OM-D -- Eliminate 1 Lens from 4 Choices

Which one single lens would you eliminate from the 4 choices if you were to hold only 3 lenses in your perfect system?

Choices (All Primes):

Olympus  12mm              2.0

Panasonic/Leica 25mm      1.4

Olympus 45mm      1.8

Olympus 75mm     1.8

Which one must go?

Depends on what you shoot and what focal length ranges you use...

Don't get too brainy. Just eliminate one and retain the remaining 3.

Which 3 can nicely co-exist in your world if you could only have 3 lenses from the list?

I don't shoot much in the 50mm range so these would be my choices.

Olympus 12mm 2.0

Olympus 45mm 1.8

Olympus 75mm 1.8

That 12mm will probably be my next lens after my wallet gets over my 35mm f/1.4 Sigma FF lens purchase last week.

--
Allen
___________
"Easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
-- Frederick Douglass

The 12 or 75 for me.

12 because of 12-35 zoom. ..

75because I feel It's too telephoto for most shooting needs although it is considered the sharpest lens

Forget the 12mm and add the Panasonic 7-14mm!

The 75mm

I own the 25mm & 45mm & have the 12mm on my wish list.

The 45mm is probably the lowest build quality of these four but it is an absolute gem. Its great for portraits and people pictures and quite useful for general photography. The 25f1.4 is a normal lens and indispensable for me. The fast aperture allows shooting without flash in quite dim lighting. The 12mm is on my wish list for scenics, interiors and for situation where the massive dof allows you to set focus to manual and not have to worry about AF.

So that leaves the 75mm out in the cold. I like long lenses but this is not all that long. If I had one I would have to work out what kind of pictures it works well for. From what I have read about it it is a really good lens, but I don't have any identified need for it.

Regards

John

I thought about that also but that 12mm with it's small size is a pretty nice lens, and you can use filters on it.

--
Allen
___________
"Easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
-- Frederick Douglass

Well, if it were me I'd get rid of both the 45 and 75 and add the 60mm macro. That gives me:

12mm -- landscapes an' stuff

25mm -- dark stuff

60mm -- short telephoto for portraits, macro

If I'm not allowed to do that I'd get rid of the 45 -- even though it's a fantastic lens I imagine most of the things it can do can be done with the 25 or 75 by taking a few steps forward/back.

If you sell the 7-14 send me a pm.

I keep something wide, probably the 25 and 75....

Tough call Jeff....

Bill

--
Bill Wallace
http://bwallace.zenfolio.com/
"Mister I ain't a boy no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land"....

I would agree with this as well.

the 12 and 25 and get the 17/1.8 instead... but that's me- I don't do 'normal' and I've got a 9-18 for wide.

What are your needs?  What is your planed use for each lens?

--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"

Same opinion here. I have the 45mm and the 25mm, and am planning on getting the 12mm as soon as my wallet recovers from the 25mm purchase.

I've read that the 75mm is a good lens, but I personally wouldn't get much use out of it. It isn't long enough to really reach out to distant objects, it's too long for most "portrait" situations that I would encounter, and so I just wouldn't use it.

I find the 45mm just perfect for portraits, and it's fast enough to do a decent job of blurring backgrounds. The 25mm is a great all-around lens, although I frequently wish I had something wider, which is why I want the 12mm.

In retrospect, with the Oly rebates going on, I wish I had bought the 12mm before the 25mm...

Why do a majority of people automatically associate "landscape" with wide angle lens?

landscape with zoom lens 50mm or above

Despite the possibility that it might be the best optically, the 75mm (at least in my world) would be used the least.  Given that I own the 12mm, 20mm and 45mm, and have made due without the 75mm (although I do have the Oly 75-300), past shooting experiences agree.

This is not to say that I won't end up buying the 75mm anyway, as I do have uses for it.

--
http://jcharding.zenfolio.com/

Thanks for this.  I often ask the same question.  It's pretty rare that I shoot landscapes wider than 35mm equiv.  Often I'm zoomed way in to crop out unnecessary wasted space.

I would say that it depends on your specific uses, but if it was me, I would get rid of the 75mm as its the one I would use the least often.

Having said that, I just purchased one and its really nice.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelthek/

But that's because I'm cheating -- I'll use a legacy 50mm instead.

Tough call between the 45m and the 75mm.  I would not give up either the 25mm or the 12mm, both are just fabulous lenses.

The 45 is an excellent lens, but I find I use it rarely, and I almost never shoot anything at 75mm....

Probalby what I would do is give up the 45mm and use my favorite vintage 50mm in that focal range, but go with the 75 instead....

-J

If you have standard kit lens, I'd advise to eliminate 12mm.

And in my world 75mm is useless

--
Looking for equilibrium...