The Olympus 14-45mm lens vs the 14-54 lens?

[speaklightly]

From my research it appears that the 14-54mm lens is the better of the two. Can anyone verify that, and it it worth the extra money?

Any Macro Lens suggestions?

Sarah Joyce

[Norm in Fujino]

Sarah, as you know the two lenses cover basically the same range, but the 14-54 has the following advantages:
1. 10mm more reach :-)
2. Weathersealing
3. Brighter f-stop
4. Much closer focusing (cm instead of meters)
5. A bit sharper, with slightly less CA (neither one has any remarkable CA problems, but the 14-54 is said to be better).

For my money, this made it well worthwhile, and I'm not disappointed. It's been called the perfect walkaround/wedding lens, and doubles as a quick macro when you don't have one around quick. Here's a shot I took with it recently:


Oly e-300, 14-54mm (@54mm), 1/100s @ f8, ISO100, Silkypix

However, on other fora I have seen some really nice work done with both of the kit lenses, so if you don't have the need for the close focusing and a stop brighter exposure, I'd highly recommend them.

The only true macro currently available for 4/3 with digital mount is the 50mm f2, which doubles as a very nice portrait lens (converted focal length of 100mm). Here's a couple more recent shots with it:




and


(both shots Oly e-300, ED 50mm macro, etc.)


On the other hand. . .Oly is coming out with a new 35mm f3.5 macro in its budget class, due on sale in November:



It's supposed to sell for around $250, so you might want to wait and see what it's like.
Best wishes,

[speaklightly]

Hi Norm-

Well I have officially joied the E-300 group. I bought one this morning which has the 14-45mm kit lens with it. I also located a 14-54mm that I am watching. I also found the other portion of the 2 lens kit, the 40-150mm at around $140.

Thanks also for posting the great photos. I will wait for a bit on the macro. Thanks again for your help.

Sarah Joyce

[Norm in Fujino]

speaklightly wrote:

Hi Norm-

Well I have officially joied the E-300 group. I bought one this morning which has the 14-45mm kit lens with it. I also located a 14-54mm that I am watching. I also found the other portion of the 2 lens kit, the 40-150mm at around $140.

Thanks also for posting the great photos. I will wait for a bit on the macro. Thanks again for your help.

Sarah Joyce

Hope you enjoy it! Be sure to update the firmware first thing after charging the battery. It reponds to some early problems in ESP exposure and white balance. The newer firmware also supports Sandisk Extreme III CF cards for highest possible writing speeds. Current firmware is 1.3 For more details, see this:
http://www.molon.de/E300/#Firmware

[ejgladwin]

I have a question about the 14-45mm vs the 14-54mm, and didn't want to start a new thread, so I hope a few people are still watching this one

I'm thinking of getting an E-500 (for the simple reason that I have gotfed up with having to spend endless moneyon cleaning the sensorof my current DSLR all the time!) and am trying to decide if I should spend the extra to get it with the 14-54mm instead of the 14-45mm.

My main question is about distortion: is there less barrel distortion on the 14-54mm or is it basically the same at the 14-45mm kit lens?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Edward

http://photos.edgladwin.com/- My Gallery & Shop

[core]

This site has a pretty good technical review of both lenses:

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

The kit lens bundle pricing is a good deal, but I'd suppose in the end, it's all up to your budget and needs.