Help! Need advice on best m4/3 prime lenses.

ultilil wrote:

Hi all, I'm hopin for some advice from you!

So I've gotten the prime lens bug. Here's what I've got already:

Camera: Olympus Pen E-P3

Oly 45mm f/1.8

Oly 40-150mm f/4

Oly kit zoom 14-42mm

I feel like I'm pretty satisfied on the upper range but lately I've felt seriously limited on the lower range. This is partly because I hardly ever use the kit zoom unless I have to. I use my iPhone over the kit zoom. It's not that I don't shoot at that range, I just don't like the lens.

So I'm looking for 1-2 more primes lenses to cover all my bases.

I've been using the 45mm for street shooting and portraits and love how fast and sharp it is but ironically its low light performance is lost on many indoor situations where the close quarters call for a much shorter range. I have also been shooting a lot of scenery lately so I would love a super wide lens at some point.

I tend to shoot primarily: portraits, scenery, some indoor (e.g. architecture, gatherings). Here's a link to my flickr page if that helps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljampol

Right now my 45mm lives on my camera and I would ideally like something with fast autofocus for a more spur-of-the-moment lens that is versatile in many situations. I don't care too much about size, because I always carey a purse/backpack.

Right now I'm considering these lenses (one immediately and maybe one in several months):

Panny 20mm f/1.7

Panny 25mm f/1.4 (I know this is a popular one but I'm nervous about it still being too long?)

Oly 17mm f/1.7

Oly 12mm f/2

Panny 7-14mm

Oly 9-18mm

Do you have any favorites or advice? I ideally want something to cover mid-range and super-wide, but don't want them to be redundant. Also, price is not a *huge* issue if the lens is totally worth it, but I'm definitely trying to not overspend. I'm also an amateur so I don't have a good idea of what it is like to shoot at wider angles (except the crappy kit lens) or what the possibilities for my work are.

If you could choose 1 now and 1 later, given what my prefs are, what would you choose?

Thanks so much in advance!

Without much more than glancing at a few photos, I would say use your kit lens taped off to various fixed focal lengths and see how you like the field of view.  Looking at some of your shots, I think you would be happy with either the Panny 20 mm f1.7 or the Oly 17mm f1.8.

Personally, I like the 17mm FOV more than a 25 mm, and would steer you toward the 17 mm because it is a fast lens, and a faster focusing lens than the 20mm.  This would fill out your need for a faster, lower light capable lens, hitting the wide normal end of the spectrum, and leave your 45 for the tele end.

After that,  I would go for the wide end, and here, it might be useful to try before you buy, even renting a wide angle lens, and taping the zoom ring to 12 mm and imagining how good things would be with an f/2 max aperture, or if the 7 or 9 mm FOV is just too much to pass on.  I like the 9-18 because it is small and light, sharp in the center, can get a little soft on the edges wide open, and can take filters...and is cheaper than the 7-14 or the 12 mm, but it depends on how much you need the wide angle in low light.  Admittedly, the 9-18 is slow, especially at 18.  That is why I suggest you get the 17 mm first to cover the low light and wide angle.  In the meantime, after you have some shots under your belt, you can rent a 9-18 or 7-14 and use them with the zoom ring taped to 12 mm to see how you get on.

Full disclosure, I have a 20mm, and love it for its sharpness and low light ability. Had the 17mm f1.8 been out at the time I bought, it might be a different story...I am not going to buy a 17 since I have a 20 however, so I will never know!