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Wide angle + general purpose m43 lens, speedbooster?
  • ingridingrid

    Hi,

    This is my first post to this forum, so hi :)

    I am a total amateur photographer. I shoot video and photos for my hair salon/store small business (interviews, tutorials, promos). My boyfriend got me a GH3 for my birthday, and it is really the best of both worlds. I'm just starting to get into the details of the camera functionality, but already, my videos and stills are looking incredible.

    I got the camera with the panasonic 25mm 1.4 lens (50mm eq. on a 35mm camera). So it's great for portraiture, interview tutorials, but I would like some additional flexibility, so I've come here for some general purpose recommendations.

    for wide angle, right now I am considering the Olympus 12mm f/2 or the Panasonic 7-14. Both are in the 700-900$ range. For general purpose, I was thinking of getting the new panasonic 14-140 3.5-5.6, since it has Image Stabilisation and I understand I would be needing that at any length over 50mm full frame equivalent. This lens is currently selling on amazon for $600.

    For the price of these two, I am wondering if I should splurge a little more and get the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8. I can live without a zoom more than without a wide angle.

    Otherwise, the other option I've been investigating is getting a speed booster and have access to some manual lenses. I know next to nothing about the legacy lenses that work well with the speedbooster adapters, so I'm wondering if it's something worth investigated since many of the lenses can be had for cheap. For wide angle, AF and IS are not required (will be getting a good tripod soon anyways), so this is something I am potentially really interested in. Can anyone recommend a lens line+speedbooster that can give me a open up a lot of possibilities (lenses should be readily available)?

    With a speedbooster doing .71x, my calculation tells me I should be looking at 15-20mm FF equivalent lenses, is this correct?

    Thanks for your help guys ;)

  • 7 Replies sorted by
  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    @ingrid Yeah, these new cams really deliver. Glad you're getting good results with your GH3. In terms of speedbooster, I believe consensus is that Metabones brand version has best image quality. A bit more expensive but worth it. Tripod good idea, and for handheld work, maybe a small rig to stabilize can help. Look for "Beginner's Rig" on this site - found in deals thread and also via search function. I have that small rig and like it - not bad for $100. Great question re manual glass and Speedbooster - I'm curious myself. Definitely worth getting Speedbooster and trying your manual lenses. Let us know how that works out if try out those together. Best of luck.

  • grisnjamgrisnjam

    The 12mm f2.0 is a great lens, you might also consider the Panasonic 14mm F2.5, not quite as fast or wide but cheaper.

    The 14-140 is great but is pretty worthless indoors in low light. The 7-14mm might be too wide if shooting people, works great for architecture though. If you stay with native u4/3 lenses the 12-35mm might be the best route. Fast, weather sealed and stabilized. If you watch Ebay you can pickup a used copy and save some $$. If you go that route you might sell the 25mm and get the 45mm f1.8 instead. It makes a great interview lenses as well.

    There are ton's of options if you want to go with the speedboster route. You will want to use the Nikon version since the EF mount speedboster is always rumored but never delivered and nikon lenses have an aperture ring. The downside to the speedboster + APC or FF lenses is that you lose the ultra compact nature of the u4/3s system.

    You might look into the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for Nikon + Speedbooster. This will give you a 12mm-25mm f1.2 when fitted on the GH3 with no vignetting. Grab a standard nikon to u/43 adaptor and you can use it as a 18-35mm f1.8 as well.

  • TronTron

    A particularly good value right now is the Olympus 12-40mm F2.8. It renders images like a prime throughout the entire focal length and is weather-sealed. On the portrait end it has better bokeh and sharpness at 40mm than the 12-35 lumix at 35mm. If I had to keep only one lens and dump all of my primes, this would be the one. Factory refurb units can be scooped up for as little as $640 here: http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/outlet/reconditioned-lenses/m-zuiko-ed-12-40mm-f2-8-pro-reconditioned.html

  • ingridingrid

    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for all the advice.

    @grisnjam, I think I could justify the cost of a speedbooster only if I make some long-term gain in lens cost (i.e. cheaper manual lens than native m43). That Sigma lens is in the $800 and is big and weighty too. Wouldn't mind getting a bunch of good primes instead if the price was right...

    @Tron, Thanks for the link, I am now definitely lusting after that 12-40mm, especially after reading the review from Ming Thein (http://blog.mingthein.com/2013/09/13/lens-review-the-olympus-12-40). It wasn't even on my radar, unfortunately, they seem to be sold out!

    I see the 12 f/2 Oly is also on sale down to about $400, but is a bit redundant if I can get the 12-40 with only 1 stop less.

    I will keep my eyes peeled...

  • nobbystylusnobbystylus

    I love the 12mm 1.6 from SLR MAGIC. Beautiful look.

  • TronTron

    @ingrid Bookmark the link and check back often, it'll come into stock eventually :)

  • ingridingrid

    @tron, it's off the refurbished page, looks like they sold too many of them :(

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