This image was taken with the Olympus 17/1.8 again, just like the last one with the bicycles, while for a few posts before I had used exclusively the Panasonic Leica 25/1.4. I’ve said it a few times, the Panaleica is the better lens, but personally I like the 17 better. Maybe it’s the size (smaller!), maybe it’s the metal, maybe it’s the weight (lighter!), or maybe it’s simply the focal length.
For me the decision to change to Micro Four Thirds was all about size and weight. The smaller sensor allows for smaller lenses. The more lenses you have, the more size and weight you save. That’s the reason why I am not interested in the mirrorless systems of Fuji, Sony, Samsung or Canon. They have all APS-C sensors, and that annihilates the advantage over my previous Nikon system.
While we talk about Nikon, I had so many lenses for that system, that carrying them all around would not have been possible. I’ve helped myself by leaving most of them at home, either in Vienna or in Carinthia, and most of the time I went with a single lens, more often than not a prime. That approach was helpful from an artistic point of view, but other than that it was a hopeless waste of resources.
Today I have a single, small camera bag and I can load it with the OM-D and seven or eight lenses. That’s already hard on my weight limit, but it’s possible and I’ve done it for some time.
In the meanwhile one of my two heaviest lenses, the Panasonic 7-14, has been sold. I’m down to seven, and I’ve decided to keep it at or around that. If a new lens comes my way, one of the others must go. Which one, you ask?
Well, it would be the Panasonic Leica 25/1.4. It’s a fabulous lens, it’s one of my sharpest lenses, it’s my fastest lens, it has wonderful bokeh - but I don’t like it. It’s not made for me. It weighs twice as much as the 17/1.8, it is big and it does not inspire me.
Actually, if Olympus came out with the rumored 25/1.8 and if it had the same looks and the same construction as the 12/2.0 and the 17/1.8, I would be hard pressed to resist, but those lenses are made for me, you see? Crazy? Yes. Definitely 😄
The Song of the Day is “17 Again” from the 1999 Eurythmics album “Peace”. Hear it on YouTube.