New Lens Purchase

[Troy Davis]

I just (finally) purchased the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8 Lens.
I've heard great things about it and can't wait to try it out. I guess my next is
the lumix 20mm f1.7 pancake.

[Bruce Foreman]

Both are outstanding lenses. You should enjoy using them.

[Joe Piechura]

I've got both. They're both pretty good. Apparently the auto focus on the Panasonic is crap, but I never use it so it doesn't affect me. Both are fantastic in low light though.

[Jeff Harper]

Joe, do you mean the continuous auto focus? The auto focus when used with Olympus/Panasonic lenses is almost instant and very accurate, particularly with the 25mm F/1.4, 20mm F/2.0 and the 45mm F/1.8. It's not bad with the 20mm also, although a bit slower than the others I listed.

[Joe Piechura]

Yeah, I've seen a video on Youtube of the 20mm pancake autofocusing and it was slow and noisy, which isn't ideal for video.

[Troy Davis]

I used the lens this past weekend at a wedding that was dimly lit and the lens performed brilliantly.
It basically create light with little to no noise. Now I need to get the 20mm pancake to complete the set.
Anyone know if I need a filter for the 45mm for outdoor use?

[Bruce Foreman]

ND filters for outside are a good idea. I would avoid the Fader ND or variable ND type as I'm seeing a disturbing number of reports of internal reflections when these are used. In my experience the Panasonic and Zuiko lenses are more sensitive to this than my Canon EOS lenses were.

Where I used to routinely use a high quality multilayer coated UV filter as lens protection on Canon and Nikon optics, I had to take them off my M4/3rds lenses due to internal reflections. And with the variable or fader ND's you have TWO panes of glass with a total of FOUR reflective surfaces compounding the problem.

My choice is 52mm ND .6, ND.9 and ND 1.2 (2 stop reduction, 3 stops, and 4 stops respectively). 52mm fits my 14-42 "kit" lens and the Lumix 45-200mm directly and with 46-52mm step up rings they fit my Lumix 14mm f2.5, Lumix 20mm f1.7, and Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4. For the Zuiko 45mm f1.8 (which has 37mm thread) I use a 37-52mm stepup ring.

Without ND filters outdoors in daylight you find yourself at minimum aperture and higher shutter speeds than you want. The minimum aperture causes pretty deep zone of focus (when you may not want it) plus the diffraction effect that comes with the smallest apertures. This effect can cause an overall "soft" look to the image as the image forming light rays begin to "diffuse" a bit instead of remaining "intact" in straight lines of travel.

[Joe Piechura]

I bought one of

these.

 

these.

Little awkward to use with a lens hood on, but you get a lot of flaring otherwise. I do like it though.

Also, a little bit off topic, but does anyone have any tips for separating filters/step up rings from each other? I find it's quite hard to get a firm grim on them because they're so narrow.

[Bruce Foreman]

Two pieces of that "waffled" rubber like foam sheet often used to remove tight jar lids. One piece in each palm, then press against both sides of the "stuck" pair and twist. Avoid using much pressure but they often come apart easily.

[Alan Halfhill]

The Oly 45mm is a great lens. It is my go to lens for interviews. Great out of focus backgrounds.

[Thomas Smet]

Don't personally have the 45mm but I do use a 50mm f1.8 Canon FD a lot for the exact same reason. Great for interviews. Have not purchased the 45mm yet due to cost considering Canon EF and Nikon 50mm f1.8 lenses are so much cheaper. I think it is sad that one of the cheapest focal length prime lenses to make in the world in terms of optics costs so much on m4/3. I will keep using my 50mm since it looks so good and cost me $50.00. I only ever shoot interviews on a tripod and can carefully set focus so it works for me right now. Would love to get a m4/3 50mm however at a better price point someday to get rid of the vintage softness when I want to match the crisper look of my other lenses.

[Jeff Harper]

Yes Thomas, I too used a Canon 50mm FD lens, but I hated mine, along with every other FD lens I owned. It was so hard to match. I also disliked the heaviness and the use of adapters. The lenses took up so much room in my case and made my cameras front heavy, especially with lights and shotguns on top. I now have only three prime m4/3 lenses that take up about the same amount of room in my case as my old 85mm F/1.2, and they weigh less. Plus, theylook so much better on the cams. The convenience of auto focus is very nice as well.

[Patrick Janka]

The biggest advantage of FD over Lumix glass is the manual focusing system. The focus by wire of the Lumix is awful. There are no hard focus stops, the wheel just keeps spinning so it's near impossible to gauge the amount of travel needed to lock focus.

[Thomas Smet]

FD lenses don't really bother me that much. It is the fact that it is almost impossible to get a fast FD lens wider then 24mm that is the problem which means mismatched looks.

I would buy a m4/3 50mm in a heartbeat if they were priced realistically where they should be like the brand spanking new Canon EF lenses which are around $125.00 for a 50mm f1.8. A m4/3 50mm should cost much less then the 20mm f1.7 because they should be cheaper to make. If Canon and Nikon can make 50mm f1.8 in newer mounts for less then $200.00 why can't Panasonic and Olympus?

[Thomas Smet]

I may actually consider getting the 45mm now that I know nobody else will be making an alternative anytime soon. Still like the FD but I would like it more if I had other FD lenses to match in the wide range.

Other then stabilization does every other electronic function work with Olympus lenses. I know autofocus does but what about everything else? Really wish Olympus and Panasonic could use the same stabilization method.

Knowing how virtually impossible it is to stabilize my 50mm FD I assume the same is true for the 45mm?