Entry into M43 - Panny GX85 12-32

12-32 is a good lens for its price.

It AFs as fast as any native M43 lenses, very sharp and compact. But have to prepare that under not ideal lighting condition it might sometimes misbehave. A few occasions for me: under an overcast day the off center tiny object might look bad (water color like formation, not well resolved etc). When shooting in very dark 12-32 basically can't focus despite of the AF confirmation. I think the old 14-45 be an overall better lens. However, because I need a wider end standard zoom (12 instead of 14), and the compact size of 12-32 is still not comparable by my other lenses, I put it on GF3/GX1 as a compact setup.

wembley1966 wrote:

New member here planning an entry into the world of small cameras and thinking M43.

My work camera is a Nikon D3s with the 14-24 attached nearly all the time. Real Estate Photographer and occasional event photographer. This would still be my go to work equipment and I absolutely love it. Also Own the Nikon AFS trinity.

My travel camera (back-up work camera) is a D700 usually with a 24-70 on it and the 17-35 and 70-200 in the bag.

I carried 7-14 f/4, 12-35 f/2.8 (originally 14-45) and 45-150 f/4-5.6 (originally 45-200) as my basic travelling gear covering 14mm ~ 300mm eq FF. With a GX85 and 2 spare batteries, a total weight of 1.345Kg.

Comparing to D700, 24-70 f/2.8, 17-35 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 of 4.319Kg or if 70-200 f/4 of 3.739Kg, a significant weight and size saving.

If you take 35-100 f/2.8 instead of 45-150, it would only add 160g to my package to 1.505Kg only.

I want to enter the world of small for travel and can get a Panny GX85 with the 12-32 brand new for $630.

Would this be a good entrance point for M43 to test the waters?

Yes if you would be happy with the non weatherproof GX85, and its more on the causal side of video shooting. Opinion on 12-32 pls see top above. It is not bad but if size is not very essential to you (12-32 is 67g only), either 14-45 f/3.5-5.6 or 14-42 M2 f/3.5-5.6 could be a more sure quality combo to start up with.

Not been a video shooter but interested in the ibis 4k video option for travel. Like the idea of touchscreen, wifi capability and quality of the gx85.

In case if you are not familiar with Pany's touch LCD, please always remember to use "Disp" button to return the focus point back to center in case if it is naught and ran away. 

After many years of being a telephoto shooter (graduating to a 400 f2.8 afs) I have been shooting UWA and the 14-24 is my fav Nikon lens.

But traveling quite a lot at the moment and like a grab shot camera as well as the occasional 'serious' imaging too and tired of dragging the DSLR. Have liked shooting the wife's D5300 and 18-140.

Pany also has a 14-140 M2 f/3.5-5.6, sharp as pro zooms or even prime at similar f/stop. Just 265g in weight, 75mm long and has a filter thread of 58mm only. It is eq to 28mm ~ 280mm in FF. An excellent all-in-one lens solution.

So this is what I'm looking at to start with:

GX85 with pancake 12-32 $630 new

Oly 9-18 f4-5.3 M Zuiko $250 used (locally)

Not bad for its cheaper price and smaller/lighter weight and takes filter. But if you use to shoot ultra wide, 7-14 f/4 is not only wider, better IQ and sharp wide open across the frame... but a bit more money, larger, heavier (300g) and takes no filter. 7-14 f/2.8 of course is even better but more money, heavier...

possibly oly 17 f1.8 or pany equivalent for low light stuff if i can get used to such a small system and learning a whole new set-up.

Unless you are looking for the DoF, under the powerful Dual IS basically the possible extraordinary slow shutter speed might compensate quite a lot to the larger aperture of a lens. And not every prime would 100% produce better IQ over other M43 zoom lenses (Pro or consumer grade).

P.S. The following is not valid for better Oly bodies of more effective IBIS than Pany's pure IBIS.

According to my home testing, a non IS lens (like all of Oly's lenses) on GX85 might expect 2 stops of stability (compare to 1/F. length). So, says a f/1.7 lens on GX85 might shoot as a lens of around f/1.0. Under Dual IS, 12-32 on GX85, I found to have 4 stops of stability such that at f/3.5, it might be shoot as like a <f/1.0 lens... 12-35 f/2.8 on GX85 could provide an effective stability of 5 stops and some members recently warranted that G85 might reach 6 stops in another thread.

If i like the M43 system would also add a panny or oly 12-35 or 12-40 f2.8 and maybe a 40-150 f2.8 (based on images i've seen that show an image quality I'd be happy to compare with my current equipment).

Does this make sense and most importantly will someone who on a daily basis uses the D3s and 14-24mm be happy with the results knowing full well at probably 1/4 of the size and weight it will not be like for like.

I don't print large (1 or 2 among 7K+ shots for every trip), and my aged body can't carry a heavy camera bag walking for hours every day, I am more than happy to the compromise of M43 system.

Cheers

Wembley