After a couple of requests from readers, I'm finally getting to it. A list of lenses which I believe complete a full kit for Micro 4/3 shooters (or any other format for that matter).
To clarify before I get started, I am primarily a GH2 shooter. It's the camera I own, and the format I intend on sticking with. My next camera investments are the GH3 (depending on reviews) and the BMCC. So these are lenses I would invest in that would be of the highest quality, that I could stick around with even if I considered switching over to Canon DSLR's, or whatever the next big thing is.
To start off with, a good lens kit to me includes:
1) a workhorse zoom lens
2) a longer telephoto zoom
3) a 5 set of fast primes
Here's why: different projects call for different tools, different time frames, and are expected to be viewed through different forms of distribution. One should take all these factors into account, but if I had to cover all bases, here's why 2-3 high quality zooms (depending on what format you're shooting on), gives you pretty much all the range you need. You're not gonna be working at super fast aperture's, but you'll get great sharpness. This is awesome for shoulder mounted, run n gun style filmmaking. It saves you time from switching lenses out after every shot and if you invest in a high quality zoom such as the: Canon/Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 (or it's MFT equivalents the Olympus 14-35 F2 and Panasonic 12-35 F2.8) and the Canon/Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 (Olympus 35-100mm F2 and Panasonic 35-100 F2.8).
For my purposes, I use the Panasonic 12-35mm F2.8.Why this over the Olympus? Well couple reasons, when comparing sharpness and overall picture quality, yes the olympus came out on top, but it honestly wasn't worth TWICE the price. And more importantly, when working with lenses as large and hefty as the Olympus 14-35 and 35-100, you risk ripping the mount off on a camera as small on the GH2. This leads to a need of having a lens support, which to me defeats the purpose of run n gun. The camera will ALWAYS have to be rigged with a baseplate (minimally) and every time you switch lenses you'll have to re-adjust.
One of the long time running issues with the MFT format has always been getting wide. The Panasonic 12-35 gives you about a 24mm, which is wide, but if you need extreme wide, I'd suggest looking at the Olympus 7-14mm or the Panasonic 7-14mm, both great lenses, but I'm not sure exactly how they stack up against each other.
So overall here are my ideal zooms to look for when shopping for MFT camera's such as the GH2/GH3 and BMCC:
a) Panasonic 7-14
b) Panasonic 12-35
c) Panasonic 35-100
DISCLAIMER! I understand the BMCC is a passive MFT mount. Meaning it will only work with all manual lenses! I'm only discussing these zoom lenses assuming this changes! BlackMagic has been really good about listening and responding to customer feedback so I still have HOPE! :D
And finally, primes. It's a common belief that prime lenses produce a higher quality and sharper image than zooms. There's a lot of debate amongst cinematographers and DP's as to how vast the difference is. Some cinematographers argue that SOME zooms are very close if not identical to a prime counter part. For me, prime lenses have a stronger effect.
They force me to slow down, look at the shot, the composition, the light, and the script. It really makes you conscious of CHOOSING a lens, rather than just leaving the zoom on what it was before (dear god I hope no one does that). Fast primes also allow for great low light shooting compared to the slower zooms.
The prime kit I recommend would be a 5 lens Zeiss ZF2 kit NIKON MOUNT. The 5 lens's I'd chose would probably be:
a) 21mm F2.8
b) 35mm F1.4
c) 50mm F1.4
d) 85mm F1.4
e) 100mm F2 Macro
These lenses are all manual, can be adapted to almost ANY camera, and have STELLAR image quality for the price. I've consistently heard the optics of the Zeiss ZF.2 are incredibly close to the CP.2's which are considerably more expensive. There are of course way's to get your Zeiss ZF.2 the "cine" treatment (clickless aperture, etc...) and they would still come in far cheaper than the CP.2 so I personally find them to be a bargain.
The 5 lens Zeiss kit, coupled with 2-3 ultra sharp zooms covers all the bases. It gives you the ability to shoot incredibly sharp images with great low light capabilities and distinctive looks from each lens since there's no "in-between's" like there are on zooms. This along with the fact that they can be adapted to almost any camera makes them a GREAT long term investment!