Sunday, January 5, 2014

Battle Between Two Kit Lens

A kit lens is a "starter" lens which can be sold with an interchangeable-lens camera such as a single-lens reflex camera. It is generally an inexpensive lens priced at the lowest end of the manufacturer's range so as to not add much to a camera kit's price.

Originally kit lenses were of normal focal length; more recently kit lenses tend to be inexpensive zoom lenses that range from medium wide angle to mid telephoto for added versatility. - Wikipedia

The two kit lens I am comparing here are:

The Olympus Digital M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED came with my Olympus E-P2, three years ago. The focal length range is equivalent to 28-84mm in full (35mm) terms.

The new LUMIX G VARIO 12-32mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH / MEGA O.I.S. that come as a kit lens with my ultra-compact Lumix GM1. The focal length range is equivalent to 24-64mm in full (35mm) terms.

The two kits, Panasonic; left and Olympus, right. Both lens are in their "retracted" positions.  The new Pani for the GM1 is a lot smaller than the 3 year old M.Zuiko.