Best Prime Lens to Buy in the Format

Rupert The Camera Man wrote:

I meant the angle of view. The image quality of a disposable is what I'm trying to get away from:-D

Point and shoot film cameras of the 70's to 90's were mostly Instamatic (126) and pocket (110) film. They all had angle of views between 15 and 25mm in MFT terms.

More upmarket viewfinder cameras of that vintage used 135 film with 35 or 40mm lenses (in MFT terms 17 to 20mm).

The 20mm Panasonic lens that many recommended is probably the best approximation to reproduce the feel of such old cameras. It also fits well with your camera, and with your requirement to be small and to have good image quality. It costs considerably less than your budget, you could almost buy two lenses with $500.

If you do not mind spending the whole budget on just one lens, and want a really top performing lens (albeit a little larger), consider the 15mm Panasonoc/Leica instead. Its angle is slightly wider, but you can always crop your image and still retain a far better image quality than the old cameras had.

That said, if you buy the camera with a kit zoom, use it with the zoom for a few weeks before buying another lens. Check the image metadata to see what focal lengths you are using most, then use this information to make your prime lens choice. And who knows, you may be perfectly happy with the zoom alone. Zoom lenses have improved dramatically in size and quality since the the film times.