Finally, a chance to play with the 60mm Macro. All handheld but this lens is great for non-macro work as well. And this lens is sharp!

^^^ awesome stuff Bob, you really use your lens! unlike me

Phil

Thanks Phil. Nothing like a real world test. I've been doing the same with my canon gear and the CY85/1.4 I recently picked up. Also and awesome lens.

Thanks for the post Bobby. I would say the abundance of choices is a good thing

I read some more into available lenses since my last post and I suppose what Im trying to ask is should I get the 12-50mm kit lens and pair it with an Oly 40-150mm

OR

Should I skip the kit lens and pairing it with another zoom lens and just get the Oly 14-150mm (or Panny 14-140mm, not sure which is the better lens).


Im not sure which route would provide me better IQ since I have no experience with any of these lenses. Aperture limitations seem to be about the same no matter the choice (the Panny f2.8 zoom lenses are too much $$$ for me atm). Other considerations are build quality and AF speed/accuracy. Obviously getting one of the latter lenses would be more convenient since it would be just one zoom lens instead of two paired together but I would be willing to forgo the convenience factor if the Image IQ and AF would be better between two paired lenses instead.

Not sure if anyone follow's me here, lol, but thats about the jist of my confusion.

Input, advice, thoughts for a soon to be EM-5 user? Thanks a ton in advance as I know this is more of a photo sharing thread then a advice thread but I figure Ill get the best advice and input from EM-5 users!


bobbytan wrote:
Welcome to the OM-D Club!

Fortunately or unfortunately, there are way too many choices when it comes to standard zoom lenses:

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

I am using the 12-50 as my general lens and it does an okay job. I would check out the Oly 14-42 Mk II too, or something in that range.

jaystar86 wrote:
I just wanted to chime in and say Im really impressed by everyone's work in this thread. Took me about 2 days to get through this entire thread but I did it... All 87 pages! I think this thread is the best resource on the web for sampling this camera IMO (or at-least from what I have come across).

Ditched my entire Canon 5d kit about 8 months back and I will without a doubt be joining you peeps in here soon with an Oly EM-5 & PL 25mm 1.4.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but I need a good general purpose zoom lens as I will only be able to get the PL 25mm 1.4 for now as my only prime (will have to make do with it alone for 6 months or so) and I would still like to be able to cover my wide angle and telephoto needs with one zoom lens with a decent IQ and aperture. Any recommendations since I could save some coin by getting this body only and bypassing the kit lens (which also seems decent in the form of the 12-50mm but is obviously lacking the telephoto side of thing as its only 100mm in terms of 35mm) and then put that money towards a good all purpose zoom from Panny or Oly? Perhaps the Oly 14-150mm ?

Or I was thinking I could just get the body with 12-50 kit lens and tag on a 40-150 lens to cover my basis? So confused, lol.

New to all this 4/3 stuff so I dont know which of the zoom lenses have decent IQ either!

Any input would be appreciated!

I shot the 1st image in the vicinity of Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia.
2nd shot of Mt Fuji was taken from the plane on my flight out of Tokyo.

^^^ Looks good Bobby. The shot from the plane looks awesome.

rji2goleez wrote:
Finally, a chance to play with the 60mm Macro. All handheld but this lens is great for non-macro work as well. And this lens is sharp!


Sorry Bob, but I guess that your lens is defective, never seen such blurred corners by the 60...

ultrapix wrote:
rji2goleez wrote:
Finally, a chance to play with the 60mm Macro. All handheld but this lens is great for non-macro work as well. And this lens is sharp!


Sorry Bob, but I guess that your lens is defective, never seen such blurred corners by the 60...

I was thinking the same thing. Looks like a misaligned lens.

rji2goleez wrote:
Beautiful pooch image!

We're having a dog Christmas . . . four people and five dogs. Here's some of our brood.

Thanks and ditto!

Jaystar86, can't give you any advice about any zooms other then the 12-50mm kit lens. I think it is all right, it's actually really nice for macros, of course not like a true macro lens but the close focusing distance is very good and the sharpness is nice enough, at least for macros. It is also weather sealed unlike most other lenses which can be a good thing. It's very slow as far as aperture goes though which makes it poor for low light photography.

Buying it in the kit the kit name is actually "Movie kit" which makes me think the 12-50 was largely designed for movie making, silent zoom, small lens, easy to use and with optical performance more then good enough for full HD but lacking some for pictures. I'm gonna keep mine, it will be a great companion for different things although I don't expect to use it much.

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).

ultrapix wrote:
rji2goleez wrote:
Finally, a chance to play with the 60mm Macro. All handheld but this lens is great for non-macro work as well. And this lens is sharp!


Sorry Bob, but I guess that your lens is defective, never seen such blurred corners by the 60...


Arrgh . . . I now see what you see but I will snap a few more images to be sure. Stay tuned . . .

Wilbus wrote:
Jaystar86, can't give you any advice about any zooms other then the 12-50mm kit lens. I think it is all right, it's actually really nice for macros, of course not like a true macro lens but the close focusing distance is very good and the sharpness is nice enough, at least for macros. It is also weather sealed unlike most other lenses which can be a good thing. It's very slow as far as aperture goes though which makes it poor for low light photography.

Buying it in the kit the kit name is actually "Movie kit" which makes me think the 12-50 was largely designed for movie making, silent zoom, small lens, easy to use and with optical performance more then good enough for full HD but lacking some for pictures. I'm gonna keep mine, it will be a great companion for different things although I don't expect to use it much.

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).



+1 I love that PL25.

+2 PL25 ---- on my camera 85% of time.

M.Zuiko 12-50

Sombras de Luna por _dUkEnUkEm_, en Flickr

Wilbus wrote:
Jaystar86, can't give you any advice about any zooms other then the 12-50mm kit lens. I think it is all right, it's actually really nice for macros, of course not like a true macro lens but the close focusing distance is very good and the sharpness is nice enough, at least for macros. It is also weather sealed unlike most other lenses which can be a good thing. It's very slow as far as aperture goes though which makes it poor for low light photography.

Buying it in the kit the kit name is actually "Movie kit" which makes me think the 12-50 was largely designed for movie making, silent zoom, small lens, easy to use and with optical performance more then good enough for full HD but lacking some for pictures. I'm gonna keep mine, it will be a great companion for different things although I don't expect to use it much.

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).



Mostly agree. Except that I find the 12-50 is good for wide angle shots where it's not too slow, caveats applies though as i'll explain below.

Aside from the canon stuff I have the 12-50 and the 25 f1.4 right now and together they work pretty well. Maybe if I eventually decides to ditch the canon gear or at least sell one of the DSLR bodies (or magically come up with more money) I'll get the 12-35 f2.8 panasonic zoom (also weather sealed btw).

However, more likely I would be getting a set of primes for the O-MD as it's just perfect for that sort of shooting. The small size of the prime and the size of the camera together make a nice little package for street and travel. I also have found that the 25 f1.4 is quite a bit faster than the canon zooms I have and the 12-50. It's rather hard to measure but I think that lens might have a much better t-stop value than any of the zooms I have. Using it I am always amazed (even when set to f2.8 like my canon zooms are capable of) I can use faster shutter speeds than I am used to at the same settings on the canons. Not sure if it' just the lens but it's my observations so far. And it really makes the lens a joy to shoot in low light.

So for me it's likely my next addition to the m43 kit would be a fast wide angle prime for those times when I need one. And maybe a longer focal length prime for a little telephoto etc.

gotak wrote:
Wilbus wrote:
Jaystar86, can't give you any advice about any zooms other then the 12-50mm kit lens. I think it is all right, it's actually really nice for macros, of course not like a true macro lens but the close focusing distance is very good and the sharpness is nice enough, at least for macros. It is also weather sealed unlike most other lenses which can be a good thing. It's very slow as far as aperture goes though which makes it poor for low light photography.

Buying it in the kit the kit name is actually "Movie kit" which makes me think the 12-50 was largely designed for movie making, silent zoom, small lens, easy to use and with optical performance more then good enough for full HD but lacking some for pictures. I'm gonna keep mine, it will be a great companion for different things although I don't expect to use it much.

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).



Mostly agree. Except that I find the 12-50 is good for wide angle shots where it's not too slow, caveats applies though as i'll explain below.

Aside from the canon stuff I have the 12-50 and the 25 f1.4 right now and together they work pretty well. Maybe if I eventually decides to ditch the canon gear or at least sell one of the DSLR bodies (or magically come up with more money) I'll get the 12-35 f2.8 panasonic zoom (also weather sealed btw).

However, more likely I would be getting a set of primes for the O-MD as it's just perfect for that sort of shooting. The small size of the prime and the size of the camera together make a nice little package for street and travel. I also have found that the 25 f1.4 is quite a bit faster than the canon zooms I have and the 12-50. It's rather hard to measure but I think that lens might have a much better t-stop value than any of the zooms I have. Using it I am always amazed (even when set to f2.8 like my canon zooms are capable of) I can use faster shutter speeds than I am used to at the same settings on the canons. Not sure if it' just the lens but it's my observations so far. And it really makes the lens a joy to shoot in low light.

So for me it's likely my next addition to the m43 kit would be a fast wide angle prime for those times when I need one. And maybe a longer focal length prime for a little telephoto etc.

I know what you mean but I can;t just yet part with my Canon gear with Zeiss lenses. I'm also interested in that Panny 12-35 but probably only if I decide to sell the full size DSLR. I've also held off on buying a long lens for the OM-D for the same reason. I end up using the OM-D for lightweight travel for my day job.

To me selling Canon gear would mean the loosing of a better CAF, good battery, and the double slot; so I guess that I have to wait next generation

Thanks! I almost missed this shot. I was looking out for Mt Fuji, camera on the ready, but I was looking at the distant horizon all the time. Then something caught my eye and when I looked down ... Holy Mackeral ... there was Mt Fuji right under my nose! I had only seconds to snap 2 or 3 shots before it disappeared under the plane's wingspan.

jaystar86 wrote:
^^^ Looks good Bobby. The shot from the plane looks awesome.

The PL 25/1.4 is certainly quite an extraordinary lens, but (to me) the lens that is really in a league of its own is the Oly 75/1.8. I thought I would have very limited use of this lens (same reason I never did like the 135L - because of the long-ish FL) but as it turns out, I used this lens like 75% of the time that I was in Cambodia and Japan. It bears repeating that the 25/1.4, 45/1.8 and 75/1.8 are all superb lenses and every bit as good as any L-series lens.

Wilbus wrote:

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).

Wilbus wrote:
Jaystar86, can't give you any advice about any zooms other then the 12-50mm kit lens. I think it is all right, it's actually really nice for macros, of course not like a true macro lens but the close focusing distance is very good and the sharpness is nice enough, at least for macros. It is also weather sealed unlike most other lenses which can be a good thing. It's very slow as far as aperture goes though which makes it poor for low light photography.

Buying it in the kit the kit name is actually "Movie kit" which makes me think the 12-50 was largely designed for movie making, silent zoom, small lens, easy to use and with optical performance more then good enough for full HD but lacking some for pictures. I'm gonna keep mine, it will be a great companion for different things although I don't expect to use it much.

You mentioned the PL 25mm F1.4 before and IMO that is the one lens you should get if you're only gonna get one to start with. It's amazing in every way, I use it for more then I use the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The Olympus 45mm is a great little lens but the PL 25mm is in a class of its own. Sharp already at F1.4 (I never think about stopping down to get better image quality with this lens, only to gain DOF).


^^^ Thanks for the post Wilbus. Its nice valuable input. I didnt know about the weather sealing on the 12-50mm lens. It seems the aperture is always limited on zooms unless you fork out the $$$ for F/2.8 zoom lenses. I know the limitations of low-light shooting with zooms but Im looking for a zoom lens(es) to basically use out n about where changing lenses might be bit of a pain (travelling, at a track taking pics of racing cars, etc.). I always keep a fast 50mm with me at all times though as its my main shooting lens for years now on any system (again speaking 50mm in terms of 35mm).


rji2goleez wrote:
+1 I love that PL25.



Delatant wrote:
+2 PL25 ---- on my camera 85% of time.


^^^ PL 25mm seems like a popular lens Definitely getting that as my first prime lens with my soon to be new m4/3 system.


gotak wrote:

Mostly agree. Except that I find the 12-50 is good for wide angle shots where it's not too slow, caveats applies though as i'll explain below.

Aside from the canon stuff I have the 12-50 and the 25 f1.4 right now and together they work pretty well. Maybe if I eventually decides to ditch the canon gear or at least sell one of the DSLR bodies (or magically come up with more money) I'll get the 12-35 f2.8 panasonic zoom (also weather sealed btw).

However, more likely I would be getting a set of primes for the O-MD as it's just perfect for that sort of shooting. The small size of the prime and the size of the camera together make a nice little package for street and travel. I also have found that the 25 f1.4 is quite a bit faster than the canon zooms I have and the 12-50. It's rather hard to measure but I think that lens might have a much better t-stop value than any of the zooms I have. Using it I am always amazed (even when set to f2.8 like my canon zooms are capable of) I can use faster shutter speeds than I am used to at the same settings on the canons. Not sure if it' just the lens but it's my observations so far. And it really makes the lens a joy to shoot in low light.

So for me it's likely my next addition to the m43 kit would be a fast wide angle prime for those times when I need one. And maybe a longer focal length prime for a little telephoto etc.

^^^ Thanks for posting gotak. Nice to hear feedback from a Canon/Oly user! The PL 25mm just sounds like an amazing lens. I will be getting it for sure. I hear that Oly 12mm F/2 is a great wide angle fast lens... maybe its what your looking for!?

I do like how the 12-50mm has f/3.5 aperture on the wide end as you end up using wider focal lengths indoors so that extra aperture certainly helps.


bobbytan wrote:
The PL 25/1.4 is certainly quite an extraordinary lens, but (to me) the lens that is really in a league of its own is the Oly 75/1.8. I thought I would have very limited use of this lens (same reason I never did like the 135L - because of the long-ish FL) but as it turns out, I used this lens like 75% of the time that I was in Cambodia and Japan. It bears repeating that the 25/1.4, 45/1.8 and 75/1.8 are all superb lenses and every bit as good as any L-series lens.



^^^ I keep reading about the Oly 12mm, 45mm and 75mm as being awesome lenses. Funny you mention the 135L... I bought that lens twice and both times ended up selling it simply because the focal length just didnt fit with me. I much preferred the 85mm focal length instead so Im betting I will really like that Oly 45mm. Bulk of my shooting was done with a 50mm and 85mm on full frame so Im fully planning on getting the Oly 45mm after the PL 25mm. I know 50mm and 85mm are kind of bunched together but that two lens combination worked much better for me then the very liked 35 & 85mm combination. Just couldnt get used to the 35mm focal length either.



All in all peeps I just want to thank you A TON again for posting your thoughts, inputs... its much appreciated. I will take it all into consideration and decide soon.

Now for the toughest decision of them all ... Silver body or Black