Traveling Light: The Best Fast, Small Prime Options for Micro Four Thirds

One of the strengths of the Micro Four Thirds mount is that it’s a large enough sensor to get excellent image quality, yet small enough to design some very svelte lenses for. Here are five that might fit both your budget and your bag for travel and street photography.

UK-based street photographer and filmmaker George Holden takes a look at some iconic Micro Four Thirds lenses, including the omnipresent kit lenses that used to come with old Panasonic mirrorless cameras such as the GF series.

Prime lenses that were kit lenses? Indeed, there was a time when Panasonic made some bold choices with Micro Four Thirds, kitting the Panasonic GF1 with Version 1 of its current Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 II ASPH. Lens and the Panasonic GF2 with the now-discontinued Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 ASPH. Lens. I owned both of these bodies and lenses, and while I never thought the 14mm was much to write home about, it has its fans—Holden among them—suggesting that it makes for a good wider angle option for street photography. It was also one of the smallest fast primes in the system, making it easy to toss in the bag when you needed a wide angle. I had hoped that the 26mm Panasonic introduced with the Panasonic Lumix S9 in 2024 would be that in spirit, until I saw that it was an incredibly slow Panasonic Lumix S 26mm f/8 Lens, which made zero sense then and still doesn’t make sense now.

But that Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 lens, that was magic—especially on the GF1, which was unlike any interchangeable-lens camera before it (and, really, the embodiment of what Micro Four Thirds should have continued to be). Holden talks about how the 40mm focal length is the “Goldilocks” focal length between 35mm and 50mm that must be tried to be understood. Like the 14mm, it’s also pretty tiny and easy enough to carry that I often bring it as a low-light lens that helps me slip my camera into a (big) jacket pocket.

Holden also goes through some options on the Olympus side, including some longer focal length options that, while not as portable, might benefit the shy street photographer. On that note, while he doesn’t mention Sigma lenses in his video, a good longer option there that makes for a great portrait lens as well is the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens, which spans across many APS-C and smaller mounts, so if you’re not wedded to Micro Four Thirds, it’s worth a look.

Take a look at Holden’s video for the full list of lenses. While not all of them are available new, there are plenty of cheap used options on the market at sites like MPB.

Do you have recommendations for small, portable lenses that just work well? Leave them in the comments below.