Any olympus OMD users here?

[slakjaw]

What is your favorite lens for this system? I'm really happy with the camera but not so happy with the 12-50 kit lens. I was thinking about the 17mm 1.8 as a small little walk around lens...

[nostatic]

http://nostatic.com/content/bnc-2012-photos

These were all shot with OMD. Outdoor are the 12-50 kit, indoor are either Panaleica 25/1.4 or Oly 45/1.8. I also have the 75/1.8.

75/1.8 is a ridiculous lens. Better than any glass I've had except may a Pentax 77/1.8 ltd. If you want/need 150mm equivalent there is no better lens imho no matter what brand.

45/1.8 is great as well, not as razor sharp but better than most. Works great in bad light as a portrait.

25/1.4 is the lens that is usually on the camera. Fast and sharp.

I haven't shot the smaller primes except for the older 17/2.8 on the EP1 body. That lens was so-so. The newer one is supposed to be a lot better.

I have owned/shot everything from p&s to full frame. Currently have a 6D when I need that but frankly I prefer the look of the OMD with good primes over anything else I've used. ymmv.

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by nostatic

BNC 2012 Photos | www.nostatic.com

These were all shot with OMD. Outdoor are the 12-50 kit, indoor are either Panaleica 25/1.4 or Oly 45/1.8. I also have the 75/1.8.

75/1.8 is a ridiculous lens. Better than any glass I've had except may a Pentax 77/1.8 ltd. If you want/need 150mm equivalent there is no better lens imho no matter what brand.

45/1.8 is great as well, not as razor sharp but better than most. Works great in bad light as a portrait.

25/1.4 is the lens that is usually on the camera. Fast and sharp.

I haven't shot the smaller primes except for the older 17/2.8 on the EP1 body. That lens was so-so. The newer one is supposed to be a lot better.

I have owned/shot everything from p&s to full frame. Currently have a 6D when I need that but frankly I prefer the look of the OMD with good primes over anything else I've used. ymmv.

Nostatic, I just visited your website. I like it and it spiked my interest in resurrecting my old Minolta SRT system. It's a shame to let all those lenses collect dust. One question: where do you have your films developed and how do you transfer them to digital images?

[nostatic]

That's all shot digital. Olympus OMD-E5 micro 4/3 format.

OLYMPUS OM-D | Olympus Imaging

[slakjaw]

Thanks nostatic the kit lens IMO is good in the wider range even if it is a little dark. Mine starts to look like crud anywhere near 50mm so ill check out the 45 and the 75. Photography is just about all I do other than my job these days and I sometimes can get a little hypercritical of the gear I own.

I still have my D800 and nikkor glass. I picked up the OMD as a small camera for walking around and have been super impressed. The IQ out of this little camera is pretty amazing.

[campbellcj]

The Pana-Leica 25mm f/1.4 is superb. I have a lot of nice glass across several camera systems and this is hands-down one of my faves and my most-often used on this body.

Used to have the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 which was nice as well, and super compact on a PEN body but the 25mm f/1.4 has better AF, IQ and build.

I also have the Panasonic 100-300mm which is amazing for a $500 super-telephoto zoom. It's not fast or constant aperture but image quality is very good and geez - a 600mm Nikon lens is ~$10K and will break your back. This thing can go everywhere with you.

On my travels the last couple weeks I rented a 7-14 superwide zoom. I'm not a major wide-angle shooter and wanted to check this out and see how bad the 'purple blob' (colored flare) before thinking about buying it. Same impression as above -- similar IQ and way cheaper and smaller than the Nikon 14-24 that I just sold. But I did see the 'purple blob' flare on a couple of front-lit shots.

My next purchase may be the Oly 45mm f/1.8 as I realized I am just not good at manual focusing the adapted lenses I had planned to use to cover this focal length.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by campbellcj

My next purchase may be the Oly 45mm f/1.8 as I realized I am just not good at manual focusing the adapted lenses I had planned to use to cover this focal length.

For the price this lens is a no-brainer to me. Superb lens, small and light. The 75/1.8 is one of the best lenses I've ever shot, but at $900 it comes at a price. Though compared to L glass or equivalent it is relatively cheap.

[matthew-s]

I have one. I like it a lot. The 25 1.4 is pretty much welded to the front of the camera, although I have the 45 1.8 as well (and the crummier of the 2 offered kit lenses - I cant remember which one offhand - I hardly use it).

Nostatic - your website noted the photos are not altered. I you using the camera's .jpg engine, or are you still using RAW? Curious. They look quite nice.

[nostatic]

I'd have to go back to the library and look. I may have shot that week jpg. If not then I used Aperture to do the raw conversion. I find the Oly jpgs to look pretty good straight out of the camera thought typically I shoot raw just so I have more room to play with.

The 14-42 kit lens is so-so. It is compact but beyond that no real redeeming qualities. I think the 12-50 is optically better and I like that it is weather sealed.

[campbellcj]

Speaking of weather sealing -- I just got back from a trip to Orlando + The Bahamas where the camera and (mostly) the 12-50 kit lens got rained-on multiple times. No issues at all. I was worried about the 100-300 as it's not officially weather sealed but it survived too.

I was damn glad my Kata backpack has a built-in rain fly/poncho as it got used for the first time...

I LOVE this camera! I have it with me almost all the time in a smaller Kata backpack. It amazes me that I can have the OMD body, 2-3 lenses, a mini tripod, my iPad and/or MacBook Air with me everywhere I go, without breaking my back or looking like a friggen Sherpa.