possible stupid question: why zoom lens?

[Dominantly]

Lens selection is a best decided on a case by case basis. It really depends on what the person doing the shooting needs, what their shooting preference is, and the flexibility they need.
I do find the desire to go all prime and carry a bag of glass around, to be a bit overkill.
If you shoot wildlife, sports/action, or Macro, or portrait... you will have to pick the glass that best compliments your style.

 

[Kofman13]

i wanna do mostly portraits and close up bokeh

 

[Dominantly]

A good lens for portraits is going to be between 50mm-100mm. When factoring in and average crop factor of 1.5x for DSLR's, you should look in about the 33-66mm range. The second most important feature is the maximum aperture; you want wide and fast.
For Nikon a great portrait lens is the 50mm f/1.4; as it has the ingredients for superb results.
Below is what I found that fits with your brand.
Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 E-ED
:thumbup:

 

[syphlix]

it's because you're using a wide angle zoom - you may be confusing the word zoom with telephoto... the pancake one is 50mm i think... you talking bout the olympus cam or something like that i assume...

zoom just means you can change the focal length... doesn't imply tele or wide etc

 

[fokker]

A good lens for portraits is going to be between 50mm-100mm. When factoring in and average crop factor of 1.5x for DSLR's, you should look in about the 33-66mm range. The second most important feature is the maximum aperture; you want wide and fast.
For Nikon a great portrait lens is the 50mm f/1.4; as it has the ingredients for superb results.
Below is what I found that fits with your brand.
Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 E-ED
:thumbup:

Actually you still want a 50-100mm lens, regardless of FOV due to sensor size. The perspective remains the same for a given lens regardless of sensor size, and perspective is the reason you don't want to use wide angle focal lengths on a portrait as it is unflattering.

 

[DennyCrane]

Unless you really do like big noses.

 

[Dominantly]

A good lens for portraits is going to be between 50mm-100mm. When factoring in and average crop factor of 1.5x for DSLR's, you should look in about the 33-66mm range. The second most important feature is the maximum aperture; you want wide and fast.
For Nikon a great portrait lens is the 50mm f/1.4; as it has the ingredients for superb results.
Below is what I found that fits with your brand.
Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 E-ED
:thumbup:

Actually you still want a 50-100mm lens, regardless of FOV due to sensor size. The perspective remains the same for a given lens regardless of sensor size, and perspective is the reason you don't want to use wide angle focal lengths on a portrait as it is unflattering.

I didn't make what I wrote, up. I just read it here a while ago, and then was told the same thing in the pro shop...:thumbup:

What's the Best Portrait Lens?

 

[fokker]

Well what you said is true, but you're only accounting for field of view ('zoom'). But like I said, perspective doesn't change so if you go using a 25mm focal length on a 4/3 sensor and thinking it's the same as a 50mm on a full frame then you will end up with big noses and fat faces.

50mm is the perspective that most closely matches what a human eye sees.

This picture here Perspective comparison between different focal length on Flickr - Photo Sharing! illustrates the point well - the relative size of background objects is greater for higher focal lengths.

 

[fokker]

Also, I may like to postulate that whoever wrote that article you linked has their wires crossed a bit.

 

[Dominantly]

Well what you said is true, but you're only accounting for field of view ('zoom'). But like I said, perspective doesn't change so if you go using a 25mm focal length on a 4/3 sensor and thinking it's the same as a 50mm on a full frame then you will end up with big noses and fat faces.

50mm is the perspective that most closely matches what a human eye sees.

This picture here Perspective comparison between different focal length on Flickr - Photo Sharing! illustrates the point well - the relative size of background objects is greater for higher focal lengths.

Thats an interesting comparison, but the fisheye was overkill.
So we have perspective, and proportions.... Shorter/longer lenses aren't going to change perspective, just the framing of the photo...
When you have a lens that requires you to move closer or further from a subject, that's what is going to change your proportions..... So if you're using a fixed lens instead of framing a shot by "zoom", you're going to walk it to the correct framing. So if you have a 50mm prime and are doing a head shot, you will be right up in someones face, changing proportions (If we went extreme we would have a 10.5mm fisheye two inches from the subjects face for a head shot).....

I have also read that the human eye supposedly recognizes faces as they appear to be from 15ft away. Not sure how true it is, but it is interesting to think about.

 

[Kofman13]

Thanks for yor input guys haha. I was thinking. I'm strapped for cash so I found this option. I could get a 50mm 1.8 Olympus OM lens I found for $58. Then get an OM>4/3 digital adapter and I have a new lens! What's the downside to using a non digital lens? Besides no autofocus?

 

[MAARTE]

A pancake lens is an unusually compact lens from front to back. Focal length is often from 35mm to 50mm in length.

Nikon 45mm Pancake f2.8 Black Lens on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Current pancake lenses include some offerings from Olympus and Panasonic and Pentax, as well as Cosina-Voigtlander with quite a few pancake wide-angle and short normal lenses like their 40mm f/2.

Thanks, I've been wondering about that, too!