Lenses That Make Micro Four Thirds Make Sense
What Makes Micro Four Thirds So Special?
For some people, it’s the smaller camera bodies and lenses, faster burst modes, computational features, and, of course, affordability. I believe it’s the lenses that make this system unique. Some lenses have no equivalent in other systems, or if they do, they cost a small fortune!
Olympus 300mm f4 Pro
This lens is large and quite pricey, but you can pick it up for around £2000, and it weighs 1270g. Obviously, this is a lot of money, but consider the full-frame alternatives. For example, the Nikon Z600 lens weighs 3kg and costs £12,000, with the Sony equivalent being similarly priced. The Olympus 300mm is much more affordable by comparison.
Of course, there are benefits to full-frame cameras, and we have to remember the equivalency of micro four thirds: double everything (including aperture). However, I think this is one lens that makes the micro four thirds system make sense. You can also even use this prime lens with a 2x teleconvertor, which makes it even more special. 600mm on micro four thirds makes it 1200mm(!) in full frame terms with the teleconverter!
Check the 300mm lens out here on Amazon, or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Lumix Leica 35-100mm f2.8
The MKi version of this lens costs around £400 used, and the MKII around £900 new or £500 used from sites like MPB UK/ MPB US/ MPB EU. With its internal zooming, it is one of the smallest 70-200mm equivalent lenses on the market.
With this tiny 35-100mm, I managed to smuggle it into an NFL game and a Skunk Anansie concert, capturing loads of epic photos. When I shoot with full-frame, the 70-200mm gathers dust because it weighs a ton and takes up half of my camera bag. Definitely not smuggle-able!
Shot using Lumix Leica 35-100mm f2.8 & Edited using My Lightroom Preset Bundle
Check the Lumix 35-100mm on Amazon, or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Lumix 35-100mm f4-5.6
Another 35-100mm — you’re not hallucinating! — This lens is the much smaller, slightly slower version. The Lumix 35-100mm f4-5.6 is more affordable at around £299 new or £200 used from sites like MPB. This lens is absolutely tiny. I took it to the Faroe Islands last year and got some lovely photos with it. There’s a dedicated review of this on my Micro Four Nerds YouTube Channel.
Check the tiny 35-100mm here on Amazon or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Olympus 40-150mm f2.8
I absolutely love this lens. I took it to Kenya and did a dedicated review of this lens on the blog here (opens in new window so you can read it next!). This lens costs around £1199 new and £800 on sites like MPB. For the price, it is super sharp and impressive in low light for a micro four thirds lens. It’s super rugged and weather-sealed.
This was ideal for safari, and I also took it to Costa Rica too. I managed to snipe a bird whilst in a moving river boat. Wonderful, wonderful lens, and one of the very best on the entire system in my opinion.
Micro four thirds Build Quality
Let’s quickly talk about general build quality on micro four thirds. On the micro four thirds system, we generally get better build quality in stock lenses compared to full-frame. Some, slower, entry-level, kit lenses for full-frame cameras tend to be plastic and not great, whereas micro four thirds lenses are incredibly good quality throughout the entire range for similar price points.
A LOT more weather-sealed options too.
Equivalency
Equivalency is annoying and boring, so I’ll keep this brief!!
If you want a really fast portrait prime lens like the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 (Full Frame L Mount) on micro four thirds, which is great for portraiture and shallow depth of field, the general rule is to multiply the aperture by 2 for micro four thirds. So, to get the same results, you would need a 42.5mm f/0.7 lens, which… doesn't exist lol. I reviewed the Laowa 25mm f/0.95, and found that when the aperture is that wide, you lose sharpness and get some vignette, making it hard to focus.
While you could theoretically achieve wider apertures like 0.7, taking equivalency into account, there would definitely be a cost in image quality versus full-frame. On the micro four thirds system, we gain with longer, lighter, and more versatile lenses but lose out in pure aperture. Every system has pros and cons, but many people focus on the cons of micro four thirds and not the pros.
Olympus 60mm f2.8 Macro
Let’s look at some more lenses!
The micro four thirds system is absolutely brilliant for macro photography. Yes, you need a lot of light for macro photography, but on micro four thirds you benefit from less shallow depth of field, so more of your subject is in focus at a wider aperture. The Olympus 60mm f2.8 Macro can be purchased for around £500 new or £340 used on MPB. This is a delightful, small lens. While there are full-frame equivalents, the tiny size of this lens is astounding. I don't shoot macro often, but this lens is so small and portable that I can fit it in my bag for specific shots. The sharpness at f2.8 is excellent, and when combined with the focus stacking modes available in many higher-end micro four thirds cameras, you can get a great macro setup.
Check the Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro on Amazon, or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Lumix Leica 100-400mm f4-6.3
This is my current go-to wildlife lens for micro four thirds. You can get this lens for around £900 new or £800 used on MPB. The versatility of this lens is unique, covering a 200-800mm focal range, with the MKII version even taking teleconverters to cover up to 1600mm in full-frame terms. This, of course, doubles the aperture, leading to some diffraction and loss of image quality, but still… a crazy amount of zoom for the right circumstances!
I’ve taken plenty of great wildlife photographs with this lens, and it makes the system make sense to me. I don't think I would be as interested in wildlife photography if I had to lug around all the full-frame kit.
Lumix Twins | Lumix 10-25mm f1.7 & 25-50mm f1.7
If you’re not familiar with these lenses, the Lumix Twins — or the Chonky Twins as I like to call them — cover a huge focal range and are designed to be used as a pair. You could cover every focal range you want with just two lenses! They are chonky but quite an engineering feat. These lenses cost around £1799 new or £1100 used from MPB. The 10-25mm is hard to replicate with full-frame; there are very few 24-50mm f/2 lenses around, which would be the equivalent, and none go that wide anyway.
These lenses are niche because they go against the small and light ethos of the micro four thirds system, but their capabilities are impressive. They are essentially equivalent to covering every prime lens in those focal lengths from 10mm to 50mm in micro four thirds (20-100mm in full-frame terms) with just two lenses you don’t have to remove from the camera. They truly are special lenses to have. I’ve used them for many a wedding film in my time, and not having to worry about changing lenses throughout the day has been wonderful.
Check out the 10-25mm on Amazon here, and the 25-50mm here… or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Olympus 8mm f1.8 Fisheye
While there are full-frame equivalents, the Olympus 8mm f1.8 lens needs to be mentioned because of how astoundingly sharp it is. This lens costs around £899 new or £550 used from sites like MPB. Full-frame fisheyes tend to be soft at the edges when shooting wide open and suffer from chromatic aberration, especially in the corners. They usually need to be stopped down for decent results. The Olympus 8mm f/1.8 on the other hand is sharp even wide open, and many people use it as a rectilinear lens by removing barrel distortion in editing.
I enjoyed using this lens and loved the photographs I got from it. I did sell this lens and opted for the Laowa 6mm f2 because it is rectilinear, and a lot smaller! While it isn’t as sharp as the Olympus 8mm, I don't use ultra-wide lenses often enough to justify keeping such an expensive lens, even if it is really cool. I have a dedicated YouTube review on the Laowa 6mm f/2.
Check out the Olympus fisheye here on Amazon, or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
Olympus 9-18mm f4-5.6
If you’ve been on my YouTube channel before, you’ve probably heard me talk about this lens a lot! Here’s a blog post all about it with lots of photo examples.
This is another favourite lens of mine, even though it is plastic… Like… VERY plastic. But it’s light, sharp, cheap, and FUN! You can grab one for around £500 new or £220(!) used. It is a super small lens, weighing just 154g. For a wide-angle lens, being this small, light, and sharp is impressive. I think the build quality leaves something to be desired, but the versatility of this lens to cover so much ground on a micro four thirds system is remarkable.
p.s. there’s a new OM System version, but it’s SO expensive, and literally the same lens. So get the Olympus badged one. Bargain.
Check out this plastic fantastic lens on Amazon, or MPB for the best Used Prices: MPB UK, MPB US, MPB EU
So these are a few of my favourite lenses for the micro four thirds system, and some gems that make the system make sense to me. There are, however, many more! Another amazing thing about micro four thirds is you just have literally hundreds of lenses to choose from, at all price points. It’s just cracking, if you ask me. Thanks for reading!
And if you’d like to edit your photos quickly, professionally, and like an absolute boss — and help support my online efforts at the same time! — please consider checking out my photo presets in the Micro Four Nerds Store.