 Julianna J. Collett |
Help choosing a lens I have an Oly E-510 and have been saving for a lens now that I have the money I can't decide. I am debating between a oly 12-60 F2.8-4.4 or a oly 50 -200 2.8-3.5 I like to do portrait and still life mostly. I have not been doing many portraits now because I like to do I your face shots without actually being in thier face!My concern is that the 1st len will be a little too short and the 2nd start too long. In my film days I had a 28-210 I loved -I don`t want to be changing lenses all the time . HELP!!!
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Peter K. Burian |
Julianna: The 50-200mm lens is a 100mm to 400mm equivalent on an Olympus camera. That's ok for portraits, at the short end, but this is really more of a lens for action photography. The 12-60mm is a 24-120mm equivalent, on Olympus cameras. It's smaller and would be a better choice for your purposes. Peter www.peterkburian.com
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Julianna J. Collett |
Thanks Peter , others I have talked to say the 12-60 is too much of a wide angle at the short end and will give distortion to portraits. Still brewing!
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Peter K. Burian |
Julianna: No zoom lens is perfect for portraits at every focal length. Agreed: I would not use the 12-60mm lens at 12mm to 35mm for portraits. But at the 40mm to 60mm focal lengths (80 to 120mm equivalent) it would be perfect for portraits. And this is a very good lens! Peter www.peterkburian.com
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Julianna J. Collett |
Thanks for your info Peter I appreciate it.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Julianna, As you know, the Olympus E-510 is normally sold with a kit lens 14mm ~ 42mm. Why do you think Olympus picked this focal length range? The answer is, the center of this range is the “normal” focal length for this camera. “Normal” means the camera yields a perspective that closely matches the human experience. This is realized when the lens selected is approximately equal to the diagonal measure of the format. OK you can blow off this proclamation however this is a truism. Consider the venerable 35mm full frame, it measures 36mm horizontal by 24mm vertical. We calculate the diagonal measure to be 43.26mm. Mounting a 43mm lens or thereabout provides the proper perspective however it became traditional to mount a 50mm and avoid having to procure a weird focal length lens. This dispels the notion that an exact match is a requirement. Now the Olympus E-510 sports a sensor that measures 17.3mm horizontal by 13mm vertical. The diagonal of this rectangle works out to 21.64mm. Note this value is about the center of the range of the kit lens. Now a lens 70% of normal or shorter is classified as wide-angle. So 21.6 x .70 = 15. Thus; wide-angle for this model is any lens 15mm or shorter. Now telephoto is 200% of normal or longer. For this model that’s 21.64 x 2 = 43mm or longer. Now for a key bit of information: A portrait lens is one that duplicates the perspective as seen by the subject in the make-up or shaving mirror. This is also a truism. Translated – You will win praise and satisfy if you follow this advice. The focal length that fills the bill is one that is 2.5 times “normal” or a little longer. Hollywood uses 3x “normal” when doing close-ups. So for the Olympus E-510 that’s 21.54 x 2.5 = 54mm. Thus mounting a 50mm is the accepted focal length for a portrait lens. Longer to say 65mm won’t hurt a bit. Sidebar – on the 35mm full frame the portrait lens of choice is 105mm that’s 43mm x 2.5. Maybe this gobbledygook will help someone! Alan Marcus
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Julianna J. Collett |
Wow thanks for all that info, I think I will have to read that over a few times for it to sink in.I like narrow DOF shots and for that reason had been leaning towards the 50-200mm 2.8-3.5. I am a stay at home Mom with a limited toy budget for myself so I want to make sure my choice is one that will work for a while as there are other things on my wish list( photoshop etc.) before a 3rd lens is an option. I think both these lenses are great glass and I'm probably worrying too much!
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