Lens Confusion of GAS

[MJ224]

[Otto]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

A wider aperture gives a narrower depth of field which might be useful in some situations. The 12-50mm is a pretty good lens, but once it's been through DxO Optics Pro I can see very little difference between it and the ZD 12-60mm. As a result I rarely use the latter because of the size and weight.

I was walking on Cadair Idris on Sunday and met a guy coming the other way who remarked on the size of my E-M5 mkI, seeming genuinely surprised. He said he uses a point-and-shoot when out hiking because his Canon was just too big and heavy!

[MJ224]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

What is the difference between an ED and a PRO lens??

Mj

[MJ224]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

I was walking on Cadair Idris on Sunday and met a guy coming the other way who remarked on the size of my E-M5 mkI, seeming genuinely surprised. He said he uses a point-and-shoot when out hiking because his Canon was just too big and heavy!

Yes when photoing the Caspian Tern last week, another togger and I compared weights of my Oly em1/2 with the pany 100-400 lens, and his Canon with a 300mm lens. The weight difference was truly staggering..........

[wornish]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

What is the difference between an ED and a PRO lens??

Mj

Useful site here.

http://lensvslens.com/lens_make/olympus/


Major differences are build quality, speed of focussing and waterproofing

[PeterBirder]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

What is the difference between an ED and a PRO lens??

Mj

ED is a technical term and stands for Extra low Dispersion. ED glass is a particular type of glass which gives very low colour distortion. Dispersion is the characteristic of any glass which causes different wavelengths of light to be refracted by different amounts a, bit like the way a prism splits light according to its wavelength but in a much more sublte way. An ED Lens has one or more elements in it which are made of ED glass.

PRO is an Olympus marketing term for their highest quality lenses. A PRO lens will more than likely contain ED glass elements but will also have other higher quality features both optically and mechanically. By calling a range of lenses PRO Olympus are implying that these are of a quality that PROfessional photographers will use.

If you go to the Four Thirds Organisation website lens product pages here http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microf...m_f028_olympus you will see diagrams showing the individual elements of both your 12-50mm lens and the 12-40mm Pro and the different types of glass used for those elements.

Regards.

[OM USer]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

The 12-50mm is a great lens and I used it for a long while. I only switched to the 12-40 F/2.8 PRO because I found there were sitiations where F/3.5 at 12mm and about F/5 at 40mm (I think) were much too slow for handholding when inside and it was dim. I also expected the auto focus to be just that bit snappier with all that light coming through. It some situations it makes a difference but in good light I doubt there is much to choose between the two.

[drmarkf]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

Very wide aperture lenses, especially if on full frame sensors, do give you the option of having a very narrow depth of field.

Yes, it's nice to have that option, and it is good to get subject isolation, but if you read too many other fora on the interwebs you'd think it was impossible to take a worthwhile image at a narrower aperture than f1.4 at 50mm full-frame. This is ridiculous.

As has been pointed out, you can in fact get very narrow depths of field on m4/3 with, say, the 25mm f1.2 and, very economically, with the 45mm f1.8, among others, especially telephotos of almost any max aperture.

In fact, for portraiture this photographers' obsession with millimetre-thin DoF soon gets to look overdone and a cliche, and I know that many ordinary people (i.e. 'customers') see these resulting un-natural images and ask "So why is this shot out of focus?"

[iso]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

MJ - Very good question. I own all the serious Primes and they are a joy to use. I also have the 'plastic fantastic' 40-150, the 14-42 etc. I have just bought the 14-150. Amazing. Gone having to delve into the bag for another lens at each turn of the corner. OK maybe more difficult results - BUT - actually the real difference in performance today is the ability that sensors have on ISO Rating. Sure you could push TriX Film to about 3200, but the results looked like they were taken in a snow storm!
I love Prime Glass, but got a feeling that over time sensor sensitivity will take over. (Wasn't there a thing recently on Mirrorless Rumours about a lens less camera)?
Any way it's all about horses for courses.

[MJ224]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

Thanks all for comments and advice.

I am hiring the 12-40 for a fortnight so will determine whether to add this lens to my armoury. There are certainly circumstances when a stop or two extra will be useful, whether 5-600 squids will justify that I hope to find out.

The comparison site of lens's was very useful, many thanks Wornish, and it confirms my 12-50mm jobbie is up to the mark in most circumstances.
Really this was the whole point of the thread, to see how much a lens will make a difference. And ones own ability (thanks Johnheatingman :-))to make the most of what one can afford and can carry.............

MJ

[AMc]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

Something worth considering is which focal lengths you use most, you can check this looking at your previous work.
If you find you are mostly at one end or the other or bang in the middle then a prime might be of interest to supplement your zoom.
I get a lot of use from my Olympus 17mm f2.8 and Panasonic 25mm F1.7 and to a lesser extent the Olympus 45mm f1.8. I usually do minor rotation to level the horizon and crop so perfect framing in camera isn't that much of an issue to me.

I keep looking at the 12-40mm PRO but the size on my E-M10 and the price put me off.

[felixkh]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

The 12-40 PRO lens is in a league of its own. I had the 12-50 for less than a month and sold it to get the 12-40. Being able to shoot at F2.8 is so much better with nice DOF too.

[RobEW]

Re: Lens Confusion of GAS

In fact, for portraiture this photographers' obsession with millimetre-thin DoF soon gets to look overdone and a cliche, and I know that many ordinary people (i.e. 'customers') see these resulting un-natural images and ask "So why is this shot out of focus?"

I do agree that fashions in photography tend to differ and there seem to be some "echo chambers" in the photographic world where people approve each others' work for slightly eccentric criteria, somewhat oblivious to whether an image has wider appeal.

(Maybe this deserves separate thread ...)