Motorcycle Man

Of the two kit lenses that I got when I bought my Olympus E-500 the longer lens never got as much use just because of the greater light demands.

But now I realize it is a MUCH better lens than the standard 'short' one.

Anyone else using kit lenses notice a huge disparity in image clarity between lenses?

Btw it is the Zukio 40 - 150mm 3.5-4.5 and the Zukio 14 - 45mm 3.5-5.6.

As an example here is a pic with the 40 - 150mm.



And the 14 - 45mm.



Now I know these are vastly different pics, but they are fairly representative of how the focus always seems 'soft' on the 14 - 45mm.
Also, even though the depth of field is very short on the first pic there is very little focal distance between the flowers. On the second pic with similar distance (just trust me on that) there is none of the nice blurring in the background.

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All images shot using Olympus E500 Evolt, 8mp, kit lenses.

plummy

if all the lenses performed the same way, how many lenses do you suppose people would have?

variety is the spice of life

Motorcycle Man

I know that silly girl, but one seems to be much higher quality than they other and both are only kit lenses.

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All images shot using Olympus E500 Evolt, 8mp, kit lenses.

jezterr

how are you measuring quality, though? because there's a difference in comparing two different lenses' attributes (ie depth of field, angle of view, etc) to actual image quality (aberrations, color tone, sharpness). from the sounds of it, you're just preferring the longer lens' shallower depth of field, which is due to it being a longer lens, not necessarily because it produces actual higher quality photos.

it's like comparing a rifle with a handgun. i bet you'd get better 'quality' images of, say, landscapes with the shorter lens, but better sports images with the long range lens.

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plummy

they're designed to do different things. making two different lenses designed to perform differently in varying conditions actually do the same thing with the same type of result is always going to produce something that isn't identical to the other.

as such my first post was suppose to imply.

like mentioned, your definition of "higher quality" seems to be pointed more towards the bokeh when not all lenses can make that fuzzy awesome. not all lenses will wo...

ugh, i give up.

eric

I think they both look like they were taken with kit lenses.

flatlander

What makes you say this?

plummy

poop

Motorcycle Man

I was meaning resolution, colour and sharpness.

Someday I might be able to afford good glass. Sigh.

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All images shot using Olympus E500 Evolt, 8mp, kit lenses.

plummy

credit - it's how america affords life.