Best M4/3 for Video?

Of all the mid-range zoom lenses, which one would be the best option for video?

So the sake of cost I was looking at the 14-42mm Pansonic PZ. Nauticam suggests using it behind the 35 Macro Port, but I was wondering if I would be unhappy with it behind the 45 Macro Port I just got for the 45mm Macro lens. Will the extra air space be noticeable? I most likely will not be using the 14-42 for much macro but it would a great topside lens and versatile lens for video u/w as well as take casual photos on the same dive. Is the proper port worth the extra ~$300?

If you would choose any M4/3 lens for UW video, which one would it be?

Peter Rowlands from UWP Magazine uses a GX7 with the 14-42 PZ lens, the 35mm flat port and wide wet lenses for his video. I think you’d have a problem with IQ if you use a 45mm port, that 10mm of empty space on the inside of the port will not be favourable for your image quality.

The 14-42 lens needs a shorter port as the lens is small or it will vignette at wide end. Note that this lens is designed for video is ok for quality and sharpness but no amazing at all and also quite slow at f/3.5

There are 3 options all panasonic (as Olympus video codecs are crap) for 4:3 video

1. Panasonic GH4

2. Panasonic GX7

3. Panasonic LX100

The GH4 is the best of the lot but also the most expensive it has 4K video.

The GX7 and the LX100 have the same sensor but the GX7 is an ILC the LX100 fixed lens. The LX100 has 4K and the same processor of the GH4 but no video output. Also even as a compact there is a changeable port system. The GX7 has only AVCHD and limited mp4 options so all in all does not do better than a Sony RX100 mark II once you put wet lenses on.

I am waiting for Mr Tattersall to have an LX100 housing with dome available so that I can play with it in the pool

For the sake of cost, the 14-42mm PZ lens is the way to go, and the port 35 is what make it works underwater. This lens is versatile enough for macro and wide angle. When using it for macro (have to have diopter), you can get pretty close. I have some sample and you can check it out at the Video section of this forum, under the GH4 macro discussion. For wide angle, you can attach wet lens, and I will post some info next week. You have to know the limitation of the 14-42mm lens, it's not fast, so if you always dive at sunny tropical water and not going too deep, it gets the job done.

If Nauticam make a flat port for the 12-35mm lens, then it would be the best all around lens to use, but there is no flat port for that lens, and the lens is expensive, hence I'm gearing toward the LX100 because of the lens quality, and don't care about HDMI out.

By the way, a great top side lens for the GH4 would be the 14-140mm. I just purchased it and it's the same speed as the 14-42mm, but with longer zoom so when you're on the boat and need to zoom to take photo/video of island, or other boat that's far away, you have the freedom to do that. However, some batches of the 14-140mm lens has "micro jitter" issue when taking video, I tried mine and it's fine. So, many people prefer the Mega OIS version of the 14-140mm instead of the Power OIS version.