Re: Lens - AF100

Hey Zack,

Congratulations on the AF! A great camera indeed. The Olympus 45 is a very nice lens but remember, on a micro4/3 camera this will look like a 90mm! That is because of the crop factor that the sensor size is subject to. If this is going to be your one lens, I would get something that will put you in a more normal range. For 4/3, I would look instead to the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 or the Panasonic/Leica 25mm F1.4. These will put you in a more useable, everyday focal length. A 45 on micro 4/3 is just too long of a lens. That would basically be a portrait or close up lens. As a rule of thumb, multiply the focal length of the lens by two and that will give you thr effective focl length on a micro 4/3 camera.

As for image stabilization, you won't find this in micro4/3 lenses as the standard puts it directly in the camera bodies themselves allowing lenses to be smaller and automatically stabilizing any lens you put on the camera. And for video, you wouldn't really want it anyway as the IS is a correction device. Imagine making a nice slow pan on a tripod and then the lens or camera corrects for motion and it jitters trying to counteract your intentional movement. It can mess you up, and has messed me up. The software stabilizers are good. Use those together with good shooting practices and you will be fine.

Use it in good health!
Matt

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17", 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
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The College of William and Mary