are there any alternatives to Zuiko glass

[Kofman13]

i cant afford the zuiko 50 mm 2.8 lens its $400... and the pancake is $229 but thats not what im looking for. are there perhaps any other companies that make lenses that work with olympus?

 

[erhard]

try Sigma and/or Tamron, although I would probably go for Sigma first.
They both make lenses for most of the major brand camera bodies.
Have a look here http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all.asp

 

[Kofman13]

try Sigma and/or Tamron, although I would probably go for Sigma first.
They both make lenses for most of the major brand camera bodies.
Have a look here Sigma - Lenses

oh god sigma is even more expensive, 50mm 1.4 is $789

 

[C-Towner]

Sigma makes a nice 30mm f/1.4 for around the same price as the ZD 50mm, and you can usually find it for less than $400.

Generally, with any company, be it Olympus, Canon, Nikon, etc, you are going to get what you pay for with glass. Since you are unsatisfied with legacy glass (as per your other posts), you have a few options: save up and buy a Sigma, Panleica or Olympus lens, work to perfect your technique with legacy glass, or switch brands and start asking about what cheap lenses they offer.

It seems that you are mainly looking for low light shooting, and you have a few options there as well. You could get a fast lens, but that seems to be outside of your price range. You could get a camera body with better high ISO capabilities, which will cost more than a lens, or you could get an external flash. With a flash, you can provide the light you need to work at the apertures you have available to you. You can get an FL-36 for less than $200. If you look hard on ebay, you might land one close to $100. You could also get a legacy flash (beware trigger voltages!) like the T32. I have one, and it set me back about $20, and is a very capable flash, with some real power behind it.

I think you might get more response if you described the situations you are incapable of shooting so people can offer some solutions.

 

[erhard]

try Sigma and/or Tamron, although I would probably go for Sigma first.
They both make lenses for most of the major brand camera bodies.
Have a look here Sigma - Lenses

oh god sigma is even more expensive, 50mm 1.4 is $789

well no problems then...buy Zuiko!!:lmao:

 

[Kofman13]

well basically i do mostly portraits for headshots and my 50 mm 1.8 OM isnt cutting it with manual focus

 

[c.cloudwalker]

well basically i do mostly portraits for headshots and my 50 mm 1.8 OM isnt cutting it with manual focus

Wot? Is there something wrong with the lens you have? Because I can't see why it wouldn't work for headshots. And I don't get what the manual focus has to do with it since I had never had a AF lens until about a year ago.

The only problem I could see is if your body is full frame. In which case 50mm is a bit short for portraits.

 

[C-Towner]

well basically i do mostly portraits for headshots and my 50 mm 1.8 OM isnt cutting it with manual focus

See, you did not even describe the conditions or why that lens is not 'cutting it'. Is it a lack of sharpness? (I doubt it). Is it unfocused images because you have not learned to properly utilize the lens with your camera and use live view to focus? (most likely).

Do you use lights, or a tripod? Where do you shoot at? What's the light like? You gotta give us some info to go on.

 

[gsgary]

That lens is a top lens, so the problem is you, learn how to use it

 

[gsgary]

I have had a go with a E420 tonight trying manual focus and i can't see your problem, the only problem i had with the E420 was it is too small