I am blessed that I can own many µ4/3 lenses. I think that comes partly from having entered µ4/3 in 2011 and not selling a lens since. I segregate my cameras and lenses into "lightweight" and "serious" categories. My lightweight camera is the Pen F. My lightweight 12-45mm lens kit is:
1) Oly 12mm f/2
2) PanaLeica 25mm f/1.4, v1
3) Oly 45mm f/1.8
4) Oly 12-45mm f/4 Pro zoom.
I have to admit I'm a sucker for a good fast prime lens; send me on a world tour with only one lens allowed and I'd likely take a fast 35mm or 50mm equivalent prime than a slower zoom, even f/2.8. When I acquired the Oly 12-45mm f/4 Pro zoom immediately after its introduction my perceptions sort of turned 89 degrees sideways.
Anyway, I am constantly pulled in both the fast-prime vs. pro zoom directions. How do you folks deal with that, especially when you must reduce kit bulk?
I do not even mention the superb OMDS 20mm f/1.4 Pro which I also own.
I will take a prime over a zoom every time....I am thinking of picking up a OMD...and the Len's they offer in the kit are all zoom....old or new OMD model. I have a tone of ZUIKO I use on my film camera's and can get an a adapter but, the focal length will increase. I like your 12mm....and the 45mm as I thought of getting those too. Do you think perhaps a 80-90 is needed? jim
I've heard nothing but good things about the m.Zuiko 75/1.8; I've never used it, so I can't speak to it personally, but it doesn't look like there's really room for an 80-90mm prime, with the 75 there.
I've used a lot of old OM Zuikos on my Pen-F and E-M1 II, and I like some of them a lot; the 24/2.8 is a particular favorite of mine. I'm not fond of a lot of the current m.Zuiko lenses because they feel too clinical; colors are cool and muted, and they lose a lot of the subtle tonal shading I like in other lenses. But I have to admit - when I visited Cape Canaveral in 2019, I took along the OM 24/2.8, along with the m.Zuiko Pro 12-40/2.8 and the PanLeica 15/1.7. Especially in dark interior settings like the Apollo/Saturn V Center or the Shuttle Atlantis building, the 15mm and 12-40mm got almost all the use. And while the 15/1.7 worked great in those tight interior spaces, if I had to choose between them on that trip, I'd have to choose the 12-40. (I'd be happy to post samples if you want.)
The 12-100/4 Pro is also a great lens, although it's too heavy for me on the Pen-F; it's restricted solely to the E-M1 II.
The 12-45 Pro is light enough to work on the Pen-F. I don't like the f/4 limit, but I have to admit I can get by with it on the 12-100. (It helps that denoising software has gotten much better. I used the 12-100 to shoot the interior of an EC-141 Warning Star on display at a Topeka air museum. The EC-141 is an early version of a radar early warning plane, and the interior was full of radar consoles with detailed control panels. It was also pretty dim. The control panel shots were pretty noisy and the text was hard to read; the denoise software I used did a really nice job of cleaning them up.)
I guess I am more "serious" with 12-100mm F4 and 8-25mm F4 as single-lens solutions, one for landscapes and the other for cityscape and architecture. Just take one lens and leave the other at home. I only recently got the 8mm F1.8 for street and low light, and I guess it falls more into the "lightweight" category despite its price. The prime was just fulfilling a specific need for me but it is fun to use as well.
Here's my minimalist kit. 2 G100's, one with my PL9mm, the other with my Siggy 30 or PL 25 1.4, PL15 chucked in, & I might even throw in my Lumix 42.5 f1.7 or Oly 45 1.8 depending on my mood. Tiny, light, compact & capable. The whole lot weighs just over 1200 gms. Childs play
It’s a nice kit, but not in the minimalist category (if you would just take a Ricoh GR with you as an example, this would I consider minimalist). But two bodies & minimalist? Nah, doesn’t compute.
I usually prefer primes over zooms, but use both extensively as it really depends on the situation. I don’t have an issue carrying two bodies, so I either take one prime and one zoom, or two primes with me, but I can’t remember that I’ve ever took two zooms with me when I wanted to and had the opportunity to take a lighter kit with me. I’m a proponent of fixed aperture zooms, and some of them really behave like you would take more than a dozen zooms with you with just a slight degradation in IQ. The only thing that’s bothering me sometimes is the additional weight.
Yeah, it does. A body only weighs a touch over 300 grams. Hardly even a light zoom lens. If I want, I can leave one behind, & change lenses on the other. I was the biggest anti multi body user you could find, right up until I bought a second body as a spare. And used it. It's easy, light & simple. Batteries are the same. Only one charger cable required, as you can use the second body -or both, as chargers. I'd happily travel with the two bodies & just the 9 & 25 or 30mm 1.4 primes. And still get f2.8 135 format equivalence. I wander around events doing just that. Brilliant fun.
There’s a pic of my smallest-minimalist kit in the bag thread - GM5 with the 12-32 to cover wide-mid, the collapsible 35-100 f/4-5.6 for mid-tele, and a fast prime for low-light (either the 15/1.7 or the 42.5).
One step up in size (bag’s 1/3 larger) is the Pen-F kit - Pen-F with the Panny 20/1.7, 12-45 Pro, OM Zuiko 50/1.4, and maybe one other adapted prime (like the OM Zuiko 50/2 Macro).
One step up from that (another 1/3 jump in bag size) is the E-M1 II with the 12-100 and 1-2 adapted primes (like the Minolta MC 58/1.2).
I've already posted one of my minimalist kits, sometimes a combo of zoom and fixed focal length works too.
My last OS trip a couple of months back, I took my G100, Lumix 12-35 2.8 II and PL 9mm. That worked really well. I can't go without an ultrawide these days, too much fun to be had, Panasonic's release of the PL 9 was a gift from heaven for me. Tiny, light, sharp, fast, my PL 8-18 hadn't seen any use since I ordered the PL 9 at pre release. You could substitute the tiny little Lumix 12-32 pancake if you really wanted the smallest and lightest kit, I'm happy to carry that tiny bit extra and gain the 2.8 aperture.
The Sigma 56 f1.4 is another very keenly priced lens, that's as sharp as all get out, has lovely colour rendition, and possibly a bit more user friendly focal length for more general purpose usage. I have one, speaking from experience.
One camera, one lens is all I want to carry around. My favorite travel kit is the 5iii (which is about the same bulk/weight as your Pen F) and the 12-45.
