I just bought an OMD E-M5 Body and need to get a lens. I am going to Africa for 5 weeks this summer and want the best lens. I have been looking at the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 R Lens as the most serious option, but would love the pictures I could get from a smaller lens and larger aperture. Any suggestions?
OK, I'll stick my neck out and try to help here. I have the 40-150, and if I were going to Africa (I wish!) I would not rely on it to capture memories of a lifetime. Yeah, it would give you some decent snaps IF the light was good, but for the cost of just getting there and home again, I would expect better image quality than it is capable of giving. Plus: (a) it isn't long enough by half for safari shots (I'm making an assumption here) and you would have to explain that that little yellow dot there is a lion. (b) It is too long by half for general photography. Brace yourself, you have to buy more than one lens. I would normally recommend a set of the very fine primes available, but from what I have read and from folks I have talked to, dust, dirt, sand and wind are very common, making changing lenses a big problem. I think that this is a case where the small compromise in quality of taking the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 is well worthwhile. For distance, unless you are an experienced expert in manually focusing long lenses, the only show in town is the Olympus 70-300 zoom (or the less-well-built Panasonic 100-300.) I have seen some very respectable safari photographs on line from the 70-300. This leaves a gap in the short macro range, and if you couldn't live with that, the Oly 60mm f/2.8 macro would be a great option with multiple uses. If it were me, I'd probably also take the Oly 45mm f/1.8. But if I were doing what (lucky!) you are doing, I think what I would do is mount the 12-35 on one E-M5 and the 70-300 on another and just never change lenses if I could help it. But (sigh) I'm not you, and I fear you have some compromises to make...
If it was me I would take the 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 75/1.8 and 70-300. Love the 75 for its ability to knock the b/g out and make the subject pop right out of the frame!
Where in Africa and what your shooting is really going to affect what the "best" lens is.
If your going on safari, a bag of primes is going to be pretty worthless, even though the 25/1.4, 45/1.8 etc are great glass.
Its is very, very dusty and last thing you want to be doing is switching lens all the time, especially when they are all pretty short and your not even going to be able to shoot them wide open in the midday sun either.
But, if your destination is South Africa, then that same glass could be quite useful for lots of stuff.
Really have to give us a lot more info to go on before anyone can even begin to suggest "the best" lens mate
The 12-50. Do-everything solid lens and weather sealed. Use it when you don't need the reach and for general shooting. It's the lens to have on when it gets dusty out. It's quite good, but not exceptional. A passable macro solution as well. If you want exceptional, get the Panny 12-35 instead.
One of the 75-300 in either variation or the Panasonic 100-300. Your Safari glass. Sadly Olympus doesn't make the lens to match the 12-50 (which would be a weather-sealed 50-200 f4-6.3 with macro mode)
One extra, to taste. I'd probably choose a wide zoom, but a macro or a fast normal could be nice too.
I will be in Cameroon (which is considered the Little Africa due to the variety of landscapes). I will be spending a lot of time with people in villages as I travel throughout the country. It would be nice to have a lens to capture wildlife but I feel like I will be capturing landscapes and people mostly
mpix345 wrote:
12-35/2.8 for general purpose
45/1.8 for awesome portraits
75-300 if you think you will get a chance to shoot some wildlife
Yep, probably a good selection. Panasonic 100-300 is a bit cheaper than the Oly and they're pretty much tied optically, something to consider (none will win any IQ awards)
Also, you could probably drop the 12-35 and go with a 14/2.5 if you wanted less cost / weight, though not as versatile obviously.
In fact, if you're in africa and you want higher quality long-range shots, consider adapting some older 200mm+ primes to the OMD. They'll be MF, but the IQ will almost certainly be better than either the Pany or Oly telezooms.
What's your budget? All these suggestions are going to break the bank quick :-)
20 Pany f/1.7 is $350 - great value!
25 Pany/Leica f/1.4 is $569 - this is supposed to be on the best, haven't used it, but its universally praised.
45 f/1.8 = a gem and a steal! $399 - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Small, sharp, lightweight, awesome!
75 f/1.8 = $799 (used) to $899 (New) - One of the single best optics I've ever used on any system
12-35 f/2.8 Pany is $1,299 - haven't used it , great reviews, expensive
35-100 f/2.8 is $1,499 - ditto
Pany 100-300 is $499 - THIS may be the way to go.... Especially for Safari...
About the price of airfare to Africa.... Depending on the budget, I'd try to get away with the 20, plus the 25, 45 OR 75 and the 100-300.... You'll want something non-telephoto for candids of the people you're with...
The adapted MF route may be a way to take advantage of existing lenses if you have any... There seems to be an M43 adapter for just about everything in the history of photography....
cputeq wrote:
Yep, probably a good selection. Panasonic 100-300 is a bit cheaper than the Oly and they're pretty much tied optically, something to consider (none will win any IQ awards)
Also, you could probably drop the 12-35 and go with a 14/2.5 if you wanted less cost / weight, though not as versatile obviously.
In fact, if you're in africa and you want higher quality long-range shots, consider adapting some older 200mm+ primes to the OMD. They'll be MF, but the IQ will almost certainly be better than either the Pany or Oly telezooms.
