Camera Labs

Hi folks,

Well, I'm waving goodbye to Canon and embracing Olympus again in the shape of a black OM-D E-M5. The only "gotcha" is the shipment date as I've indicated that I'll cancel the order if they, Park Cameras, can't get the camera to me in time to qualify for the free grip promotion which requires the paperwork to be submitted by May 31st. I'm still committed to the camera but the initial price won't drop for a few months so that free grip promotion oils the wheels, so to speak.

Being a new kid on the block in micro four-thirds world I thought I'd share my choice of lenses and ask for feedback.

Initial Purchase:


• Lumix G Vario 7-14mm f/4 ASPH - mainly for landscape use
• Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH Power OIS - the main walk-around lens chosen for compactness
• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ - this is the E-M5 kit lens. Bought with the camera as it, like the E-M5, is weather sealed and doesn't add too much to the price.
• Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm f/4.0-5.6 ASPH - I rarely use telephoto but it would be silly not to have something
• Lumix G Micro 4/3 LEICA DG SUMMILUX 25mm f/1.4 ASPH - Expensive but good for indoor shots in available light

For the future I might consider, funds permitting:


• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75mm f/1.8 - announced but not shipping yet. Might be a nice portrait/available light option
• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro - announced but not shipping yet. If I need a macro lens...
• M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6 - only if I want even more reach in the future

The elephant in the room is the Panasonic 14-150mm f3.5-5.6 Leica D Vario Elmarit Four Thirds Lens. It is advertised as CDAF compatible and as superzooms go it's about as good as they get but it's very expensive. If I were to go for it then the SUMMILUX 25mm f/1.4 would have to be deferred. Whether that would be a good trade-off is totally down to my own needs so I'm not looking for advice about that but if any forum members have experience with this lens on a m4/3 body I'd be interested to hear about it.

My initial budget is quite a healthy one, as can be seen, as it will be funded from the sale of my Canon kit. The OM-D isn't expected for a few weeks so I've plenty of time to refine my choices. Any thoughts?

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

If you want a nice macro there's already the Pana-Leica 45mm.

While not a major deal to all, it is to some, so be aware the zoom ring directions work differently between Panasonic and Olympus. So if you are considering a lot of zooms, this may be a factor. Of course the powerzooms are not affected by this.

Isn't the 75/1.8 on the long side for portraits? Perhaps consider the existing 45/1.8 instead?

And in case you end up having to delay the 25/1.4 for any reason, there's always the 20/1.7 for some fast-ish standard-ish pancake fun.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Hi popo,

Thanks for the wise words. I'm normally only one for pancakes in February and as a result I didn't look at the PhotoZone results for the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH closely enough until today. Big mistake as it's real value for money.

I still have a 50mm f/1.4 and a 200mm f/4 which last saw use on my OM-2. Manual focus, of course, but I think it will also behoove me to try those out on the E-M5 and see if the quality on a digital sensor is good enough to affect my m4/3 choices.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

I have played around with the 20mm f1.7 and a Olympus EP1, pretty nice combo.

_________________
Canon 5D MkII -|- Sigma 24mm f/1.8 | Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 | Canon 50mm f/1.4 | Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Lensbaby Composer
Canon A-1 -|- Canon 28mm f/2 | Canon 35mm f/2.8 | Canon 50mm f/3.5 Macro

Remember I was one of the first to jump on the m4/3 boat getting the E-P1 early on, and once I got the 20/1.7 that never left the camera! I might not be active in it now, but I'm still keeping an eye on things. If it wasn't for my main interest area of wildlife, I think it would be a solid system to build around.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Third vote for the 20mm f1.7 pancake here. Personally, I find the pancake more useful, and if I'm willing to sacrifice size (and AF) for performance, I'd rather go with a Voigtlander (in my case, the 17mm, but there's also the 25mm).

And if budget is an issue (and you're willing to deal with software/firmware lens correction, which you previously said you were), maybe go with the m4/3 Pany 14-140mm instead of the 4/3 14-150mm? I'm happy with the two I have, but I use them more for video than stills.

Basically, I'm thinking, what if you:

Kept the 7-14mm for landscapes.
Replaced the 14-42mm with the 20mm f1.7 for walking around.
Kept the 12-50mm kit lens.
Replaced the 45-175mm (and the above 14-42mm) (and decided to forgo the 14-150mm) with the 14-140mm to have something for telephoto.
Replaced the 25mm f1.4 with a Voigtlander (either 17mm or 25mm) f0.95 for extreme lowlight performance. i.e. when the 20mm f1.7 won't cut it.

Just a thought - Mark

__________
Panasonic GH1, GH2, (2) 14-140mm f4.0-5.8, 20mm f1.7, 25mm f1.4, 100-300mm f4.0-5.6
Olympus 12mm f2.0, 45mm f1.8
Voigtlander 17mm f0.95
Canon 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8, 100mm f2.0, 135mm f2.0, 200mm f2.8
Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 (EF-S)

My most-used lens is probably the Olympus 9-18mm. It covers almost everything I need from landscape to architecture to street.

The only other lenses I use are the 20mm 1.7 for when light is low and the 45mm 1.8 for portraits.

This works out as a very compact light-weight kit for 99% of my photography. I don't shoot wildlife so I don't need a tele-zoom.

_________________
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53061745@N02/

Panasonic G3: 9-18mm, 14mm, 20mm, 45mm

Very nice !!
I always thought it was a bit small, but with the grip it looks almost perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azsOGjJv ... re=related

.
The Lumix G Vario 7-14mm f/4 ASPH and Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH Power OIS arrive tomorrow.

The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ will arrive with the camera.

I'm still considering the Panasonic 14-150mm f3.5-5.6 Leica D Vario Elmarit as it may offer better optical sharpness at the telephoto end of the scale than the native m4/3 offerings. It is CDAF compatible, though my guess is that it will still be slow to focus. If I do decide on this lens any new primes will have to wait.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

You didn't change systems just to get a superzoom did you? Even if it has Leica on it...

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

.
It was the last thought on my mind! The PhotoZone results belie its superzoom status though. Pretty compact as well though one has to add the length of an adaptor. I've asked Robert White for their best quote as I'm not too keen on buying from Hong Kong.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

.
I think Gordon owes me a coffee! The Panasonic 14-150mm f3.5-5.6 Leica D Vario Elmarit is now on order from our price partner site B&H. It's one difficult lens to track down over here in Europe. Panasonic in Germany have them on special offer, so special that they'll only sell to customers in Germany or Austria. A number of German resellers advertise them but the ones that take credit cards don't have stock with the others demanding cash (not credit card payment) in advance - fat chance of that happening!!! Anyway, B&H are eminently trustworthy and if they say they have stock then I'm sure they do. They even offer via their website a chance to pay all import duty and tax in advance but I wasn't convinced that a 32% premium was appropriate so I'll take my chances with whatever UPS bill me for.

Anyway, I'm all "lensed up" now with just the, far from cheap, 4/3 to micro 4/3 adaptor to buy - shame I don't have the camera yet!

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Hi folks,

As I now have my OM-D E-M5 camera, my initial lens choices and adaptors for the legacy lenses I can deploy I thought I'd share. First up here's a comparison of the sizes of my Canon PowerShot G10, the E-M5 plus Lumix 14-42mm lens and my OM-2 plus its 50mm f/1.4 lens:

This isn't some PhotoShop composite - the cameras were physically side by side and the capture was courtesy of my cell phone. Ain't the OM-D E-M5 tiny!!! Now here's the complete lens selection:

From left to right there's a Zuiko 200mm f/4 mounted on an OM to m4/3 adaptor, the 12-50mm kit lens that came with the camera, the Leica 14-150mm mounted on an Olympus 4/3 to m4/3 adaptor, a Mamiya 150mm f/2.8 mounted on a Canon EF adaptor plus an EF to m4/3 adaptor, the Lumix 7-14mm, an OM 50mm f/1.4 and finally a 500mm mirror lens of rather dubious quality! And, of course, I musn't forget to mention the Lumix 14-42mm lens already attached to the E-M5.

I think on grounds of sharpness and/or redundancy some of those lenses will only see use for a bit of fun so here's my core selection:

I've included the 12-50mm kit lens simply because it is weather resistant, like the camera. Finally here are shots of the E-M5 powered up with all the lenses attached except the kit lens - there are zillions of photographs of that combo already on the web! The crops aren't all to scale but hopefully they are good enough to get an idea of the relative sizes

The Leica "super-zoom" might seem an odd choice as you can see but it's not huge, even on the relatively tiny E-M5, it focusses reasonably quickly (it is CDAF compatible) though nowhere near the almost instant response of the 14-42mm and the PhotoZone tests seem to show it performs as well at the telephoto end of the scale as the m4/3 telephoto zooms so I thought I'd grab myself a copy while they are still available. I'm not sure yet just how much use the 50mm f/1.4 will see and it might struggle for sharpness but until I can justify a native m4/3 prime it might be useful.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Aside from my first impression of "Bob, please white balance those pics!" it certainly looks like a little bundle of fun. I haven't looked for a side by side comparison, but estimating from the lens size the E-M5 would be about the same size as the E-P_ series if it wasn't for the hump on the top?

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

.
They are perfectly white balanced. But then I coloured the background.

But, just for you, I've now reverted to a neutral off-white background.

For a comparison to the E-P3 check out the Camera Sizes website.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.