Prime lens recommendations?

Hello,

A G7 will be mine in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for advice choosing prime lenses.
I am thinking about 2-3 primes in the 14-50mm range. I have read reviews but would like your real life experience. I shoot landscapes, street photography and everyday snaps/portraits of kids and family.

What about these lenses?

Panasonic 14mm F2.5?
Panasonic 42.5mm F1.7, Oly 45mm F1.8, Sigma 30mm F2.8 ?
Everyday lens in the 17-25 range... Leica 25mm F1.4 or, Panasonic 20mm F1.7 perhaps?

Kind regards
.lars

LarsRost wrote:

Hello,

A G7 will be mine in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for advice choosing prime lenses.
I am thinking about 2-3 primes in the 14-50mm range. I have read reviews but would like your real life experience. I shoot landscapes, street photography and everyday snaps/portraits of kids and family.

What about these lenses?

Panasonic 14mm F2.5?
Panasonic 42.5mm F1.7, Oly 45mm F1.8, Sigma 30mm F2.8 ?
Everyday lens in the 17-25 range... Leica 25mm F1.4 or, Panasonic 20mm F1.7 perhaps?

Tough question.

I've got lenses all throughout that range. After carrying various combinations over time, m favorites to carry are 17.5mm, 42.5mm and 75mm (all Voigtländers). A 25mm is a no-brainer, too.

So… 17mm f1.8, 42.5mm f1.7 to start. Add a 25mm f1.4 later on.

What about a Sigma 60mm f2.8? People who have them rave about them.

Another suggestion. Why not shoot with the kit zoom for a while and look at which focal lengths you shoot most… THEN decide. It's very easy to start wanting every lens in creation… see my gear list … and end up buying all sorts of things you may not REALLY want.

So, relax, take your time.

Paulmorgan wrote:

Firstly, what is your working budget ?

Bottom end.

Panasonic 14mm, Sigma 19mm, Olympus 45mm

Middle end.

Panasonic 14mm, Olympus 17mm, Olympus 45mm

Top end.

Olympus 12mm, Olympus 17mm, Olympus 45mm

Get the idea.

Thanks, I guess "Middle end" will fit my budget the most. Any particular reason you chose Oly 45mm instead of Pana 42.5mm? I considered the 42.5mm OIS as G7 does not have IBIS.

Kind regards
.lars

If you are interested in portability - and this is one of the strong points of micro4/3 - then the Pana 14 and 20 mm are musts. I have the Oly 45 mm and can assure you that this is an outstanding lens. If, however you are using a G7 without on camera image stabilization, then you should opt for the Pana 42.5 mm.

Regards,

Luiz

Many people here really like the 14mm lens, but I never warmed to it, though it does have the advantage of being incredibly tiny. I replaced it with the 15mm and like that lens a lot better, though it is more expensive. The Oly 17.5 f/1.8 is another option for a "street" lens.

For portraits, you might consider the 42.5, 45, or the Sigma 60 (excellent and inexpensive, but a bit slower at f/2.8).

Your choices as to the above might influence which lens, if any, you want to get in the middle. The Oly 25 is another option.

I have a G7 on pre-order. I see that B&H now lists expected availability as July 2 (I think it was once June 15, and it still is on Amazon).

jeffharris wrote:

Tough question.

I've got lenses all throughout that range. After carrying various combinations over time, m favorites to carry are 17.5mm, 42.5mm and 75mm (all Voigtländers). A 25mm is a no-brainer, too.

So… 17mm f1.8, 42.5mm f1.7 to start. Add a 25mm f1.4 later on.

What about a Sigma 60mm f2.8? People who have them rave about them.

Another suggestion. Why not shoot with the kit zoom for a while and look at which focal lengths you shoot most… THEN decide. It's very easy to start wanting every lens in creation… see my gear list … and end up buying all sorts of things you may not REALLY want.

So, relax, take your time.

Thanks. I have been using Pentax for many years.  I measured my most used focal lengths 5 years back in time:

24-28mm (APS-C) = 60%.  
55mm (APS-C) = 20%
15-21mm (APS-C) = 20%

So 17mm seems like a good start.

Kind regards
.lars

LarsRost wrote:

A G7 will be mine in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for advice choosing prime lenses.
I am thinking about 2-3 primes in the 14-50mm range. I have read reviews but would like your real life experience. I shoot landscapes, street photography and everyday snaps/portraits of kids and family.

A) For landscape, I would choose the widest automatic-focus prime: the M.Zuiko 12mm.

B) These days, about any focal length can be used for street photography. I'm using the M.Zuiko 12mm. If that's too wide for you, than the M.Zuiko 17,5mm is more conventional.

If you disagree and don't want the 17,5mm, then the Lumix 25mm F/1,4 could be your family portrait lens (and the second lens in your collection)

C) As a third prime, you could get a bright 42,5mm or 45mm lens. The best one is of course the PanLeica 42,5mm F/1,2. But if you want something more affordable, the M.Zuiko 45mm F/1,8 and the Lumix 42,5mm F/1,7 are as good. Get the cheapest one.

lahsrah wrote:

The Olympus 17mm F1.8 isn't that much bigger than the 20mm F1.7 especially considering the G7 body. I wouldn't get the 20mm F1.7 anymore its rather dated, yes its optically superb, probably sharpest M 4/3 lens under $500 and maybe in the top 3 of all time M 4/3 but the focus speed really brings it down, especially for night use.

Will the AF be just as fast on the G7? What about lens auto-correction? As I shoot RAW+JPEG lens auto-correction is not a deal-breaker but it's nice when you're in a hurry.

.lars

LarsRost wrote:

Paulmorgan wrote:

Firstly, what is your working budget ?

Bottom end.

Panasonic 14mm, Sigma 19mm, Olympus 45mm

Middle end.

Panasonic 14mm, Olympus 17mm, Olympus 45mm

Top end.

Olympus 12mm, Olympus 17mm, Olympus 45mm

Get the idea.

Thanks, I guess "Middle end" will fit my budget the most. Any particular reason you chose Oly 45mm instead of Pana 42.5mm? I considered the 42.5mm OIS as G7 does not have IBIS.

Kind regards
.lars

All of these lenses are quite small, so the lack of OIS is not going to be a killer. I have an E-M10 with Paul's top end set plus the Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 FE and the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro. I don't use the 12-40mm all that much, preferring to use primes. I had the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 DN until I gave it to my son. It is a great lens but the 45mm is much better and if you have one, you don't need the other.

I'm not really a landscape shooter but I went out for the day with a friend who is. Here's a couple I did with the 12mm, 45mm, and my recently acquired 7.5mm FE on my EPL-7. I never had anything wider than 28mm (14mm in M43) until I bought the 12mm f/2.0 with my E-M10. It has replaced the 35mm (17mm) as my most favorite focal-length.

Looking down on the Connecticut River and Pioneer Valley from Skinner Mountain, MA. It was morning and the valley was still quite foggy

This was done with the 7.5mm Fisheye on my EPL-5 later in the morning

Another fisheye shot looking South.

I don't use my 45mm all that often but, this was one of those times where it was the right choice.

Looking North from the bridge over the Connecticut River.

I've got a lot of m43 lenses, having first gone the prime route and later buying good zooms.

I really like the 14mm Panansonic. New examples can be had on ebay from Japan for less than $200, when they were more plentiful they were $169.

I had the 20mm Panasonic, and it is great optically. But the focus is pokey, especially on Olympus bodies. I also can't say I ever truly warmed to the oddball focal length.

I now have the 25/1.4 Panasonic, a truly great lens. But a bit on the bulky side and somewhat pricey. I may replace it with a 25/1.8 Oly to improve the chances of it being around when needed.

I have and love the Oly 45, but in your case I'd get the Panasonic 45/1.7 for the stabilization. Both great lenses.

But these days they rarely get used, and my 12-35/2.8 and 35-100/2.8 Panasonics certainly do. Consider that you could buy a 12-35 for less than the cost of the 14/25/42.5 combo. New gray market 12-35's are on ebay for ~$660, a terrific value.

I paid (gulp) $1099 retail for mine long ago, and the warranty isn't worth much as they don't break unless you break 'em. For that reason I've gone to buying all m43 lenses new via ebay from Japanese or Korean sellers. The savings are huge and the lenses reliable.

If you really want primes they are excellent on m43, but I'd actually recommend the 12-35 rather than spending more on 3 primes. It has no problem replacing all three in my use, and offers great stabilization.

LarsRost wrote:

Hello,

A G7 will be mine in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for advice choosing prime lenses.
I am thinking about 2-3 primes in the 14-50mm range. I have read reviews but would like your real life experience. I shoot landscapes, street photography and everyday snaps/portraits of kids and family.

What about these lenses?

Panasonic 14mm F2.5?
Panasonic 42.5mm F1.7, Oly 45mm F1.8, Sigma 30mm F2.8 ?
Everyday lens in the 17-25 range... Leica 25mm F1.4 or, Panasonic 20mm F1.7 perhaps?

Kind regards
.lars

Pancake: Pany 14mm f2.5 and Oly 17mm f2.8(not the 1.8)

Normal: Oly 25mm f1.8

Med tele: Oly 45mm f1.8

The 25mm and 45mm are usually for low-light or if I really need speed.  Otherwise 14mm or 17mm for (outdoors) family and street photography.

I find the 14mm and 17mm perfectly acceptable.  They are not as sharp as the 25mm which is the sharpest and fastest(as mentioned by many here) among my collection but sometimes sharpness is not everything

Thanks for all your advices.
Choices choices. ...

.lars

LarsRost wrote:

lahsrah wrote:

The Olympus 17mm F1.8 isn't that much bigger than the 20mm F1.7 especially considering the G7 body. I wouldn't get the 20mm F1.7 anymore its rather dated, yes its optically superb, probably sharpest M 4/3 lens under $500 and maybe in the top 3 of all time M 4/3 but the focus speed really brings it down, especially for night use.

Will the AF be just as fast on the G7? What about lens auto-correction? As I shoot RAW+JPEG lens auto-correction is not a deal-breaker but it's nice when you're in a hurry.

The 20mm's focus speed isn't a big issue when using Panasonic bodies. It's no speed demon, but it's fine. The G7 has similar low light performance specs as the GX7 and even in Silent Mode with the autofocus assist light disabled, AF works surprisingly well. It's not something worth worrying about. It's a great lens.