2 kits - heavy and light

Heavy lenses go in my bag with my E-M5III + Grip - Lite lenses go in my wife's bag with her E-PL9.  This has the added benefit of passing down lenses to her bag as I get new stuff.  Recently purchased the 25mm F1.2 Pro, the F1.8 went into my wife's bag.

The 100-400mm and the 8mm fisheye stay in my cabinet unless I specifically need them.  I have these lenses in their own cases so I can always grab them and put them in the car when I am going somewhere I might need them.

I would limit to a light system. It was my original purpose to shoot with M43, still the same nowadays.

Otherwise, I would opt for APSC or FF, specially nearly every brand is serious on MILC already. M43 is not the only option like 10+ years ago.

On IQ, for similar generation of sensor the difference among various classes could be closed. Even the earliest models could produce very usable images just under a smaller shooting enevlop mostly.

Classification of various classes are mostly on ergonomic, processing powerful, and feature set (for Panny the feature set is mostly shared down the classes except for some limitations).

I don't shoot BIF/Sport, basically any entry to mid range models could meet with most usual shootings. Basically the GX85 has kept me happy. Had added G85 to replace the GX7, the extra size and weight is still debatable to me for the 4K and better IS benefit over GX7? It is the max I will go for M43.

A major reason I won't go for S5 is because of the size of L mount lens. Therefore 12~100 will never worth for me on its IQ/size weight speed.

The beauty of M43 is we have a lot of option on size, weight, ergonomic of bodies. And there are very few lenses mediocre. 😀

Heavy is for Bifs, Rodeo, surfers, etc. anything that requires fast autofocus. E-M1 III, PL100-400 or 40-150 f/2.8 depending on the reach needed.'

Medium is for when I need PDAF but don't want the weight; botanical gardens bugs and butterflies etc. E-M5 III with 12-45 f/4 and 75-300 with extensions tubes.

Light for travel and fishing. E-M10 IV 14-42 EZ and 40-150 plastic.

Also Pen F for black and white and on the street.

Lumix ZS 100.......not sure why I bought this, but got a great deal just before Christmas, and it fits nicely in my bike bag.

I had actually over time evolved into four m43 "systems":

1. "Heavy" landscape, primarily for twilight shots not too far from a vehicle. E-M5II, 8-18/2.8-4, 12-40/2.8, 35-100/2.8
2. "Light" landscape, primarily for hikes, GM1, 12-32, 35-100/4-5.6
3. "Light" portrait, primarily for family outings, GM1, 15/1.7, 42.5/1.7
4. Infrared, 830nm E-M5II, 14-45, 45-175

The "light" systems are fairly obvious to understand. The "heavy" landscape could probably have used the 12-100/4 but I already had the other lenses before it was announced.

The main annoyance was that the infrared one couldn't be rationalized well. The higher quality visible lenses typically are abysmal performers in the IR so I ended up with two lens kits. Using external filters is a pain across many lenses so I ended up with two bodies rather than a single full spectrum body. I actually would have preferred an IR or full spectrum converted GM1 since really much of the opportunity for IR is on my midday hikes but the GM1 stinks for conversion because it has an IR LED to monitor the shutter so you can only use it in 10 bit rolling shutter mode if converted.

These days things have sorted out differently:

1. "Heavy" landscape, Nikon Z7, 14-30/4S, 24-200/4-6.3
2. Hiking & IR, full spectrum ZS100
3. "Light" portrait, GM1, 15/1.7, 42.5/1.7

I've really enjoyed the Z setup for landscapes. The way I pack it takes up just about as much space as the m43 system it replaced - but of course if I were to more optimally pack the m43 system and switch to the 12-100/4 it would have come out a bit smaller still.

I love having both visible and IR along on my hikes now and in even a smaller package than before but a compact super zoom lens is a bit of a let down compared to the wonderful 12-32 and 35-100/4-5.6. Sensor is fine of course, that 20MP 1" sensor gives the m43 sensors a run for the money, but the lens can be frustrating at times.

The GM1, 15/1.7, 42.5/1.7 is of course one of those unique m43 kinds of kits nothing else can quite do so small. Unfortunately with two years of COVID we haven't had many family outings to use it on for awhile. But it is waiting there to be used!

What I'd really like is a GM1 follow on of some sort with a nice 20MP sensor with 12 bit electronic shutter (or no IR LED shutter monitor) that I could full spectrum convert to use with the 12-32 and 35-100 for day hikes. I think I'd make the trade for the slightly bigger kit to get away from some of the ZS100 frustrations.

Anyway, it was interesting that over time I ended up with so many nearly independent "kits" - the GM1 body was the only thing shared between two of them. The fact there was so little overlap in usage was one of the reasons I branched out both to bigger and smaller sensors as my different kits evolved. I wasn't really losing anything by moving outside the m43 system for those cases.

MFT (Panasonic) for travel and fun shooting.

A FF DSLR system for studio and more demanding outdoor work.

A few months ago I added a Fuji GFX100S, mainly for studio work.

Heavy:

E-M5 Mark III with 3rd party grip, 12-40 F2.8, 40-150 F2.8

Light, outdoors with large focal range:

E-M5 Mark III without grip, 14-150 II

Super Small and Light, outdoors or with flash:

E-M5 Mark III without grip, 12-32 F4-5.6

Super Small and Light, indoors or just when I want too shoot with a prime:

E-M5 Mark III without grip, some combination of 17mm, 25mm, 45mm, (all F1.8)

Finally, many different combinations of the choices above.

"Heavy", E M5.3 with 14-140.

Light, E-PM2 with Pana 12-32 or Pana 20mm for pocketable; or Oly 12-50 for not. Carrying Oly 40-150 if tele is needed.

I wouldn't say I have two kits, rather I have several lenses and select from them what I will shoot with on a particular day.
Heavy hiking/birding kit would be the E-M1/II 12-200 + 300/f4 + 1.4x or 2x
Every day shooting - just the 12-200 with the 1/II
Extra light - E-M5 and 14-150  
Night street would be E-M1/II with 17/1.8 (light) or 12-40 (heavy) 
        Maybe add the 60 macro or 75/1.8

And I have other lenses that only come out for special purposes.
--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"

I do exactly the same! I'm not wealthy and on top of that, no m43 cameras are officially sold in Brazil and the Real is very devalued when compared to dollars or euros, so each camera here costs the equivalent of 4-12 minimum wages...

But I have a quite decent kit, all things considered, built up over 15 years. I'm excited to go out soon, as very recently I got my 1st pro lens, the amazingly sharp and tiny Oly 12-45mm f/4 in a promo in Madrid for €380.

Just sharing that because I'm sure many people lurk in these forums wishing they could get some nice gear but always feeling they're out of reach... But in time, and waiting for deals, and buying used, you can end up with a decent kit 😉

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Max M. Fuhlendorf

mfuhlendorf wrote:

I do exactly the same! I'm not wealthy and on top of that, no m43 cameras are officially sold in Brazil and the Real is very devalued when compared to dollars or euros, so each camera here costs the equivalent of 4-12 minimum wages...

But I have a quite decent kit, all things considered, built up over 15 years. I'm excited to go out soon, as very recently I got my 1st pro lens, the amazingly sharp and tiny Oly 12-45mm f/4 in a promo in Madrid for €380.

Just sharing that because I'm sure many people lurk in these forums wishing they could get some nice gear but always feeling they're out of reach... But in time, and waiting for deals, and buying used, you can end up with a decent kit 😉

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Max M. Fuhlendorf

Well said Max. And I am thrilled to hear you have now got your first Pro lens. May you enjoy it for many years to come.

heavy, light, car, balcony