Lumix kit zoom lenses compared

Fans have been puzzled over the large number of kit zoom lenses released by Panasonic. Why reiterate this formula so many times, when the original Lumix G 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 was so good, many will ask.

The answer is probably three-fold: To cut costs, to make the lens smaller, and to improve the quality. Here are the lenses sold in kits after the original zoom lens:

In the front, I have the Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 and the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 DN, which I will use as reference lenses. After all there are plenty of those who think that a prime lens is always better than a zoom lens, and we shall see if it is true.

Systems compared

When buying into an interchangeable lens camera system, it is wise to evaluate the system as a whole, not just the most recent cameras. Perhaps you find the full sensor 4K and 28MP resolution of the Samsung NX1 intrieging, but is the rest of the system to your liking?

I have tried to compare the camera and lens lineup that a serious enthusiast would typically buy. Now, there are no two equal enthusiasts, of course, so this comparison is not going to be relevant for everyone. But I am going to assume that a typical serious user wants an ergonomic camera body, with a lineup of a fast normal lens, a fast standard zoom lens, a fast tele zoom lens, and a wide angle zoom lens.

Sure there are other lens types as well, for example one might want a fast wide angle lens, a portrait lens, and even a fisheye lens. But in this comparison, I am keeping it simple.

The stars indicate a fitness to purpose, i.e., how well would a serious enthusiast think that this lens satisfies the expectations? This is of course quite subjective.

	Camera	Fast normal	Fast standard zoom	Fast tele zoom	Wide angle zoom
Panasonic M4/3 Total price: US$4,790 Total weight: 1,725g	US$1500 560g	US$600 200g	US$900 305g	US$950 360g	US$840 300g
Olympus M4/3 Total price: US$5,050 Total weight: 2,429g	US$1100 497g	US$350 136g	US$900 382g	US$1400 880g	US$1300 534g
	Micro Four Thirds You'll find the biggest and most mature lens lineup among mirrorless camera systems in Micro Four Thirds. I have made two rows in the table, for Panasonic and Olympus separately, but you can mix them if you want. For the zoom lenses, you would normally want to match the brand names, though, as they have different strategies towards image stabilization. I deducted a star off the Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera, as it is not super for video use, and it is aging a bit now. We can expect a new version of the camera within the next year. Look out for: Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye (my review), probably the best value fisheye lens ever.
Samsung NX Total price: US$5,010 Total weight: 2,380g	US$1300 550g	US$210 85g	US$1300 622g	US$1600 915g	US$620 208g
	Samsung NX Samsung has been very innovative and packs a lot of features into their products. They have a very good value for money at the moment, but the lens lineup is still a bit immature for what a serious enthusiast expects. They don't have a "proper" normal lens, for example, and not a very wide zoom lens. For the most bang for buck, keep watching Samsung.
Fujifilm X Total price: US$5,030 Total weight: 2,687g	US$1150 440g	US$450 187g	US$1200 655g	US$1600 995g	US$800 410g
	Fujifilm X Fujifilm have been good at addressing the "conservative" serious enthusiast, who expects retro designed cameras with old style shutter dials, and aperture rings on the lenses. At the same time, they also pack their cameras with very innovative technology. Looking at their lineup of lenses and cameras, they have come very far in the relatively short time span of their mirrorless endeavour. They are committed to the APS-C sensor size, and will not be developing full frame cameras.
Sony E APS-C Total price: US$2,400 Total weight: 1,185g	US$550 344g	US$450 155g	US$300 116g	US$350 345g	US$750 225g
	Sony E APS-C Sony were one of the first movers into mirrorless, but appear to have abandoned their APS-C offerings at this point. They are probably going to release an update of the Sony a6000 camera soon, but they don't appear to plan releasing more enthusiast friendly lenses for this system. Their kit lens is quite poor, see my test here. And there is no fast tele lens. Look out for: Yasuhara Madoka 180, a compact, well performing, afforable circular fisheye lens. See my review.
Sony E Full-frame Total price: US$5,850 Total weight: 2,357g	US$1700 600g	US$1000 281g	US$1200 426g	US$1500 850g	US$450 200g
	Sony E Fullframe On the other hand, it is clear that Sony's focus now is to make a proper fullframe mirrorless system. This is where the bigger margins per unit are. Looking at the table above, you'll see that the Sony fullframe system is the most expensive, but not by a big margin. Looking at the weights, the system is not that heavy. But keep in mind that the lenses are much more bulky than the other systems here. So even if you don't need to carry heavy, you'll need a larger bag anyway. However, the zoom lenses are not as fast, and there is no wide angle zoom lens yet. But I am sure Sony are going to fill these gaps soon, especially the wide angle lens. They appear very committed to this fullframe system. Look out for: Several different versions of the camera, Sony a7R (high resolution, but somewhat sluggish performance), Sony a7S (high sensitivity and 4K video), and Sony a7 II (basic version, features in-body image stabilization).
Nikon 1 Total price: US$2,090 Total weight: 841g	US$1150 381g	US$190 70g	US$0 (included in kit) 85g	US$250 180g	US$500 125g
	Nikon 1 The Nikon 1 system, in general, does not have what a serious enthusasist expects. There are no fast zoom lenses, and not many fast prime lenses beyond the Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 portrait lens. I would say the Nikon 1 system is only for those with very special needs. For example, with the extremely long and compact zoom lens Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, it is the best system for bird photography when you want a very compact and light combo. Also, the cameras have an impressively fast framerate, up to 60fps including full RAW capture. This makes it useful for sports and other types of specialized photography. But for general use, I would not recommend Nikon 1 now. The zoom lenses in the table above are certainly good, but not what a serious enthusiast is looking for in terms of the maximum aperture.

Other systems

I did not include the Canon EOS M system here, for obvious reasons: They don't have nearly a system yet, and no lenses which would make it to this list.

When people buy camera systems, a lot still buy DSLRs, i.e., not mirrorless cameras. I did not include DSLR systems on this list. But if I did, you would find that the prices are mostly the same, but the sizes are larger.

DSLR systems are very mature, which translates into moderate prices. But with the longer register distance due to the mirror, both the cameras and the lenses become bigger. And heavier.