At this point, I’ve either owned or tried most of the micro 4/3 lenses, and I’ve seen samples from virtually all of them. As a result, I’ve got plenty of opinions as to which of them are worth buying. Which are those?
No-brainers:
- Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 – one of the best ultra wide lenses, on any system
- Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 – great fisheye
- Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 – perfect carry-everywhere prime
- Olympus 45mm f/1.8 – excellent in every respect
- Olympus 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 – light, sharp, fast-focusing and inexpensive
Well worth looking at:
- Panasonic 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 – better than a kit lens has any right to be
- Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 – the best low-light normal lens, for a price
- Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 macro – great at macros, but good at lots more besides
- Olympus 75mm f/1.8 – incredible optics, if you need the focal length
A complete listing of all current m4/3 lenses, and my comments, below:
| Primes | Brand | FL (mm) | Max aperture |
Price | Rating 1-5 |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samyang | Samyang UMC | 7.5 | 3.5 | $300 | **** | Best fisheye choice, thanks to good optics and a low price |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Fisheye | 8 | 3.5 | $630 | ** | Decent lens, but drastically overpriced compared to the Samyang |
| SLR Magic | Hyperprime | 12 | 1.6 | $500 | ** | Fast aperture and decent price don’t make up for so-so optics |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 12 | 2.0 | $800 | *** | Good, but not as good as the price-tag suggests |
| Schneider | Super Angulon | 14 | 2.0 | Expected to be expensive | ||
| Panasonic | Lumix G | 14 | 2.5 | $305 | *** | Okay optics and a good price, but not really any better than the kit zooms |
| Big Photo | Shift | 15 | 2.4 | Specialized lens, perhaps of interest to architectural shooters | ||
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 15 | 8.0 | $80 | Fixed, slow aperture | |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 17 | 1.8 | Expected to be good, but pricey | ||
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 17 | 2.8 | $300 | * | Size is the only positive attribute of this lens |
| Voigtlander | Nokton | 17.5 | 0.95 | $1250 | *** | Good optics and a fast aperture held back by a large size, lack of autofocus and a high price |
| Sigma | Sigma EX DN | 19 | 2.8 | $200 | *** | Good optics and price, but not as useful as the Panasonic 14mm and 20mm pancake lenses. |
| Panasonic | Lumix G | 20 | 1.7 | $400 | **** | Excellent in every way save autofocus speed make this one of the system’s most useful lenses |
| Voigtlander | Nokton | 25 | 0.95 | $1200 | ** | Good but not great optics, no autofocus, and a rather high price tag |
| Panasonic | Leica DG Summilux | 25 | 1.4 | $550 | **** | Excellent lens at a manageable price, though unfortunately a fair bit larger than the 20/1.7 |
| Sigma | Sigma EX DN | 30 | 2.8 | $200 | *** | A good lens at a good price, but an odd focal length |
| Mitakon | AMC | 35 | 0.95 | A large lens with an odd focal length and likely a high price tag | ||
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 45 | 1.8 | $400 | **** | Small, fast, light and sharp at a good price make this a no-brainer |
| Panasonic | Leica DG Macro-Elmarit | 45 | 2.8 | $750 | **** | An excellent macro and general performer, marred only by slightly slow AF |
| SLR Magic | Noktor Hyperprime | 50 | 0.95 | $1000 | * | Novelty lens (mediocre optics) at a very un-novelty-like price |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 60 | 2.8 | $600 | Expected to be pricey but sharp so likely to be the best macro option for m4/3 | |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 75 | 1.8 | $900 | **** | Superb optics, but a slightly odd focal length and a high price to boot |
| Tokina | Reflex | 300 | 6.3 | $370 | ** | It may be small but the fixed aperture and lack of AF make it rather pointless |
| Zooms | Brand | FL (mm) | Max aperture | Price | Rating 1-5 | Notes |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario | 7-14 | 4.0 | $900 | ***** | One of the best ultrawide lenses on the market. Doesn’t work well with the E-M5 though. |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 9-18 | 4.0-5.6 | $700 | *** | An okay lens optically in a very small and convenient package |
| Panasonic | Lumix G X Vario | 12-35 | 2.8 | $1300 | ** | Okay to good optics in a nice package, but at a steep price. |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 12-50 | 4.0-6.3 | $500 | ** | Mediocre lens and price, but the range, weather-sealing and macro mode make it interesting for certain purposes |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 14-42 | 3.5-5.6 | * | Decent optics done in by poor construction and horribly slow autofocus | |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital II | 14-42 | 3.5-5.6 | ** | Okay lens, particularly if it comes as part of a kit | |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital II R | 14-42 | 3.5-5.6 | $300 | ** | Okay lens, particularly if it comes as part of a kit |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario | 14-42 | 3.5-5.6 | $145 | ** | Mediocre lens, at a good price |
| Panasonic | Lumix G X Vario PZ | 14-42 | 3.5-5.6 | $325 | * | Size and wide-angle performance are good, but the design flaw causing blurring at the long end is a deal-breaker |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario | 14-45 | 3.5-5.6 | $255 | *** | Best of the ‘kit’ zooms by a considerable margin |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario HD | 14-140 | 4.0-5.8 | $620 | *** | Decent optics in a solid, if slightly large, package |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 14-150 | 4.0-5.6 | $600 | ** | Useful range in a comparatively small package, but mediocre optics |
| Panasonic | Lumix G X Vario | 35-100 | 2.8 | Price is expected to be high, but so is quality, so a useful lens for those who need a fast telephoto | ||
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 40-150 | 4.0-5.6 | *** | Good optics at an affordable price | |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital R | 40-150 | 4.0-5.6 | $300 | *** | Good optics at an affordable price |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario HD | 45-150 | 4.0-5.6 | $300 | Much smaller than the 45-200 which would make it interesting if the optics are good | |
| Panasonic | Lumix G X Vario PZ | 45-175 | 4.0-5.6 | $365 | ** | The size is nice, but the optics are a bit weak |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario | 45-200 | 4.0-5.6 | $245 | ** | Okay lens at an okay price. |
| Olympus | m.Zuiko Digital | 75-300 | 4.8-6.7 | $900 | ** | Optics are actually pretty good, but quite slow with a high price |
| Panasonic | Lumix G Vario | 100-300 | 4.0-5.6 | $500 | *** | Most reasonable long telephoto option for m4/3 |