Customer Reviews

Panasonic 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 OIS Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I use this lens on my GH1 and sometimes on my E-PL1 and it's simply fantastic. The fact that it gives you such range and operates silently when you want to take movies is a great combo.

It's been rated to be among the best in super zoom lenses equal or better than the top offerings from Tamron and certainly better than the Nikon and Canon equivalents according to DPReview. From my real world results, I have to agree 100%.

I do wish it was a little lighter, but it's still not bad carrying it around all day. I've traveled with it twice so far and it covers every length you could want and delivers great quality. Remember to use the provided lens hood or else you sacrifice a certain amount of contrast in your photos. Most people don't realize the hood is not just to help flare and slam the lens for their own mistakes.

If you have a Panasonic m43 body, this lens is a no brained because of it's in lens IS. On Olympus bodies it's equally great because you can choose either the lens IS or the in body IS.

I almost didn't buy this lens because of another review. The GF1 is my only high-quality camera and I got it with the pancake lens for better portability. I'm an amateur photographer and only on seldom occasions take pictures on the P mode rather than the idiot-simple iA mode. As any owner of the GF1 can attest, the GF1 performance is so good with the pancake lens that it turns anyone into an artist. However, it does not have a zoom. So, my quest for a zoom lens began and I eventually decided on the Panasonic 14-140mm. I dreaded that it might be too uncomfortably big, but it's not really an issue as you learn to balance the camera by its body and lens. I did follow someone else suggestion on getting a 2 Million Dollar Home Crumpler bag for it and I'm glad I did. Trying to carry the lens around the neck would probably not make much sense. Anyway, I had removed the neck strap a while back already and replaced it with a sturdy wrist strap.

I've been using it for a few weeks and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I only use it during the day where the slower shutter speed is a non-issue. I'm very glad I got the 10x zoom instead of the 3x zoom from Olympus. The latter might have been better as a replacement for the pancake, but that wasn't my objective. The optical image stabilization (OIS) feels almost like a must have, especially at the longer zoom range. With the Crumpler bag, the camera is easy to carry, protected, and generally not obstructive when the 14-140mm lens is attached. I haven't relied much on the silent focus and progressive exposure change which is built into this lens. It's mostly useful for video, which I don't use often. But I did weigh the presence of these features in my decision to buy this lens.

In short, if you have a GF1 as your primary high-quality camera and you're looking for a quality zoom lens, I don't think you can go wrong with this lens.

Detailed equipment list (for reference):
* Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
* Canon WS20 Wrist Strap
* Crumpler 2 Million Dollar Home Photo Bag
* Panasonic 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 OIS Micro Four Thirds Lens

As my next purchase, I'm planning for the viewfinder. I thought I'd be able to get away without one, but getting the exposure right on some subjects while zooming is quite hard through the outside LCD screen.

I had this lens for almost a month. It works really well with my Olympus E-P1. The image is very sharp between 18mm to 70mm and a bit soft from 70mm and up. I like the built in O.I.S on the lens, so I can turn off the IBIS on the camera to avoid excessive heat when using it continuously. This is an amazing all around travel lens when pair with my Panasonic 20mm f1.7 lens, which I can use it indoor such as restaurant with limit light condition and 14-140mm outdoor for landscape, wildlife animal or any occasion. I bought it separate with my camera system due to I like the retro look of E-P1. Consider its price is a bit high, but if you like to shot with video, then this lens is definite worth it Due to its virtually silence video focusing ability. I hate to hear my 20mm lens roaring when recording video using C-AF. I also planning test it out in my friend's coming wedding event and pair it with Olympus FL-50 flash. The lens is high quality made, inside of lens is made by metal with plastic casing I think due to manufacture consider its portability of m3/4 system. Consider its wide to telephoto range & price, there isn't much lens performs better than this lens unless you are willing to pay $500 more for the Leca 14-150mm without silent focusing ability.

I wanted the Panasonic Lumix G2 to be my all around camera for travel, family photographs, scenics, etc. I found the kit lens (14-42) to be limited, so I decided to take a chance on the 14-140. I have taken about 300 pictures with it so far and have found it to be a terrific lens. It is very solidly built and doesn't slip, as some zooms do, when aimed down at a subject. The manual focus feature is good, especially if you have your camera on a tripod. At the telephoto focal lengths manual focusing can be a bit dauting, but it works (it automatically enlarges a portion of the image for you to focus on, then returns to your picture as zoomed). Image Stabilization is built in the lens and seems very good. I am amazed at the lower shutter speeds I can use and still get a sharp image. I know this lens will provide me with a lot of picture taking fun for years to come. By the way, the Olympus 14-150 lens is less expensive but doesn't have Image Stabilization because that feature is built in to the Olympus camera bodies.

The complaints about this lens mostly relate to its size. It is a fairly large in absolute terms but small for a lens that will go from the 35mm equivalent of 28mm to 280mm. Couple this with the 7mm to 14mm zoom and with two lenses a micro four thirds camera will cover everything from ultra wide angle to long telephoto, much more range than any pocket camera. And remember, the micro four thirds system was designed to fit between a full size SLR and a pocket camera. It was not designed to fit in a pocket. Someone who wants a pocket camera should buy a pocket camera.

The lens performs very well. Sharp throughout its range. A little slow at the long end but stabilization is built in and in daylight it will take surprisingly sharp photos hand held at full telephoto. Highly recommended.

This lens is an excellent way to get SLR image quality in a smaller package. I picked up this lens (and the GF1) to see if it could replace my current/previous walkaround kit of Nikon D90 with Nikkor 18-200. It is every bit the equal in image quality up to ISO 400 when shooting RAW. On the handling front its focus speed is equal or faster on easy subjects, but it does tend to get confused more easily and go into hunting mode with more difficult situations (though this is probably the camera body moreso than the lens).

Overall, my only and main disappointment with the arrangement is that it's not as portable as I'd hoped: In person, the size is surprisingly close to the D90+18-200, and, more importantly, the total weight is also very similar. I'll be keeping this setup since it is an improvement in portability, but I probably wouldn't purchase it again at this price point.

I paired this lens with the Olympus E-PL1, and was surprised to find that this Panasonic's lens' image stabilization is far superior to that in the Olympus E-PL1 body. Using the lens image stabilization, I got 50% more usable shots at slow shutters than using the Olympus body stabilization. Video was also much smoother with this Panasonic OIS. Otherwise, the lens seems sharp--it got excellent reviews, and works well for me. Admittedly, this lens turns the Olympus E-PL1 from a compact camera into a SLR sized beast. But the pair works well together. It feels balanced in my hands. Most importantly, the pictures are of excellent sharpness, and the improved image stabilization makes a huge improvement in both zoomed and low light shots in getting many more sharp pictures with no motion blur.

I bought this as part of a GH2 kit, with the intent of selling the lens, since I already have the 14-45mm Panasonic and 40-150mm Olympus lenses. However, I figured I would try it out and see if it would be useful.

Surprisingly enough, I really like this lens. From an image quality standpoint, I am getting good, sharp images at all focal lengths. It focuses closer than the the other two lenses I have, which makes it useful for on-the-fly macro work (at the 140mm length, I have gotten some very sharp insect close-ups, which I have been very pleased with). Having the wide-through-tele range when I am out taking landscape and nature shots has been extremely useful, since I like to explore different aspects of my subjects frequently. Also, some critters tend to wander off while I'm in the middle of a lens change, so having the expanded tele ability of this lens enables me to get more shots of my subjects before they move on...

My one objection is that it IS heavy. On the GH2 body it does balance ok, but it is way at the upper limit of what I would consider acceptable weight for this system. It's still lighter and takes up less space than any equivalent DSLR/expanded tele lens does, but it is not a lightweight piece of glass. If it was about 3oz less or a little bit narrower, it would be really perfect.

I also would prefer it to be a little faster, but since I use this for primarily outdoor work, that is not as big an issue for me as it might be for others. Minimum aperture being 4.0 also limits shallow DOF, which may be a deal breaker for some, but I am not finding it a particular problem.

So, in summary:
Pros:
Good, sharp images at all focal lengths.
Fast focusing.
Short minimum focus distance (good for on-the-fly macro work)(no pun intended :) ).
Excellent for video useage due to silent operation.
Very good color rendition.
OIS very effective.

Cons:
Heavy and has wide diameter.
On smallest M43 bodies, it might be ungainly and a bit unbalanced to hold.
Minimum aperture settings rather slow. Much more useful as an outdoor lens.
Shallow DOF difficult to achieve due to high minimum aperture settings.

SO, after evaluating the lens, I have decided to keep it. It does work for me, and the weight disadvantage is compensated for by my not having to carry around two lenses to cover the same focal length ranges instead.

I really was expecting to dislike this lens, so it was a genuine surprise that it won me over with its performance. If you can accept the weight of the thing, it is a very good choice for a single walk-around lens solution for M43s.

I bought this lens in a kit with the GH1. I've used other superzoom lenses (Olympus 14-150 for mft and others on a Canon body) and this is one of the best. Works very well with the GH1 but also held its own on an E-PL1. The fact that it is designed to support the video capabilities of the GH1 is gravy. My most-used Micro-4/3 lens.

This is a great lens. But, it costs $840 at the time I'm writing this. You can buy the Panasonic GH1 camera with this lens included for $999. So for an extra $160 you will get a spare battery, battery charger, neck strap, and a WHOLE EXTRA GH1 CAMERA. That's the best $160 you can spend. So just buy the GH1 with this lens included.