Thinking of something narrower: Panasonic 42.5 F/1.7, Olympus 45mm F/1.8 or Sigma 30mm F/2.8

Hithertoo wrote:

Jacques Cornell wrote:

Hithertoo wrote:

I'm thinking about getting a narrower prime, for closer crop photos. I have the Olympus 12mm F/2 and Panasonic 20mm F/1.7. 30mm is a little different to 20mm and will give me 60mm instead of 40mm, the other options are the 42.5mm and 45mm which are just about the same at around 85 to 90mm, or there abouts. The Sigma is the cheapest option.

The mixing of actual focal lengths...

I've discounted the Olympus 60mm and 75mm options as they're really too long for indoor use, I've tested it out with my 14-42 at 30mm and 40-150 at 45mm, I can't really decide.

...with 35mm sensor effective focal lengths...

I've got a slightly obscure normal lens at 40mm so I could go with a 60mm or an 85mm or 90mm option.

...is making my brain hurt.

I really can't decide, the Sigma option is very cheap, and I like a slightly wider lens, but it just might not do it for me.

Question: As you already have zooms covering these focal lengths, are you looking at primes for a) better image quality, b) more light gathering, or c) both?

While I have zooms that cover that distance, and the 14-42 is OK while the 40-150 is passable. I have primes for a number of reasons including:

• More depth of field control.
• Better image quality.
• More light gather

I do a lot of available light photography or if I use a flash I tend to use flash only for a little bit of fill in certain situations usually +1 or +2 exposure compensation.

With regard to the 30mm in specific, I'm just looking at it on the basis of its low cost and that it is enough of a gap between my 20mm lens and it, I may discount it yet if people can't sell me a good reason why I should be looking at it and not something else. I do think 30mm may compliment my 20mm lens.

With regard to the Panasonic lens, I may yet upgrade to the GX8 in the near future also, so some Panasonic lenses may well be in order to take advantage of its dual IBIS system. I am leaning towards the Olympus 45mm but I'm not 100% sold on that either.

I see. Since the Sigma is only one stop brighter than the kit zoom, it'd be worth doing a careful comparison of the IQ to see if the Sigma really offers something you don't already have. I'm afraid I can't offer any solid info on that score. Like you, I shoot a lot in low light, and for that I'd give preference to the faster primes, like Oly's 45/1.8 or Panny's 42.5/1.7. Then again, I already have f2.8 zooms, so f2.8 primes don't excite me. I think the 20 & 45 make a brilliant pair - bright and sharp - and I don't really need anything in between. The Sigma 60mm seems to be a good affordable portrait prime if you don't need shallow DoF - good focal length for a tight headshot, and reportedly very sharp.

Which version of the 14-42 kit zoom do you have? The new one is reported to be much better than the old one.