Olympus 45mm vs Olympus 60mm macro for food photography

innatelychatty wrote:

I really appreciate the photos, it really helps put everything into perspective!

How far away was the camera from the pie (and your adorable cat) when you were using the 60mm macro lens? do you think the lens is usable when taking photos of dishes in restaurants, or will the photo be too cropped? And how well does the lens function in low-light (say not well-lit restaurants)?

Also, how is the 60mm macro lens when it comes to portrait photography? obviously with the longer focal length it'll get a bit awkward in interior spaces, but I also read that the bokeh is more pleasing with the 45mm.

When it comes down to it though, I'm definitely more interested in food than portrait photography.

I was seated with the camera above me at an arm's length for the first shot. I definitely could have backed away without having to stand on a chair or anything like that, but 60mm is definitely for one plate at a time pictures. You can use the 17mm for taking pictures of overall plates of food and some close ups, and then as you want to really get into the details, the 60mm comes in.

I think the 60mm f/2.8 is a good portrait lens. It has wider depth of field but thanks to 60mm being longer than 45mm, that helps blur the backgrounds more than the 45mm would at f/2.8 for a similar framing, so that cancels out the aperture advantage somewhat. That said, the 45mm is wonderful to shoot at wide open. I think the 60mm f/2.8 also has good bokeh. I read someone on this forum say they prefer that lens's bokeh to the 45mm f/1.8. I think both have good bokeh, but not quite the best in the world.