Is the Ritz girl feeding me bs or...

[Lisaspank]

Ok so I have to start out that I have an Olympus E 410 that I bought with kit lenses. It came with 14-42mm and 40-150 Zuiko lenses.

I went in to Ritz Camera this afternoon and asked if there were any wide angle lenses for the e410. She proceeds to look thru a magazine and then the computer and comes up with this answer.

Well you can buy the 14-42mm or we can special order a 14-54mm.

Hmmm well my camera already came with the smaller lense, so does this make it a wide angle??

Im so confused!

Like I said Im a complete beginner...I dont really understand what qualifies a lens as wide angle other than I LOVE how the pics come out.

So any ideas if she really knows what she is talking about?

 

[SpeedTrap]

try this

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/lens/dea/products/lens/7-14_40/index.asp

or

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/lens/dea/products/lens/11-22_28-35/index.asp

 

[usayit]

For "standard" lenses, I think that is the widest that Olympus makes.

For their more premium line there is this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/358162-REG/Olympus_261009_7_14mm_f_4_0_Zuiko_ED.html

 

[Lisaspank]

Thank you both for the links. I like the ones on the olympus website and they are definetely in a decent price range. The professional ones...not so much.

So can someone explain to me what makes the lens wide angle? Is it the mm measurement so the smaller the numbers the more 'distorted' the shot will come out meaning wideangle?

Also I did a quick search on ebay for olympus digital wide angle lenses and it still brings up my kit lens that is 14-42. So then my kit lens can be used as wide angle??? I just am not getting it for some reason.

Also can you purchase different brand lenses that will work with the olypus? How can you tell?

Thanks again for the quick replies. I am learning so much here!

 

[JimmyO]

Thank you both for the links. I like the ones on the olympus website and they are definetely in a decent price range. The professional ones...not so much.

So can someone explain to me what makes the lens wide angle? Is it the mm measurement so the smaller the numbers the more 'distorted' the shot will come out meaning wideangle?

Also I did a quick search on ebay for olympus digital wide angle lenses and it still brings up my kit lens that is 14-42. So then my kit lens can be used as wide angle??? I just am not getting it for some reason.

Also can you purchase different brand lenses that will work with the olypus? How can you tell?

Thanks again for the quick replies. I am learning so much here!

Well first off im not at all familiar with olympus cameras but im pretty sure they have a 2.0x crop factor.

I pretty much consider wide angle any lens at or below 28mm with 35mm format. So your kit lens is pretty wide but not really considered that wide. And the lower the MM the wider the lens.

 

[tirediron]

A 50mm (or equivalent for your camera) lens is generally regarded as a 1:1 or normal perspective lens. Anything greater than that is a telephoto, and anything less a wide-angle.

28mm used to be the de facto wide-angle for most lens lines, however with the advent of the wide zooms that most companies now make, there is a HUGE choice, ranging from about 10mm up.

I'm guessing that when you say you like the look of the shots, you may be referring to ultra-wide angle or fisheye lenses which give produce circular or near circular images. These tend to be very expensive, and often have other limitations due to the specialized nature of their construction.

A 14mm lens is already a very wide angle - for general photography, you're unlikely to need much more than that, and if you do, you can always create panoramic shots.

 

[Alfred D.]

A 14mm lens is already a very wide angle - for general photography, you're unlikely to need much more than that, and if you do, you can always create panoramic shots.

On an E-410, with a 2x crop factor, that works out to 28mm in 35mm film equivalent.
I would classify 28mm more as a medium wide angle than as a 'very' wide angle. Which I would consider 24mm and less.
And then there are those who even recognize a 3rd 'class': the 'ultra wide angles'. But I don't think there's really any consensus over what focal length range would belong in that 'class'.

 

[elemental]

A 50mm (or equivalent for your camera) lens is generally regarded as a 1:1 or normal perspective lens. Anything greater than that is a telephoto, and anything less a wide-angle.

28mm used to be the de facto wide-angle for most lens lines, however with the advent of the wide zooms that most companies now make, there is a HUGE choice, ranging from about 10mm up.

I'm guessing that when you say you like the look of the shots, you may be referring to ultra-wide angle or fisheye lenses which give produce circular or near circular images. These tend to be very expensive, and often have other limitations due to the specialized nature of their construction.

A 14mm lens is already a very wide angle - for general photography, you're unlikely to need much more than that, and if you do, you can always create panoramic shots.

Don't forget that the body in question has a 2X crop factor, meaning a "normal" (50mm equivalent) would be only 25mm and a 14mm would be not a "very wide angle" but instead equivalent to a 28mm lens. This is also roughly equivalent to 18mm on most DSLRs with smaller crop factors (more or less everything except full frame).

Basically, read what he wrote but divide every focal length by two to make it in terms of your camera.

 

[ThePup]

so the smaller the numbers the more 'distorted' the shot will come out meaning wideangle?

It's my understanding that a good quality wide angle SHOULD NOT distort the picture... (Well, some is inevitable, but the idea is for as little as possible...)

.I dont really understand what qualifies a lens as wide angle other than I LOVE how the pics come out.

Can you post links to some example pics you like? As others have mentioned, it sounds to me like you're reffering to a 'Fisheye' lens, which, whilst it is a wide angle lens, is in a class of it's own...

 

[tirediron]

Just to clarify, please read into my posts the phrase "or equivalent based on the crop factor of your particular sensor" after each mention of a focal length. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Village Idiot]

Good Olympus lenses are expensive as crap. I had some one try and tell me that you would save money by buy an Oly with built in IS as opposed to a Canon and having to buy lenses with IS. The comparable Oly glass is more expensive than some of the Canon IS lenses.

Anyways...Wide Angle on a 1.5-1.6 crop DSLR is usually considered 10-12mm. So the Olymus has the 7mm which is close to equal to the 10-12 on a Canon or Nikon. But it's $1500 vs. the others' $500-$600.

My idea would be for you to look at 3rd party brands or any other mount that would work with your camera and try to buy one of those.

 

[Lisaspank]

The pup....I finally found a pic sorta like what I am talking about. I think you may be right that it might be more fish eye...but this one is on the extreme of the 'distortion' that i like. I like it more subtle but this picture really intrigues me.

 

[lockwood81]

Also can you purchase different brand lenses that will work with the olypus? How can you tell?

Sigma makes lenses for the Olympus also.

And you might be looking for fisheye like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/405508-REG/Olympus_261010_8mm_f_3_5_Fisheye_ED.html

 

[*Mike*]

The wide end of things is a serious drawback for the 4/3's system... But, you've got some options. I think most have been touched on. You could do:

ZD 8mm fisheye
ZD 7-14 Professional grade
ZD 11-22 mid-grade lens
ZD 12-60 SWD mid-grade

And then I believe sigma does have a couple of offerings - but not necessarily any cheaper than oly. The 11-22 has an incredible following... Zuiko glass is known for quality and the 11-22 lives up.

 

[Don Kondra]

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/19063/zuiko-wide-angle-lens/

ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6

Cheers, Don