Best And Worst 4/3--not m4/3--Lenses

[wjlapier]

Looking to add some lenses to my new 4/3 Lumix L1 camera. What are the dogs to avoid? What would be the best prosumer zooms out there? Must have primes? Anything wider than the Leica 25 'lux?

I'm curious to know if there were two different Pana-Leica 14-50 2.8-3.5 lenses. Was there a strictly Leica version and a Pana-Leica version? Or only the one.

I have the body now and will have the Olympus 12-60 soon. Hoping this will be a great combo until I decide on the next lens or lenses to buy.

Why the L1? I have the LC1 and love it a lot. I don't need megapixels. I like the "vintage" Lumix cameras. Figured, why not try the L1 after shooting with the LC1 for a while.

 

[Godfrey]

- There were two different Vario-Elmarit 14-50 lenses. The one that came with the L1 is the f/2.8-3.5 model, the one that came with the L10 was the f/3.5-5.8 model. Both are excellent performers; both were manufactured by Panasonic with the Leica name on the bezel.

- My favorite lenses when I was shooting FourThirds SLRs exclusively were the ZD 11-22/2.8-3.5, Summilux-D 25/1.4 ASPH, ZD 35/3.5 Macro, ZD 50/2 Macro, and ZD 50-200/2.8-3.5. I also had the Vario-Elmarit-D 14-50/2.8-3.5 and the ZD 25/2.8. I still have the 11-22, 25/2.8, 35 Macro, and 50-200, as well as my E-1 body. For a compact kit, the L1 with 25/2.8 and 35/3.5 is hard to beat.

- There are few if any "dogs" in the FourThirds lens world.
- There are no primes wider than 25mm.
- I don't have any experience with the consumer grade lenses other than the 25 and 35, and they're both pretty darn good.
- The Olympus SHG and HG FourThirds lenses are fantastic performers, and all four of the Panasonic-Leica lenses are right there too.

The L1 outperforms its spec sheet handily.

Good luck with it!

G

 

[mediumcool]

Looking to add some lenses to my new 4/3 Lumix L1 camera. What are the dogs to avoid? What would be the best prosumer zooms out there?

My 4/3 experience is with 4/3 lenses adapted to m4/3, and only Olympus lenses at that. I own the 11–22mm f/2.8–3.5, 14–54mm f/2.8–3.5, the [barking] 40–150mm f/3.5–4.5, and the superb 50mm f/2 macro.

All except for the dog-like 40–150 are excellent in my opinion, based on experience, and eminently useable from wide-open. The long zoom is good at shorter focal lengths and stopped down a bit, but it cost me only about $110AU, so was and is a bargain—I am looking for a 50–200 Zuiko to replace it (the Zuiko 35–100mm f/2 is a bit bulky and out of my pensioner price range). Another lustworthy beast is the Zuiko 14–35mm f/2, in one online test declared superior to my very decent Lumix 20mm f/2.

If you look at my posts in the 4/3 section, you will see many made with 4/3 lenses on a Panasonic G3 and the Olympus E-M5; happy to send you JPEGs or RAWs to inspect.

 

[mediumcool]

I have the body now and will have the Olympus 12-60 soon.

I decided against the 12–60 because of its considerable moustache distortion at 12mm. Reviews of 4/3 lenses