Which Four Thirds lenses to hunt
So, I found a very cheap Olympus E-400 (Kodak sensor different from the E-300/500 and only released in Europe) which came with the standard kit lens. I am wondering which lenses I should search for now. I watched @james-warner-b video on the dead system and I already found a 50mm Macro for 90 € which is okay I guess (?) and keeping an eye out for the 25mm pancake lens to utilize the tiny body... I think it is the smallest DSLR ever haha
Anyway, what else is there that sticks out, are there particularly good primes or replacements for the kit lens?
Cheers and I am happy to be a new member to this forum!
The 50 F2 Macro that you got is for sure one of the finest lenses in the system, especially for the price.
The very best 4/3 lenses are the Pro series ones, which are all pretty amazing:
- Zuiko Digital ED 7–14mm F4 ED
- Zuiko Digital ED 14–35mm F2 ED SWD
- Zuiko Digital ED 35-100mm F2 ED
- Zuiko Digital ED 90–250mm F2.8 ED
- Zuiko Digital ED 150mm F2 ED
- Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F2.8 ED
They are all top notch glass, but they still command quite a premium price of course and they are all pretty bulky since they are so fast and optically corrected, so any advantage of the 4/3 format in terms of weight and dimension will be pretty much negated with one of those puppies mounted. I had the fortune to own the 35-100, 90-250 (this one is pretty elusive and hard to find, but it's basically a bunch of primes stitched together) and the 150 and they were all really sharp and with a very nice rendering.
Two of the "best bang for the buck" lenses are:
- Zuiko Digital 12–60mm F2.8–4 ED SWD: not so easy in my experience to find a completely flawless sample, either optically or mechanically, so buyer's beware when shopping for one
- Zuiko Digital ED 50–200mm F2.8–3.5 ED SWD: the best "cheap" telephoto of the system
Thank you for the write up. I’ll keep an eye out for the pro lenses but I think they’ll be 1. too expensive and 2. too bulky for me. If money was no object I would love to try the 300mm for birding though.
I would second throwing a cheap zoom on there along with looking out for the 25mm and you're set! I love the pro level glass, but it is quite pricey and it's hard to advise anyone to pick them up today when you could invest less money in a different system with similar glass. They are fantastic though.
Just throwing out another fun option - Pick up a four thirds to M42 adapter and throw some vintage glass on there.
Quote from James Warner on July 24, 2024, 1:18 pmJust throwing out another fun option - Pick up a four thirds to M42 adapter and throw some vintage glass on there.
And if you do that, get a 3rd party split adaptor for your viewfinder to make manual focusing easier.
If I'd have to advise only one of the pro glass, it would likely be the fantastic 150 F2, a truly unique lens in the (u)4/3 panorama with an exceptional sharpness and very very nice rendering.
It also takes TCs very well so you could still achieve a 600mm-equiv. framing with a 2X TC and still be at F4, so it's also a quite versatile lens.
Of course is pretty big and heavy, but still bearable to me, it's basically like the chunky Sigma 105 F1.4 for FF cameras (another exceptional piece of glass BTW).
I am using the 14 - 42 3.5 - 5.6 the E-400 came with and imagining three times the weight (190 vs 575) and a 4cm longer lens on that lightweight, tiny body I am questioning if I should even get the 12 - 60 SWD. Of course it is quite a bit faster, but also the E-400 only has three autofocus anyways to make minimal use of the advertised AF abilities...
Since I am not really invested in portrait photography, I am also not sure about the 50mm macro lens. I'd probably use it for some nature macro photography, but then I imagine the old CCD sensor requires more light and getting a compatible ring flash is way out of budget as well.
That 25mm pancake is extremely elusive and absurdly expensive. It still goes for around 225 € pretty close to the release price of 329 €.
It's a bit of a frustrating situation, buying into a dead camera system. But that E-400 has the newest Kodak CCD besides the Leicas and the size is absolutely lovely...
Quote from OutspaceKat on July 24, 2024, 4:20 pmQuote from James Warner on July 24, 2024, 1:18 pmJust throwing out another fun option - Pick up a four thirds to M42 adapter and throw some vintage glass on there.
And if you do that, get a 3rd party split adaptor for your viewfinder to make manual focusing easier.
I might pursue this... could you link to an approximation what you mean, I have a hard time searching for it.
Quote from O S on July 30, 2024, 11:22 amQuote from OutspaceKat on July 24, 2024, 4:20 pmQuote from James Warner on July 24, 2024, 1:18 pmJust throwing out another fun option - Pick up a four thirds to M42 adapter and throw some vintage glass on there.
And if you do that, get a 3rd party split adaptor for your viewfinder to make manual focusing easier.
I might pursue this... could you link to an approximation what you mean, I have a hard time searching for it.
This isn't the correct one, but this is the right idea. https://www.ebay.com/itm/176074176578?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1DD0FRCbRRaeXwoutT_MVDw26&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=176074176578&targetid=2321110924221&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9013469&poi=&campaignid=21395177960&mkgroupid=173029507908&rlsatarget=pla-2321110924221&abcId=9447227&merchantid=138371191&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5Ky1BhAgEiwA5jGujiFtYPP6gAb8JFva1HWBtW6CglSa4BFx9x4UX3VF1k-QqdKQp9jsixoCxH4QAvD_BwE
The 14-54mm Mk 2. is a fantastic zoom that punches way above it's weight, imho. I think it is better than the 12-60SWD and is less likely to fail as well.
While not exactly on the topic of the 4/3 body, the Mk 2. can be used with reasonable AF performance on M4/3 bodies without phase detect autofocus (but if you have a body like the E-M1 or the E-M5 Mk 3 and later - you will be better).
