Sharpness is not its strong point especially at the fastest apertures. Why choose the Olympus M.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 for portraits: Check price of the Olympus M.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 on: The Sigma 60mm may not have a very fast maximum aperture but it is still a good option if you mostly care about portability and price. at a range of micro four third lenses to show that you can get just as good blur and bokeh as on bigger frame DSLRs…. © 2018 Chase Jarvis. The bokeh can be pleasant against the right background and at the right distance, with rounded bokeh balls at the centre and slightly more oval shapes at the borders. The aperture ring is de-clicked which is useful for video but less so for stills, especially in this case because the markings on the aperture ring are crammed together, making it difficult to select the right value. The 25mm f/1.2 PRO dethrones the venerable Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 from 2015 and earlier. It has a constant 2.8 aperture which is sufficient for environmental portraits between 25mm and 30mm or upper body portraits if you zoom the lens right out to 40mm. It retails for $899. It has a smooth mechanical focus ring but the aperture ring on the old sample we tested moved about a bit too freely, causing the value to change without warning. Also, I know there are super duper zooms out there that can produce great blur, but I just don’t know which ones as I haven’t used them, so sorry I can’t help you on that! Yes. Short telephoto lenses tend to be most versatile of the three because you can use them for all kinds of portraits from tighter shots of the head and shoulders to full-body shots, both inside the studio and outside. Or a legacy 50mm 1.4, which will be like a 100mm f2.8 on 35mm, which has shallow DOF. Stop down to f/2 and that special look is replaced by a more uniform background and bokeh circles that the take the form of the 10 blade aperture. You can also play more with depth of field and compression thanks to the longest focal lengths. The bokeh balls have thicker edges but they are round and uniform across the frame, even when the lens is stopped down to f/2.8. Olympus has delivered many winners in its professional lens category and the M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.2 PRO is a striking example. When I first wrote this guide, there weren’t a whole lot of other “best Micro 4/3 lens guides” out there. The f/4 aperture doesn’t provide the greatest depth of field, but for travel purposes, it more than fits the bill. We were not asked to write anything about these products, nor were we provided any compensation of any kind. Thanks for the good analysis of different lenses. Unless I'm wrong, of course. Those weaknesses are largely improved upon by the new Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18mm f/2.8-4 ASPH. I have the 45mm, and I've struggled with the impulse to buy a 25mm. Maybe not worth the $400 price tag, but still, pretty cool. Flare resistance is good, chromatic aberration is well-controlled and vignetting only appears at the fastest apertures. Our newsletter goes out every week on Sunday. Me, Myself and I – Francois Brunelle and his Doppelgänger Project [Find Your Look Alike], More Than Just Photos of Hot Women In Men’s Underwear [by Craig McDean], LENSTOPIA Part IV — The Top 5 Lenses for Your Micro Four Thirds Camera (+ a few others), I jumped on the small camera tip for those uses, mirrorless kit to the 19,200ft summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, How To Get UN-STUCK From Anything in Life That’s Got You Down [with Lewis Howes], Your Mind Can Transform Your Life with Tom Bilyeu. As a friend of mine has pointed out, the 17mm f/1.2 PRO is part of a greater PRO prime lens lineup, ensuring compatibility other lens manufacturers can’t match. It’s a fairly opinionated guide and is too expensive for many to outright afford. Why choose the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.2 PRO for portraits: Check price of the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.2 PRO on: Before the M.Zuiko 45mm arrived on the scene, there was the equally wonderful Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 whose equivalent focal length is bang on the 85mm mark. Main competition for the new 150-400mm f/4.5: Adapters, Olympus 40-150mm 4.0-5.06R – Suddenly faulty. Why choose the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro for portraits: Check price of the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro on: Another popular focal length for portrait photography is the standard 50mm (35mm format), which in Micro Four Thirds terms equals 25mm because of the smaller sensor format. The truth about the focus stacking feature of the EM-1 ii, Geotagging with Olympus – tutorial with screenshots, An Investigation of E-M1 Focus Bracketing, killer combo: MC-20+Pixco16mm tube+60mm OLY Macro+Raynox505, Using the MC-14 Teleconverter on the Olympus 60mm macro lens, Olympus Color Science in general and then the Pen-F, 300mm F/4.0 focus performance - a review based on my user experience, M43 flexibility for Macro photography with Oly 60mm F2.8, extension tubes, raynox M-250 and MC-20 TC, Some random tips and thoughts on focus stacking, Pen F owners (I developed a Fuji Velvia 50 profile you can try). With it’s relatively small size, I find it hard to believe Panasonic or Voigtlander could come up with a more capable lens. One thing that struck me as soon as I began using the lens is just how sharp it is, even when used wide open. Thanks to the 1.2 aperture, you get smooth transitions and can achieve good subject separate with the right background. It does have the advantage of being lighter and more compact but that is due to the plastic construction, which isn’t as robust as that of the PRO lenses. Throw in adapters and suddenly, that pool more than doubles in size as you can add on Canon and Nikon lenses to the mix as well. It’s been a long while since I updated this guide in 2015. It’s also pretty lightweight, despite the addition of image stabilization. Why choose the Panasonic Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 for portraits: Check price of the Panasonic Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 on: If you don’t mind manual focus lenses, the Voigtländer 42.5mm 0.95 may be just the thing you’re looking for. It was a brand new lens at the time and used to cost an arm and a leg to own. f:1.0 looks way cool, but it's only one of two effects of a Speedbooster. The optical performance at f/1.2 isn’t all that impressive due to its soft rendering. How have you found your micro 4/3? Just like the Voigtlander 42.5mm, this is not a lens you buy for sharpness (which does get better at f/2 by the way).