Hello everybody. I’m planning to get my first camera body and lenses but I’m not quite sure on what lensens to get. I think I’ll get a LUMIX DMC-GF1 which I can find for fairly cheap prices so I can spend most of the money for some good lenses.
What lenses would you recommend me buying? Is there some kind of “general lenses” I can use without having to switch them according to situations? I’m very new and confused by all the technical terms and stuff
I would start with a “fast 50” or “fast35” prime lens and hold off on buying anything else until you are comfortable with it. By that stage you will know much more about what type of lens you want and can ask more specific questions.
For micro 4/3 this equates to 25mm or 17mm focal lengths. Some suggestions are here: https://shotkit.com/best-micro-four-thirds-lenses/
I’ll check out the link and keep in mind your advices. Thanks!
I’m not a photographer but they all will say you’re going to want to start with a 50mm prime. Every system has one that’s high quality and relatively inexpensive. You should learn on it. Get to understand shooting, framing, lighting, etc without the crutch of a zoom lens.
Can’t go wrong with the Lumix 25mm f1.7. It’s less than $200 and produces some brilliant images. M43 cameras have cropped sensors so it’s effectively 2x the focal distance, so that’s roughly the same as a 50mm on full frame.
For something a bit more flexible, a zoom is a good thing to have. The 14-150mm gives you lots of range, at the cost of lower max aperture (f4 iirc) and a bit of sharpness.
Down the road you might want a fast zoom, something like the 12-40 f2.8. It’s a bit more expensive, but absolutely gorgeous.
Good luck!!
I second having a decent 50mm equivalent lens for starters, they’re pretty versitile and compact.
I personally quite like being constrained to one focal length, I feel like it really taught me to be more deliberate about my positioning, framing and composition, but you’ll have to figure out whether that’s a style of photography you enjoy.
Having a zoom for the flexibility is definitely also nice and fun to try out and invaluable in some settings
In the end, I guess it really comes down to what you end up taking photos of, and which approach is more fun to you.
Have fun! :)
Depends a lot on the budget and needs… If I was starting over again the first lens I’d get would be Olympus 12-40 f2.8. It’s really versatile. It goes from pretty wide to moderate tele, it’s decently bright at f2.8 for the whole zoom range, it’s sharp and even focuses close you get a pseudo-macro as well (good enough for flowers and bigger insects). Then, if I needed more range I’d get 40-150 f2.8 or if I needed a portrait lens I’d get 45mm f1.8 or 75mm f1.8, if I needed a macro I’d get 60mm f2.8.
Do you already know what you will use the camera for or do you want to explore where your interests are?
I’ve got some micro 4/3 cameras (the kind that the one you’re looking at is) and entirely too many lens so I guess this is my ballpark
Am I an expert? Hell no
Do I have a couple years of hobby experience? Yes.
So let’s get started
My favorite general purpose lens is my Panasonic Leica 12mm to 60mm lens. It goes down to f/2.8 and has a wide spread of focal lengths to use that work great. It’s expensive though. The Panasonic (non-Leica) 12-60 is a pretty decent alternative for a lot cheaper. Usually about half the cost or less of the Leica one.
My favorite non-zoom powered lens native to micro 4/3 is the 25mm f/1.7 lens from Panasonic as well. It’s bloody sharp and a great general purpose lens if you don’t mind having to change your distance to a subject.
Now in terms of manual lenses I have a pair of favorites, one that’s expensive and easy to get and the other that’s old and hard to find. The expensive one (like $400 USD) is my 7.5mm f/2.0 lens from laowa. It’s a really specific use case lens but it’s damn good at what it does, which for me is wide astrophotography shots. The hard to find one is an old Soviet projector lens made for 16mm film. It’s a 50mm f/1.2 lens. It’s fantastic and takes some really unique shots. I paid like $90 USD for it.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I’ll happily answer.
