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The Best lens ever made for m4/3

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Hope1943

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In your opinion, what is the best general purpose lens ever made, that is/was commercially available, for m4/3? Not looking for the best lens for a specific purpose. Just the best lens ever made for general purpose photography in the m4/3 mount that is/was readily available. Your opinions, please. Thanks

Peace.

John
 
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Debatable, of course, BUT…


Voigtländer 17.5mm

Voigtländer 42.5mm

PL 50-200mm
 
kcdogger said:
In your opinion, what is the best general purpose lens ever made, that is/was commercially available, for m4/3? Not looking for the best lens for a specific purpose. Just the best lens ever made for general purpose photography in the m4/3 mount that is/was readily available. Your opinions, please. Thanks

Peace.

John
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What is "general purpose photography"? Every lens has a specific purpose.
 
Based on specs and reputation, Oly 12-100/4 PRO.
 
Hope1943 said:
Hope1943 said:
Just the best lens ever made for general purpose photography in the m4/3 mount that is/was readily available.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
'General purpose' implies zoom for the widest range of uses, it implies that 25mm (most common focal length) be included, and it implies a reasonably wide aperture.

That leaves the m.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro, or the Panasonic-Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 if you want a bit more telephoto range or if you'll be using it on a Lumix body. Oh, and the Panny 12-35mm f/2.8 if you prefer a small lens).
 
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that would be PL 15/f1.7 which also happens to be my best lens. Distant second would be my Oly 45/1.8.
 
The PL 50-200mm f2.8-f4.

It's great for landscapes, portraits, street, travel, sports, close-ups and wildlife (especially if you can get the 1.4x TC). Quite handy in video too, especially on a Panny body with dual-IS.

And it hits the spirit of m43rds right on the head... it makes the right compromises to keep it much smaller than comparable lenses for larger formats while performing at a very high level and having great build quality.

The only thing that can be said bad about it is that it should have a bit more features for the price-point (it should have a focus limiter and some custom buttons).

Oh and why did Panasonic have to make that 1.4x TC a PITA to get...?
 
The Olympus 17mm f1.2, which I can’t imagine buying.

Most used is 12-45/4 or Laowa 10/2.

Andrew
 
In my book its got to be the 12-100/4, covers everything and even when used without ibis its still great.
 
PL 50-200mm hands down.

(Until an OM 50-250mm with TC allowance shows up...)
 
Danielvr said:
Danielvr said:
Danielvr said:
Just the best lens ever made for general purpose photography in the m4/3 mount that is/was readily available.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
'General purpose' implies zoom for the widest range of uses, it implies that 25mm (most common focal length) be included, and it implies a reasonably wide aperture.

That leaves the m.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro, or the Panasonic-Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 if you want a bit more telephoto range or if you'll be using it on a Lumix body. Oh, and the Panny 12-35mm f/2.8 if you prefer a small lens).
Click to expand...
Following this logic, the lens with the largest range is the best for it suits the most purposes. Lenses like the 12-200 would be candidates. I wouldn't say these are 'the best', most universal - maybe yes.
 
M.Zuiko 12-100/4 Pro hands down
 
For prime lens, the Olympus 17 F1.2 got my vote. My other prime lens, 25 F1.2 stay in the drawer.
 
Any of the recent OM f/4 lenses are great. I’ve swapped out my older f/2.8 Pro lenses for the f/4 variants and am very pleased. They cover the focal ranges from 8mm to 300mm.
 
I'de have to say this is probably the best zoom lens ever made for M43, perhaps the best standard zoom lens ever made for ANY system.

..

BUT!... it is not my choice.

..

My choice goes to the humble, inexpensive, infinitely affordable, and sumptuously prolific Zuiko 45mm f1.8. With a MCON-P02 attached has perfect close up potential. Made for stunning portraiture, with Bokeh to die for... it outperforms many of it's contemporaries, at a fraction of the price, making it a truly affordable portrait lens, that doubles as a perfect street, studio, event portrait lens. It truly shoots way above it's price range, and is a MUST have lens for any M43's system.

..

So for me... the Humble M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is THE best General lens ever made for M43. It also double as a fantastic vlogging and video lens, with ultra fast auto focus.
 
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