UKC

So got an OMD E-M10 a while back and whilst the kit lens is OK its no stunner so been looking at options, but having a hard time deciding what to buy

The Olympus 40-150 zoom is a no brainer at $99 on Amazon.com at the moment (even with shipping and duty to UK its less than £120) and this will cover what I had with the D40 it replaced

Would like to get a do all prime for wandering around on holiday and on the hill so was thinking 17 or 25 1.8, I also looked back over all the exif data I have taken and seem to take more at the 14mm end of the M4/3 kit lens and looking at the D40 more at the 18mm end so was thinking of the Olympus 9-18.

Anybody used any of these, any critique ?

So in summary am thinking Olympus 9-18, either the 17 or 25 and the 40-150 should see me covered for most eventualities, only thing is 17 or 25 ?

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Lumix 20mm F1.7. Pancake lens, super sharp and decently priced.

In reply to PPP:

Yeah, yet another for the list !! Along with the Oly 45mm 1.8.....

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I had the Oly 17mm prime, but it wasn't wide enough and it broke down so I bought the Panasonic 14mm prime and basically spent a few years not taking this off my micro 4/3 - its brilliant.

But a couple of weeks ago I bought the Oly 9-18mm and love it. I wanted something wider to take climbing/biking etc. Very pleased with it, and it wasn't too expensive on amazon with the cash back offer. I haven't put any of my pictures from it on UKC but I could point you at examples if interested. I'm really pleased with the quality of the images.

In reply to Simonfarfaraway:

Cheers, how do you find it in less than perfect light only being f4.0 at 9mm ?

Thinking the 9-18, 40-150 and either the Pan 20 or Oly 25 would be a good setup.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I guess it depends what you are taking pics of and if you need to take fast shots in lower light. I've taken it out on low/gloomy light days and its been fine. Saving up for the Olympus 12-40 pro...

Have you seen the new version of the 14-150mm. Looks interesting

That combo sounds a good setup

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

You can add Sigma 19mm/30mm/60mm primes, too. They are dirt cheap and the overall build/image quality is very surprising.

For my own E-PL5, I went for kit 14-42mm lens, Lumix 20mm F1.7 and Sigma 60mm F/2.8. I use kit lens only when out in city or don't care about the quality too much. 20mm is always in the bag and sometimes used as only lens even on multi-day trips. I spent far too much time with 50mm lens on Full Frame that (I guess) I can work with such focal length quite well. I *usually* take 60mm out to mountains too unless I am very concerned about the weight or I know I won't be getting any use out of such long lens. You can still capture climbers from further and it works quite well to take a fraction of a landscape quite well.

I probably wouldn't mind something very long, but I used to have 320mm (FF equivalent) lens and I rarely used such a focal length. It's also heavy. I was also thinking of getting something ultra wide, but I wouldn't be able to justify to put another lens in my bag.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

My current set up is 14mm f2.5 Panasonic lumix pancake that makes for a tiny pocketable setup on my e-pl5. This used to be my most used lens until I started getting into 50mm equivalent focal length, the lens I have for this is the 25mm Olympus f1.8. I chose this over the Panasonic lecia 25mm mainly due to the smaller size of the lens. I then rounded out my primes with the Olympus 45mm f1.8, this is a stunning portrait lens and is a no brainer for < £150. I also have the 40-150mm kit lens and this was OK when I went on safari, generally however I don't take this lens out with me unless I have a specific reason to carry it. I use the camera with a wrist strap with one prime on the camera and the other two in my pockets if I'm heading out for a full day and don't know what my subjects will be, it is such a light set up and offers amazing image quality for the size of setup. (Note that I generally don't carry a flash either as with the f1.8 lenses I haven't found many situations where I need one).

In reply to sxrxg:

Yeah the 45 does look very good for the money, too many choices !!

Thinking the 9-18 a 25 and 45 may do the job, the long zoom isn't why I went 4/3 as I wanted to downsize from DSLR, can add a longer zoom at a later point I suppose if I need to.

In reply to sxrxg:

Sounds good, what sort of stuff/subject matter/types of pictures to you use the 25mm for? Cheers

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

..


That sounds spot on, the 9-18 and 45 are amazing for the size and money, dunno about the 25mm, I use a 12-35 zoom.

To go with the 45 + 9-18 the 50-150 would pretty much complete your set the set of lightweight inexpensive lenses.

In reply to JDal:

Cheers, thinking the 25 would be a good general walkabout lens for touristy stuff, the 9-18 would probably stay on the camera on the hill with the 45 in the bag.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I have a Panny 20mm f1.7 for sale if you're interested? I bought it secondhand and have since changed to the Oly 17mm f1.8 for the wider f.o.v. The Panny is an excellent lens, super sharp.
I also have the cheap 40-150 Oly - 'tis very good value.

In reply to Toerag:

How do you find the 17, what do you use it for, just general stuff ?

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

OK, ordered the 50-150 (for $99 i couldn't say no) and the 25mm prime, going to see how I go with the 25 prime and maybe go for the 9-18 and 45 in time.

Worldwide warranty, 4 day delivery, with duty and taxes paid, saved over £100 on buying in the UK, madness.....

In reply to Dark-Cloud:


Yes. I do a lot of documentary type stuff and stuff in light levels too low to autofocus, so the wider fov and decent manual focus were the draws for me. The Panny 20 renders better in my view, but better rendering is no use when you can't focus the thing in the dark properly.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I've got the Olympus 9 -18 lens. It's a fine lens and very well reviewed and was considerably cheaper than the Panasonic ultra wide zoom. Not so fast but with wide angle you can use slower shutter speeds without camera shake and you're not gonna get much bokeh anyway. There's a little button you have to hold down to unlock it when it's fully retracted. A little weird at first but you soon get used to it so not an issue. I think zooms are particularly useful for climbing photography since often you are very limited in where you can take the photo from so there's no chance to stand back or move forward.

Not sure about Olympus 40 -150. Cheap but slow. I'm planning on getting the more expensive Panasonic 35 - 100 f.2.8 in the near future. Very well reviewed and initially very expensive you can now find a new one on ebay for about £500. The faster speed is more important on telephotos to stop camera shake and more chance of blurring backgrounds too which is not so easy with the smaller M43 sensor an corresponding shorter focal lengths.

There's a very useful site listing all the M43 lenses here:

http://m43photo.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/micro-four-thirds-lens-lineup.html

I've also got a converter that allows me to use old Pentax lenses. I already had an old 50mm f1.7 so its a really cheap way to get extra lenses. I later bought 135mm f2.5 for just £40 off ebay. Only drawback is these are manual focus, but depending on what you're shooting this needn't be too much of a problem and sometimes is an advantage. They're also larger than the equivalent m43 lenses.

In reply to stp:

Cheers, the 40-150 is slow but for £60 I couldn't ignore it, it's arrived and is fine, a little plastic in construction but for that money I cant complain.

The 25mm 1.8 on the other hand is a lovely thing, so sharp and lovely shallow DOF at f1.8, i think i am converted to primes, just need to add the mega expensive 12mm and the bargain 45mm now and I will be happy......

In reply to stp:


That looks like a good option - Olympus have a 40-150@2.8 but at £900 street price it's a bit steep - and also looks massive.

Ditto their 7-14mm@2.8 at about the same price.

Tamron make a 14-150@3.5 which could be worth a look.

In reply to planetmarshall:

The Oly Pros are relatively big for M43, however they are excellent and virtually as good as their primes at the same Fstop.

In reply to Toerag:

Yes, the Oly 12-40 PRO 2.8 looks like a good do all lens, £700 though and seems to be a bit of a lump.