Which zoomlens is the choice for my needs

I used the 9-18 a lot because 9mm is so much wider than 12mm (as you can see yourself as you have it now). Especially in "meetings" where you cannot easily shoot a panorama because of moving subjects it is useful to have 9mm. And when being a tourist you often want quick snaps and panning for a panorama is too much work (as is the post-processing).

I did not use the 75-300 a lot, partly because of shooting style, but partly also because I only do handheld shots and at 300mm with such a slow lens the number of keepers was rather low and often the iso too high as well.

I replaced the 9-18 by the 7-14, which is expensive and large, 7mm is again quite a bit wider than 9mm. I replaced the 75-300 by the 40-150 pro with TC, also expensive and large but faster and heavier making it easier to hold and get keepers.

In your case it sounds like you have the (non-pro) 40-150 so hold on to that and enjoy the 9-18 for its wide end. The 75-300 will show difficult to handle (unless you use a tripod) so you won't get much more beyond 150mm than you do now. The 9-18 is a small easy to use and useful gem.

Okapi001 wrote:

stewart hull wrote:

Hi John, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I'm not too fussed about it being a zoom, are there any "budget" primes?

You should consider Olympus 9mm body cap. Despite the name it's in fact perfectly usable ultra-wide-angle lens, and cheap. Also extremely small and convenient.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/olympus_9mm_f_8_fisheye_body_cap_review/conclusion/

Another option is Samyang 7.5mm fish-eye, also quite inexpensive, rather small, sharp ... A must-have for the m4/3 system.

The Samyang 7.5mm fisheye is a great lens, very sharp and light. For many uses de-fishing takes care of unwanted extreme distortion. Manual focus as are many wide angles. I tried the 9mm body cap but the f8 fixed aperture didn't suit me at all. I'm just about to put in an e-Bay bid on a 12mm f2 Samyang which is bigger and heavier than the fisheye but still looks OK: again, manual focus. All 3 of these are reasonably priced.

Maggie

Willem67 wrote:

Hi There,

I'm new on this forum.

I own a Olympus OM-D EM10, and after shooting with the standard kit lenses that came with the camera (14-42mm and 40-150mm) I have recently bought a 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens to upgrade my shooting results.

The difference between my old standard zoon (14-42) and the pro lens is amazing!
But now for the question.

I'm puzzling which way to go with extra lenses.

Most of the time I'll be using the 12-40mm lens, but I also like to make landscape and inside city photo's during my trips. And quite some time I use my 40-150 lens to get things close of take photo's or details that are not near.

With my new 12-40mm f2.8 lens I have more wide-angle than before, so I should be able to shoot better landscapes and building photo's. And the first results confirm that.

Now I have 2 options and I'm wondering what's the best way to go for me.
I don't have the money to buy more pro lenses (now), but the next two I can buy to give me more zoom opportunities:

1. Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6
2. Olympus ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II

What would be the better choice to add more useful zoom to my camera configuration?

Of course when you look to the 75-300 it has obviously the biggest range, but maybe the being able to zoom to 9mm has a bigger advantage than to go al the way to 300mm in regard to the kind of pictures I make??
Can anyone explain me what 9mm (as in the above mentioned lens) can bring me, or why you would (or should I) choose one lens over the other in this case?

I have the 9-18 lens now, but I'm thinking to trade it for a 75-300mm lens.
I do't have much experience in shooting wide angle and as far as I can judge, the only extra range I have is to be able to go from 12 to 9mm, because the range from 18 to 12 is covered by my 12-40 pro lens. Is that a big difference in actual possibilities, or does that not add much, and is 75-300 the beter wat to go anyway, because my pro lens would have sufficient wide angle?

greetings Willem

Unless you are doing wildlife, I might consider either the Olympus or Panasonic mid range zooms, ala 45-150. I had the Panny version and found it to be small, cheap, good AF, and pretty darn sharp. I did ultimately swap it for the Olympus 14-150 to get to a single lens solution for travel, but only after testing to make sure the 14-150 was as sharp as the 45-150.

Only you know your needs, so the correct question(s) would be:

Do I need something shorter than 12 mm? Do I need something longer than 150 mm?

And after you make clear for yourself, what you REALLY NEED, you can ask folks here, which lens they advice you to buy for chosen range.

Thanks for your advice,

Maybe the way I formulated my question is because English is not my native language, but what you say is true, but people seem to get the essence of my question.

kind regards Willem

Hi Willem,

English is nor my native language.
I have nearly the same combo - OMD EM-10 MK II, 12-40 PRO and 40-150R. And Panny 12-32 for just walking around, when I want to wear as light gear as possible. Focal range from 12 to 150 mm is huge and covers maybe 99 percent or more of all my needs/wishes.
Majority of my shots were taken at 12 mm, so maybe one day I shall buy small and lightweight UWA Laowa 7.5 mm/2 just to have wider angle of view. Do I need it or just wish it?
Sometimes, not very often, I wish to have something longer than 150 mm (and faster too, of course). But I am not willing to wear anything heavier than my small, light, cheap and otherwise very good telezoom. Do I need something longer or just wish it? I switched from APS-C to M43 because of the size, weight and price of the gear.
So (in my case) it is always struggle between my wishes to own something and willingness to wear it on my shoulder/neck for many hours just to make small percentage of shots, which I cannot do with my existing gear. Maybe I could do some of them, if I went a couple of steps forward, backward, use flash, tripod or make some panorama shots. These are just some of my thoughts about wishes, comfort/willingness to wear photo gear, investments and their real benefits (for me, of course).
I wish you a nice new week and good decision.