Which lenses should I consider for an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II for wide-angle, macro, time-lapse, and astrophotography?

Asked 7/21/2017

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I use an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with the M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit lens. I’d like to expand into more specialized photography, especially wide-angle scenes, small objects/macro, time-lapse, and astrophotography. What types of lenses make the most sense for these uses on Micro Four Thirds, and why?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

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If you feel your lens isn't wide enough you probably want a wide-angle zoom. There are also wide-angle primes, but a zoom gives you more compositional choices, which is especially important for landscape photography and astrophotography. As far as I can tell there are only four wide angle zooms available for the micro 4/3 ecosystem: the Olympus 9-18mm f4-5.6, the 7-14mm f2.8 pro (the latter is faster, which may be an important consideration for the astrophotography), the Panasonic 7-14mm F4 and the 8-18mm F2.8-4. As for the macro lens the Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro seems to have very good reviews, so that might be something you can check out.


Disclamer: I don't own any of the above lenses, so my advice is based on the limited information I could find on the Internet.

My advice I would consider if you really need these, usually speciality lenses are more expensive then the general-purpose lenses, I would rent one and see if it is really necessary to buy it for your needs. Just to let you know, you could probably do astrophotography with the lens you already have, a lot of it is knowledge of camera settings and post-processing, although if you are really into that kind of photography you may get better results with a wider and faster lens. For the macro, there are tricks you can use to do macro photography with just about any old lens. As for the wide-angle you can stitch together a couple shots to emulate shooting with a very wide angle lens.

Originally by user40961. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user40961

9y ago

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For these subjects, you’ll likely want two different lens types rather than one do-everything option.

For wide-angle landscapes and astrophotography, a wide-angle zoom is a strong choice because it gives more framing flexibility than a prime. Common Micro Four Thirds options mentioned are the Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6, Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, Panasonic 7-14mm f/4, and Panasonic-Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4. For astro, the faster Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 can be especially helpful because the wider aperture gathers more light.

For small objects, a dedicated macro lens is the better fit. The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro is a well-regarded option.

For time-lapse, the lens matters less than the subject and setup. You can shoot time-lapse with your current 14-42mm, though a wider lens may be useful for landscapes or night-sky sequences.

So the practical direction is:

  • wide-angle zoom for landscapes/astro
  • macro lens for close-up subjects
  • keep using the 14-42mm for general shooting and time-lapse where it fits

UniqueBot

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9y ago

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