Pretty new to the world of interchangeable lens cameras, I took the leap over in the summer of 2019, after shooting compact cameras and bridge cameras since I was a little toddler.
I've always been an advocate of small cameras since the bigger ones rarely tend to see the outside of the home. And the old saying "the best camera if the one you bring with you" is indeed very much true. Going to a lot of concerts as well (remember those, pre-covid?) shooting pictures and videos from a tight crowd, weight and bulk needed to be kept at a minimum. And since system cameras have traditionally been synonymous with big, heavy DSLRs, I had not considered them as viable options until recent years, when I once again started looking for that perfect sized camera that could help me improve my photography.
Doing a lot of research, looking at mirrorless APS-C's for the most part, I eventually settled for the Micro Four Thirds system instead, since they were even smaller, more affordable, and had a great ecosystem of lenses to choose from.
Gear I'm using
Camera bodies
Panasonic Lumix GX9
Perhaps the more "serious" of the two bodies I own. It has a stabilised 20 MP sensor (a.k.a. IBIS; In-Body Image Stabilisation). It also has an electronic viewfinder which can also be tilted straight up. These things make the camera perform quite well in both blinding sunlight (thanks to the viewfinder) as well as low light (thanks to the stabilised sensor, resulting in less shaky shots).
It also has a tad bit more buttons and dials than the GX800, thanks to its slightly larger footprint. The LCD angles both downward and upward to accommodate taking shots over-head as well as from a low perspective. It doesn't flip all the way forward for selfie shot like the GX800 does, however.
The GX9 with the small 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens has become my favoured setup for general outdoor photography, especially during the dark winter season, here in Sweden. It fits straight any winter jacket with decent sized pockets. The wide aperture lens also lets in a nice amount of light, so the ISO can be kept fairly low.
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Panasonic Lumix GX800
This is the little brother to the GX9. It has many different names depending on region and manufacturing year. GX850 and GX880 are a few other names this body goes under. It actually has more in common with the GF series, though, which is Panasonic's line of smallest MFT bodies. In Japan, the GX800 is actually still called GF9. But I guess calling all of the more compact rangefinder bodies "GX" simplifies it somewhat for the Western market.
Its tiny form factor makes it very inconspicuous and can easily be mistaken for a simple point-and-shoot. It performs way above its weight class, though. I like bringing this out during the brighter summer season especially. It doesn't take up much more space than a wallet or something, which makes it a nice companion if you want a bit more professional results than your phone can offer. Like your smartphone, the GX800 is ideal for selfies as well. And unlike phones, you can get some real bokeh with this, without having to resort to digital effects that often looks fake.
The sensor in the GX800 is a slightly older 16 MP one that also lacks IBIS. However, in good shooting conditions, I generally can't tell much of a difference between it and the GX9 when I browse through my backlog of pictures.
Much like the case of the GX9, pairing it with a small prime lens, makes it a real powerhouse of a pocket camera. When I bring both bodies in a camera bag, I typically have a stabilised zoom lens (like the 14-140 mm) on the GX800 to cover a wider range of focal lengths the main prime on the GX9 can't cover. That way, you have great flexibility in your shooting, while also having some sort of image stabilisation on both cameras.
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Prime lenses
Lumix G 14mm f/2.5
Great little pancake lens. Probably the tiniest one you can find for the system, crappy body-cap lenses excluded. 14 mm in Micro Four Thirds is about the same focal length you get with most phone cameras, which a lot of people are well familiar with. If you like that like the wide end of the kit lens, this is a great upgrade. Its wider max-aperture of f/2.5 means you can get some decent bokeh on close-up shots, and less noise indoors, as you turn the ISO a bit lower than the kit lens allows without getting blurry shots. The 14mm focal length is excellent for selfies as well, especially with the GX800 and its flip screen. The autofocus is blazing fast and operates completely quietly.
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Lumix 20mm f/1.7
Probably my favourite and most used lens. It is almost as small as the 14mm f/2.5 and the 12-32mm kit lens, just with a tad bit more girth. How they managed to cram an aperture as wide as f/1.7 into this little guy is really beyond me, and it performs way above its modest size, with excellent image quality with great clarity and bokeh.
20 mm in Micro Four Thirds is about the perfect "standard" focal length, in my opinion. While it's wide enough to fit most of what your eyes see, the lens is still long enough to give a natural look. Anything wider than this comes with the risk of introducing perspective distortion in your shots, but this one doesn't. That makes it so very useful and versatile. I use it for everything from close-ups to wide-area shots, such as buildings, nature etc. With the wide max-aperture, you can get quite professional results with nice, creamy bokeh and excellent low light performance. Lenses like these are what really make the MFT system relevant. When seated on a compact body, you get a really potent camera you can easily fit in your jacket and have with you anywhere.
The lens has a few weak points, however. The focusing motor is a bit on the slower side and is also a bit noisy, as the lens barrel moves physically when it changes focus. This makes the lens less than ideal for video use. That is unless you do something like a talking heads video, where you can set the focus manually beforehand and just leave it there throughout the recording.
Bottom line, though: For photography, it's simply a must-have if you own an MFT camera!
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Lumix 25mm f/1.7
Faster and quieter focusing than the 20mm counterpart, also cheaper. The 25mm is bulkier (or pokier, rather), though, making the camera less compact.
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Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM
EF full-frame lens for Canon. Great performance and bokeh for very little money. The STM version has an improved focus motor and also works great with MFT bodies. It needs an adapter to fit though - see further down for that.Check prices: US | CA | UK | DE/EU
Zoom lenses
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6
EF APS-C lens for Canon. Need adapter. Ultrawide zoom at a nice price!Check prices: US | CA | UK | DE/EU
Lumix 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6
A very compact kit lens.
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Lumix 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6
Great super-zoom covering most bases. If you come from a super-zoom compact or bridge camera, this might just be your gateway drug to interchangeable lens cameras!
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Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6
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EF lens adapter
Viltrox EF-M2 II
Speed booster for adapting Canon dSLR lenses on MFT bodies. The speed boost of 0.71x effectively makes the full-frame 50 mm f/1.8 into a 36 mm lens with an impressive aperture of f/1.3. Bokeh to the max!Check prices: US | CA | UK | DE/EU
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