Lenses for M43

Gidday MZ

I went the opposite direction recently. I already have a plethora of UWA and normal zooms, including the FTs 11-22 and 14-54 MkII. Both of these are too large, heavy and obvious for social photography and happy snaps in general.

My good lady wife bought me an Olympus mFTs 14-42 EZ collapsible pancake zoom for Christmas. It is an MSC lens (movie/stills compatible), and has both manual focus and (electronic) zoom rings. It is about 22 mm thick when retracted, and automatically extends and retracts when my E-M1 is switched on and off.

Optically nothing to write home about (not in the same ballpark as the 11-22 and 14-54 ... ), nor very fast (f/3.5-5.6).

However, it is tiny and very unobtrusive. My E-M1 looks like a P&S with it fitted, and who takes any notice of these? Also cheap (AUD$ 230), with a metal mount. Not weather sealed.

This combo will fit in a belt pouch I bought many years ago for my truly tiny Nikon Coolpix E5000, including the OEM camera strap, flash, extra battery and card. Just terrific when I want the camera with me, but am not doing any 'serious' photography.

I can take photos at social gatherings with this that I could not otherwise get. Took it to a Christmas party last night. Worked well. Also got some very ordinary (actually surprisingly good!) night city shots on the way home at up to ISO 12,800.

To sum up: the lens is nothing to write home about - just pretty OK, but is very well suited to the purpose for which I bought it.