Panasonic 14mm, Olympus 17mm, Sigma 19mm, Olympus 9-18mm, Which would you recommend?

baxters wrote:

Answell wrote:
What is wrong with the Olympus 14-42mm kit lens? unless you are after a faster lens with better DOF, I do not see the need to buy a fixed vs a zoom as a walk around lens. The 14-42mm is a very sharp little lens and can be purchased quite cheap especially on ebay. I used this lens together with the Panasonic 75-175mm on the EM-5 on a trip to Ottawa just recently, and the IQ IMO will be on par with any of the others mentioned...just not as good for DOF.

It's more than DOF. It's aperture. When the sun goes down, or I go indoors, and I want to keep on taking pictures w/o a flash, it's nice to have fast primes. It's even nicer if you have a prime that can deliver at f1.8.

I agree that the 14-42 does fine when there's enough light.

Yes, you are right. I was not thinking about this at the time. I mentioned the 14-42mm as these lenses are so outrageously  expensive that I am getting put off by Mft cameras. I love the Olympus EM-5 , and it was a real pleasure to use when I was in Ottawa, BUT,

I guess if I was coming to this format and the EM-5 was my first camera I might not think so, but my primary camera is a Nikon D7100 which I  enjoy very much , and there are so many great and older lenses available for the Nikon at reasonable prices that I just can't wrap my head around these prices for MFT. I do not mean to highjack this thread, but for months now I have been thinking of updating the EM-5 to the EM-1 and every time I look at the prices of these MFT lenses I cringe. I have not planned on getting rid of my Nikon as I have acquired many sharp lenses over the years, but I am seriously  thinking. Size and weight  is  not a problem for me although I must confess that I did not miss the Nikon on my trip. As a matter of fact, it was a revelation for me to get the IQ and the comfort in such a small package.

In light of this, it is very hard to recommend  just one lens for a trip as a wide is useful, just as a telephoto lens is, for the hard to reach places, so good luck with your choice.