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Ultimate Setup – Micro Four Thirds cameras

Stuff compiles its ultimate Micro Four Thirds system camera setup

Having spent some time with the Panasonic GF2 recently, we thought it was time to advise on the ultimate Micro Four Thirds camera set-up…

BODY

We’re big fans of the Olympus PEN E-P2 and the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2. They both take advantage of the size benefits offered by the Micro Four Thirds format, resulting in spiritual successors to the Leica M series. Small, discreet but packing top-class performance. The EP-2 doesn’t have built-in flash like the GF2, while the smaller GF2’s touchscreen won’t appeal to everyone.

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LENSES

Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7 £360

Modern photography was built on glass like this. It’s a standard prime lens with a wide maximum aperture to make the best of low light and/or get a shallow depth of field for smooth out-of-focus areas (known as ‘bokeh’ to the photo-fanatics). The 20mm length is equivalent to 40mm in old money.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 £295

Purists might still harp on about prime lenses (non-zoomers) but you can’t deny the convenience of zoom lenses. This Olympus model gives a useful equivalent length of 28-84mm, but the deal clincher is that it can be collapsed down to be much smaller when not in use.

Panasonic Leica DG 45mm f2.8 Macro £700

Very pricey, but think of it as two in one – an awesome macro lens for close-ups, and a super-sharp portrait lens.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4-5.6 £300

When you need to get close without getting close, it’s time for the big guns. And this is big done small. Argh, the contradictions!

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ACCESSORIES

Billingham Airline Stowaway £105

Just big enough to carry a camera and a couple of lenses, as well as having that cool retro vibe and being built to last a lifetime. It’ll look more beautiful the more it gets battered.

Eye viewfinder

Neither the Olympus nor the Panasonic GF2 has an eye viewfinder, which can be tricky when you’re in harsh sunlight and can’t see the main screen. Sadly, the add-ons aren’t cheap: £220 for the Olympus VF-2 and £175 for the Panasonic LVF1.

Lens adaptors

If you really fancy some fun, there are tons of lens adaptors that enable you to fit most lenses ever made. Pick up some crazy uncoated Russian optics from the ’50s and see what they do, or fit your favourite old SLR lens. Beware a couple of things, though… Firstly you’ll need an eye viewfinder to manually focus accurately, and secondly the focal length will be doubled because of the Four Thirds sensor size – a 50mm lens will be equivalent to 100mm on your MFT camera.

Filters

Try out a circular polariser to reduce reflections in water and bring out the blue in the sky. Neutral-density (ND) graduated filters can also be useful if there’s a huge exposure difference between the ground and the skies.

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Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home