so many lenses.....

I have just started doing some on the side professional photography and portraits and I am doing all the research I can to figure out what lens or lenses would suit my needs best. I am taking outside portraits mostly but also indoor events and eventually some weddings. Any suggestions on which lens works best for these situations? Right now I only have the kit lens, 14-45, it's done very well but I'm looking for something a little better.

Thanks!

I use both a 28-75 f/2.8 and a 70-210 f/4 for such things...

You guys are using different systems. For dinor's Olympus Four Thirds digital SLR the appropriate focal lengths will be different. I believe the Four Thirds System has a 2:1 digital crop factor. The Zuiko 14-45mm is a great all-purpose lens and will do a fine job for wedding candids. There is a faster version of that lens that will allow you shallower depth-of-field for nicer portraits. But for pure portrait photography you might want to take a look at the Olympus Zuiko 35mm and 50mm prime lenses. The 50mm f/2.0 looks especially good, although in small rooms it might not give you enough room. Here are links to the review pages for both of those lenses. Unfortunately, the 35mm lens isn't listed on the site. I'll see what I can do about that. There are 3 reviews for the 50mm lens.

Olympus Zuiko Digital 50mm f/2.0 Lens Review Page >>

Traditionally, portrait lenses for 35mm film cameras have been in the 70-100mm range and have larger apertures of f/2.8 or higher. The the 85mm focal length is probably the most popular. So with a 2:1 crop factor, the Olympus 50mm is comparable to a 100mm lens. I think the 35mm lens would be more versatile because it's not so long. But I also think the f/3.5 aperture isn't as fast as I'd like for portraits. For that reason, the 35-100mm f/2.0 zoom lens looks like another great choice. It ain't cheap, but I like the fast aperture a lot and the coverage is very versatile and will work for portraits, weddings and sports. It's basically the same as a 70-200mm pro lens from Canon or Nikon, but with a faster aperture. This lens is one where you really see the benefits of the Four Thirds System. Unfortunately we don't have any reviews for that lens yet. We really need more reviews from Olympus E-System users. Here's a link to that lens page, anyhow. You can still check the specs, prices, and where to buy it. And maybe someone will see this link and post a review for you:

Read and write Olympus Zuiko 35-100mm f/2.0 Lens Reviews >>

That should give you something to think about for a while. Let me know if you have more questions.

Wow, thank you so much Photojohn! That is VERY helpful to me, I was wondering why the other post didn't make much sense to me, although I still appreciate any input.

It would be nice if I had a lens that could do it 'all'; my two kids are in soccer and I have my portraits to take as well... Just curious as to what you would get first if you were me and could not afford the 35-100mm f2.0 lens yet.... I am looking at the 14-54 but, would the 50-200 work as well for what I'm needing? As you can tell, I'm still trying to figure out the lenses and what they give you... I come to this site many times a day to see what else I can learn, so glad I found this site!

Thanks for your input!

The Olympus 14-54mm lens would be a great low-cost alternative. It's got an excellent zoom range, the maximum aperture is much better than your 14-45mm lens, and it's got three perfect reviews from owner in the reviews here. I give you my thumbs up :thumbsup:

i just just got the 18-150 four thirds system. zuiko. it doesnt have the same aperture that you're talking about. its not that fast of a lens. but I bet that if you were outside the zoom would do most of the work for you. i will do a review for the 8mm fisheye john since i picked up that little puppy around october. its a nice lens. i'll just post a review now.