E-M1 II with 12-100 and PL25/1.4 or 12-40 and 25/1.2

Hi,

I've been wavering on changing from my GH4 set up (selling GH4+Grip+12-35+35-100+45-200) to either the D500 or E-M1 II. I want to have a bit of general fun with some creative photography as well as photographing my son playing in his football team - sometimes in low light and enjoy improving my PP skills as I enjoy that hence no X-T2 in the loop.

Trying to decide is really driving me potty but I seem to be leaning more the E-M1 II direction - GH5, possibly, but it's too video centric and a little big though the controls like the joystick is an attraction as my big nose does tends to move my focus area touching the LCD.

If I go the E-M1 II route I've been deliberating on what lenses to go for. I have the 40-150 Pro with 1.4x on the way as got a great deal but not sure on the 12-100 F4 though versatile it may be a bit restrictive with it's low light performance (does better IS balance it? not sure). If I do get the 12-100 I have two primes for low light in the PL 25/1.4 and Nocticron. The only problem with this choice is I like the look of the oly 25/1.2 (seems much sharper than the PL) but I can't afford to get the 12-100 with that lens. I would have to go for the E-M1 II with 12-40 in order to get the 25/1.2.

My choices are:

E-M1 II with 12-100 f/4 with my existing PL 25 f1.4 and Nocticron 42.5/1.2 and 40-150 f2.8 plus x1.4 TC (may also be able to afford to battery grip going this route).

or

E-M1 II with 12-40 f2.8 and 25/1.2 (sell PL25/1.4) , Nocticron 42.5/1.2 and 40-150 f2.8 x1.4 TC. (the faster lens set up seems the best option...?).

Once sorted I look forward to no longer having the dilemma and can get on with some happy snapping

Your advice on this is much appreciated

Rightly or wrongly, I prefer to buy what I really want, and don't mind waiting until I can afford it. I have the E-M1 mk2, 12-100 and 25 1.2 and consider it the best system for me given my requirements.

You don't need to sell any of your existing lenses. From the mention of 12-35mm I'm assuming those are the f/2.8 GX lenses. If that's the case, DO keep them - they really are excellent (I own both). Sell just the body+grip.

Don't worry about dual I.S., the E-M1-II's IBIS is plenty for most people's uses!

You're not getting any real, discernible improvement by trading a Pana 12-35 for an Olympus 12-40, or a 12-100 if you already have the 35-100 to complement the zoom range.

I hope this helps!

I have the EM 1.2, the 12-100mm and three primes: PL 25mm, Oly 45mm and Oly 75mm. In my testing I found the 25mm and the 75mm to be sharper than the zoom @ f4 & f5.6. The zoom @ f4 was about the same or a little better than the primes wide open. The 45mm was not as sharp as the zoom, but clearly not bad either. I think the bottom line is all of these lenses are very good to excellent. For low light action you want a fast lens. But a zoom is far better for action that is near then far then near. Put a fast 25mm on your camera and you may find yourself doing a lot of cropping. Above all the EM 1.2 is great keeping any of these lenses targeting on what you want. BTW, the combination body and lens IS is great but useless for action.