Lenses for M43

emzee wrote:

John King wrote:

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.

Thanks for the feedback. I am leaning towards the Panasonic 14-42mm II lens as the zoom.

I will be getting my Panasonic 25mm F1.4 tomorrow (Today I got the GX8 and 15mm lens). However, I am thinking of returning (or declining the package) of Panasonic 25mm F1.4 and looking at the Olympus 25mm F1.8. Based on the images viewed in various photographic sites, I do not know whether Panasonic 25mm F1.4 is really worth. I understand that it is F1.4, but Olympus 25mm F1.8 is not far behind.

Any comments?

regards,

emzee

I'd actually go for the new 25mm f/1.7 from Panasonic for best value for money. It's every so slightly faster than the Olympus, it's very sharp and performs well in all other aspects as well. It's also optimized for the DFD autofocusing systems so it's focuses really quickly. You can have one for under $300 right now.