Olympus 45mm v. Olympus 75mm

How did you manage to end up 6th with that picture? I've been chuckling since I saw it.

slainte wrote:

75mm wide open, no flattening to me...

Looking at my Lightroom stats I found I'm using the 75mm far more than 40% on my weddings (full day coverages). Other lenses are the 25mm/12mm/45mm/7.5mm (in that order).

By now I've shot 8k pics with that lens.
Lovin it!

Cheers
Dirk

no flattening at all!!!

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

I have pretty much ended my wedding work (although I did a small one a couple weeks ago), and now focus mostly on corporate event work and portraiture.

I too have completely transitioned to E-M5's, and could not be more please with my results -- although I have gone the Pany zoom route with the 12-35mm and 35-100mm. I actually shot a corporate, three-day invitational tennis tournament a couple weeks back using those lenses, along with my Oly 75-300mm and got amazingly good reults -- my client was very pleased.

One suggestion I might make regarding the macro is to consider the Oly  ZD 35mm macro. It is light, relatively small, inexpensive (of course you have to add the MMF-3 adapter), but it really works well on my E-M5. Below is a sample rose shot I did a few days back using that lens -- it would be great for ring shots -- and can be gotten for peanuts.

Thanks again -- I have shared your website with a fellow professional friend who is pretty amazed with my E-M5.

God Bless,

Greg

www.imagismphotos.com

www.mccroskery.zenfolio.com

www.pbase.com/daddyo

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.

I can't see how flatteNing of someone's face is never an issue with any lens. I think you heard about a lens that flatteRed someone's face and confused the terms. If you have a lens that is too wide angle, you definitely don't flatter anyone's face as what is closer to the lens will be distorted. Longer lenses are fine. The flattering often referred to is usually applied to lenses with a shallow depth of field which softens facial features apart from the eyes, which is where you want to place your focus point.