On 1/5/2013 5:23 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> I'm getting much more serious about pulling the trigger on an E-M5 and
> was scrolling around B&H through Oly 4/3 lenses this morning. At some
> point I clicked on something that brought up an Oly rebate PDF form
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/Rebates_Promos/012713_OLYMPUS_E-M5-Lenses.pdf>
>
> My first plan some time ago was to buy the 12-50 and a 40-150 for a 35mm
> equivalent range of 24-300mm. But Moose has been very positive on the
> 14-150 as the do it all single lens. That's tempting but would still
> leave me without my 24mm equivalent that I have come to love.
>
> ... Of course, one also needs a spare battery and maybe the $49 15mm
> f/8 body cap lens. All for not much more than half the price of a new
> full frame body.
>
> Anyone want to suggest a different lens plan?
It's all so personal.
1. I'm mostly a spontaneous shooter, more often than not out walking with Carol
and/or others. My companion(s) are
usually relatively patient, but they, and often I, want to move along. And I
for some reason don't much like changing
lenses anyway. I took it as a measure of seriousness, a professional approach,
to have lots of primes and change them
for each shot as necessary. Set up the tripod here, put on this lens, move the
tripod over there, change lenses, and so
on. I set aside time, took my time, sometimes got the goods, sometimes not.
But, you know, I never did like it.
2. I like long teles and close-ups. Something about my vision leads me to
notice small vignettes in the large visual
field. Yet, in my time on this list, I have learned to value and use wide and
super-wide lenses.
Every set of lenses involves compromises. My compromises are driven largely by
the above considerations.
Since early on with the 300D, I've mainly used 28-300 mm zooms as my primary
lenses, with WA zooms and macro lenses
backing them up. The 14-150 on 4/3 is the same FOV range. It also has quite
good almost macro at the long end, with good
working distance.
I'm sure many people will be very happy with the 12-50 as their primary lens.
Much as I love a 24 mm bottom end, I just
go crazy with such a short top end. And it's macro is first rate - but 42 mm
may be coverage eq. to 86 mm, but it's
still 43 mm for working distance.
The 14-150 is by far my most used lens. I'm generally happy with it alone in
situations where I don't want to carry
additional gear in a bag. In many situations where I'd like wider, I can do a
panorama. In Seattle, I mostly carried it
alone, and had only one instance where wider would have been really useful. As
it is, the image came out quite well anyway.
Since initial use testing, the 12-50 has seen limited use. It was nice to be
able to wander about in the rain with
camera and lens uncovered in Seattle.
My second most used lens is the 75-300, and third the 9-18, but it's new to me,
and that may change.
I can see where 12-50 and 40-150 could be good for someone else, who works more
methodically or doesn't change focal
lengths rapidly from one end to the other.
I do have the 40-150, but have used it only to make sure it works properly (and
got it for $100, between B&H promo and
Oly rebate.) It's part of my redundancy/back-up plan. As I travel for over a
month at a time and expect travel to
increase, I want to be able to soldier on without too much compromise in the
face of failure of a piece of equipment.
Hence all the overlap, 9-18, 12-50, 14-150, 40-150, 75-300, E-M5 and E-PL1. I'd
really like an E-PL5, for the same
sensor, but the price isn't right for back-up. The E-PL-1 is not a bad camera,
but doesn't look so good compared
directly to the E-M5. At least the price was right. ;-)
BTW, an inexpensive replacement battery has showed up on Amazon that claims to
have decoded the Oly system, so that it
charges on the OEM charger and communicates its charge state to the camera
correctly. (Please, no lecture about battery
safety, I know the issue.)
Moose D'Lens
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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