Lens advice: what should be my second lens?? So I purchased the Lumix DMC G1, and it comes with the Lumix G Vario14- 45mm f/3.5-5.6. What will be an all around good lens to purchase as my second option. I'm not taking pictures of big landscapes; it will be mostly used for taking pictures of the kids in all kinds of lights settings. Also I like to snap nature.ThanksLigia Lens advice: what should be my second lens?? So I purchased the Lumix DMC G1, and it comes with the Lumix G Vario14- 45mm f/3.5-5.6. What will be an all around good lens to purchase as my second... » Read More Lens advice: what should be my second lens?? So I purchased the Lumix DMC G1, and it comes with the Lumix G Vario14- 45mm f/3.5-5.6. What will be an all around good lens to purchase as my second option. I'm not taking pictures of big landscapes; it will be mostly used for taking pictures of the kids in all kinds of lights settings. Also I like to snap nature.ThanksLigia « Show Less
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I'm not a G series owner "yet", but I think there are very few real choices for lenses. The 45-200 is the most likely choice for telephoto. And the 20mm/f1.7 "pancake" for indoors/low light. I'd think the lense you have is probably the better overall for average use, especially if the EZ zoom feature works as well as in the FZ series. I would think you could reach @150mm at 5EZ. The EZ zoom feature is supposed to be able to double the focal length, bringing the 14-45 (28-90) to 28-90 (56-180). And it is "free".Unless you need the long reach of the 45-200mm (90-400mm), which I can't do without, why spend the money? I'm not a G series owner "yet", but I think there are very few real choices for lenses. The 45-200 is the most likely choice for telephoto. And the 20mm/f1.7 "pancake" for indoors/low light. I'd think the lense you have is probably the better overall for average use, especially if the EZ zoom feature works as well as in the FZ series. I would think you could reach @150mm at 5EZ. The EZ zoom feature is supposed to be able to double the focal length, bringing the 14-45 (28-90) to 28-90 (56-180). And it is "free".Unless you need the long... » Read More I'm not a G series owner "yet", but I think there are very few real choices for lenses. The 45-200 is the most likely choice for telephoto. And the 20mm/f1.7 "pancake" for indoors/low light. I'd think the lense you have is probably the better overall for average use, especially if the EZ zoom feature works as well as in the FZ series. I would think you could reach @150mm at 5EZ. The EZ zoom feature is supposed to be able to double the focal length, bringing the 14-45 (28-90) to 28-90 (56-180). And it is "free".Unless you need the long reach of the 45-200mm (90-400mm), which I can't do without, why spend the money? « Show Less
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Well I must say I love my G1!! I was thinking the pancake 20mm f1.7 should be my next purchase, it just hard to convince myself about cashing $400 for it, but for what I have read it's the most versatile of them all. Now that the EZ zoom is based on digital zoom right? I try not to use the digital zoom since I don't like the lost of quality. I'm not big into telephoto as of now at least, so I think I'll go for the pancake. It's suppose to be 40mm as equivalent to a 35mm camera. And the reviews say it's versatile enough for dimly lit scenarios.Thanks for your reply!!
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Two completely different "animals". The Lumix 14-45 is a general purpose "workhorse wide angle" to portrait perspective moderate telephoto zoom. I have two of them and find them to be very good. As with any gear you must learn it's limitations, maximum aperture of f3.5-f5.6 can limit low and marginal lighting applications. The Rokinon T1.5 I had briefly was an 85mm (bit over 3x) telephoto prime. It was reasonably sharp and the T1.5 aperture made it useful in low light. The geared focus ring and "clickless" aperture ring were nice but I don't use a follow focus and didn't need the "clickless" aperture. It was also quite heavy. The lens I really wanted was the Olympus m.Zuiko 75mm f1.8 so I sold the Rokinon and "coughed up" the price of the Oly. The Oly "ran circles" around the Rokinon in terms of sharpness, color, and image tonal values; also had far less "flare" at night. Hope this helps.
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The lens is really great for almost everything, however, if you are trying to take photos of birds or other comperably small easily startled things, or like the moon, then a larger lens would be something to think about. However for almost all intents and purposes, what it comes with will be just fine. Hope that was helpful
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completely different lenses, especially for full frame. Why do you have a 50 f/1.8 on a 6D? that's almost a toy lens on a near professional camera. Although I don't have a full frame camera, if I did, I'd get the 24-70 L Zoom. If price is the issue, get the 24 2.8 IS for outdoor, landscape work and a 50 mm 1.4 for indoors, portraits, everyday use. Another nice lens is the 35 mm f/2 IS. bit wider, very sharp, with IS.
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Hi, I was faced with the same dilemma last year. I chose 14-45. It is a sharp lens with good auto focus and stabilization. I use it mainly as a travel lens and photograph historical monuments.Prakash
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i have the d80 with the 18-70 dx, the 70-300 ed, and the 50 1.8 d nikkors, plus the tokina 12-24 and the tamron 28-75 f/2.8. what glass you put on your d80 to start with should depend on intended uses and experience level. if all you want is an all-in-one lens, go for the 18-135 kit, unless you can afford the 18-200 vr. the 24-120 VR is another sweet after-market option if you go body-only and just want one lens, but you'd probably be better off, however, with either the 18-55 or the 18-70, plus the 55-200 vr. for the size, weight, and cost, they're very good for plastic consumer lenses. the downside is they're fairly slow for (D)SLR lenses, due to narrow apertures at the long end. if low-light photography or action sports is your bag, skip the nikkors altogether unless you can afford the 17-55 2.8 and/or the 70-200 VR. get the d80 body and grab a sigma or tamron 2.8. if w/a is your thing, i'd get one of the 18s (-55, -70, -135, -200) and pair it with the tokina 12-24 or the sigma 10-20. if you're more of a telephoto person, get the 18-55 or -70 and pair it with the inexpensive 70-300 non-vr g lens. the money you save over the ed or vr versions can go toward a good tripod -- unless you really think you're gonna be doing a lot of handheld shooting at 300mm. for macro and portrait work, consider again going body-only with the d80, getting the $100 50 1.8 prime, and maybe the sigma 30, the nikkor 60, and the tamron 90 to round out your selection, which would give you a nice, sharp range. if all of this seems too complicated, look at a fixed-zoom P&S or the d40/18-55 combo.
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I use two lenses for most of my work although I do have a number of other lenses for special tasks such as macro. for most of my landscapes I use a Sigma 18-250 macro lens. It's very versatile and give me photos with little chromatic aberrations. It's fairly fast at F3.5 and the nice thing is I can keep it on the camera 75% of the time. The other lens I use a lot it the Sigma 150-500 Auto focus. It's great for shooting wild life shot such as song birds near a bird feeder or a bear you don't want to get too close to. I have other lenses I use also but nearly as often as I use these two. Don
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Wow, quite a question. You really need to ask your self what you will be shooting most of the time. One review wanted to take pictures of her baby, most of the time. Another may like scienery and travel. You really need to narrow your preferences. You could get this lens for a general all around lens, however there are many trade offs to consider. Generaly this wide zoom range will have issues with anything printed larger than 4x6 inches. Some may argue that point and say 8x10 to still have an acceptible image. Are you involved with other photo people to evaluate your images? Do you use photoshop to adjust your images? If so this lens will be a compromise in most cases. Two lenses with overlaping zoom ranges say 18-70mm and 70-200mm would be ideal. However I would recommend the Canon 28-135mm f 3.5 IS, it depends on your budget. You may want an image stabilized lens which this lens is. Check the reviews, also www.Photozone.de for excellent lens reviews. Good luck.
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Did you ever get a lens? I'm making the same decision now. If so, what did you buy? Are you happy with your decision? Is there anything else you would add that would help me make a decision. Thanks!
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Hi Eric,Thanks for your reply. I've already went ahead and bought the D3100 (got advice from some other people somewhere else on the internets ;)I received it yesterday and it does seem to be a very solid camera with lots of features that have me overwhelmed to say the least since I am a beginner in the world of photography.I do have one question: why is it that everyone recommends those lenses? How vastly different are they from the lens the comes with the camera? For example, what would a 35mm 1.8g do differently or better than the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens?~ Dan Hi Eric,Thanks for your reply. I've already went ahead and bought the D3100 (got advice from some other people somewhere else on the internets ;)I received it yesterday and it does seem to be a very solid camera with lots of features that have me overwhelmed to say the least since I am a beginner in the world of photography.I do have one question: why is it that everyone recommends those lenses? How vastly different are they from the lens the comes with the camera? For example, what would a 35mm 1.8g do differently or better than the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6... » Read More Hi Eric,Thanks for your reply. I've already went ahead and bought the D3100 (got advice from some other people somewhere else on the internets ;)I received it yesterday and it does seem to be a very solid camera with lots of features that have me overwhelmed to say the least since I am a beginner in the world of photography.I do have one question: why is it that everyone recommends those lenses? How vastly different are they from the lens the comes with the camera? For example, what would a 35mm 1.8g do differently or better than the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens?~ Dan « Show Less
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The GM1 is excellent for its size and paired with a fast tele-zoom should deliver adequate results. The auto-focus is pretty good, in good light it should do fine. If you're planning on shooting a lot of low light sports/action (and it doesn't look like you will) I'd look elsewhere.
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Get the 17-40mm and the 70-200mm f4 for less tha half the price. It's a two lens combo that is outstanding. The pictures are sharp,crisp, and saturated.
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Sara, I guess the question is how soon you need a camera? If you already preordered, then you should have yours Nov. 24 which is rapidly approaching. Is that soon enough for you? Do you need a powerful, high performance prosumer mirrorless camera? If so, then I suggest the wait for the GH2 will be worth it for you. As for lenses, the first and only lens I see recommended without reservation is the Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras. It's a pancake lens with rave reviews, and makes your GH2 into a pocketable, low light capable camera. That gives you a versatile zoom (14mm - 140mm) usable for video and stills, and a lightweight compact lens (20mm) for casual, indoor, street, and impromptu shooting occasions. Start with those, and expand as you desire. Also, don't forget, with adapters, you can adapt other lenses (e.g., Canon, Nikon, Leica) to your GH2. You can also use Olympus and other MFT (Micro Four Thirds) and with adapter FT (Four Thirds) lenses. I would start with the Panny 20mm though. Good luck.
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Here is a greast site for lens discussions. www.dpreview.com Go to the forum for Canon lens talk. The 50mm 1.8 is a great portrait lens. It's fantastic in low light conditions. Just treat it with utmost care as the build is not great and there have been many of a complaint on how easy it can fall apart. As a previous poster mentioned the EF-S 17-85 is a good choice. It has full time manual focus with IS. As an every day multi purpose lens this is a nice lens. I also have this lens. The only problem I have with it is the low light shots. It is too slow. If used with External Flash it is fine. That's why I bought the prime lens. I just have to use my feet for zoom. You are going to have a lot of fun using AV mode with the 50mm and playing around with WB and ISO. Enjoy!
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Thanks for the replies. I finally went ahead with my purchase in late february. I love shooting outdoors so I went with the 55-200mm lens. A great point was made, coming from the world of point and shoot, I wasn't use to not being able to zoom in and in that regard, the 55-200mm lens definitely does it's job. If I shot everyday in Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or from the top of the Empire State Building, I'd probably get more out of the 55-200 lens. But I never really zoomed using my old P&S; and so far, have hardly used my 55-200. I'll save it, probably use it down the road. But when I can I plan to add the 35mm prime to my collection. Thanks for the replies. I finally went ahead with my purchase in late february. I love shooting outdoors so I went with the 55-200mm lens. A great point was made, coming from the world of point and shoot, I wasn't use to not being able to zoom in and in that regard, the 55-200mm lens definitely does it's job. If I shot everyday in Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or from the top of the Empire State Building, I'd probably get more out of the 55-200 lens. But I never really zoomed using my old P&S; and so far, have hardly used my 55-200. I'll save it, probably use it down the road. But when I can... » Read More Thanks for the replies. I finally went ahead with my purchase in late february. I love shooting outdoors so I went with the 55-200mm lens. A great point was made, coming from the world of point and shoot, I wasn't use to not being able to zoom in and in that regard, the 55-200mm lens definitely does it's job. If I shot everyday in Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or from the top of the Empire State Building, I'd probably get more out of the 55-200 lens. But I never really zoomed using my old P&S; and so far, have hardly used my 55-200. I'll save it, probably use it down the road. But when I can I plan to add the 35mm prime to my collection. « Show Less
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I recommend the 20mm Lumix lens. It's very sharp. The only complaint I have is when it's in auto focus mode, it has difficulty tracking moving objects.
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Yes, you should be able to use this lens on all Lumix G series cameras. If your buying this lenses you might want to take a look at the Lumix G Vario 14-45mm lens. I have not used that lens, but all the reviews suggest that it might be a bit better.