Quintesential M43 lenses

I started my MFT with Lumix so my remaining 4 Panasonic MFT lenses are what I have. This week I took delivery of an OM-1 and at the moment I have the 12-35/2.8 mounted. My plan for the OM-1 is better birds and once I get things sorted I'll be using the PL 100-400.

I doubt that the 25/1.7 or the 30 macro will end up on the OM-1.

At some point I'll probably add some M.Zuiko glass.

- G

Ones I really like (and use a lot) - Oly 12-100 (a no brainer)

PL12-60

PL 50-200

Ply 40-150 f4

Pan 15

Sigma 56 f1.4

Oly 12-45

Not so much - Oly 40-150 f2.8 (Sharp, but big and heavy)

John

17mm/1.8

12-45mm/4

56mm/1.4

......  wait, these are all the M43 lenses I have although I might get the 17mm/1.2 instead of the 1.8 if money no object.

To my mind, one of the great things about the M43 system is there is no quintessential or "must have" lenses. No matter what your subjective preferences are, it's likely you'll find one or more lenses that will be a "fit" for you.

I only have 5 M43 lenses. My favorite is one which hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet -- the Panasonic 8-18mm f/2.8~4. I'm a fan of ultra-wide-to-wide-normal lenses, and the 8-18mm is right in my sweet spot for speed, size, and optical performance. Is it Quintessential?  Hardly.  But it's the first lens I'd replace.

Even if you have any of the other UWA m43 options, even if you don’t like UWA fov, like myself, the new 9mm embodies what m43 is all about. Great value and a ton of fun thrown on a small body. The ultra close focus distance + capturing the subject’s full environment + the option to blur the crap outta the background all creates very unique composition opportunities that I never even thought of.

aside from the 9mm I’ll add the usual suspects: 20 1.7, and 14-140. A truly underrated lens: p35-100 2.8

I’d say my PL12-60/2.8-4 and P42.5/1.7 have performed flawlessly.  Both are very sharp and great at what they are designed for.  The PL has a super wide area of pin sharpness and even borders I consider great.  The 42/1.7 is flawless from F2 and still very good wide open - Id consider it excellent and flattering for portraits wide open.

As an honorable mention and probably a surprise to some would be the Olympus 14-42 II R.  This feather weight kit lens, while lacking features of expensive glass, still produces great results optically. It’s likely the best $300 kit lens and the absolute best kit lens you can get for  body+$100.  It punches above its weight and is a nice companion to Pen/EM5/EM10 bodies.  I’m glad I still have access to an EM10+14-42 II R for when I want to go super light.

Samuel Dilworth wrote:

The ones I’d go out and buy after a robbery might be slightly different than the ones I’d call universally quintessential.

I’ll tell you two lenses I did buy twice (after foolishly selling them rather than getting robbed):

• 12–40 mm f/2.8
• 30 mm f/3.5 mm macro.

The zoom I sold because I was confident I could replace it with the 12–45 mm f/4. That didn’t work out: the f/4 lens was not quite fast enough indoors or to create deliberate-looking out-of-focus blur with human-scale subjects at human-scale distances. Felt like the shooting window was ultimately a bit narrow on the 4/3″-type sensor.

The macro I sold because I thought I could duplicate its usefulness to me with other lenses (that didn’t work out either).

Another lens I regret selling but didn’t replace was the 25 mm f/1.8. What a gem that is. That would be on my universally quintessential list. It’s so good and so small and so nice to use.

Just curious as to why you repurchased the 30mm macro rather than the 60mm macro?

If I had to start from scratch I'd re-acquire in this order:

- 12 - 100

- 9/1.7

-15/1.7

In the end, it's these two lenses that comprise 99% of my photography....

Olympus 12-40f2.8

Olympus 40-150F2.8

I have 8 or 9 other lenses, including 3 other pro lenses, but these 2 pretty much take care of everything.  I've actually recently started not taking these lenses places, and using some of my other pro zooms and prime lenses, just to give myself a little bit more of a challenge if I'm casually shooting.

RSTP14 wrote:

17mm/1.8

12-45mm/4

56mm/1.4

...... wait, these are all the M43 lenses I have although I might get the 17mm/1.2 instead of the 1.8 if money no object.

Even if I just have been outside with my very old 50-200mm I would say that 12-40mm f2.8 , 17mm 1.8, 45mm f/1.8 and 40-150mm f/ 4- 5.6 are my go to lenses. Now I just miss a realy wide lens. ( and more money....😎)

Torstein

What are yours?

1. 17/1.2 - My favorite "general purpose" prime. Superb optical quality, absolutely gorgeous bokeh wide-open (where I sit with it probably 95% of the time). Wide enough to get good "context" in environmental portraits while the DoF is shallow enough to help with a bit of separation.
2. 45/1.2 - My favorite portrait lens ever. Like the 17, the rendering on this lens wide open is just stunning, and coupled with the "compression" that comes from using a longer focal length from further back, the results are even more impactful.
3. 40-150/2.8 - This is the lens that "kept" me in the micro four thirds system. This really comes down to the versatility that it brings with the 80-300 equivalent focal length range at a constant f/2.8. No FF lens can match that coupled with it's incredible build, weather sealing and relative compactness. While not as "eye popping" as the other two lenses listed, it's optical quality is great as well!

25MM 1.2 PRO

56MM 1.4 SIGGY

12/40 2.8 PRO

25&45 1.8

honorable mantin to the sweety 40/150 plastic fantastic