Simple (?) Lens Choice for Oly OMD E-M10 MKII

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Often asked question I know but having moved between various makes of CSC and M43 I want to start off with some straightforward lenses.. Say around three

I intend to use this excellent little camera for walks in the countryside, towns, holidays and macro. Other than macro nothing dedicated like wildlife, portrait or landscape only which may come later

I have the Oly 17mm 1.8 so for me thats a good town compact lens being 35mm equiv. But then I thought in the interests of a small selection of lenses, initially, what else could I have for general photography without spending "pro" money?

Panny 14-140 or Oly 14-150 Mk IIs

Kit lens either Oly 14-42 EZ or Panny 14-42 which would make the 17mm redundant ?

I have had some good advice on a macro setup but I may choose to go for the Oly 60mm macro.

One of the problems, a nice one, is the massive range of lenses which makes this not as straightforward as others. So please offer your thoughts on the above lenses
 
Love my Oly 60mm macro lens - really nice quality. Amazon sometimes do this cheap on lightning deals so worth setting up a price alert.

14-42mm EZ is good enough quality for a kit lens and pretty flexible for walkabout photography (I'll be advertising mine for sale on here shortly as it doesn't fit inside my new underwater housing port). I'm going for the 12-50mm instead (which also has a macro mode if you didn't want to shell out for the 60mm straight away).

Coming from a canon 650D and all the gear down to MfT has been brilliant - so light and portable!
 
Bluep said:
Love my Oly 60mm macro lens - really nice quality. Amazon sometimes do this cheap on lightning deals so worth setting up a price alert.

14-42mm EZ is good enough quality for a kit lens and pretty flexible for walkabout photography (I'll be advertising mine for sale on here shortly as it doesn't fit inside my new underwater housing port). I'm going for the 12-50mm instead (which also has a macro mode if you didn't want to shell out for the 60mm straight away).

Coming from a canon 650D and all the gear down to MfT has been brilliant - so light and portable!
Click to expand...

I'll second the 12-50mm. Got mine last week, and so far I'm impressed ! IQ is very good, and the macro feature is handy too.
 
Have you found it an upgrade from the 14-42mm?

I'm getting:
12-50mm
9-18mm
In addition to my 60mm as these are amongst the best non-pro lenses for underwater photography for the Olympus pen cameras.
 
I would suggest:
  • Panasonic 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS
  • Panasonic 45-150mm f4.0-5.6 ASPH OIS
Both approx £100 second hand. Despite the low price, these lenses have very good optical performance. I have several Olympus PRO lenses but would bring the 2 above when travelling.

A 14-45 or 14-42 will not replace the Oly 17 f/1.8 though - you want to keep the low light ability you get from f/1.8.

Olympus 60 f/2.8 is a good choice for macro.

Some other m4/3 bargains to consider that would complement the above:
  • Olympus 45 f/1.8
  • Olympus 9-18 ultra wide angle (less of an absolute bargain but best value for money UWA in m4/3)
 
Thanks folks.....

Seems the lenses people end up with are pretty similar. They certainly line up with my uses as well which helps. And its certainly the case that MFT kit is lighter and more compact than most and has an extensive range as well.

No mention of the 14-150 I see which is highly rated. The 17mm I have is a really excellent lens which I will keep as Maarten suggests. Its such a sharp lens and very compact on the camera
 
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