John Matthews

I have 3 Lomography lenses (all f/8) and they weigh 115g TOGETHER (about 38g separately). They cost me 20 Euros, I think. I'll use them on a 204g GM1. Quality, schmality. Another limitation would to be that you can only shoot in-camera, no post other than putting shots on a timeline in the sequential order you shot them in.

Yes, Laowa 10mm f/2.0, but no AF. I most people would miss that one. Yes, they have at least one.

Another M43 trivia question: OMDS/Olympus and Panasonic make M43 lenses with electrical contacts, who are the other M43 lens producers that have electrical contacts? I just learned this one the other day. Winner gets bragging rights.

Sadly, my Olympus E-P7 had to go back for repair due to some IBIS problems. I couldn't take a photo at anything under 1/15s. This was unacceptable as I could do it no problem without IBIS, hence the faulty IBIS system. They assured me it was a one-off problem and wanted to replace my black and silver one with a white one (no available spare parts an no black and silver ones left). I refused. In the end, they gave me the E-M5 iii which is also a very capable small camera. I will have to say they treated me VERY well and made EVERY effort to make me happy. I will be taking my business to them for the foreseeable future. I don't know what Olympus was like before OMDS, but I cannot imagine a drop-off in after sales service. Kudos to them. I never really had a chance to get super cinematic video from the E-P7, but I can assure you, in the right hands, it's decent. With normally great IBIS and the ability to change the saturation of 12 individual colors, this tool seems like a creative in-camera powerhouse- and at only 337g. I'm eagerly waiting to see what's to come from the OMDS engineering team as they have a real opportunity to make gains with many content creators as they don't have other products lines to protect. Some day, I'll get another E-P7.

At 22.5mm, it's not that much with just "OK" stabilization. If it were 22mm and great stabilization, it might be passable. Also, you could get it a little further away with a make-shit selfie stick. The X3000 was great... everyone is waiting for the successor to no avail. I think it really doesn't offer that much over a phone with a wide-angle on it though. It would seem customers are putting in much more thought into this type of camera than all the manufacturers.

Thanks @kye. It looks like it's a 0.75x, making the 24mm on the ZV1 go to about an 18mm. I've tried a few of these over the years and this one looks much better than ones I've seen for smartphones that were complete garbage. At 294g for the camera and 133g for the WA adapter, it would be a decent setup for 427g, achieving 18mm FOV equivalent f/1.8 on a 1" sensor. The only real problem I see is with the stabilization system on the ZV1, which isn't so great- you'd probably end up with about a 20-24mm FOV with decent stab in post. I have to say I like the tally light on the ZV1- that's cool!

Thanks for that. I'll look into. Not too expensive either!

That looks great! When I had my RX100 (mark 1) in 2012, there were many solutions for it. I had chosen one that essentially glued on a filter thread and it worked well. The solution I was planning in my head was to simply use some thin plastic ND sheets that I received with my Lomography kit lenses. I think the filter(s) will do the job. No, the aim isn't quality, here- just functionality. The other solution is to use my 58mm ND with some gaffer's tape- job done! One very cool thing about the DMC-GWC1 is that it's super easy to take off and put back on, as there's no screwing anything.

This IS a good point. However, if you turn off the corrections on the Olympus 12mm, you could also do the same with the Panasonic 14mm with the wide-angle adapter. Both would show crazy distortions though (above 5%, horrendous for primes). There's also a point to be made that people might be confusing: focal length is not field of view. For photography, the Olympus 8mm fisheye is the widest and brightest lens for M43, perhaps for all systems. Also, the field of view is much wider than other 8mm or 7.5mm lenses. You can use it for photography, no problem. For video, it's ok on a tripod or hand-held, but if you walk with it, the horizon bounces around. This lens doesn't count in that it's more than 300g. Finally, you can always get wider results with these cameras: GH2, GH5s, and BMPCC 4k. Those cameras have wider sensors than all the typical M43 sensors when shooting video.

Yes. no filter threads is the same situation on the Panasonic version... however, I have a couple of ideas for putting a nd-ish filter between the adapter and the lens itself. It would be loose inside there and should be enough to keep down the super high shutter speeds, but I'm not sure it'll be enough for 1/50th. Some say it doesn't even matter as you can add in post... not sure about that, but I'll try with my solution.

I'd be happy even with 200-250g. A 9-11mm f2 with AF (and much better IQ than the 14mm f/2.5 + adapter offers). I'm sure it'd sell enough as nothing our there currently exists.

I'd take it the other direction. The smallest MFT camera is the GM1 and the smallest "real" lens (with AF) is the 14mm f/2.5. The grand total of that combo is 259g and a volume of 0.181 liters (treating the camera as a block and the lens as a cylinder): GM1 = 54.9×98.5×30.4 = .164 liters, 14mm f/2.5 = 27.75 radius x 20.5 length = .017 liters So can we find a FF combo that is only double that figure? 518g and .362 liters It should be possible, but think it's never been done. The smallest FF camera is the Sigma FP (I think). It's weight and volume is 422g and accurately described as .357 liters, leaving only 96g and .005 liters left. Can you make a lens (with AF) for that? The weight is definitely possible, but the volume probably wouldn't work out. One major constant with all this is the human hand. There's only so much you can comfortably hold and operate. The other constant I suppose would be a pocket if you're taking it everywhere.

I plan on it. I was hoping to do more with the Olympus E-P7 (weighing in at 337g, 5-axis IBIS), as it's a fairly unique camera allowing for full-saturation control of 12 colors (like the Pen F), yet it shoots 4k (unlike the Pen F). Granted, you need to use the AEL button in order to have manual control with those color options, and only available in photo mode. Previous Olympus cameras have surprised me with how good IQ was (E-M1 ii, E-M10 iii, E-M10 iv, E-PL9, E-PL10). Anyway, I had to send it back for warranty-related issues regarding the IBIS (I was getting better results WITHOUT using it than WITH using it around 1/15s). I have to also say my interaction with OM Digital Solutions has been excellent. We'll see if it gets fixed later this month.

Maybe. The fact remains that there's no other solution at the moment. Also, let's remember that the DMC-GWC1 wasn't just ANY wide-angle converter, it's the one that Panasonic specifically designed for 2 lenses: the 14-42 PZ (at 14mm) and the 14mm f/2.5. I've heard of it working on others too (like my Olympus 14-42 EZ), but not officially. With the Panasonic 15mm f/1.7, it supposedly works, but it'll only get you to 12mm f/1.7... might at well get the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and save weight. If you were to tell me in 2012 that there would be no other solution to this in 2022, I would have called you crazy. Of course, M43 manufacturers would have found something in 10 years. Sadly, it doesn't look like it'll EVER happen.

Bingo. You win @homestar_kevin! Congrats to bragging rights. Indecently, how do you like your Sony VCL-ECU1? I checked out some videos on it, but most people just said they got it because the DMC-GWC1 wasn't for sale anymore. I had been looking for a used one for roughly 4 years (off and on). I finally found one a few weeks ago and the guy wanted a direct transfer... (a bit risky) but I did it and he followed through. As I mentioned above, I cannot believe that we don't have a better solution as this set up dates back to 2012. I saw a few others available over the years, but they were just asking too much or they were too far away. Here it is on my GM1 (as my Olympus E-P7 had to go into the shop for IBIS recalibration). The AF is working almost flawlessly on my E-M1 ii with tracking and face-detect on. I have to make a few more tests, but I like what I see. Also, as it was designed for this lens, everything is super easy to take on and off. I'm going to try adding some ND on it now, but it should be a challenge as there are no filter threads (nothings perfect).

No AF is a deal-breaker this trivia game. 🙂

You're getting VERY close...

Nope. That one isn't 150g or less. I'm sure it's a great lens, but at $1700 and almost 700g. Try again.

In the spirit of M43 geekery, I'm asking you this question: What is the only M43 native lens, under 150g, capable of wider than 12mm, yet has AF and a wider aperture than f/2.8? It would seem the demand would be high for such a lens. I cannot believe that it's 2022 and I believe there's only one. What is it?

Merry Christmas, Andrew. I'm stoked that you've decided to continue to put your valuable time and energy in to this site. I've been here since 2015 and have really enjoyed the interaction. Can't wait to see what you have in store. Thank you for all your past hard work.

In short, it works well on the E-M1 ii with the 14mm and 20mm isn't so great at CAF work, only SAF.

I have the 20mm 1.7 too. I've always thought the 20mm had a little sharper images, but the slow AF meant it was hit or miss to get the shot in the first place. Not so with the 14mm and I've always found the AF to perform very well (for photos). I'm going to test it out on my E-m1 ii and E-P7 to see if there's really that much difference with my experience on the GX80 in video AF. For photos, I can tell you that I'm not so worried with using up to ISO 3200. They cleaned up so well with DXO PhotoLab 5 (made my gx80 shots look like ISO 200). I've also seen some good results from YouTubers on that. Again, curious to see the performance on the E-M1 ii with its PDAF.

FYI- I'm repurchasing the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 II. That lens with its size was too hard to resist. It wasn't a need, but I took so many good photos with it and I will probably never let it go again. Definitely unique in M43.

If you'd like PDAF in M43 land with similar size and weight as a GX80, the only thing is the Olympus E-M5 iii, but you'd need to pay about 650 to 750 euros on the used market. I don't know the ZV1, but my guess would be the IBIS isn't as good, but AF performance would be similar.

Just have both. You can find a GX80 for $250 on the used market. IMO, AF is really important for Youtubers (and even then it's debatable). Sure, technologically speaking, it's great, but you're going to still have limitations with it. I think it's better to work around known limitations than hoping for AF to work (yes, even on Sony cameras).