Olympus lens recommendations

baby and crumble

hey all,

Ok, so I've switched from Canon to Olympus (and I love it!!) but tbh photography has taken a backseat pretty much since I bought the new camera (E510) back in April. I have the 14-42mm and the 40-150mm, and both are cracking lenses. I'm still trying to figure out lenses and all that for the new system.

I've tried googling, so I know a bit, but wanted recommendations from anyone here who shoots olympus. What's the equivalent of the 50mm lens for olympus? I think it's the 25mm pancake, has anyone here got one, and what are they like to shoot with? I was lucky enough (thanks to Animal Rights!) to have a go with a 1.4 50mm Canon before I switched, and even with a very old and clunky camera, the shots were really great, once I got the hang of the lens. I'm looking for something that might give similar results on the oly.

Also, is it worth borrowing from the likes of Conns? My bro is getting married next weekend and they've asked me to take photos at one of the weddings (don't ask). it might be worth it, I'm thinking... Has anyone borrowed from them before?

Cheers guys, and sorry for the slightly dumb questions, my brain just has no space for gear info these days..

Borderfox

You can rent from Conns and if you buy the lens/flash/camera they will take the rental cost off the price. Plenty of nice lenses in the Oly range and I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions, 70-200 f2 sounds nice

nilhg

Zoegh, have a look here for some ideas,

http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/single.html

My understanding is that the "best" lens of the type you are interested in is the Pany 25mm F1.4 but I think that they are quite expensive and not that often available secondhand.

A good alternative is the Sigma 30mm F1.4, I have one myself and while it wouldn't be my most used lens (the 12-60 is fab) in low light it's great.

People often recon that Sigma lenses can suffer from front/back focus issues but mine worked perfectly on all three Oly bodies I've had, ideally I suppose if you could you like to try before you buy if you could.

Mark#1

Olympus Four Thirds lenses are a little limited regarding choice. AFAIK, Micro Four Thirds lenses don't fit, and AFAIK, Sigma are now down to just one Four Thirds lens.

Zuiko are renowned for high quality lenses - the kit lenses (typically the 14-42 + 40-150) are widely acknowledged by consumer websites & magazines as significantly "better" than equivalent kit lenses from Canon & Nikon.

There are three Olympus lens ranges - Standard, Pro, and Top Pro. Check out the price of the Top Pro 90-250mm (f2.8 across the entire zoom range! :eek:)

Even the Standard range all get very positive reviews. The quality of Zuiko lenses was one of the big sell-points when Four-Thirds was being launched.

The 25mm (50mm equivalent, as yo usay) Zuiko pancake from the Standard range is listed as £275 on the Oly UK website.

The 2x factor with Four Thirds is great for those who enjoy telephoto shooting, but possibly a bit limiting for extreme wide shooting.

I love my (wife's) E-410 + 14-42 +40-150. I'm handing that back soon, as I'm getting my own E-620 and same two lenses. On the hunt for a 70-300 too.

Go Oly!

magicbastarder

nilhg wrote: »

A good alternative is the Sigma 30mm F1.4, I have one myself and while it wouldn't be my most used lens (the 12-60 is fab) in low light it's great.

i have one myself; i don't use it anymore as i gave my olympus system to my dad for his birthday last year, and he wasn't interested in the 30mm. never a problem with it. it's for sale.

the fun i had getting that imported; i could have bought online but i got the bit between my teeth when i was told that the importer would not bring it in to the country for me...