I found a good deal on a E M10 body. Opinions body or kit with lens? If I choose just the body what lens would be a good choice?
If you don't have a standard zoom in mind, then the extra $50-100 for the kit version is hard to beat. It's a good lens, with limitations. As for what other lens would be ideal, that's a pretty open question. What is your budget for the lens and what do you intend to photograph with it? If you aren't sure, just get the kit lens and try it out for a while and use the experience to guide your next lens purchase.
What level of skills and experience do you have? If this is your first all-up digital camera I'd recommend the kit with the kit zoom. For an experienced or serious photographer, I'd say either the Oly 12-40mm PRO or the PL 12-32mm.
I'm not a fan of the kit zooms, but that's because I like larger aperture lenses. The Panasonic 12-32mm f3.5/5.6 is the best, and most compact, of the variable-aperture lenses.
Some history on what you've been using and what you like to photograph would help with lens recommendations.
Lenses depend a lot on what you shoot or intend to shot, size preferences AND budget. A "low" budget example Wildlife: 75-300 Portraits: Sigma 60 Landscapes: 12-32 Generic shots: the kit zoom + 40-150 Generic shots II: 14-150 Generic shots III: three primes These are example of what the humble kit zoom can do: Don't trash the kit lens . - Raviraj Kande Robin Wong: 5 Reasons Why Your Kit Lens is Awesome If you do not have a kit zoom and if the overall price saving makes sense you could get a used 14-42 II R or Pana 14-45 (45, not 42).
It has been awhile since I last shoot with a DSLR. I like shooting wildlfe, landscapes, buildings. I would also like to learn how to shoot Marco too.
I got my E-M10 kit at the $500 price. At that time, the body was $450. For only $50 it was well worth getting the kit zoom. My first vacation after buying the E-M10 I went on a bicycle tour and had to fit all my photo gear plus my passport, eyeglasses and wallet into a fanny pack. I brought only the kit zoom. It was plenty sharp for me and I never missed the 2 to 3 f-stop speed advantage of my primes.
On the 2 occasions that I've bought 'body only', I've later regretted not paying the extra to get a kit lens deal. The 14-42mm iir is a competent and versatile little lens. It may not be the best, but it's certainly usable and it's considerably more expensive to buy the lens separately. I haven't tried the EZ version, but I feel it would be a really convenient solution to attach to my old EPM1 and keep in the glovebox of my car. I've been looking on ebay for a good deal on one, but it would have been so much cheaper if I'd bought the lens with my EM10. I also find it much easier to sell a used camera if it is supplied with a lens.
I bought the E-M10 with the kit 14-42 EZ lens and to be honest I was very disappointed with it (the lens, not the body!). I had the original 14-150 which I kept when selling my E-PL2 which blew the socks off the EZ lens. After taking the usual bunch of test shots, I concluded that it was much softer than the 14-150 and has what almost looks like an out-of-focus look to it. It's not really terrible, but when you have something to compare it against it is very noticeable. Since then I've got the 12-40 f/2.8 which spends 80% of the time on the camera, then the 17mm f/1.8 which is great for low light pubs and parties and the Samyang fish-eye which is a blast (love that lens). Alternatively the non-EZ 14-42 is optically much better (I had one for the E-PL2) and a great starting point.
The 14-42s are okay, but just okay... If you are at all interested in the 12-40mm f/2.8, 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R zooms, 17mm, 25mm or 45mm f/1.8 primes though, try and get them in a kit. They are all great lenses and often come bundled with an Olympus body. You'll get much better prices than buying the lens separately new, if there's a good deal going it might even be comparable in price to a mint used copy.
I bought the E-M10 with the OLYMPUS M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R, also have a fairly good collection of 4/3s DSLR lenses, including the 14-54 MkI. I will NOT tell you that the 14-42 is as good as the 14-54, it simply is not, however, it is a lens that won't embarrass you either. I find myself using the 14-42 whenever I want fast autofocus, or an unobtrusive profile, or when size and weight is an important factor. It's a good general purpose and rather small lens. A reasonable 'walkaround' sort of lens.
