Lenses for a newbie
Lenses for a newbie
Hello everybody. I'm planning to get my first camera body and lenses but I'm not quite sure on what lensens to get. I think I'll get a LUMIX DMC-GF1 which I can find for fairly cheap prices so I can spend most of the money for some good lenses.
What lenses would you recommend me buying? Is there some kind of "general lenses" I can use without having to switch them according to situations? I'm very new and confused by all the technical terms and stuff
I would start with a “fast 50” or “fast35” prime lens and hold off on buying anything else until you are comfortable with it. By that stage you will know much more about what type of lens you want and can ask more specific questions.
For micro 4/3 this equates to 25mm or 17mm focal lengths. Some suggestions are here: https://shotkit.com/best-micro-four-thirds-lenses/
I'll check out the link and keep in mind your advices. Thanks!
Can’t go wrong with the Lumix 25mm f1.7. It’s less than $200 and produces some brilliant images. M43 cameras have cropped sensors so it’s effectively 2x the focal distance, so that’s roughly the same as a 50mm on full frame.
For something a bit more flexible, a zoom is a good thing to have. The 14-150mm gives you lots of range, at the cost of lower max aperture (f4 iirc) and a bit of sharpness.
Down the road you might want a fast zoom, something like the 12-40 f2.8. It’s a bit more expensive, but absolutely gorgeous.
Good luck!!
I second having a decent 50mm equivalent lens for starters, they're pretty versitile and compact.
I personally quite like being constrained to one focal length, I feel like it really taught me to be more deliberate about my positioning, framing and composition, but you'll have to figure out whether that's a style of photography you enjoy.
Having a zoom for the flexibility is definitely also nice and fun to try out and invaluable in some settings
In the end, I guess it really comes down to what you end up taking photos of, and which approach is more fun to you.
Have fun! :)
I'll work on your advices. Thanks!
Depends on your budget and what you're up to, to be honest, but here's my general purpose advice:
In general, start with something like a kit lens (one of my Nikon cameras shipped with an 18x55mm inexpensive kit lens, I still use it a ton) with zoom capacity, and either get a fixed focal length lens (i.e., 35mm only or something) or use the zoom lens like a kit lens when you're ready. In other words- set the focal length to something with the macro focus, and leave it there- avoid the temptation to zoom in and out for at least some shoots. I often set the kit lens I have to 18mm and just leave it there at it's widest zoom length while strolling down forest trails. Either way, you learn to focus with your feet instead of the zoom capacity (that's what you do with a prime lens anyway) which to me is very important- eventually you just instinctively know where to stand to frame your shot. Do that and practice on subject matter that doesn't move around a lot at first- landscapes, streetscapes, flowers, whatever- at first and try to learn artistic composition technique as soon as possible, the way a painter would.
Once you've got the hang of using that sort of setup, figure out what subject matter you're interested in and then go grab other lenses like long lenses or a wide angle ones. They're often pricier than the above setup, but necessary for certain types of work.
There ARE general use lenses that go from wide angle to far zoom but they can really be pricey. What are you planning on shooting in terms of subject matter?
I want to do street photography and protraits mainly but If something inspires me I go for it. I first have to understand all the technical terms you all are using ahahah
So like you want then probably what I and others have suggested for street shooting; for portraits, get a 55-200mm (or similar focal length range) telephoto (long zoom) lens. With street shooting 18x55 or some similar zoom is probably what you want at first (some places have laws against telephoto lenses on the streets, so be wary of that- telephoto being more powerful zoom) unless you want to bite the bullet and try a prime/fixed focal length lens that won't zoom in or out. I've found on the streets prime can be problematic for wide angle/normal shots at times but it's still very doable. You can't like stroll into the middle of a busy street when you're focusing by moving your body.
The tech jargon is really counterintuitive at first but it's not that hard to figure out eventually. Just hit the books (google the exposure triangle, someone's bound to have written something explaining that somewhere online for free) and experiment with setup. With the camera you probably want to learn aperture priority mode first for what you're doing if my hunch is correct, but don't be ashamed of using automated modes to start.
Nothing new to contribute in terms of focal length, but be very wary of a thing called crop factor. The camera you're looking at has a 2x crop factor.
Most of the lens focal lengths in this thread are popular full frame (1x crop factor) options (like 35mm, 55mm, etc). You also got some APS-C recommendations (the 18-55), and one or two micro four thirds recommendations.
If you were to buy a 50mm, for example, you probably won't get what the recommender intended. You would need a 25mm lens to get a similar level of magnification.
Unfortunately, it's going to be hard for you to dig through the recommendations here and guess what sensor format the recommender made it for.
I'm not a photographer but they all will say you're going to want to start with a 50mm prime. Every system has one that's high quality and relatively inexpensive. You should learn on it. Get to understand shooting, framing, lighting, etc without the crutch of a zoom lens.
Depends a lot on the budget and needs.. If I was starting over again the first lens I'd get would be Olympus 12-40 f2.8. It's really versatile. It goes from pretty wide to moderate tele, it's decently bright at f2.8 for the whole zoom range, it's sharp and even focuses close you get a pseudo-macro as well (good enough for flowers and bigger insects). Then, if I needed more range I'd get 40-150 f2.8 or if I needed a portrait lens I'd get 45mm f1.8 or 75mm f1.8, if I needed a macro I'd get 60mm f2.8.
Do you already know what you will use the camera for or do you want to explore where your interests are?
I like street photography and and portraits but I want to explore
Then the advices here are very valid. I would not go for a zoom lens. Learn to frame without zooming, you will benefit later on.
Make sure the f number is low-ish (below 2) to get a nice “bokeh” effect (background - or foreground if you want to - blur). Somewhere between 35 and 50 mm.
Or, if you want to get inspired, check a site like Flickr, look for pictures you like and check what lenses are used. Mostly that info is shown.
I've got some micro 4/3 cameras (the kind that the one you're looking at is) and entirely too many lens so I guess this is my ballpark
Am I an expert? Hell no
Do I have a couple years of hobby experience? Yes.
So let's get started
My favorite general purpose lens is my Panasonic Leica 12mm to 60mm lens. It goes down to f/2.8 and has a wide spread of focal lengths to use that work great. It's expensive though. The Panasonic (non-Leica) 12-60 is a pretty decent alternative for a lot cheaper. Usually about half the cost or less of the Leica one.
My favorite non-zoom powered lens native to micro 4/3 is the 25mm f/1.7 lens from Panasonic as well. It's bloody sharp and a great general purpose lens if you don't mind having to change your distance to a subject.
Now in terms of manual lenses I have a pair of favorites, one that's expensive and easy to get and the other that's old and hard to find. The expensive one (like $400 USD) is my 7.5mm f/2.0 lens from laowa. It's a really specific use case lens but it's damn good at what it does, which for me is wide astrophotography shots. The hard to find one is an old Soviet projector lens made for 16mm film. It's a 50mm f/1.2 lens. It's fantastic and takes some really unique shots. I paid like $90 USD for it.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I'll happily answer.