#36 in Digital camera lenses
Use arrows to jump to the previous/next product
Reddit mentions of Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 25mm F1.8 Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras (Black)
Sentiment score: 10
Reddit mentions: 12
We found 12 Reddit mentions of Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 25mm F1.8 Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras (Black). Here are the top ones.
or
Yields 50mm (35mm equivalent) equivalent field of viewMacro focus range: 0; 24 m, focal length: 25 mmSeven blade circular diaphragmAperture range: f/1; 8 22Micro 4 Thirds mount; Close up shooting performance Up to 25 cm away
Specs:
| Color | Black |
| Height | 2.20472 Inches |
| Length | 1.61417 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | February 2014 |
| Size | none |
| Weight | 0.29982867632 Pounds |
| Width | 2.20472 Inches |
MFT system has some really good lenses. Olympus 17mm f1.8 is nice prime if you like wide standard lenses. It is quite sharp and good general purpose lens. It has this amazing manual snap focus system which is really handy for streetphotography if you prefer pre focusing. 17mm is the one that is always on my camera. There is also Olympus 25mm if you prefer 50mm kino eq. more, but it does not have snap focus system. For these, you might also want to check Panasonic equivalents if they have something you prefer more.
One of the must have lenses for MFT is Olympus 45mm 1.8. It is dirt cheap and quality of it is really good. Especially great for portraits but works on else too. I carry it with me everywhere.
The best MFT lens in terms of image quality, sharpness is Olympus 75mm F1.8. This is insanely sharp. It is great for portraits. 150mm film eq. is quite hefty, but if you appreciate sharpness and technical quality this is absolutely the best one out there.
For general use Zoom Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35 mm F2.8 ASPH is the obvious choice. It is quite pricy, but it has great built quality and image quality. It is also water and dust resistant like your body. Some of my friends only use this lens.
If you want dedicated wildlife lens there is Panasonic Lumix G Vario 100-300mm F/4.0-5.6 OIS Lens. This is pretty much only option if you want long telephoto lens. Olympus has similar lenses, but they suck. This one is good and will do the job.
Edit: If you ever need really compact lens, there is really cheap pancake lenses. Image quality is not great, but if you require discreet lens they are good enough. E-M1 is quite large compared to PEN series for example, so these pancakes might not work as well for E-M1 than Pen. It probably would be just better to use normal sized prime.
The kit lens is good because it can zoom across a wide range of perspectives but bad because it's "slow" in light gathering terms. This means that you'll be less able to get non-blurry shots as the lights get dimmer (sun set, indoors, dinner time lighting, etc).
So my suggestion would be to, assuming you want to take photos at dusk/night, get a fixed focal length prime lens. These lenses are bad because they can't zoom at all and so you have to use your feet to zoom but good because they can shoot in significantly dimmer light.
But which prime lens to get? You can get them at a reasonable price in the zoom levels of: 15mm, 17mm, 20mm, 25mm, and 42.5mm. I'd say the way to go would be to buy the G85 with the kit lens, use it, and see which focal length you take the most photos at or your favorite photos at. Some people suggest taping the zoom lens to be fixed at a focal length of whatever prime lens you might buy and shooting with that for a week or so to see if you can handle being stuck at that range.
A lot of people are also of the opinion that using a prime lens as a beginning photographer will help you get better quicker by limiting the range of things you can do (no more zooming) and forcing you to think more outside the box.
Personally, I like the 15mm range for all around shooting (it's similar to the perspective a phone camera would give you). And I like the 42.5mm for specifically taking portraits, which I do a lot of when hanging out with friends. The Olympus lenses are worth considering if you can save some money by going with them. Theoretically they won't autofocus as quickly, but the difference should be negligible (we're talking milliseconds here).
I'd also suggest looking at used lenses (ebay or Amazon's used marketplace give me the best results). Anything in good to excellent condition that says there's no mold or scratches on the glass will perform fine. You can usually expect to save about 20% of the new price by going used, sometimes more. The majority of my lenses are used and I've never had a single issue.
You might want to look for music videos shot with the G7 and see what lenses were used. Here are a few examples.
For this video:
...the filmmaker used a [$399 Olympus 25mm f1.8] (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-25mm-f1-8-Interchangeable-Lens/dp/B00HWMP0XG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1457176785&sr=1-1&keywords=Olympus+M.Zuiko+Digital+25mm+f%2F1.8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20) and the 14-42 kit lens
For this video:
...the filmmaker used a [$392.33 Olympus 45mm f1.8] (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-M-ZUIKO-Digital-Panasonic-Cameras/dp/B00CI3R53W/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20) and a [$499 Olympus 17mm f1.8] (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-M-Zuiko-Black-Panasonic-Cameras/dp/B00CI3R4VU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20)
For this video:
...the filmmaker used a [$797.99 Panasonic 7-14mm] (http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-7-14mm-Thirds-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0028Y5GKK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20)
Hope this is helpful in giving you an idea of the various "looks" you can produce through the use of different lenses on this camera.
Good luck!
Olympus OMD EM-5, it's slightly older now, which means that it's much cheaper than when it first came out.
It still shoots just as well, and with the money you saved, you can buy a really nice lens for it, like the 25mm f1.8.
My go to lately has been the olympus 25 f1.8 . It's the 'Nifty Fifty' of the m43 world and does well in lo-light/indoor situations. they used to be $399 but have dropped to $299 recently.
Only downside is no image stabelization as Pani does it in lens and Olympus does it in body, but at that focal length it is not usually an issue.
If you are on a budget but want to play around to see what it's like having a prime lens with low f-stop i highly recomend the Fotasy line. I call them toy lenses but they can actually produce some very nice pictures with interesting boke due to it's super low f-stop. I picked up a few of these at different focal lengths and it taught me a lot about my camera. upside, lenses are 20-30 bucks, downside, no auto anything, but they can be great learning tools.
> It's not so much the focusing aspect that has been tricky - it's more been understanding the interplay of settings on the camera vs the settings and focusing on the lens itself. I have ended up with the "flashing setting" on my camera screen, indicating I can't exposure properly at the settings I'm attempting.
You need to effectively learn how your camera works. Try r-photoclass.com, it'll get you up on the basics.
> Anyway, is there a good entry-level lens you'd recommend (maybe one with autofocus to help me minimize the number of new things I'm trying to learn) for establishing that good depth of field?
Depth of field can be influenced by a couple things, f-stop being one of them. A lower number for your f-stop (f1.4, f1.8, etc) will give you more of that blurry background than a higher number will (f5.6, f8, f11). Also, a generally longer focal length will give a more pleasing and less detailed background blur than a shorter focal length will, such as your Rokinon. Even better if you can get both.
Lower-budget: Olympus 25mm f1.8
Higher-budget: Panasonic 25mm f1.4 Summilux
Highest-budget: Olympus 75mm f1.8
Everyone has a favorite focal length (or several). If you're not sure which focal length you feel most comfortable with, then there really isn't a "best". Just grab one and start shooting.
Some notes:
On the GH4, 20mm and wider focal lengths will have noticeable perspective distortion due to the wide angle.
This is fine for landscapes, but not great for people. In fact, the closer you are to your subject, the more pronounced the wide-angle effect will be (i.e. enlarging the appearance of their nose in relation to their face, etc.).
On a 20mm lens, the effect isn't incredibly strong, but it is there and it is noticeable. A 25mm lens is the starting point on MFT where people's features are not noticeably affected by the focal length.
As such, this is where I'd recommend starting your lens search based on the type of things you shoot. Here are some options:
Both of these lenses are in the $300-400 range. They're also both great lenses, but if you're looking for a much more budget-friendly starter lens, then I would recommend the following:
This will get you up and running for under $150 (sometimes way less). FD lenses are great, but you probably don't want to invest in a full set of them because they aren't as future-proof as other lens mounts. Nonetheless, for a starter lens, you get great performance for the price.
Hi guys! Long story short is I'm new to photography and I think I want to get into it with a m4/3 camera. My basic requirements: EVF, interchangeable lenses and reasonably cost effective (I'm looking to spend 400-600 on a body).
I've narrowed it down to the Panasonic Lumix GX7 and the Olympus OM-D E-M10. I've gone back and forth several times. I like the look and feel of the E-M10 better (EVF in the middle of the camera and its aesthetics) but the GX7 is rumored to have better video.
Also I'm flip flopping between the Panasonic 20mm pancake lens and the Olympus 25mm lens for an entry level lens to get started with. High shutter speed on the camera and a nice and wide aperture on the lens seem important for me because I imagine I'll be doing a lot of action shots.
Does anyone have any advice one way or the other or maybe another camera to consider? I'd really like to be able to keep it under $1000 for the body/lens combo.
Hi /u/monsieurrodriguez - there are a few great wide, fast micro 4/3 lenses in this price range:
System lenses:
Manual
Hope this is helpful!
Hi /u/PERSEZ,
The [$399 Oly 25mm f1.8] (http://amzn.to/1w68R1u) is a great walking-around lens. It is less expensive than the [$598 Leica 25mm f1.4] (http://amzn.to/1w7xSLI), but still not cheap.
The [$199 Sigma 19mm f2.8] (http://amzn.to/1yBw67W) is another option. A little wider and slower, shooters are doing good work with it on the GH3, as seen here:
http://vimeo.com/56749236
...and here (HDR effect added in post):
http://vimeo.com/76030718
Again, hope this is helpful!
Bill
To add on to /u/av4rice's good answer, probably the smallest/lightest similar option would be a Panasonic GX85 with a 20mm f/1.7 or 25mm f/1.8.
Someone on this thread once shared the helpful advice, which I'll repeat, to plan with your end goal for lenses in mind. If you plan to eventually buy three prime lenses you might look at the 45mm, the 25mm and the 12mm lenses from Olympus. If you think you'd ultimately only buy two, then consider the 45mm and the 17mm.
I own the 17mm and 45mm and while the 45 is an awesome portrait lens and probably a little sharper overall, I keep the 17mm on my EM5 the majority of the time and it's my default lens. It's a great lens that is wide enough to capture decent landscapes but can still manage a portrait. IF you think you'd eventually get three lenses I'd suggest starting with the 25mm.
EDIT: added the links to Amazon, but you should be able to often find the lenses cheaper on eBay or other used sites