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Question: What is the difference in digital camera lenses?

(Posted by: JcL on 2009-01-03 12:54:34)

I want to buy digital camara but an confused about the lenses, Leica (Panasomic), Zeiss, etc. I was looking at Olympus Stylus model but there was no specs on the lens. Someone told me some lenses are glass (Leica & Zeiss) and they are the best. Olympus doesn't specify if theirs is glass or plastic. Thanks for your time.

Posted by: bashveank on 2009-01-03, 13:00:34

Yes, the best lenses are glass, however in a compact digital camera the sensor may not be high quality enough that you could even tell the difference between glass or plastic. The best thing you could do to test image quality is either go to a shop where you can shoot pictures yourself and compare the images to other similarly priced cameras, or look at the reviews on dpreview.com To answer your question directly, Olympus does not specify whether or not their lenses are glass, however on their website (olympusamerica.com) they do specify if the lenses are rated ED or not. ED (or Extra-low Dispersion) lenses are likely glass, as there would be little point to coating a plastic lens with ED fluid.

Posted by: qrk on 2009-01-03, 13:26:35

I would venture to guess that Olympus makes their own lenses for their cameras. They are one of the leading producers of optics. No need for them to use other lens makers. Olympus also has a distinguished name in microscopes. Any name brand camera will have decent optics. Cameras that take color images generally use optical glass that is coated. If you look at the Olympus web site, you will see that the lenses used in their point & shoot cameras are quite complex.