The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Venus 15mm f4.5 and the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Venus 15mm f4.5 is the longer of the two lenses at 48mm. The Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ with a length of 23mm, is 25mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Venus 15mm f4.5 also has a larger diameter of 70mm compared to the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ's 61mm diameter.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ weighs 91g, 70% (217g) lighter than the Venus 15mm f4.5's weight of 308g.
Filter Threads
The Venus 15mm f4.5 has a filter size of 62mm whereas the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ has a 37mm diameter. Larger filters are generally more expensive than the smaller ones given all the other features are equal.
Below are links to the 62mm filters that we recommend you to consider for the Venus 15mm f4.5:
And these are the 37mm filters that we recommend for the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ:
Lens Mounts
The Venus 15mm f4.5 has the Leica L lens mount whereas the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ has the Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with these mounts are Leica SL3-P, Panasonic S1 II and Panasonic S1 IIE for the Leica L Mount and OM System OM-3 Astro, OM System OM-5 II and OM System OM-3 for the Micro Four Thirds Mount.
Venus 15mm f4.5 is also available in the Sony E , Nikon Z and Canon RF mounts.
Focal Range
Venus 15mm f4.5 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 15mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
22.5mm.
On the other hand, the Olympus ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ has a focal range of 14-42mm and 3.0X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 28-84mm when used on a FourThirds format camera.
