So, after a bit of switches now I'm shooting with the following gear: Olympus E-PL2 Olympus 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 IIR Olympus 40-150 mm f/4-5.6 IIR Minolta MD 50 mm f/1.7 Minolta MD 135 mm f/3.5 Flash Nissin Di466 FT Now (maybe a late summer G.A.S. attack?) I'm thinking of getting a couple native prime lens to play with. I'm still satisfied with my body, so I'm not planning to replace it (thank to flash and IBIS I always manage to shoot at low ISO). In the past I had a Sigma 19 but, altough I liked the rendering, I discovered that I was very often longing for the kit lens. Looking at my EXIF data I discovered that most of my shoots were at wide angle or in the normal / long normal range, so I made a 2-step upgrade path for the foreseenable future. 1) Lenses I wish I have: Olympus 12 mm f/2 Olympus 25 mm f/1.8 Olympus 45 mm f/1.8 Keep the 40-150 Keep old legacy glass 2) Lenses I can afford now (my poor man's trinity?): Panasonic 14 mm f/2.5 Sigma 30 mm f/2.8 Keep the 40-150 Keep old legacy glass Probably I can sit down and wait for bargains because the kit zooms quality (especially on 40-150) quality is way over their price point, so: a) The 14-42 @14mm could make for my wide angle b) the 40-150 is good enough for casual zoo / hiking tasks, at least for me so probably my first choice should be the Sigma 30, then adding the Pana 14 (probably not better that the kit lens @14, but I like its size and weight), and go saving for the 12 and the 25 in the long run. I think that in my scenario the Oly 45 should go last (I'm using the old Minolta 50 as my portrait lens). Sorry for the long(-ish) post but I saw a lot of good advices in this forum in the past, so your opinion is very valuable to me. Thank you from Italy
I think the Sigma 30 makes sense based on what you are laying out. I'm also a fan of the 14 over the kit lens ( I think it is better, but that is debatable). More importantly, you clearly seem to understand what you shoot and what you want out of your kit, which is not normal for people asking for advice, so my advice to you is to trust yourself.
How is the price of the WCON-PO1 wide angle adapter where you live? It would give you a budget wide angle on the 14-42 II. I used an adapter on my Panasonic 14mm and liked the results, so I am thinking the Olympus adapter should give comparable results (~11mm) on the kit zoom. I think a fast prime lens in the 17-25mm range would be your next priority for the EPL2. I have always liked the Panasonic 20mm on my EPL1, but it is a slow focusing lens. I also like the Olympus 17mm f1.8, but think it's expensive. I bought mine as a refurbished unit, which saved me quite a bit. I agree about the 50mm legacy being a viable substitute for the Olympus 45mm, but these old lens sometimes ghost and flare under certain light. When they do, the Olympus results are so much better. It's also much less weight and easier to carry. It's something you can buy in the future, and hopefully the price keeps dropping for you.
Thank you for your advice; the price in EU seems around 100€ + shipping (and availability is low). Probably I'll be better served by the native 12mm in the future, and in the meanwhile by the Pana 14. I forgot to say that, at the moment, the wide angle role in my setup is assigned ty my beloved (old, but still capable) LX3, especially in the 16:9 crop that gives me beautiful landscapes (especially with a bit of work on RAW files)
I would suggest the Panasonic 14 f2.5 & Panasonic 20 f1.7 These pancakes are both sharp and very compact. If you add other lenses later I think these will be keepers regardless of what you purchase. PS a wildcard solution might be the 14-54II.
Can you expand on this comment - why did you prefer the kit lens? Was the fixed focal length too restrictive, or did you not like the 19mm focal length in general (too short, too long)? My advice was going to be to get the Olympus 25mm so you have a lens that allows for more flexibility in terms of low light and shallow depth of field. The Panasonic 20/1.7 could be a good option too.
While the size of the 14 is appealing, would you use it if you owned the 12? If you can find one used or off a kit, it may be worth buying, but I would otherwise save your funds for the 12 as the resale value on the 14 is not very high. And, its size is somewhat mitigated by the size of the E-PL2, so its advantage is not quite as noticeable. --Ken
I was thinking a refurbished 12-40 as well, but I do not know how easily they are available in the EU. --Ken
You do not have a pancake lens. If you can find one cheap the original Olympus 17mmF2.8 is excellent, takes bautiful photos, and the Lumix 20mmF1.7 is very sharp and very good indoors with bright aperture. Having said that : I use my e-pL2 indoors with bounced flash and the Sigma 30mmF2.8 : very fast reliable focus.
Wow there's a lot of food for thought here! I only have to add that I think to buy only lenses used / refurbished / detached from kits because I don't want to shell out a lot of money, so the 12-40 and the 75 are out of my reach. I considered the Pana 20 but, like the Sigma 19, I foung 20 mm an 'odd' focal, neither fish nor flesh: probably it should be a perfect 'one lens' solution, but for the same price I could get the Pana 14 and the Sigma 30, a couple that probably could better fit my shooting habits. So now I'm stuck in a new analysis paralysis: get now a new toy or wait, save and get later some better lens, like the 12 and the 25, which focal length I probably will love more than the 20?
