{"id":3427,"date":"2010-05-29T13:21:22","date_gmt":"2010-05-29T03:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?p=3427"},"modified":"2010-05-29T14:35:45","modified_gmt":"2010-05-29T04:35:45","slug":"ultrawide-angle-zoom-lenses-for-micro-four-thirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?p=3427","title":{"rendered":"Ultrawide angle zoom lenses for Micro Four Thirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please read my older post on this topic<\/a> for more details and comparisons with what is available on Canon and Nikon dSLRs as I will try to avoid repeating that content here, but instead highlight the differences, now that dpreview has published their excellent technical reviews on the two MFT lenses.<\/p>\n

One of the almost unique characteristics of Micro Four Thirds<\/a> is that it allows creation of beautifully compact, high image quality ultra-wide angle zoom lenses which are perfect for travel<\/strong>, but like everything, there are compromises – in this case, the compact design results in lower image quality in the corners and more distortion than with a Four Thirds equivalent lens. Fortunately, these issues are corrected in-camera (by Panasonic bodies) or can be easily corrected in supported RAW converter software.<\/p>\n

Note: the following image comparing the Four Thirds 9-18mm, MFT 9-18mm and MFT 7-14mm is from the dpreview website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"comparisons\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have compared 3 ultra-wide zoom lenses but note there is\u00a0 a fourth option shown above – the Olympus ZD 9-18mm Four Thirds lens which is cheaper (~$US475), but bigger (uses a 72mm filter) and heavier than the MFT version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nOlympus ZD 7-14mm f\/4 Four Thirds
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		 Panasonic 7-14mm f\/4 MFT
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Olympus ZD 9-18mm f\/4.0-5.6 MFT
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
dimensions<\/td>\n86.5mm x 119.5mm<\/td>\n70 mm diameter x 83 mm length<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n56.5 mm diameter x 49.5 mm length (retracted)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
weight
\nprice<\/td>\n		780g<\/p>\n

$US1800<\/td>\n

300 g (10.6 oz)<\/p>\n

$US1000<\/td>\n

155 g (5.5 oz)<\/span><\/p>\n

$US700
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

diagonal angle of view on 4:3 ratio<\/p>\n

35mm equivalent focal length range to give similar angle of view<\/td>\n

114\u00ba – 75\u00ba<\/p>\n

14-28mm<\/td>\n

114\u00ba – 75\u00ba<\/p>\n

14-28mm<\/td>\n

100\u00ba – 62\u00ba<\/p>\n

18-36mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

filters<\/td>\nnot possible
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		not possible<\/td>\n52mm, non-rotating front element<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
autofocus<\/td>\nno AF on Panasonic MFT, slow AF on Olympus MFT, normal AF on Four Thirds<\/td>\ngood AF on all MFT, cannot mount to Four Thirds<\/td>\ngood AF on all MFT, cannot mount to Four Thirds<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
construction<\/td>\n18 Elements \/ 12 Groups, ED Asph, ED, Super ED
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>weatherproof, dustproof, pro quality<\/td>\n

16 elements \/ 12 groups, 4ED, 2Asph<\/td>\n12 elements \/ 8 groups, 1 ED, 1HR, 2 dual surface Asph, 1 Asph, collapsible design for compact travel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
image stabilisation<\/td>\nin camera (Olympus only)<\/strong><\/td>\nin camera (Olympus only)<\/strong><\/td>\nin camera (Olympus only)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
diaphragm<\/td>\n7 rounded<\/td>\n7 rounded<\/td>\n7 rounded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
minimum focus<\/td>\n0.25m<\/td>\n0.25m<\/td>\n0.25m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
use with teleconverter<\/td>\nyes<\/td>\nno TC available for MFT yet
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		no TC available for MFT yet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
use with extension tubes<\/td>\nno<\/td>\nno<\/td>\nno<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
image quality<\/td>\nsuperb even without post-processing<\/p>\n

flare visible if strong light sources hit convex front element<\/td>\n

very sharp but some softness in corners wide open at either end of focal range<\/p>\n

flare visible if strong light sources hit convex front element<\/td>\n

very sharp but some softness\u00a0 in corners<\/p>\n

flare is usually not an issue unless light sources string front element obliquely.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

geometric distortion<\/td>\nminimal<\/td>\n+3.4% at 7mm, -0.3% at 12mm and -1.2% at 14mm<\/p>\n

corrected in-camera when using Panasonic MFT cameras<\/td>\n

+4.7% at 9mm, +0.5% at 14mm, -0.1% at 18mm<\/p>\n

corrected in-camera (Panasonic) and by supported RAW converters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

chromatic aberration<\/td>\nminimal – mainly in corners at extreme contrast situations<\/td>\nparticularly visible in corners at wide angles<\/p>\n

corrected in-camera when using Panasonic MFT cameras<\/td>\n

particularly visible in corners at all focal lengths<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
light falloff<\/td>\nminimal?<\/td>\nsome at f\/4 but minimal at f\/5.6<\/td>\nminimal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
official website<\/td>\nOlympus America<\/a><\/td>\n <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reviews<\/td>\nmy blog post<\/a><\/td>\ndpreview<\/a><\/td>\ndpreview<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
who is it for?<\/td>\nthose wanting the highest image quality, professional build quality, weatherproofing primarily for their Four Thirds dSLR<\/td>\nthose wanting widest view on their MFT camera for creative use and travel but not needing to use filters<\/td>\nthose wanting wide angle on MFT but not needing the ultra-wide angle, and preferring ability to use filters for landscape work<\/p>\n

this is perhaps the most practicable lens for most people<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please read my older post on this topic for more details and comparisons with what is available on Canon and Nikon dSLRs as I will try to avoid repeating that content here, but instead highlight the differences, now that dpreview has published their excellent technical reviews on the two MFT lenses. One of the almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,3],"tags":[18,14,15,29],"class_list":["post-3427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lenses","category-photography","tag-four-thirds-micro","tag-olympus","tag-panasonic","tag-wide-angle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}