Over the past 10 tears I have been steadily reducing the amount of stuff I have. I think this comes from having ti deal with cancer and losing house, car, business, savings, retirement...you get the picture. In the end all I was left with was a couple of storage rooms full of cr*p and since then I have slowly been ridding myself of all the things of my old life. It was as if I died the day I was diagnosed and I don't even recognize a lot of that stuff as being mine anymore.

Now, on to PHOTOGRAPHY RELATED...as a result of this I have found that having stuff I don't use really bugs me. As many of you have seen I have gone through a lot of cameras and lenses in the past two years. I try stuff and if I like it it stays around and if I don't like it or more importantly don't use it I sell it off. I figure I can always reacquire it if I want to (and have on a few occasions). I am also by nature a collector. I see something and if it's a good deal or something I fancy and can afford it I'll grab it. This means I up purging my gear and within a few months collecting more of it. For whatever reason I seems to have reached a type of equilibrium with two bodies but lenses are another matter all together. At any one time I have fifteen or twenty floating around. The thing is, I only really use a few. As much as I'd love to say that I use all sorts of focal lengths I'd be lying. I am a creature of habit and can make do with a single focal length pretty well if I have to.

This brings me to my question, if you had to go with one lens (native or adapted) what would it be and why? I'll start it off, on my GX1 it would be my PL45. Of all the various lenses I have used in m43 it is far and away my favorite. It just suits what I like to do.

My choice would be the 25mm f/1.4. I spent so much time in my very early film days with only the 50mm kit lens that I'm imprinted with that as my sweet spot.

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Chuck

+1 for fast-normals ;-)

My 20mm f1.7.

I'd love the 25mm f1.4 but can't justify the expense.

Oly 45. A good P&S (=RX100) can do everything else that I need. If m43 is the only camera then P20

I thought it would always be the P20, but it's the PL25 for me now.

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Amin
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The same with me - the Oly 45 on the E-P3. Even if it is a bit close I can run backwards a bit.

Does it have to be a prime? If not, I would choose the Panasonic 14-45mm.

If we are talking primes only, then it would be the 25mm f1.4 or possibly the forthcoming Olympus 17mm f1.8. In my film days equivalents of these were my two most used lenses.

Sounds like you've had a rough time, Kevin; sorry to hear that.

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John

Tough choice between my 20mm and my Oly 45mm but if I had to choose I'd probably end up with the 45mm. I tend to like longer lenses.

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The P/L 25mm is my choice. The 20mm was (and is) great, but the contrast on the 25mm is outstanding. It's long enough (just) for portraits, but wide enough for most everyday situations. Love it!

Bill

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Tough call... if I were any good at paring things down, I'd own a lot less gear

Each lens has its own endearing qualities, but out of the native m4/3 lenses I've owned & used there are 3 clear contenders for the "one lens" for me.

If I went with one lens for absolutely everything, it'd probably be the PL 25mm f/1.4 - great rendering, beautiful bokeh, fast aperture, "normal" focal length. For the same reasons it'd be pretty much a toss-up between that and the CV 25mm f/0.95. I love that lens, but it doesn't get used as often due to the lack of AF.

The other lens I'd consider would be the 12-35mm f/2.8 for the versatility in focal length and f/2.8 aperture. But a fixed 25mm prime would win out by a narrow margin over a zoom if I had to have a single lens.

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