Another question about lens upgrade

I am looking at upgrading my system with some decent glass very soon, as I am currently using an e620 with the 14-42mm and 70-300mm. At the moment I am not satisfied the images I have been producing in regards to sharpness and noise - i recently started a thread describing the amount of noise I am getting, at the same time I want to go wider and faster as I like doing landscape and architecture shots (would also like a good lens for macro as well but might consider a macro lens later), something good for portraiture would be good as well. Anyway, there are a few options available. I know its a much debated question, the 12-60 or the 14-54, but my options are:

1. The 12-60mm f2.8, from what I've read in posts and reviews its awesome, very sharp, some weird distortion at the wide end but unnoticeable at and after 13mm, fast, can be good for portraiture and macro as well - blurs the background nicely compared to some 4/3rds lenses. expensive. this lens would also close the gap of the focal length to the 70-300 i currently have - but this probably isn't a necessity?

2. The 14-54mm f2.8, not as wide as the 12-60 but with 12mm unusable would an extra 1mm on the 12-60 really be worth the extra $$$? is this lens as sharp as the 12-60? how does this lens perform in macro and portraiture and blurring the background compared to the 12-60?

3. The 11-22mm, from what I've researched, very sharp also, no visible distortion even at widest - this lens sounds great, but would I only be limited to landscapes and architecture with this lens and not so much good for portraiture or macro? is anyone using this lens, what are your thoughts?

Almost for the price of the 12-60 I could get a Nikon D90 with a half decent 18-100 or something lens. I went to my local camera shop this afternoon and the old guy expert took a shot down the street with the e620 with the 9-18mm iso 100 lens on a tripod, then the same shot again with the D90, spat them onto the pc and there was a noticable in the noise and image sharpness the D90 won hands down.

There is also a special at the moment on the D300 with an upmarket lens, I'd prefer to stick with the system I have - love the compact size as i do a lot of travel and the flip out LCD screen (except for the almost unusable small viewfinder and small LCD screen) but with an ISO anything over 400 pretty much unusable, therefore having to lug a tripod everywhere or resort to using flash is not as much flexibility as I'd like. Would 1 or a combination of the above options improve the image quality especially in low light? What is the future of 4/3rds systems? full frame sensors seem to still maintain 90% of the dslr market, its a lot of $$$ to spend on a necessary lens upgrade when the system may not be around in the future.

After a month with the 12-60mm I can tell you it is a really awesome lens. Really fast on the E3 and sharper than the 14-54mm. But being a SWD lens I am not sure you will get the extra speed on the 620. So you may should look more into the 14-54mm. It does Macro and lacks distortion on either side. I haven't used the 11-22mm but think you are right. It is more geared for landscape. So if I were you unless I were about to upgrade to the E3 then I would be looking at the 14-54mm, but remember it is a heavy lens.
As far as noise. I can't comment on the 620 I was more into the 500 series. A good lens is not going to help with the noise. Smaller lighter weight cameras are just going to produce more noise than the bigger ones. There is a trade off there.

Thanks Greg, as always some helpful advice there. I guess I could get the 14-54 and the 50mm macro lens for not too much more than the price of the 12-60mm, as i've already budgeted for the 12-60, however the sharper and wider end is what im really after and you say that its sharper than the14-54, macro lens can wait.

How does the 12-60mm handle macro and portrait shots?

Do you know if the weird distortion at 12mm can be fixed in post processing (I have lightroom and cs4)?

There's another thread, which I started, on the 12-60 versus the 14-54. You should read that too. I ended up with the 14-54 and am happy with it, though I've only had a small amount of time to shoot with it.

I also own the 11-22. I absolutely love that lens. And while it obviously isn't a "portraiture" lens, it's very useful for people shots in small spaces, or for the non-traditional people shots where you want to be a little more creative. But then, I've used my 8mm for people shots. I would consider the 11-22 my most common "walking around" lens and the longer one goes on for the times when I feel like I may need a little zoom range.

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Originally Posted by Georgeo

Thanks Greg, as always some helpful advice there. I guess I could get the 14-54 and the 50mm macro lens for not too much more than the price of the 12-60mm, as i've already budgeted for the 12-60, however the sharper and wider end is what im really after and you say that its sharper than the14-54, macro lens can wait.

How does the 12-60mm handle macro and portrait shots?

Do you know if the weird distortion at 12mm can be fixed in post processing (I have lightroom and cs4)?

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I haven't done much Macro since getting the 12-60mm but I am sure as a good of a lens that it is it has to be pretty good. I am sure the skewing tools in CS4 could handle the distortion too. I skewed the last shot I had in the critiques forum slightly and it worked fine. I wasn't skewing distortion as much as just adding a touch of symmetry due to a misaligned shot. I have used PS7 for a few years and just the skewing tools there work wonders.

Ok, I think I've been talked as well as talked myself into the 12-60mm. Might see if I can get something for the 14-42mm to throw towards it - ebay maybe?

Fot the ultra wide angle lenses, since the 7-14mm is outa my league price-wise, and the 11-22mm would be pointless for the price with the 12-60mm, what other 3rd party lens options are available for the olympus E- series cameras? I believe there is a sigma 10-20mm is this right? if so, how do they rate as far as distortion and sharpness? I really want something for those dramatic landscape shots. Does anyone know of any other 3rd party lenses that would be suitable?

There is also the 9-18mm. It is a standard grade lens and you can get a used one for around 400.00.

I really enjoy my 9-18mm.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...tonemapped.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...ockBridge3.jpg

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Originally Posted by Georgeo

What is the future of 4/3rds systems? full frame sensors seem to still maintain 90% of the dslr market, its a lot of $$$ to spend on a necessary lens upgrade when the system may not be around in the future.

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Full frame DSLRs control LESS THAN 10% of the market. Smaller is the future.

Full-frame sensors are only an interim solution until sensor technology improves to where it's not necessary. The only reason to use it is for higher sensitivity and less noise, but every day there's an improvement in both of those for all sensor sizes. I don't think it will be all that long before you get a 4/3 sensor with ISO in the many tens of thousands and nearly zero noise. Then why would you want a full-frame sensor?

Currently when I show my ISO 3200 shots from the E-620, people are shocked at how little noise they have. And this isn't a high-end camera.

Has anyone had any experience buying new lenses on ebay? There is a significant saving on new 12-60mm lenses compared to online shops, is it safe to buy on ebay? ie is there a possibility that these are factory seconds or lenses that have failed the factory tests? they claim to be brand new from hong kong, so using paypal it looks to be a good thing?

I didn't see any great prices from the Hong Kong sellers. They all wanted around $60 for shipping, too. I have purchased two used lenses from private sellers on eBay, and both deals worked out great.

Also, you will not be getting a US warranty with the foreign lenses. This has been an ongoing mail order problem for decades. Cheaper foreign stuff has no US warranty.

Yeah your right about the warranty, it does'nt have warranty for here in Australia as well. I shopped around and couldnt find any used ones and decided to go with the local dealer, got about a bit off the rrp - a bit more expensive but have the piece of mind if something goes wrong with it - supporting local business as well i guess.

Which type of UV filter would be recommended? the shop where i bought the lens only has kenco ones, i have hoya filters on my other lenses and as far as i know hoya and tiffen seem to be the best?

I use to use a UV all of the time but have stopped. The lens hood offers plenty of protection unless you are shooting in a harsh environment. But a Hoya or Tiffen would work. I bought my lens used mine and came with a Tiffen just remember when it comes to filters you get what you pay for.

The advantage to larger sensors is not necessarily the high ISO and noise... Think about digital medium format cameras which usually cannot go about 800 ISO...

the Depth of Field REALLY makes a difference. I have a 30mm F1.4 lens for my camera. This has an effective focal length of 60mm and although it can replicate the fast shutter speeds that go along with 1.4, it cannot match the bokeh that a 60mm F1.4 will have on a full frame camera. And the difference is big. Two full stops... so the image looks like a 60mm F2.8

On an APS-C sensor its only 1 stop, so F2.0

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Originally Posted by Atomic2

The advantage to larger sensors is not necessarily the high ISO and noise... Think about digital medium format cameras which usually cannot go about 800 ISO...

the Depth of Field REALLY makes a difference. I have a 30mm F1.4 lens for my camera. This has an effective focal length of 60mm and although it can replicate the fast shutter speeds that go along with 1.4, it cannot match the bokeh that a 60mm F1.4 will have on a full frame camera. And the difference is big. Two full stops... so the image looks like a 60mm F2.8

On an APS-C sensor its only 1 stop, so F2.0

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Very goop point. It makes me wonder what the thing is about the 50mm 2.0. It really is a 100mm. I had an old Yashica lens, 50mm, in my film days that had killer bokeh. I also have it with my 50mm Summicron lens I use on my Leica.