Olympus E-620 with kit - 2 vs. 3 lens

[padrepaul77]

I went to a local photo shop today and looked at the Olympus that I've posted about. It comes with a 14-42mm lens. There are two lenses I've seen that go nice with it; a 40-150mm and a 70-300mm. I've seen packages where you can get all three, but the guy said save your dough and just get the 14-42 and the 70-300, no need for the overlap on the 40-150.

The local shop also has a nice deal on it; $100 when you buy the lens at the same time as the camera, plus a lesson on SLR which will help. So I'm leaning this way.

Online deals offer two or even all three lenses. I'm assuming the guy is right and the "middle" lens would be a waste.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[musicaleCA]

Necessity? Nah. Waste? Hardly. As you progress, you may find that there are situations where such a lens will serve you better than swapping between the wide and telephoto lenses. For me, as an example, there are times where I'm better served by my 50mm f/1.4 (when I want really shallow DoF), and others where I'm better served by my 24-70mm f/2.8 (covering events, parades, parties, music at clubs, etc.). It has a lot to do with the situation you're shooting in.

 

[Derrel]

Are you aware that the Oly 4/3 system has a 2x equivalent Field of View multiplier, and that a 70mm lens on an Olympus d-slr has the narrow angle of view of a 140mm lens on 35mm film??? Is the sales associate there concerned with your photographic goals and efforts, or just trying to sell you the lens with the highest factory-to-dealer incentive or "spiff"???

A 70 to 300m zoom lens for Olympus is like a 140 to 600 on 35mm,and will be basically useless indoors unless the room is large...like the Louisiana Superdome large. Great for girl-watching and birding...but....

The 14-42 is a solid choice, obviously, due to its size,weight,and angle of view. The 40-150mm length would be a 35mm equivalent of 80-300, which would be useful for family and social photography in your back yard,etc.

No lens is ever a waste--but some lenses are more-useful much more of the time than other lenses. A sales guy trying to steer a two-lens customer to a 70-300 for 4/3 sounds like a salesman who gets a $15-$20 spiff for selling a low-priced, high-profit lens...the 70-300 as a second lens would be great if you want absolute telephoto power for outdoor use,like surfing photos, or shooting from stadiums, but for everyday,general use, that is too-long a focal length range for a second lens on 4/3: as your "third" lens, it would make sense.

 

[padrepaul77]

Are you aware that the Oly 4/3 system has a 2x equivalent Field of View multiplier, and that a 70mm lens on an Olympus d-slr has the narrow angle of view of a 140mm lens on 35mm film??? Is the sales associate there concerned with your photographic goals and efforts, or just trying to sell you the lens with the highest factory-to-dealer incentive or "spiff"???

A 70 to 300m zoom lens for Olympus is like a 140 to 600 on 35mm,and will be basically useless indoors unless the room is large...like the Louisiana Superdome large. Great for girl-watching and birding...but....

The 14-42 is a solid choice, obviously, due to its size,weight,and angle of view. The 40-150mm length would be a 35mm equivalent of 80-300, which would be useful for family and social photography in your back yard,etc.

No lens is ever a waste--but some lenses are more-useful much more of the time than other lenses. A sales guy trying to steer a two-lens customer to a 70-300 for 4/3 sounds like a salesman who gets a $15-$20 spiff for selling a low-priced, high-profit lens...the 70-300 as a second lens would be great if you want absolute telephoto power for outdoor use,like surfing photos, or shooting from stadiums, but for everyday,general use, that is too-long a focal length range for a second lens on 4/3: as your "third" lens, it would make sense.

Hmm...well I'm not sure what to do. I can find the 2-lens kit online for as low as $774; I could purchase the 70-300 for another $400. Maybe this is the way to go and use all three? Decisions, decisions.

 

[padrepaul77]

OK, well I went to BH Photo and they seem to have the best deal. Maybe having 3 lenses would give me more options; but it seems there's a bit of an overlap on the 40-150 and the 70-300. I do a lot of outdoor shots so want the latter (600 35mm equivalent I guess, pretty nice). I've heard good things about BH. Some good deals on Ebay too, but some also seem a tad shady.