my choice is made and now I have to go back and look at two hundred pages in the sample image section LOL

 

[DeeJayK]

This will probably be the shortest Post in recent history.
I just went on the native sample image section and within five minutes I'm completely sold on the suggestion above to get the PL 25mm 1.4 !
If I buy lightly used I'm still way underneath my limit of $300.
This lens looks like a serious upgrade to the two I enquired about originally in this post.
At the moment I would say my choice is made and now I have to go back and look at two hundred pages in the sample image section LOL

My only real gripe with the PL25mm is that it has a rectangular hood that can't be simply reversed on the lens. While the hood works well, it's just a bit of a storage hassle. Caveat emptor.

- K

 

[RAH]

I agree that buying used is the way to go. Both MPB and KEH have several PL25mm 1.4 lenses at various condition levels. I wouldn't go below "Excellent" (about $300).

 

[Aloyz]

Wouldn't you consider a P 20mm/1.7 ? It is really small with maybe event better IQ, similar focal length, and on top of this, it is a really small lens ;-)
The main drawback is AF which is rather slow.

 

[DlanorSekao]

I already have the Panasonic 20mm1.7. It's a great lens but just a titch too wide at times.i know it's a small incremental step to 25mm , but my mind is made up.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I've owned both, and I preferred the Olympus. Not only did it produce better results for me, but it feels more solid. The P25 is quite the bargain, but I've never got on with it.

 

[Shadetree]

My only real gripe with the PL25mm is that it has a rectangular hood that can't be simply reversed on the lens. While the hood works well, it's just a bit of a storage hassle. Caveat emptor.

- K

A good answer for that is get a cheap 46mm metal hood off fleabay and a 49mm center pinch lens cap to resolve that problem.

 

[DeeJayK]

A good answer for that is get a cheap 46mm metal hood off fleabay and a 49mm center pinch lens cap to resolve that problem.

Yeah, but that stock rectangular hood looks so much more fly.

- K

 

[DlanorSekao]

Yeah, but that stock rectangular hood looks so much more fly.

- K

I find the rectangular hoods put me off a bit with the size and the fact that they don't reverse on the lens. However one positive thing is when changing lenses they don't roll!

 

[Vermont3133]

I would also endorse the PL25.
Much better images in my opinion and of course a bit faster.
Two things:
The hood is oversized in relation to the lens size. At some expense, you can get a PL 42 macro hood which fits perfectly, is smaller, although still square.
There is also the famous 'rattle snake noise' when focusing on Oly bodies. This can be fixed by turning OFF 'flicker reduction' in the menu.

 

[DlanorSekao]

I would also endorse the PL25.
Much better images in my opinion and of course a bit faster.
Two things:
The hood is oversized in relation to the lens size. At some expense, you can get a PL 42 macro hood which fits perfectly, is smaller, although still square.
There is also the famous 'rattle snake noise' when focusing on Oly bodies. This can be fixed by turning OFF 'flicker reduction' in the menu.

Thank you for the heads up on this ! I would have been going bonkers and return the lens if I heard some strange noise coming from it sure appreciate the info.

 

[RevBob]

The PL 25 1.4 is my absolute favorite lens. Tack sharp, excellent microcontrast, beautiful color rendering. Worth every penny.

 

[demiro]

25/1.4 in a close fight over the O 25/1.8 for me in terms of IQ, with the P 25/1.7 a more distant third, though still a solid lens. I liked the 25/1.8 a bit better overall because it basically had instantaneous focus on E-M5II and E-M10II for me.

 

[LilSebastian]

Never used a Panasonic 25mm f1.4 but my Olympus 25mm f1.8 NEVER disappoints on my E-M10 II. Great rendering, nice bokeh and great autofocus. It will be one of the last lenses I sell, next to the 12-40 PRO