Lens recommendations for primary video usage with stills secondary.

[James Palanza]

Obviously I'm not trying to completely wreck shooting photos, but I will be using the beast mostly for video footage. Right now I was looking at the Olympus 45 1.8 and the Olympus 14-54mm lenses being talked about on here. Trying to stick to things under 500, that 14-54 is really stretching the old budget. Maybe going to look at used to save a buck.

Am I missing any others? Since it would be used sometimes in weddings I would really like the option for emergency auto focus :)

Advice anyone? Thanks :D

[Jeff Harper]

The 14-54 is said to be an outstanding lens, and I wish I had one. I have the very similar 12-60mm Olympus, and it is the best overall lens I have for outdoor work, I am crazy about the lens. I do not really even need it any more, but will not sell it, I love the damned thing.

You will find these lenses are a bit slow for weddings, but the 14-54 I'm sure you could get by with pretty well most of the time. My 12-60 is slower than the 14-54 when zoomed, and that is why I would like the 14-54 for wedding work better, I'm sure.

If you need a zoom you cannot do better than the 14-54, unless you move up to the VERY expensive F/2.0 zooms. The auto focus works great on my lens, it's just outstanding. Worth every penney.

I always buy used when possible. New is no better than used, as long as the lens is in good shape.

[Jeff Harper]

I have 45mm F/1.8, and yes it's a great lens, but I want to point out it's use is going to be limited much of the time. You cannot use it handheld, it's too long for that. For starting out your lens kit, I would pass on the 45mm if it were me in your shoes.

The single best lens, just my opinion, for wedding work is the 20mm F/1.7. You can capture excellent low light images, and for wedding work it's exactly what you need. I said in another thread I would feel comfortable shooting an entire wedding with the 20mm and nothing else if I had to do so.

[Dan Carter]

Originally Posted by James Palanza

Obviously I'm not trying to completely wreck shooting photos, but I will be using the beast mostly for video footage. Right now I was looking at the Olympus 45 1.8 and the Olympus 14-54mm lenses being talked about on here. Trying to stick to things under 500, that 14-54 is really stretching the old budget. Maybe going to look at used to save a buck.

Am I missing any others? Since it would be used sometimes in weddings I would really like the option for emergency auto focus :)

Advice anyone? Thanks :D

Here are some interesting reviews of Lumix lenses by Barry Green:

My take on the Lumix lenses I've bought for the AF100 and GH2

Two that work well for me are the Lumix f2.5 14mm, and Lumix 14-140mm. However, I expect the new Lumix G X 14-42 power zoom will be a new favorite.

Something to consider: The GH2 has the power to perform lens corrections for distortion and chromatic aberation internally, but only with Lumix lenses.

[Jeff Harper]

Good link Dan.

James, Dan Carter produces some of the finest GH2 videos I've ever seen. But do keep in mind the that lenses such as the 14-140 are normally not satisfactory for wedding work. For outdoor work, it's a wonderful lens. Indoor, still great if you have sufficient light. But those that have tried it for weddings invariably give up on it almost immediately. I sold mine a week after shooting in a fairly well lit venue, it just didn't cut it for me.

The Olympus 14-54mm F/2.8-3.5 is significantly faster, and even it is only marginally fast enough much of the time unless wide open, and even then, F/2.8 just squeaks by in a dark church. And for the Olympus I should make sure we are both talking about the F/2.8-3.5. I think it comes in a slower version, and that version would be useless for weddings.

[James Palanza]

Thanks everyone, that was a very helpful group of replies. I think I'll be aiming to get both the lumix 20mm and the olympus 14-54 eventually. I hope others find this thread helpful.