The Best Micro Four Thirds Lenses for 2024

Interchangeable lens cameras offer a lot more creative flexibility and control than smartphones and point-and-shoots. Buying a camera with swappable lenses lets you change your angle of view and take advantage of specialty optics for macro and fish-eye shots.

You do need to make sure you're getting the right type of lens for your camera. In this guide, we cover lenses for the Micro Four Thirds system. It's the oldest modern mirrorless system and one that multiple camera and lens makers support.

First in Mirrorless

Micro Four Thirds cameras first went on sale in 2008. At the time, the mirrorless concept was novel. Instead of using an optical viewfinder and mirror, like the Four Thirds SLR system that preceded it, M43 takes the view from the image sensor and sends it right to an electronic display. 

Olympus (now OM System) and Panasonic got things started, but several others have employed the mount over the years. Cameras in the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema line, drones from DJI, and even some smartphones have all joined in on the platform.

Mirrorless technology has grown a lot in the time since. Today's models leapfrog SLRs in autofocus speed and video capabilities. Many, including those at the entry level, feature in-body image stabilization, too.

Currently, two manufacturers drive the platform forward. OM System carries the torch for the now-retired Olympus camera brand. Olympus the company is still around but is no longer in the camera business. You might still find products with Olympus logos on store shelves, but new releases all have OM System branding.

Panasonic continues to support M43 under its Lumix imprint, even though it has added a full-frame camera system to its catalog. It uses the Lumix G designation for its Micro Four Thirds cameras, which include mainstream models and specialty options like the tiny BGH1 video camera.

How to Choose the Right Micro Four Thirds Lens

Finding a lens for a Micro Four Thirds camera isn't difficult—there have been hundreds of different types over the years. But there are some things to take into account.

First up is the focal length. The millimeter number of every lens denotes its angle of view, and lenses with a smaller number capture a larger view.

Micro Four Thirds cameras use a different image sensor format than full-frame and APS-C cameras, so you need to do some math to match up focal lengths between the systems. Micro Four Thirds also uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. Compared with the 3:2 aspect sensors of competing systems, these sensors don't translate as nicely to wide screens and are smaller in surface area.

As such, expect to see lenses with smaller focal lengths than you might expect. A 12mm focal length on a full-frame system is ultra-wide, for instance, but captures a wide standard view on an M43 camera. That's about the same as the main lens on your smartphone or a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera. The rule of thumb is to double Micro Four Thirds focal lengths to directly compare them with full-frame.

You don't have to think too much about it when buying a native lens for the system. We've broken this guide up by type, so you can jump down and pick out the best macro, telephoto, wide, or other type of lens for your camera.

If you're planning on using lenses for SLRs, it's easy to do if you're willing to deal with manual focus and aperture control via a simple mechanical adapter. We stick to lenses made for M43 in this guide, but we have a separate guide for photographers who want to use vintage glass with a new digital camera.