12-60mm or 14-54mm and 9-18mm?

[pomoville]

I've been thinking about getting a wide-angle zoom -- either the Olympus 9-18mm or perhaps a Sigma 10-20mm f3.5. The Olympus 11-22mm is tempting for its speed, but I'd really prefer if it were a bit wider.

I own the 14-54mm I and like it quite a lot, but I'm wondering if I might be better off trading up to the 12-60mm F2.8-4 in lieu of getting a separate wide lens. Would that be a better way to spend my money, in your opinion? I could always pick up a wider lens later on, but it's possible that 12mm might be wide enough to tide me over.

Any thoughts? Is the image quality that much better on the 12-60?

 

[exttreem]

My thoughts, in the Price of 12-60mm(not exactly), I am planning to buy, almost super-wide Olympus 9-18 and faster Olympus 14-54 both.
These 2 are enough to me for wide and fast.

Don't know about the quality, but 12-60 is lil heavier than 14-54 to be on GH1.

 

[Lpowell]

I've been thinking about getting a wide-angle zoom -- either the Olympus 9-18mm or perhaps a Sigma 10-20mm f3.5. The Olympus 11-22mm is tempting for its speed, but I'd really prefer if it were a bit wider.

I own the 14-54mm I and like it quite a lot, but I'm wondering if I might be better off trading up to the 12-60mm F2.8-4 in lieu of getting a separate wide lens.

I did exactly what you're considering, bought the Olympus 9-18mm (native M4/3 version) to complement the Olympus 14-54mm Mark II. Both of these lenses are superb on their own, and 12mm would not come close to what you see at 9mm. The 9-18mm auto-focuses on the GH1 in both AFS and AFC modes, and is so quiet you can barely tell when it's shifting focus. The 14-54mm with the M4/3 adapter is a substantial lens with a precise and solid feel, but not excessively heavy. I think the additional size and weight of the Olympus 12-60mm would be a drawback for me.