Reddit reviews Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R Zoom Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras (Black)

I'd say go for a telephoto first.

That said, even though it is [on sale for $99] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0066J6EOU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0066J6EOU&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20), I recommend against the Oly 40-150 because it doesn't have image stabilization.

The [Panasonic 45-200mm with Mega OIS] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ISKNKA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001ISKNKA&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) will cost you more, but image stabilization at the long end of a telephoto lens is worth the extra money.

And, If budget permits, I recommend the [Oly 9-18mm] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035LBRM6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0035LBRM6&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) for landscapes. This is a very good value-for-money wide angle lens.

Hope this is helpful and best of luck on your trip!

I'd take the 12-40mm for the larger maximum aperture (= better low light performance and potential for shallower depth of field) and because it goes wider and will be sharper.

You could always add a cheap telephoto zoom if you want more reach: http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-40-150mm-F4-0-5-6-Panasonic-Cameras/dp/B0066J6EOU/ref=sr_1_1

If you do stay with the 14-42 you'll probably also want a longer zoom. I just noticed this Olympus 40-150 is on sale for $99 right now.

It should do a good job with that, though I'd recommend you also potentially picking up a second lens that'll give you a bit more reach than the standard 14-42mm kit lens. Maybe the M.Zuiko 40-150mm f4-5.6 R, which runs $150 new or ~$80-100 used, with 180-day warranty and will allow you to zoom in further if you're far from the action and can't physically get any closer.

You'll have to learn to use the camera for action-oriented stuff like running/playing if you're using the longer zoom lens in particular, but it should be plenty up to the task.

Just wanna point out that you can actually get the Oly 40-150 new for $99 (it's technically "on sale" right now).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0066J6EOU/

I say "technically" because looking at a price chart, it's spent half it's life on sale, you just gotta wait for the right moment (and they come often).

I started off with the Olympus E-PL5 to test the mirrorless waters then jumped to the Olympus OM-D E-M10 after about a couple years. So take this advice for what it's worth /u/CarlyleCasper . I'll throw some links to Amazon for you as references.

First figure out your budget. Your camera body and lenses should be two separate decisions on how you're going to spend your money. You can blow through a lot of $$$ trying to figure out what works for you because there are tons of bodies & lenses to choose from.

For the camera..... I suggest you go to a physical store where you can fingerbang a couple different cameras that you're considering. Play with the controls, see how easy it is to work the settings, etc. Depending on where you're located, that could range from easy to difficult to downright impossible (if you're in a rural area). I ended up going with the E-M10 not based on the specs of the camera, but how it ended up feeling & ease of use. In my opinion, unless you're after certain capabilities in a body, the minutiae on the specs of all the cameras tend to all blur into one another.

For the lens/lenses..... Again, your budget may come into play here. You've got a choice between zoom or primes. Everyone will tell you different things: zooms are more versatile, primes are sharper, zooms let you carry one lens for all sorts of shots you could run into, primes force you to concentrate on composition, etc etc etc. All those arguments are valid, and yet they all carry different weight with different people.

If you don't want to spend a lot of $$$ on lenses right away, I'd say get kit lenses like the Olympus 14-42mm and the Olympus 40-150mm then shoot with them for a while so you can figure out what focal lengths you use the most. That way if you decide to try some prime lenses later, you already have a reference of what focal lengths you've shot with most often as a way to figure out which primes you may be interested in.

Me personally, I have a good zoom Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 that is just about permanently attached to my E-M10. It probably gets the most use out of all the lenses I owned the past several years and it's a great little "walk-about" lens for me. And believe me, I went through lenses (mostly primes, buying & selling used to save $$$) playing around to see which I liked the best. Along with the 12-35mm zoom, I have a Bower 7.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens and a Panasonic Lumix45-150mm telephoto zoom in my camera bag all the time. I also still have the E-PL5 but I mostly use it with all the retro legacy lenses (manual focus stuff) that I like to play around with.

Hopefully this was helpful and not overwhelming. :-)

Maybe desperadow meant this one?

If you're shooting things that are far away, you may want something like this Olympus 40-150mm lens. With your budget, that's pretty much the best choice. It's not the largest apertured lens, but it's a very useful zoom range.

If you have a bit more budget to work with and you are interested in portraiture in the long run, look at this Olympus 45mm 1.8 lens. The large aperture will be great in low light.

It's not great, but it does its job well. They're so cheap I wouldn't buy a body without one.

I've got one adapted Canon FD macro lens that I don't use terribly often (it's manual focus and crazy heavy). Aside from that, I own the kit lens and the Olympus 40-150 (which I got used from KEH in perfect condition for around $90). Neither of those two is amazing, optically, but they're very cheap, very light (so I bring them both with me if I've got a bag), and between them cover 28-300mm in 35mm equivalent field of view. It's also been a great way to see what focal lengths I like.

The next lens I get will probably be a prime roughly 35mm in 35mm equivalent. There are a number of options, and I tried out my friend's Panasonic 20mm pancake, and liked it, aside from being a bit slow to focus. Then I rented the Olympus 17mm f1.7 for a Disneyland trip and dang, I love that lens. It's expensive enough, though, that it'll probably be a while until I own it.

I used these two sites to compare them

http://cameradecision.com/compare/Olympus-PEN-E-PL7-vs-Olympus-PEN-E-PL6

http://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/olympus/e-pl6/vs/olympus/e-pl7/

Looks like the 6 has something called Eye-Fi, which is believe is a wi-fi enabled SD card. So you would want to verify with the seller that it is that card.

http://www.eyefi.com/

I think this may be the lens which is $150 new at amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0066J6EOU/ref=psdc_173565_t1_B000Q639S8

You would again want to confirm that with the seller but you may only be saving around $50 total for used/refurbished gear. Personally, I would go for the new gear for such a small difference. You would have all new warranties and be dealing with Amazon instead of a person if there was a problem.

What about this one? It looks awesome

https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-40-150mm-F4-0-5-6-Black-Cameras/dp/B0066J6EOU

https://youtu.be/LOyhcMNS8lU

Are there any affordable lenses that are "all purpose" for an Olympus E410? The stock one seems to have a large zoom already so anything up close (3ft) is a no go. I found this, but I'm not sure how compatibility works. I've only been messing with the camera for maybe a week now.

Olympus M. 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R Zoom Lens (Black) for Olympus Micro 4/3 Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0066J6EOU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2AO-Bb5NQ0DV1

The more expensive one has a higher zoom. I would say start with the 14-42 lens. Its a decent kit lens to get you up and running. You can get other lenses later that fill the needs for her. I bought the lumix 20mm f/1.7 which is a really nice prime lens for run and gun. My next lens will either be a wide angle or telephoto lens.

If you get it with the kit lens you can always get this lens and you come out cheaper than if you just get the 14-140 and you still have a good range. I have even found on the Olympus site they sell a refurbished version of this lens for like $60.

It's not so much that smaller sensors resolve less detail, it's that they suffer more in low light. Smaller surfaces soak up less light. When it's a bright sunny day, no problem, at web size it'll look pretty good. But once it starts to get dark, like even a little dim, you'd better have very steady hands or hope your subject is immobile if you want to keep the quality good.

unfortunately, the bigger a sensor is, the bigger the lens has to be, so large sensor cameras get bulky. you could always buy a small olympus interchangeable lens camera and buy one telephoto zoom lens with it. something like this is quite small and then for when you really need the zoom you toss one of these babies on it.