Premium/Pro zoom or primes?

[TNcasual]

It's about that time for me to come asking around again. It happens every few months for me.

I currently have my Oly 75 in the Buy&Sell forum. I have had a little interest. I decided that I get more use out of the Oly 60 that I bought awhile back. The 75 is great, it is just a little long for me. (The same goes for a Jupiter-9 that I like, but have up for sale for not getting any use.)

The plan is to turn the money from the 75 into either a 12-40/12-35 zoom or possibly a 25mm. I have come to find that I really do like the FOV of my Leica Elmarit-R 28. The zooms might give me a great walk around with a little versatility, where a 25 would give me a little more DOF control and compactness.

So what do you think?

 

[Wisertime]

These are personal decisions....but I always suggest an old 14-54 MKii $200 w/ Adapter and use the rest of the $ and have both.

 

[TNcasual]

That's an option. But I don't see an E-M1 in my future.

 

[ionian]

Very much a personal choice but let me add a cheapish option into your thinking - consider the sigma 30mm f1.4. It will be an almost identical focal length to your 28mm, it renders beautifully and is faster than most. It's pretty big by m43 prime standards, but the output is worth it, at least for me.

Having said that, my personal choice from your options would be the Olympus zoom - and I'd wait a month or two, as the second-hand market may be saturated with them once the 12-100 becomes more widely available, driving down prices.

 

[wjiang]

You do seem to be missing a prime - 14mm to 60mm is a big gap. A 25mm or 30mm would work nicely.

I see you already have a generalist weather resistant lens in the 14-140 Mk2 and macro is covered with the 60nm, is there something specifically that you were looking for in the 12-40?

 

[TNcasual]

With a zoom I was looking for something with quality and a little versatility. Also with less distortion at the wide end. I like using the GWC adapter on the 14, but have found that it really produces a lot of distortion.

That gap from 14mm to 60mm is covered by most of my adapted lenses. Which the only problem I have with is speed. I like using them, but I have to be more deliberate and much slower. Native lenses allow for much greater speed. It would be nice to have the option of which shooting style I want for the day.

 

[JanW]

What about a 12-32 (compact and it seems to give good IQ) and a 25mm? 12-32 for its wide angle and a fast prime.
I have a 14-54II and I like it because of possible shallower DOF on the long end and shorter minimum focus distance, I don't see a much improved IQ over the Panasonic 14-42 II.
You seem to use your primes quite often and these give even more DOF possibilities.

Btw the 14-54II is designed for CDAF and works fine with all m4/3 cameras.

 

[TNcasual]

Btw the 14-54II is designed for CDAF and works fine with all m4/3 cameras.

I was under the impression that the 14-54 being a Four Thirds lens would be slow focusing on m4/3s cameras save the E-M1. Is that not correct?

 

[Gary5]

For myself, I'd add a fast 45mm prime, but I think most people would choose a 25.

 

[Turbofrog]

I was under the impression that the 14-54 being a Four Thirds lens would be slow focusing on m4/3s cameras save the E-M1. Is that not correct?

Some later 4/3 lenses were designed for CDAF focussing, since Live View was one of the strengths of Olympus DSLRs. The original 14-54 I will be terrible on any body except the E-M1, but the 14-54 II should be okay, as it is one of those optimized lenses. It still will be worse than any modern M4/3 lens, but it won't be infuriatingly slow.

 

[ijm5012]

I was under the impression that the 14-54 being a Four Thirds lens would be slow focusing on m4/3s cameras save the E-M1. Is that not correct?

As has been mentioned before, the Mk. II version of this lens was designed for CDAF, and thus will AF on m43 cameras pretty well. An easy way to distinguish it from the Mk. I variant is that the Mk. II has a blue ring on the front of the lens (kind of like Canon's red ring for "L" glass), while the Mk. I is all black.

It's a personal decision really regarding zooms vs primes. If you have more than one camera, then I'd say primes since you can mount two different focal lengths and not have to worry about switching lenses. But if you only have one camera, then the flexibility a zoom provides really can't be beat.

 

[tkbslc]

I personally don't like the f2.8 standard zooms on m4/3 because they don't give enough DOF control with wider focal lengths, and f2.8 isn't good enough to forgo flash in low light. I personally think the slow standard zooms ( that you have with 14-150) and some fast primes gives you a more flexible solution. So I'd pick up a 20-30mm fast prime. If you love the 28mm Leica, then check out that new Sigma 30mm maybe?

 

[TNcasual]

Update: I sold the 75mm and Jupiter-9 85mm. However, I decided to use the funds for Christmas presents.

A friend if mine was kind enough to let me borrow his 12-40 for a few weeks. I am going to see how I like it. Maybe sometime over the winter/spring I will come back to purchasing a new lens.

 

[Deleted member 20897]

While I have come to appreciate the speed of which the Oly primes provide and their excellent usability even wide open, I found that I did not use them nearly as much as I did zoom lenses. This is purely for practicality purposes and better fitting the style of shooting that I do.

As others have mentioned, it is really a personal decision and what you gel with best.

Good luck on finding what is the best fit for you!

 

[Lcrunyon]

I love the convenience and quality of the f/2.8 pro zooms. They are my workhorses. I agree that it's largely a personal decision, but if money is no object, the best option is a combination of zooms and a few super-fast primes at choice focal lengths when shooting for shallow depth of field and/or movement in low light.

To make primes worthwhile against the Pro zooms, though, my personal opinion is that the f/1.8 primes are not enough. They need to be even faster and sharper, or I'd never feel compelled to take the zoom off. The Oly 25 f1.2, PL 25 f/1.4, PL 42.5 f/1.2, or the Voigtlanders are on my short list of primes that complement well with the pro zooms.

 

[ionian]

See how you get on with the Oly 12-40 @TNcasual - you were due a nice favour like that after spending your camera money on Xmas presents. As I mentioned above, I think there will be more on the second-hand market in a couple of months as some people change to the 12-100, so your patience might be rewarded with a bargain.

 

[Wisertime]

While I have come to appreciate the speed of which the Oly zooms provide and their excellent usability even wide open, I found that I did not use them nearly as much as I did zoom lenses.

You might want to edit that statement.

 

[Deleted member 20897]

You might want to edit that statement.

Corrected. That is what I get for trying to multi-task. lol

 

[TNcasual]

See how you get on with the Oly 12-40 @TNcasual - you were due a nice favour like that after spending your camera money on Xmas presents. As I mentioned above, I think there will be more on the second-hand market in a couple of months as some people change to the 12-100, so your patience might be rewarded with a bargain.

See, I have a funny feeling that the 12-100 could give me a replacement for the 14-150ii and be my regular carry around lens. But I can't see being able to buy it for a long time.

 

[Wisertime]

Corrected. That is what I get for trying to multi-task. lol

Figured that's what you meant.