#62 in Digital camera lenses
Use arrows to jump to the previous/next product
Reddit mentions of Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm F1.8 Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras (Black)
Sentiment score: 6
Reddit mentions: 7
We found 7 Reddit mentions of Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm F1.8 Lens, for Micro Four Thirds Cameras (Black). Here are the top ones.
or
- Ultra compact wide angle lens
- Macro focus range: 0.25 meter, focal Length: 17 millimeter
- 34 millimeter equivalent field of view captures large groups or landscapes
- Premium metallic construction, snap focus manual focus ring
- Fast f/1.8 aperture, great for low light shooting, special all metal lens hood and cap optionally available
Features:
Specs:
| Color | Black |
| Height | 2.28346 Inches |
| Length | 1.41732 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | September 2013 |
| Weight | 0.2645547144 Pounds |
| Width | 2.28346 Inches |
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!
Good question. The answer depends on how light you want to go.
While the GH4's adaptability is certainly a plus, one of the built-in benefits from the start is that lenses for mirrorless cameras like the GH4 can be much smaller and lighter.
For example, you could carry Olympus' 12-40mm f/2.8, 17mm f/1.8, & 45mm f/1.8 lenses and it would still weigh less than the 16-35mm f/2.8 (618g vs 635g). It's not an apples to apples comparison (the 12-40mm is equivalent to a 16-52mm on your C100's Super 35 sensor), but hopefully you get the idea– MFT lenses are small.
You can carry a bunch of MFT lenses in a bag and your shoulder won't be aching at the end of the day.
Or you can go super minimal with just a couple lenses and go relatively unnoticed compared to lugging a set of full-size lenses around.
As for shooting stills, most native lenses will give you AF, which will allow you to shoot from the hip or fire off a quick shot with a good chance that it will be in focus.
On the other hand, if you're cool with manual focusing, the GH4's focus peaking will help you nail focus faster when manually focusing your Canon glass.
Hi /u/ArcadiumStadium - There are several auto and manual choices, none of which require an adapter.
If you want an auto lens, the [$348 Panasonic 20mm f1.7] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJS830Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DJS830Y&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) and the [$499 Olympus 17mm f1.8] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CI3R4VU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CI3R4VU&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) meet all of your criteria and are probably your best bets.
If you want a manual cine lens with follow focus gears and stepless aperture, you might be interested in the [$499 SLR Magic 17mm T1.6] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNJAMKE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HNJAMKE&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) or the [$599 SLR Magic 12mm T1.6] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QFRLKU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006QFRLKU&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20).
The best manual lens in this category is not a "cine lens", but it is an amazing piece of glass nonetheless - the [$1150 Voigtlander Nokton 17mm f0.95] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VHDUN4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007VHDUN4&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20).
Here is what this lens looks like on the G6: http://vimeo.com/72585046
Hope this is helpful!
Bill
Fyi, KEH has a like-new for cheaper, and that's only a slight discount over Amazon's (shipping included for Prime) price.
Well, with this endless budget of yours. I'm going to go all out if you don't mind.
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