Macro 30mm f/2.8 or 42.5mm f/1.7

Purchased a G7 a few days ago and I am already looking for a lense, mostly for shooting videos. Of course I will also shoot pictures with it. Since I shoot video at low light environments, I thought an upgrade to a lense with low aperture would make my videos a bit brighter. The videos are portrait videos, of people reviewing stuff, etc.

An example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWrtE9m6o8c

At first, I thought about the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 but it does not have OIS which I think is a must have, because I wont have a tripod with me all the time.

So, I am between the Panasonic Lumix G Macro 30mm f/2.8 and the Lumix G 42.5mm F1.7

What troubles me, is that with the macro lense, I will also have macro capabilities. I do not do macro photography, but I don't think it's bad to have a lense that is able to do that. But will it be good for videos?

Thanks!

None of the lenses you mention have an OIS switch.  The choice is yours.  I own the 25 1.7 but have read good things about the 42.5 1.7.

No it's not a bad thing.  Olympus cameras IBIS overrides it unless the IBIS is turned off.  The three lenses mentioned are very good.  I own the 12-32, 35-100 F4 and the 25 F1.7 and use them all.

Michael M Fliegel wrote:

None of the lenses you mention have an OIS switch. The choice is yours. I own the 25 1.7 but have read good things about the 42.5 1.7.

Not quite, the PL 42.5mm Does have OIS and a switch to select it in the lens, as does the PL 45mm micro lens.
Cheers

I would say 30mm/2,8 is so to say nothing special for all it can do. For macro it si quite short FL - 60mm is much better IMHO, as for 30mm for general shooting is... sorta nonsense especially with 2,8 AV.

42,5 is non macro but can focus down to 0,3m which enables very nice closeups. 42,5 mm FL is good for portraits and more discreet street shooting. And 1,7 AV is very nice especially with excellent sharpness across the frame even W/O. Coupled with some sort of tubes for macro you can easily get what you want

YMMV though

I have a G6 and a EM10. I also have the 60mm Oly macro and have used a friend's Pana 42.5. Of the two lenses I like the 42.5 better. It is stabilized on both cameras, unlike the 60mm. I find the 60mm much harder to work with, esp concerning fast focussing, limiter use or otherwise. The 42.5 is consistently fast so good for portrait and street use. It focusses quite close too, so except for really careful close-up work, it is the preferred lens. Much more versatile esp for the G7.

The Pana 30mm is like my Nikon 40 micro, just too much of a compromise for its rather general purpose character. A 25mm Pana or Oly would be better for that given the better base f-stop.

I bought the EM10 from a friend who moved up to the 5m2, specifically for me because it has in body IS. It works for both my Pan and Oly lenses. But if you are solely using a Panasonic camera, you should stick to IS lenses, when available, in my opinion. I am ordering a 42.5 myself.