Buying my first camera - Olympus E-M10 Mark II - and trying to figure out which lenses to start with

[astrostl]

Although, I may have been too quick to snatch up that deal on the Oly 25mm... I now realize I should probably stick to Panasonic lenses, to take advantage of the DFD feature... Hope I'm not missing out on too much for my first prime without that feature - I could always sell it back for more than the cost of the Panasonic 25mm 1.7.

The Oly is sharper and has better flare control. I wouldn't sweat the DFD aspect, proof will be in the pudding for you though. Enjoy!

 

[CyVan]

EDIT: Just realised the OP already bought the G85 , so the first part of this was redundant.

In terms of lenses the Oly 40-150 is nice and cheap but if you have one of the Panasonic bodies try to get the Pan 45-150 instead, its actually a tiny bit smaller , a lil bit sharper and comes with lens stabilization. With those bodies it'll give you dual IS which is better than just the plain in body stabilization by itself.

In general if you have a Panasonic body you'll want to go with the Panasonic version of a lens if its above 40mm because they usually have OIS and support Dual IS which brings u close to matching the excellent in-body IS of the Olympus bodies.

For trying out macro , if you get the 4x-150 zoom then you can also buy one of the achromats like the Raynox DCR-150 or DCR-250 to get closer to 1:1 macro shots. They're a lil more expensive than extension tubes but you can just quickly slap them onto the front of the lens and go max zoom to get almost the same magnification as the O60 natively.

 

[Bif]

The OP made a very good start here. I would advise him to work with what he ordered for awhile. I have the GX7, GH4, G7, and just got the G85 kit (probably gonna have to sell something!); I've got the Oly 9-18, Oly 12, Lumix 14, Lumix 20, Pan/Leica 25, Lumix 42.5, Oly 75, Lumix 14-42II, Lumix 14-45, Oly 12-50, Lumix 40-150, and Lumix 45-200. I didn't acquire them all at once, took it slow and shopped the buy/sell forum on this site for most, ebay for a couple but did it over 4 years.

So he can take it slow and do an awful lot with what he has just ordered. Macro needs for now might be handled with these extension tubes (I have this set and consider it a very good value for very low cost):

Amazon.com : Meike® Automatic Extension Tube For Olumpus Panasonic Micro 4/3 system Camera : Compact System Digital Cameras : Camera & Photo

The G85 was a very good choice if video will ever enter the picture. He should update the camera body firmware to v. 1.1 if the camera comes with v 1.0 as mine did. The update corrects a bit of a "glitch" in the IBIS when panning in video. I just ran the update on mine yesterday, video is big with me and I saw significant improvement.

 

[Klorenzo]

One late advice: do no buy any more lenses for a while. You have a good zoom and a fast versatile prime: more then enough. Learn to squeeze everything out of it before upgrading.

You do not really need a dedicated macro lens for casual macro shots: the 12-60 can focus very close and you can always crop later. There are many others things that you may need more (long tele, flash, tripod, etc.). And you may discover that you love primes and hate zooms or just swapping lenses, or buying only one special lens in a year over two cheaper ones, etc.
Also a few more lenses will be available from Panasonic (the 2.8-4 series) in a year(?) that could be interesting additions/upgrade.

 

[TonyG]

I've been researching all week about this purchase. This forum has been immensely helpful, but after finding so many lenses that sound amazing (I can see how addictive this will become) I wanted to get some personalized opinions.

I think I'm set on the Olympus E-M10 Mark II for a number of reasons, including the variety of available lenses, the smallish size and portability (can toss it in a coat pocket with a small prime lens if needed), and decent video recording.

My priorities (in no particular order) are:

-Landscapes (love traveling)

-Children/family (our first baby is on the way), pets = lots of in-home indoor pictures --> thinking a prime will be necessary for low lighting

-Along with candid shots of the above in a variety of situations, portraits would be important

-I think I'd really be interested in macro. I have Biology degrees and would love to take great shots of flowers, insects, everything nature.

Balancing the above, I'm looking at a budget of $1000-$1500. I know I'll be interested in the hobby so I'm not afraid to jump in the deep end, knowing I've got a lot to learn.

So, here are some of the options I'm considering:

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II - Refurbished - $439 from Buydig.com

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens - $650 used

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens - $400

Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 plus M.Zuiko ED 14-150mm f4.0-5.6 II combo - $800

Panasonic Lumix G 25 mm F1.7 ASPH - $250

Olympus 17mm f1.7 - $400

New E-M10 Mark II with M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R - $700

New E-M10 Mark II with M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R plus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R - $800

I'm looking to do the 'most with the least' to start with. I've just about thrown out the idea of getting it with the kit lenses, since I'm sure they're fine, but I know I'll have a lot of indoor/non-optimal lighting and will need a large aperture.

I'm interested in how high quality the primes are, but I know that they are somewhat inflexible, and I'm not sure if that how I should begin my journey learning to use the camera and take great photos. I'm thinking my ideal setup would be some kind of zoom lens plus a prime? The macro lens is especially interesting to me, because it is supposedly great for portraits as well as macro. The macro + a wide prime for landscapes and low light sounds like a great combo to accomplish a lot, but maybe I'm giving the macro lens too much credit?

Obviously I'm considering a lot of options - any help with the best way to get started with my first 'real camera' is much appreciated - thanks!

If your interested in macro you can pick up a used manual focus FF macro lens. Add the appropriate adapter and you are good to go. I bought a used Minolta 50mm a few years back for $80. It gives great results. I'm not up on my Panasonic cameras but focus peaking or magnified view helps. Most of the time you won't use auto focus so that's not an issue. The nice thing about these old lenses is you have the aperture ring on the lens so you can dial in the amount of background blur that you want without fumbling around the camera body. Definitely get a macro lens if you have an interest in it you won't regret it.