Micro four thirds lenses.

[bazza white]

Awaiting delivery of a Lumix gx80.

Will have the 12-32 kits lense but what others should I be looking at, a zoom lense would be useful. Any decent budget lenses, the more expensive ones will have to wait.

[djsmith74]

I have an OMD EM5, and am running the following lenses:

Olympus 17mm f1.8 - Cracking general purpose walkabout lens. Might be out of your price range though
Olympus 40-150mm f4-5.6 - Really good lens for around £100. Very light, and feels quite cheap, but the quality belies the price.

If you fancy a dabble with primes, then pick up a 45mm f1.8 which can be had for around £200.

Pretty much all of these were taken with the 40-150mm:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28703702@N08/albums/...

And all of these taken with the 17mm:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28703702@N08/albums/...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28703702@N08/albums/...

Hope this helps.

[MrOrange]

IIRC the Panny camera has no in-body image stabilisers (unlike the Olympus) so double check (esp for telephoto) whatever lens/camera combo has image stabilisation.

Panny make the (classic) fast (f1.7) 20mm prime which is tiny, and the bigger 25mm. Another vote for the 40-150 but I use an Olympus M10.

[bazza white]

MrOrange said:

IIRC the Panny camera has no in-body image stabilisers (unlike the Olympus) so double check (esp for telephoto) whatever lens/camera combo has image stabilisation.

Panny make the (classic) fast (f1.7) 20mm prime which is tiny, and the bigger 25mm. Another vote for the 40-150 but I use an Olympus M10.

It has IBIS and E stabilisation.




Cheers DJ will take a look..

[Golaboots]

Another vote for the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, great little lens.

[Derek Smith]

I use the 40 - 150. It is impressive. I have recently bought the 100-300. That was cheap for what it provides.

[Nerfbat]

I've got an Olympus Pen-F and EM5-ii, and really like using the Oly 17mm and 45mm lenses.

[mizx]

I've got a GM5, and had a G3 before that.

The 12-32 is a very good little lens in fact for a kit, but I really like my Pan 14mm f2.5, it's what I use most of the time.

I always keep the 12-32 on hand as it's so small in my case, but I'd suggest having a tele zoom, then prime(s) for closer stuff. That's maybe something for later perhaps on a budget, the 12-32 is more than capable enough.

I have the 45-175mm, which is decent enough and non-telescopic but it has been around a while, there may be better value options, I don't use it as much as my other lenses, so others can probably suggest telephotos better than I can. Been a while since I read up on what's decent that came out in the last few years.

The 25mm f1.4 is fantastic but probably too expensive still, bulkier than the 1.7 and the Oly f1.8, so those might be a better choice as an introduction, if you do end up looking at primes; though it all depends what focal lengths for framing you prefer, I like 28mm equivalent more than 35mm, and not really interested in portrait at all, so I have the 50mm eq. too.

[rene7]

I'm a digital canon user now but always loved my film OM lenses they were so small compared to the monsters which were then produced by nikon and canon, does the 4/3rds have any fast long primes? - I seem to recall the OM system having a 350mm F2 which was awesome for that period, canon currently only make a 300 &400 f2.8 which IMO are both a stop slow for my ideal.

[Gad-Westy]

Depends a lot on your budget and what sort of lengths you like and whether you like primes or zooms but these are the ones I've had:

Olympus 9-18 - Great lens. Very small and light, feels a bit cheap but delivers.
Panasonic 12mm 1.4 - Fantastic but too much money
Olympus 12-40 2.8 - Excellent but I didn't like how big it seemed on my EM5ii. Didn't fall in love with it but it's hugely impressive.
Panasonic 14mm 2.5 - Really rate these. Absolutely tiny but so versatile and decent IQ, would work really well on GX80
Olympus 17mm 1.8 - Great, really nice build but still small and light.
Olympus 25mm 1.8 - Meh. It's fine but nothing special
Olympus 40-150R - Light, cheap, cheap feeling but like the 9-18 it just delivers. Really good. mk2 version is same mk1 but looks nicer.
Olympus 40-150 2.8 - Superb. Big, heavy and and expensive though.
Olympus 45mm 1.8 - Really special. Get one! They're tiny and a little plasticy but are just lovely and a total bargain.
Olympus 75mm 1.8 - Best lens I used on m4/3 but a bit expensive and a bit niche.
Olympus 75-300 - Decent enough if you need loads of reach but not outstanding.

Some gorgeous little lenses on this system. Really making me miss mine. Always fancied giving the Voigtlander 0.95's a go too.

[PartsMonkey]

I find Sigma's micro four thirds offerings are fantastic. I have the 60mm f2.8 although they also offer a 19 and a 30mm option as well. It's tack sharp wide open and only cost me £119 although they seem to have gone up a bit now. I was never interested in printed before bit now it's my second favourite lens (after my Lumix 12-35mm f2.8)

[bazza white]

Cheers all, I'm tempted with the Panasonic 45-150mm. IS over the Olympus is appealing but undecided.

I'll be on the hunt for a <20mm then.



The 12-32 is giving me a good start, quite enjoying this camera, getting used to the buttons and menus is a minefield though.