4/3 lenses, noob questions

[TBAM]

Hi

I've recently purchased an Olympus E-420 dSLR with a 14-42mm lens and 40-200mm lens (as comes with the camera).

I do a bit of band photography and want a large aperture, fast lens. The only easy one I can find available is the pancake 25mm f2.8, however I wonder about it's quality, and if it is a considerable difference to my 14-42mm which starts at f3.5. Compared to the Canon 50mm f1.8 it's about double the price.

I've also considered purchasing an adapter kid, (perhaps OM-4/3)so that I can buy some older Zuiko lenses, or have a wider range. I'm from Australia and here, the 2.8 is around $300 ($360 USD), so i'm a bit uncertain what the best path to go is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JoeDif]

I'm not sure what your budget is but here are a couple lens options:

Olympus 50mm f/2 around $400 U.S.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 around $490 U.S.

 

[reg]

I recently bought the Sigma 18-50 2.8 macro for my Olympus E-510, used from Adorama for $350. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[TBAM]

Thanks for the help.

Those are pretty expensive, and i'm not after Macro as much as a wide aperture prime lens.

I don't understand how Canon have an f1.8 for $120 AUD when every other brand seems to be charging $200 AUD and upwards for anything even close to F2.

I even found a Canon 50mm f1.8 in a pawnbroker with an old Canon dSLR body (like pretty old) for $75 AUD.

The Olympus pancake f2.8 lens is still around $300 AUD, which seems like a rip off to me when Canon make it so much cheaper, and other brands even have similar lenses for cheaper.

Has anyone purchased an adapter. I've read posts on people purchasing an OM-4/3 adapter and then buying Zuiko OM lenses (that were originally used for film photography).

The only problem they say is that the Auto-focus doesn't work.

Anyways, it's hard to find anything regarding 4/3 lenses here, as everyone seems to have Canon or Nikon cameras.

Where's the love?! hehe

 

[reg]

One word:

Quality.
You'll find that Olympus' "standard grade" lenses immediately jump past the consumer crap from other brands, right into their "midgrade" level. Those are the comparisons you should be drawing. If, to you, that is a ripoff, then select another camera system before you get too far invested into 4/3. It's not for everyone.

I have nothing bad to say about Canon's 50/1.8 though. It's a great lens optically, and it's cheap. But that's neither here nor there, *unless* you switch to Canon. And as far as the adapters, I wouldn't let that keep you with 4/3, because there are adapters to and from just about every camera system out there.

 

[TUX424]

You should try and get out of Olympus asap and go with nikon or canon u get a great number of lens and other thing they are just build better and have better products

 

[TBAM]

That's not really constructive tux424. I love my E-420 as well as my wife bought it for me.

Alternatively I've got a Pentax *Ist D that if there is a cheap prime lens I would consider using also.

Anyways, my problem isn't so much wanting to compromise quality, it's just that the E-420 is promoted as an entry-level / budget dSLR, yet all of the lenses are considerably expensive.

I understand that the nifty fifty 50mm f1:1.8 that Canon puts out may not be as good a quality as some more expensive items, however I'm not after perfect performance, i'm an amateur looking for budget solutions.

It just erks me that Canon can release a nifty prime for so cheap, yet I have to shell out $350 or so for an f1:2.8 that as per reviews is still not that great a quality, and even with the additional stops in aperture, is reviewed to not be much better than my kit lense being 14-42mm f1:3.5-5.6.

From further examination, the only way for me to get a decent prime, is either with an adapter ring, or shelling out $600 for a Sigma 50mm f1:1.4 EX DG.

But then again, I guess the 4/3 system is reasonaly new, and it may take time to get a more comprehensive lens selection.

Anyways, apart from venting my frustrations as Olympus not having a budget prime, I was after user comments or reviews of the f1:2.8 pancake lens, as it is the cheapest (still over $200, even though in some countries it came as a kit lens), and the best thing for me to buy at the moment if I want to have a chance at band photography without high ISO grainy pictures.

Thanks for your comments btw, my cynical attitude is not directed at you, just at my lack of current options.