Lens Review: Olympus 7-14mm f/4 vs. Panasonic 7-14mm f/4
H2hreviews compared the two 7-14mm lenses. It is the first time that they compare a Four-Thirds and a Micro-FourThirds lens (both with the same focal lenght). Place your bet what lens will perform better and then read their head-to-head review 
Actual prices of the lenses (on Amazon):
$1,468.95 for the Olympus Zuiko 7-14mm f/4.0
John Krumm
4 years ago |If my Olympus 7-14 smeared the corners like that I’d send it back. Strange review. Seems to go against other reviews of the Zuiko 7-14 I’ve seen, especially regarding distortion. My lens makes very straight lines except for slight barrel distortion at 7mm. My 12-60, on the other hand, has complex distortion at 12mm, so I know what that looks like. Also, flare is not “well controlled” in the Zuiko. It flares easily.
achiinto
4 years ago |I hope the 43 will win.
achiinto
4 years ago |okay…. saw the result. One question, does the Panasonic m43 lens weather sealed?
Jules
4 years ago |@ achiinto
No.
Voldenuit
4 years ago |Strange review. They criticise the lenses for being exactly what they are: ultra wide angle lenses. If you don’t like taking ultra wide angle photos, why buy a UWA? I hardly think anyone buys a $1000-1400 lens to take pictures of dogs all day.
It’s interesting though that they produce opposite results for the Panny 7-14 to other sites. Other reviews have generally shown that it is sharpest at 7mm and softer at 14mm, and my own experience concurs with this. Perhaps the uncorrected CA on the PEN is to blame for this result?
Anyway, these are both highly regarded lenses and the comparison is more academic than practical. If you own a 4/3 or MFT system, you already know which lens you’re going to get if you’re in the market for a UWA.
okram
4 years ago |There is an earlier comparison of this same lenses:
http://www.thewsreviews.com/2010/03/comparison-of-7-14s-olympus-and.html
Guess which one wins?
YouDidntDidYou
4 years ago |I recently chose the Olympus 7-14mm f/4 over the Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 for one main reason, I own 3 four thirds cameras and one micro four third camera (GH1) in that I can use the lens across all four cameras, the weight of the Olympus sits OK with the GH1 as it is one of the bigger micro four thirds cameras.
Johan Krüger-Haglert
4 years ago |First thought: I bet on the olympus since olympus seem to be well known for their zooms and it’s bigger.
Second thought: On the other hand wide-angle lenses is supposed to be easier to create with a shorter flange-distance.
bilgy_no1
4 years ago |An inconsistency in the resolution page of the review:
“The strength of these lenses is their ultra-wide settings. Though it’s a convenience to be able to zoom, if they don’t give good results at 7mm, they aren’t worth the trouble. Both Olympus and Panasonic seem to agree: their lenses have pretty consistent performance across their zoom ranges.”
While this paragraph is logically inconsistent in itself, the table that follows it shows that the Panasonic is actually sharper at 14mm than it is at 7mm.
there are more inconsistencies, but this one I found quite notable. All in all, the Olympus is quite a bit sharper at 7mm than the Panasonic.