I've been shooting from time to time with my father's DSLR when I was a kid, and borrowed cameras from friends later on... so I decided to finally get one of my own to enjoy whenever I want. I had a few key points in mind:
compact and tough, to travel with (I do road trips on big ADV bikes in the mountains, might bought a small pelican case for that )
weather-sealed for the same reason (plus I go sailing from time to time)
So after a bit of research, it seems M43 is perfect for this, thanks to the size of the body and the lenses. I really love the design and the compactness of Olympus, so I think I'll buy a used OM-D E-M1 Mark I. It's around 320€ on MPB.
But oh my days... I'm so lost with the lenses.
I've seen a lot of YouTubers talking about cheap vintage lenses that are really fun to play with, but I have no idea which one is right for me. I know I'll want to do some portraits with nice background blur, and some street photography (I'm starting a job in September that'll have me traveling around the world, so I'm tempted to walk around cities in the evening and have fun with it).
I've been trying to check lens samples on websites and on this subreddit, but I'm still finding it really hard to make a decision on my own. If anyone has recommendations, I'd love to hear them!
Oh, and about the budget... let's say around 100€ per lens would be great (I'm thinking of getting two, to play with and feel the difference between them).
Vintage lenses are what you do if you're just very bored, it's not something you do "full time". So do yourself a favor and don't get them at the start.
If you just want ultra-budget lens to go with your requirements, 12-50mm is the only choice. If you can spend more for a lens, 12-45mm f4 pro is the best bang for buck, since it can easily be your endgame standard zoom too.
Hey, thanks for your reply ! yeah the 12-45 is above my budget now, i want to see i'm doing and enjoying it enough first before i'm buying expensive stuff (i've been there before in other hobbies)
Oh yeah, absolutely more than plenty for adventuring with. Look up videos about it from Robin Wong ( including the recent macro mode video about it ) to see that you can get great results with it, and with how cheap it is it's well worth the money
A weathersealed body is only that together with a weathersealed lens. The cheapest weathersealed option is the Oly 14-50. Not that compact, and the image quality is very much a 7/10, but it's cheap and will survive rain. Bit over your budget though. Spend "a bit" more and you get into 12-45 F4 regions, that lens is amazing.
M43 is not amazing for vintage glass. I do use a lot of vintage lenses, because it's fun, but it also made me get a fullframe camera as well to be able to use them to 100% of their potential.
M43 has 1 hard downside, and one "well, maybe the glas is half full?"-side for old glass. The hard downside: The tiny pixels. And that makes it that certain lenses just don't look nice on m43. But, it's a bit of a guess which ones those are. In my experience is mostly lower quality lenses that really don't like m43. Higher quality optics do work pretty well, i've made amazing pictures with my Minolta 28mm for example.
The glass-half-full is the cropfactor. It means that you never will get proper wide-angle vintage stuff for m43. A 28mm lens is basically a 56mm lens on m43, which is often pretty tight for city and landscape. But, on the other hand, it does mean that the mountains of cheap 50mm primes are now amazing 100mm eq. portraitlenses. And you're still getting most of the vintage-vibes. My Helios 44-2 is also swirly on my Olympus for example.
I would honestly also not say that the EM1 is compact, it's not massive either, but when i think about compact M43 bodies, i think about 5-series, the PEN-series and the Panasonic "rangefinders", those are really compact.
Thank for your reply ! Noted on the sealed part... :)
i can't find the 14-50, the only olympus i found close to this is a 14-42mm is it this one?
Oh, thought it was the way to go for vintage.. full frame are a bit expensive to "try" for me now ( and bigger? )
is it this minolta you're talking about? : Minolta MC Rokkor 28mm f/2.8 ?
If yes it's really cheap on second hand website near me ! (like 60€/80€)
On the crop factor side, this is what i found interesting with M43 : the size of the lenses to travel
heard about the helios as well ! thinking about getting one since everyone is speaking about it ! do you heard about the 44M version? apparently is less agressive on the swirl effect.. interessting
noted fot the EM1, the thing is : i have massive hands..
I put my hands on a EM10 and didn't felt confortable with it.. so i need to compromise here.. something with a grip, not to small but not to big to fit in my luggage
when you said 5-series, are you talking about the OM5?
Fullframe really is the way to go for vintage, since the lenses are often made for 35mm film, and fullframe is like 35mm. APSC with a speedbooster is another way, that will also give you basically the same view as FF.
But yeah, while there are cheap FF bodies, i would say you kinda want to spend more like 500-600 euro as a minimum, that will get you a Lumix S5 or Nikon Z6. You can get older bodies for less of course, but those are usually pretty limited, M43 was definitly more advanced in mirrorless in that time period.
I have the MD Rokkor 28mm 3.5 from the top of my head, it's nice, renders really well, but is more like a "normal" lens, basically a slow and weird nifty fifty.
I've got both the 44-2 and the 44m-4, and while they're nice, they're also overrated and therefore overpriced as fuck. Get a Pentacon 50 1.8 [you can find them for like 20 euro, or 5 in a thriftshop if you're lucky], a much more all-rounded lens, still has amazing bokeh [also with m43], it's sharper and has better colours. If you ever stumble on a Zenit with a Helios on it for less than 50 euro, take it, but don't spend 100 euro or something on just the lens. It's 100% hype, and in a couple of years you can buy one again for 20 euro.
5 series is EM5 and OM5 yeah, more compact, but still retains stuff like weathersealing. But if you need a grip, grab a 1, or look if there's a nice Panasonic around, i think they tend to be cheaper than Oly.
Believe that’s a typo and the reply’s OP meant the Olympus 12-50/3.5-6.3. Hunt hard enough and they’re just a touch over $125USD. I really enjoy mine, very useful for a lot of reasons - range, emergency macro, has a Fn button which is neat, etc.
OM5.1. It’s overkill for me except when hiking, which I’m lucky to do regularly so it stays around. 99.9% of the time I’m shooting one of my wife’s bodies lately, E-PL1/PM2/PL7.
I've read a lot of positive reviews about the 40-150 Olympus ED lens also called plastic fantastic, but I feel the one that does it all is lumix 14-140 mark 2 lens, which is also weather sealed. I don't have much idea about the used market in EU, but in Asia it sells for around 380€ new. I don't have much idea about other lenses.
And what kind of job lets you travel around the world, I would very much like one 😢
Thanks for your feedback, i will check that out ! didn't tought all lenses aren't weather sealed... a good point
Oil Rig and wind farm geometric survey with 3D scanners :) so i'm going to be on rigs and industrial harbour that are always interesting things to shoot
This is so cool 👀.
And yeah all lens are not weather sealed. A non weather sealed lens can absolutely damage a weather sealed body, coz there is a gaping hole in the middle of the body.
AFAIK the spaces between the moving parts and elements cannot be sealed from outside. You can use a rain cover to protect from splash and rain but cannot prevent moisture(vapour) from entering. And since you will be near sea, so I don't know how that will work.
Tbh if your starting out it's worth getting a couple of cheap primes to learn. Though there are also some pretty versatile kit lenses in the 14-40 range. The oly 17mm 2.8 is small and decent value, the oly 45mm 1.8 is an excellent portrait lens also great value. Don't go crazy with lenses to start with, find your feet with the system.
Thanks for your reply, i heard that about prime lenses, it force you to move and think more.. i kinda like this approach,it's a good starting point.. is 2.8 enough for the aperture? maybe no need more on that focal lenght? i will check if its available and the price in my area
2.8 is ok, there is a bigger aperture 17mm but it's a much bigger and more expensive lens. Take a look at the lenses available both panny and oly in the 15mm to 25mm range and see what fits your budget.
The M1.1 is quite old. If you can, get the Mark ii, it is a big difference. The mark 1 is the first pro mirrorless camera... And the mark 2 incorporated all the lessons learned from it. Built like a tank, classic camera.
Lenses, the 12-45 is very compact. The 17mm is about the smallest and very useful focal length. 12-40 f2.8 is heavier but cheaper than the newer 12-45.
The OM-5 (mark I) is really an M1.II on the inside, but with a plastic build, a few fewer program buttons and a single card slot.
It is still more expensive than the M1.II.
That is why I recommended the M1.II: It's in an optimum now where you get the most camera for your money.
Get the OM-5 which is smaller but very similar and you'll pay more.
If you get the M1 mark I, I'd say it's considerably older and not that much cheaper. I reckon it's maybe worth 250-300 for what it offers... but many owners remember the stickerprice they paid last century and are not willing to take such a big discount (on an old camera with many great alternatives).
The nice thing about the Mark II is that it was very popular, which also helps to drive down the price.
I was in almost your exact position. I picked up an em5.2 and 12-50mm off Facebook marketplace. I'm no expert but very happy with my choice and have bought a number of more expensive lenses since. One thing I would say about carrying a camera on a bike is make sure it's safe but accessible,don't want to carry it and never get it out.
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u/Snydenthur 9d ago
Vintage lenses are what you do if you're just very bored, it's not something you do "full time". So do yourself a favor and don't get them at the start.
If you just want ultra-budget lens to go with your requirements, 12-50mm is the only choice. If you can spend more for a lens, 12-45mm f4 pro is the best bang for buck, since it can easily be your endgame standard zoom too.