srivastava Posted June 14, 2009 Share #1 Posted June 14, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello there, Hoping to get some good advice from the people in the know. I want to buy a fixed focal length lens for shooting close ups ( mainly portraits) with my Lumix DMC L1. My budget is pretty low, approx £100. The only thing that seems to come in that budget is the Olympus 35mm f3.5 Macro Zuiko Digital Lens. Is that the only choice I have and is it a good lens? Many thanks in advance for your help. Rajat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Hi srivastava, Take a look here Fixed focal length lens for DMC L1 / Digilux 3. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Marquinius Posted June 15, 2009 Share #2 Posted June 15, 2009 Rajat, I had a look at that lens, but with f3.5 it is not really what I'd use for portraits. In fact it is just the same as the "kit lens" that came with the camera, when you zoom it to 35mm equivalent. Why not wait a little longer, expand your budget and go for a fast lens? Sigma has one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srivastava Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted June 16, 2009 Rajat, I had a look at that lens, but with f3.5 it is not really what I'd use for portraits. In fact it is just the same as the "kit lens" that came with the camera, when you zoom it to 35mm equivalent. Why not wait a little longer, expand your budget and go for a fast lens? Sigma has one. Thank you for your advise. I shall watch and wait. Which Sigma lens is good? Rajat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASpes Posted June 17, 2009 Share #4 Posted June 17, 2009 Hello there, Hoping to get some good advice from the people in the know. I want to buy a fixed focal length lens for shooting close ups ( mainly portraits) with my Lumix DMC L1. My budget is pretty low, approx £100. The only thing that seems to come in that budget is the Olympus 35mm f3.5 Macro Zuiko Digital Lens. Is that the only choice I have and is it a good lens? Many thanks in advance for your help. Rajat Rajat, must say up front I agree with Marco and his suggestion. You already have in fact a pretty good lense for portraits in your "kit" zoom, (forgive me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a portrait of your son which was a beauty, just about the time you bought your camera), so, generally speaking, to better it you ought to go for a lense that could give you something different and not being just a duplicate of what you already have. Anyway ... there are a few things to consider about the Oly 35mm besides its brightness. The build might not be the best in the Oly range, but optically it's first rate, and it's a real macro capable of a life size magnification, and, last but not least, it's a really compact lense. How much these features are worth, as usual it depends on you. After all we do not have to have a Leica Noctilux to make a pleasant portrait ... On the other hand if you were in for head&shoulder portraits, a 25mm could do pretty well or even better. The Oly pancake at f/2,8 could be an interesting choice in the same price range of the 35mm, while at the more expensive end the Pana/Leica 25/1.4 could really be something to wait and save for, given the results I have seen online from it. One last option, (the one that would suit *me* best as it matches *my* FOV), is the Oly macro 50/f2, which sports a good build, macro ability, brightness and is perfect for head portraits. Top of that, it comes with a price that is about half way between the 35mm and that outstanding P/L lense. As you see plenty of good choices even with primes, and if money is short, keeping an eye on the used market could help you find a good bargain. Best of luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srivastava Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted June 17, 2009 Rajat, must say up front I agree with Marco and his suggestion. You already have in fact a pretty good lense for portraits in your "kit" zoom, (forgive me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a portrait of your son which was a beauty, just about the time you bought your camera), so, generally speaking, to better it you ought to go for a lense that could give you something different and not being just a duplicate of what you already have. ..... Best of luck. Dear Aspes, You have an amazing memory..hats off to you. I shall take a look at the lens' you mention. Thanks so much for the advice. Best Rajat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemalk Posted June 17, 2009 Share #6 Posted June 17, 2009 Have you thought of using an older, manual focus lens? With a $30 adapter, you can use a standard 50mm 2.0 or 1.4 and you'll have a nice portrait lens. I have a Summicron-R and a Pentax 1.4, both 50s, and they're great portrait lenses - especially seeing that portraits are slower and give you more time to focus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLogan Posted June 18, 2009 Share #7 Posted June 18, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Agreed--a fast manual-focus legacy lens (in my case, an Olympus OM 50mm f/1.4) gives great portrait results on the Digilux 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srivastava Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted June 18, 2009 the idea of manual focus lens sounds good...esp as they cost around £50..so with the adapter, it should cost me under £100.....definitely worth a look. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srivastava Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted June 25, 2009 Help!!! I have bought an Olympus 50mm f1.8 auto s OM Zuiko manual lens and a 4/3rd adapter. I am able to focus the picture but the f shows 0 on the screen and the shutter does not press. What am I doing wrong? Thanks Rajat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltspring Posted June 26, 2009 Share #10 Posted June 26, 2009 Hi Radjat, You need to go into the Custom menu and then to the very bottom, to a menu item called "No Release Without Lens". Make sure it says "OFF". Sounds backwards but that should do the trick. cheers, Douglas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srivastava Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share #11 Posted June 27, 2009 Hi Radjat,You need to go into the Custom menu and then to the very bottom, to a menu item called "No Release Without Lens". Make sure it says "OFF". Sounds backwards but that should do the trick. cheers, Douglas Thank you Douglas..Magic, your advice worked instantly. Here is a picture of my son taken a short while ago with the 1.8mm Olympus Lens. Thank you to all for giving useful advice. Rajat Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/87989-fixed-focal-length-lens-for-dmc-l1-digilux-3/?do=findComment&comment=946113'>More sharing options...
Marquinius Posted June 27, 2009 Share #12 Posted June 27, 2009 Rajat, What a splendid portrait! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Murray-White Posted June 28, 2009 Share #13 Posted June 28, 2009 To solve exactly the same question I bought the Sigma 30mm 1.4, with some fear, I might add, as various people had said quite worrying things about it's focus, I've had about a week and the more I push it the happier I get. Quite simply it is very much sharper than the 14-50 PL, has its own character, nice bokeh and really rewarding - but I should say it suits me and what I take photos of. I'd call it a friendlier lens than the Oly's I own or have owned, by that I mean generous colours and style - Olies tend to be a bit hard and cold for my taste. Which brings me to the logical next issue I bought the D3 and love it, and am often amused when it takes far better pictures than Nikon 700's (on its own terms of course) I bought a ebay L1 as back up and its good too but, no BUT, where do I go from here? and I feel I need to, E-3? E-3 with 14-50PL, has anybody tried this and been really happy, on paper the E-3 looks as if it could solve a few problems that the D3/L1 have but no one seems to say them out aloud. So its not just a question of prime lens but camera as well. All the best Clive Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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