Question on M43

emzee wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to re-enter into the world of photography after a brief interval. I have used film SLRs in the past and in the digital world, I tried Pentax and Canon systems. Last one I used was Canon 5D Mark II with 24-105mm lens. However, after 2011, I did no spend any time on photography due to some personal reasons. Now I am coming back to the world of photography.

Good for you

My needs are family (kids - outdoor and indoor portraits), occasional landscapes, street photos. I want to enjoy the photography rather than worrying too much about the large equipment. Image quality is important, but I would not be printing anything more than 20x30 (that itself is very extreme as most of the time I would not be printing anything). M43 caught my attention as it looks to have the right balance of image quality with the equipment size. After all I would like to enjoy the photography as it is not a source of income for me.

Yeah a very large camera can suck the joy out of it.

Could someone help me to answers for the following questions

1) How good is the Panasonic GX-8 compared to some of the full frame options from Canon? (6D, 5D Mark III). Since I have used Canon 5D Mark II, I am quite familiar with Canon setup. Is image quality very much acceptable?

The gx8 is a great camera. All current m43 cameras are pretty much on par with image quality but the gx8 offers a tiny tiny bit more resolution. Im not sure about the 6d but current m43 options compare very well to earlier full frame options. The 5d mIII will be about 1 and 2/3 stops better in lowlight but that wont matter much if using fast lenses. Compared to the older mark II or mark I the gap is much smaller. I would say any current m43 camera takes better images than the original 5d.

I have some 16x20 inch prints on my wall right now that I made from my em5 mark II and they look fantastic. 20x30s will look amazing too.

2) What about the lenses like Panasonic 15mm, 42.5mm and 25mm (from Olympus and Panasonic)? I might opt for a superzoom also for video and I am thinking of getting Panasonic 14-140 for that.

all great lenses. The 15mm is fantastic and better than the olympus 17mm options. It is the second best semi wide lens in the system (the first being the 17.5mm nokton but that lens is manual only so you might not consider it)

the 42.5mm from panasonic is good as is the 42.5mm panaleica nocticron. The nocticron is considered by many the overall best lens in the system and if bought used on ebay you can get some great deals on it.

panasonic has two 25mm lenses. Both are very good. The 25mm f1.4 has alot of lovers and very nice rendering.

the 25mm f1.8 from olympus is very good as well but aome think it is more clinical (something attributed to many olympus lenses)

The 14-140 is a good superzoom hut may have ois jitters during video. Not all samples do however.

Really pretty much every m43 lens is very good. I cant think of any that are actually bad. Maybe the 15mm bodycap from olympus but its 50 usd and a body cap...that like saying a pinhole lens is no good. We wnjoy alot of great glass.

you can also check out the 75mm f1.8 if you want a great portrait lens. I don't buy af lenses but am interested in that one.

3) What about the flash systems in Panasonic world?

Sorry I cant help uou here. Panasonic supports hss and it and olympus use the same ttl protocols. Ive never used a panasonic or olympus flash besides a bundled one with my em5 II. I use manual unis from yongnuo which are a fantastic value

Regards,

Emzee.