Olympus 45mm v. Olympus 75mm

ArthurG1987 wrote:

Hey there kind dpreview.com forum folk!

I'm in a bit of a situation. granted, nice situation, but a situation nonetheless.

I'm torn between getting the olympus 45mm f/1.8 and the olympus 75mm f/1.8. Yes, the 75mm has its seductive claws in me. That front element and the all-metal construction are sexy as hell. But My main concern is the focal length: specifically, does an effective focal length of 150mm excessively flatten someone's face as compared to a 90mm effective focal length?

I'm especially interested in feedback from people who have experience with both focal lengths, or preferrably, both oly lenses.

Thanks, and keep it real.

It is camera to subject distance and not focal length that determines the perspective (compression in this case) If you shot a portrait from the same distance with both these lenses the compression/perspective would be exactly the same. The 75 would give you a tight head shot where the 45 would give a head & shoulders framing. Move back to achieve the same framing with the 75 and you get a little more compression but not enough to be a problem IMO.

These are both nice lenses. The features that you describe as sexy are not core photographic features so for me are less important. They both have excellent optical qualities. I own the 45 and find it useful for portraits and as a general purpose lens. Its build quality is good enough to not be a concern to me. I think it was excellent value for money (as long as you get a third party hood and not the Olympus one). The 75 would be good for tight head shots and if you have room for general portraiture. I am sure that it would be useful for other applications too but not owning a prime of that focal length I have not confirmed that in practice. I will probably get one some day.

Regards

John