What is the optical quality difference between grades of Olympus lenses?

Question

Olympus makes 3 lens grades: Standard, High and Super High.

The Standard 14-42 f3.5 weighs 190 grams and cost $100. The High 14-54 f2.8 weighs 435gr and costs $400. The Super High 14-35 weighs 900 gr and costs as much as a Cadillac.

Weight and price aside, is the optical performance (spatial resolution and color trueness) really that much better with the higher grade lenses?

Answer 1

The main difference is the lens speed. The standard is f/3.5, the high is f/2.8 which is 1 stop faster, and the super is f/2, which is two stops faster. That means, basically in light conditions where you have your aperature wide open with the f/2 and a shutter speed of 1/60, perhaps  you need to have the ISO at 400. Under the same light conditions, for the f/2.8, you would need the ISO at 800 and for the f/3.5 you would need the ISO at 1600.

If you are concerned about optical quality, you might want to consider a fixed focal length.  Zoom lens give up some quality. A fixed focal length, say 21mm or so may be sharper than the super high 14-35.  

Answer 2

Very little in actual application.

All Olympus lenses are of excellent quality.  If you do tests on similar lens lengths in the field, you will see what I mean.  If you think of it, any time your get a 1% increase in quality of any device the cost escalates exponentially.

Actually Olympus has done themselves a disservice by listing them with a "Good, Better, Best" scheme ... buy what you need or can afford .. they may not be the same thing ... maybe they should call them, "what  real people can afford,  if you can afford these, you are probably a pro and These are so expensive, we can't even afford them".

Answer 3

I think some people would justify the extra money getting the 14-54 rather than the 14-42. If you can't see the difference then it wouldn't matter. For me, I see pictures using the 14-54, and they are really great. Colors are more saturated, and there's much more contrast. The lens is very sharp and has good bokeh. To me these are qualities which make it worth the price. I feel it's one of the best standard zoom lens you could get at a reasonable price.

I would personally get the 14-54 over the cheaper kit lens because of the larger 2.8 aperture (faster lens) and the quality of the build. I would not buy the 14-35 because of its expense and its weight. Even if it does have better color rendition over the 14-54, it's too impractical to carry such a lens around all day