# Olympus PEN PL5 lets talk about lenses!



## CloverMom (Jan 14, 2013)

I just purchased an Olympus PEN PL5 with a kit 14-42mm II R + a 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 R Micro ED

I've stated before but I'll remind everyone, I am just a hobby photographer. My work will be published in a nice scrap book for my own personal use or will be framed and hung on the wall in my home. I take pictures of my kids and pets mostly but would like to expand and explore other things. I have an open mind when it comes to photography and I love all the information I can get. I love to learn. With all that being said, lets talk about lenses. 

I already have the two lenses but I'm guessing those are starter lenses which is perfectly fine as I am just starting out  I am probably not going to purchase any lenses anytime in the immediate future but my birthday is coming up along with my anniversary  lenses make perfect gifts right?  So anyway, if you were just starting out and just for fun what would your short term and long term lens goals be?  I know this is a very common question. I appreciate all of your feedback and look forward to hearing from you  

Also, do you all buy used or refurbished lenses or do you prefer new?


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## ann (Jan 14, 2013)

I have been using the OMD EM5 for awhile now and have purchased quite a few lens, which I  believe fit the new Pen. 

Usually I buy new, but have looked on ebay, etc. for the best prices.  You might looked into the 45mm 1.8 or the 75mm 1.8 as well.

If you have any other lens from another camera ; i.e. nikon or canon, you can get an adapter
 which will allow you to use the lens on the body, but at a loss of auto functions.

This is suppose to be a great little camera , have fun.


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## usayit (Jan 14, 2013)

Don't plan.... long term for purchases...

Simply shoot and your needs will be realized in due time.   It is at that point you should ask the question of what to buy next.   What you want to shoot drives your purchases not the other way around.

I generally buy used and refurbished (and not just for photography stuff).  You just have to be an informed consumer.

Micro 4/3 has a lot of choices for lenses both native and adapted.   As you said yourself.... that the two kit lenses are probably good for now.  I bet you are absolutely right.  Knowing myself and what I shoot on a budget, I would seriously look at the Panny 20mm f/1.7.  Fun inexpensive fast prime.


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## CloverMom (Jan 14, 2013)

Thank you both. I have been looking into primes and initially I was going to purchase a 17mm prime when I bought the camera. The main reason with going with the 17mm was for the price. It was the inexpensive choice. I'm still not sure what talked me out of getting it so I'm sure my next lens will be a prime whether it be the 17mm, the 20mm, 45mm, or 50mm..... I guess I need a better understanding on which lenses do what so I know and understand what I need exactly.


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## CloverMom (Jan 14, 2013)

PS This is my first interchangeable lens camera so I don't have any other lenses and like I said don't entirely know the difference between all of them other than the obvious focal length?  I don't have to go with super cheap but as a Mom of four kiddo's I like to get a deal  I don't want to buy a bunch of lenses that I know nothing about and end up not needing them or using them. Maybe that's why I didn't initially buy the 17mm. I don't have an infinite budget but I can afford to buy what I need. My husband asked if I was planning on making money off this hobby because it sure was costing a lot of it. Haha!  In reality I suppose it's all of our dream to make money doing what we love to do but I'm definitely not there yet.  Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever be there and that is perfectly fine with me. I am fine with having a camera that I can enjoy my own work and I can learn as I go. I was looking at camera bodies going for $2,500 on eBay!  Did my mouth water with envy, why yes it did!  Am I smart enough to know that I don't need that?  Yes.  Anyway, thank you again for your help


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## usayit (Jan 14, 2013)

For primes, there are three lenses that IMO bring a lot of value to the table.

Panasonic 14mm f/2.5
Panasonic 20mm f/1.7
Olympus 45mm f/1.8

All of three of those are under $400USD and cheaper if you search for used.  The 20mm is what I suggested simply because it is fairly close to being a normal prime.... a FOV that approximates human vision.   It also offers an max aperture of f/1.7 which comes in handy.   I personally would pass on the Olympus 17mm as there is nothing special about it and has a slower max aperture to the 20mm.   The 14mm gives you a wider angle option and focuses very fast.    The 45mm olympus is highly regarded optically but many might find it a bit too long for general use.   

You won't really know which focal length suites  your needs until you get out and shoot.


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## ann (Jan 14, 2013)

As usayit says, get out and shoot.

Don't over think all this and don't "drink all the koolaid" . Equipment is a good thing but imho, the bottom line , who is holding the camera and what is their thought process.

Practice, practice and practice some more, ignore your husband when he wants to know when you will be going pro  along with the friends and neighbors who admire your camera.

Try to use your camera everyday, even if only for 10 minutes. The more you handle the camera and it's function the better your going to be. 
Pro's can change all the settings on their cameras, walking backwards and not even look at the camera. This is going to take some time  so don't be disappointed when next week your still confused  It is all a learning curve.


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## kundalini (Jan 14, 2013)

I started out with the same two lenses and eventually bought the 45mm f/1.8.  However, I have a suggestion for you before you buy........ rent for a week.  I have rented the Panny 7-14mm, Oly 75mm and the Oly 12-35mm.  I think there was another, but I can't remember right now.  My next lens purchase will probably be the 20mm because I like the focal length (and price) and the the 75mm for the same reason of focal length (price is a bit steep).  The zooms were great, but I'm okay with the kit lens performance of the two I already have.  I used Lensrentals.com, very reliable service.


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## CloverMom (Jan 14, 2013)

ann said:


> As usayit says, get out and shoot.
> 
> Don't over think all this and don't "drink all the koolaid" . Equipment is a good thing but imho, the bottom line , who is holding the camera and what is their thought process.
> 
> ...



Thank you that helps a lot. I do tend to over think things, everything really. I've read so much about focal length, aperture, ISO, exposure, exc that I could probably quote the articles word for word lol. But as for actually understanding any of it..... that's another story. I do think practice, trial and error, and just getting out there and doing it are going to be my best learning tools. I think going pro would be super cool and super fun but that is a thought way far out of reach right now lol. My husband has two race cars that cost waaaay more than I could possibly spend right now on a camera (for what I need anyway) so when he asks if I'm a professional photographer, I ask him if he's a professional race car driver and that shuts him up  

How do I go about renting lenses?  I'm not sure if there is a place around here that does that but I wouldn't know. I'll have to Google it haha!


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## CloverMom (Jan 14, 2013)

kundalini said:


> I started out with the same two lenses and eventually bought the 45mm f/1.8.  However, I have a suggestion for you before you buy........ rent for a week.  I have rented the Panny 7-14mm, Oly 75mm and the Oly 12-35mm.  I think there was another, but I can't remember right now.  My next lens purchase will probably be the 20mm because I like the focal length (and price) and the the 75mm for the same reason of focal length (price is a bit steep).  The zooms were great, but I'm okay with the kit lens performance of the two I already have.  I used Lensrentals.com, very reliable service.



I just re read your post. You use 
lensrentals.com So, you rent it online, they send it to you, you try it out, and then send it back.... Interesting. Kind of like Netflix but with lenses  That's cool and a fantastic idea.


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## kundalini (Jan 14, 2013)

CloverMom said:


> How do I go about renting lenses? I'm not sure if there is a place around here that does that but I wouldn't know. I'll have to Google it haha!


Go to *lensrentals.com*.  The process is pretty self explainitory as long as you have a credit card.  I don't think the rental prices are inhibitive and could actually save you money if you happen to choose the wrong lens to purchase beforehand.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 15, 2013)

I only shoot with primes on my OM-D so far. The zooms are generally variable aperture with a comparitively narrower widest aperture for the lens in my price range. The 35-100 f/2.8 is nice, but I don't have the money to spend on that for a secondary camera. I use the panny 20 f/1.7 and Oly 45 f/1.8. The 12 f/2 and 75 f/1.8 would be future purchases for me. I also have an OM 50 f/1.8 off of an OM10(IIRC) I bought and an adapter to use OM lenses, so I'm going to be picking up some older legacy primes off of e-bay for cheaper. They're manual focus and manual aperture, but this is fine for what I'm using the camera for. I may even get a split prism focusing screen for it down the road.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 15, 2013)

Oh, and Olympus is doing $150 rebates on up to three lenses right now. So buy three lenses and get $450 back.


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## CloverMom (Jan 17, 2013)

I ordered my camera on Sunday and it arrived today!  I read the manual while the battery was charging. I got to play around with it a little bit with basic learning how to put the lenses on and take them off....yeah I'm that new. I wasn't able to really mess with it too much because today is my dads birthday so I had to get ready for his bday dinner. I took the camera to show it off and my son gave it a good exploring. He is probably more capable than I am lol. Anyway, I do have a question and it may be really stupid but I've Googled it and can't find the answer. What is the second ring on the lens and what is it supposed to do?  Not the one that zooms but the other one. I have turned it left, turned it right and can't see it doing anything. Am I doing it wrong or just missing something here?


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## usayit (Jan 18, 2013)

Focusing ring...

Normally the ring doesn't do anything when the camera is set for Autofocus.  You can set it to manual focus and that ring is to control it... it isn't actually physically linked to the optics.   Its actually electronic "fly-by-wire" of sorts.

Enjoy.   Simply put... Get out and shoot, examine your photos, think about improvements, shoot again... repeat.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2013)

And you can set AF+MF so that the camera will auto focus until you move the focusing ring on the lens and then it will manually focus. With this, you can change a setting to that the camera zooms in on the focus point when manually focusing for a very useful tool that will allow you to accurately dial in the focus more so than if you were viewing a non zoomed in image.

Unfortunately, I don't think you can separate the focus from the shutter function like on the OM-D, so you may either be able to AF or MF and not have the AF+MF option. However, this is easy enough to change. If you want to go cheap, you can purchase an adapter and legacy lenses from older OM mounts, Pentax mounts, Minolta mounta, Nikon mounts, Canon mounts, and others. They will only manually focus on your camera, but it gives you a way to purchase some decent cheap lenses. I have a 5 f/1.8 OM lens an adapter. I'd like to find a longer OM prime that I can use for street photography.


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## CloverMom (Jan 18, 2013)

Thank you both. I thought it had something to do with focus but since it wasn't doing anything I figured either I was wrong or it was broke lol. To be honest, when I tried it, I'm not sure what mode the camera was in. I'll go through all the modes and see what happens. My son who is 13 now wants my camera haha!  He goes to high school this fall so I told him if he takes a photography class I may let him have it and I'll get the OMD M5. Idk, he's much more tech smart than I am so I may stick with the pl5 and get him the omd lol. Anyway, now that I have the camera in my hands, I may be asking alot more questions. Thank you for your helpful tips and your kind responses


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## Ron Evers (Jan 18, 2013)

You have from 14mm to 150mm covered with your two zooms.  Try shooting every day for a month with these two lenses & then go back over your shots & record the focal length each was shot at.  You will likely see a trend to a particular focal length with each lens & this is the area to consider for a faster prime lens.  

Every body shoots a bit different, some folk prefer wide angle & others  telephoto lenses; myself I lean towards the longer focal lengths & prefer my Oly 45/1.8 in most cases to the wider Sigma 19/2.8.  Both are very sharp lenses.  I note nobody has mentioned the two native M4/3 Sigma lenses.  For that reason I will post an example from the Sigma 19/2.8:





Now this is a heavy crop from the above image



Not too shabby for a lens you can get for about $200.


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