lense to shoot without flash

Hello, can anyone give me a bit of advice on which lense to use with my digital E-500 for indoor use without a flash (mostly for portraits). I looking for something not too expensive. Thoughts much appreciated on this one.

Thx

Buy an E series adapter for OM manual lenses, and an Olympus Zuiko 50mm F1.8

Ideal portrait length, fast, inexpensive and very sharp.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave6223

Buy an E series adapter for OM manual lenses, and an Olympus Zuiko 50mm F1.8

Ideal portrait length, fast, inexpensive and very sharp.

Dave

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Where can I find the adapter?

By all means someone jump in and correct me if I am wrong but:

http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPage/IOMMF1.html
MF-1 Adapter is around $85 but it only takes certain lenses (but what it does take is pretty long) and it doesn't support stuff like AF.
Here's the manual for it:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...f1instcomp.pdf
The Zuiko 50mm 1.8 is listed as being a compatible lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc....html#features
MF-2 is around $160 and looks like it should take all the old OM mount lenses, but again with some limitations like no AF.

Adorama has a couple of the 50m 1.8 lenses used for $69-$84.
I didn't see one for sale on B&H. I've seen them for pretty cheap ($50-$90) at various other random places. Also, if you do a google search you can find some pretty comprehensive articles about the 50mm and how it performs on the 4/3's and m4/3's cameras.

(Side note, both companies have both adapters. I just posted one from each since I like the companies pretty equally. Price wise for those adapters they were within pennies of each other. I don't know much about the technical differences for the adapters, but in the past the folks at both stores' call centers have been pretty helpful. )

None of the OM lenses have AF to begin with, so an adapter isn't going to have AF either. Olympus discontinued the OM line because everyone else had moved to AF and digital. 4/3 is the next logical step.

I got an OM-4/3 adapter for about $10 on fleabay, and an OM10 with 50/1.8 in pristine condition for $20 at a flea market. I've seen them around at resale for about twice the price, so I got a good deal...still, that's only $50 for a solid lens and an adapter.

Or if you want AF, the 14-54 or 50/2 are the best ZD choices, or the 30/1.4 is the sigma goto.

If you already have a nice walk around lens I think the 50mm would be my choice.

If you want a modern lens with autofocus that can shoot at night, Sigma 30mm F1.4 is only 400 bucks

Otherwise legacy lenses are where its at. I use an M42 adapter and have a Ricoh 55mm F1.4

I bought the Sigma 30mm about five months ago to shoot bands in bars and low light shooting and can say that it performs well. Most of the time I can shoot with a shutter speed of 80 up to 200 in most dimly lit bars with the lens.

Thank you for all your comments. I'll check everything and I'll let you know my choice... i'm kind of new in this world so i'll try to understand what you wrote first... hehehe!

So, if I do understand you here what I should buy for my E-500:

http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPa...%20374943.html

http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPage/IOMMF1.html

Thank you

Dany

Dont forget when you use an adapter you are going to loose at least one f stop. So the 1.8 will actually shoot like a 2.8.

If you have trouble understanding anything thats been said, then you really should go out and learn more about photography and the basics of Shutter Speed and Aperture before making any purchases.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chrisnesss

Dont forget when you use an adapter you are going to loose at least one f stop. So the 1.8 will actually shoot like a 2.8.

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No this is not true, the focal length of the lens does not change and thus neither does the Focal Ratio.

The only addons that change the F ratio are teleconverters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tancredd

So, if I do understand you here what I should buy for my E-500:

http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPa...%20374943.html

http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPage/IOMMF1.html

Thank you

Dany

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paying anything more than 10 dollars for a simple piece of machined metal is ridiculous. Buy a cheap one on eBay for 1/8th that price

Search "OM adapter" and find OM to four thirds adapter

Thx everyone
I bought the adapter and the OM lense on ebay for a good price!
I'm looking foward to try this!

Dany

Ok
I read a lot and now I know what we are talking about. I received my lens from the USA and the adapter from Hong Kong (yeah for Ebay). Everything for 50$. I took some pics and i'm getting use to it. I'll post some when I'm ready to get some of your advice and your comments.

Thx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tancredd

Ok
I read a lot and now I know what we are talking about. I received my lens from the USA and the adapter from Hong Kong (yeah for Ebay). Everything for 50$. I took some pics and i'm getting use to it. I'll post some when I'm ready to get some of your advice and your comments.

Thx

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Congratulations on your new lens & adaptor! Looking forward to seeing your pics.

Enjoy!

Liz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tancredd

Hello, can anyone give me a bit of advice on which lense to use with my digital E-500 for indoor use without a flash (mostly for portraits). I looking for something not too expensive. Thoughts much appreciated on this one.

Thx

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get you a good 35mm fast primelens, like f1.4/50mm,with adapter and you are ready, will beat any Zoomlens in resolution

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CZJ Fan

get you a good 35mm fast primelens, like f1.4/50mm,with adapter and you are ready, will beat any Zoomlens in resolution

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The difference between f1.4 and f1.8 is one stop. And f1.8 is still regarded as fairly fast.

The f1.8 50mm is as fast as is needed really, and maintains good image quality at medium settings like f5.6.

When you compare the difference in price between 1.4 and 1.8 it seems pointless.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave6223

The difference between f1.4 and f1.8 is one stop. And f1.8 is still regarded as fairly fast.

The f1.8 50mm is as fast as is needed really, and maintains good image quality at medium settings like f5.6.

When you compare the difference in price between 1.4 and 1.8 it seems pointless.

Dave

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1.8 is not a full stop.

1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 44, 64, 88, 128, 176....

starting at one, multiply by approximately 1.4 every time. 1.414213562... to be more precise :p
square root of 2 to be entirely precise.



edit: sorry got carried away... to address your original post, one of my favorite lenses is an M42 mount Sears/Ricoh 55mm 1.4 and its fantastic. The DOF is so shallow! its not about just speed, but the super shallow focus... definitely worth the investment to get 1.4 if the prices are not too far off. I think I got that lens for less than 60 bucks on ebay [with a useless film body attached]

http://fliman.com/uploads/zo.JPG

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atomic2

1.8 is not a full stop.

1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 44, 64, 88, 128, 176....

starting at one, multiply by approximately 1.4 every time. 1.414213562... to be more precise :p
square root of 2 to be entirely precise.



edit: sorry got carried away... to address your original post, one of my favorite lenses is an M42 mount Sears/Ricoh 55mm 1.4 and its fantastic. The DOF is so shallow! its not about just speed, but the super shallow focus... definitely worth the investment to get 1.4 if the prices are not too far off. I think I got that lens for less than 60 bucks on ebay [with a useless film body attached]

http://fliman.com/uploads/zo.JPG

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I bow to your knowledge.

However look at the difference between zuiko 50mm 1.8 and 50mm f1.4, its double the cost at least. For "less than one stop"?

Incidentally, he says he already bought his lens. Seems a bit pointless to ask him to buy another so soo, wouldn't you thiink?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atomic2

1.8 is not a full stop.

1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 44, 64, 88, 128, 176....

starting at one, multiply by approximately 1.4 every time. 1.414213562... to be more precise :p
square root of 2 to be entirely precise.

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F1.8 is 2/3 of a stop slower than F1.4 and 1/3 of a stop faster than F2.

F1.7 is half a stop slower than F1.4 and half a stop faster than F2.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by straightarm

F1.8 is 2/3 of a stop slower than F1.4 and 1/3 of a stop faster than F2.

F1.7 is half a stop slower than F1.4 and half a stop faster than F2.

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Pretty much, but thats a rough approximation. Its not linear like that: By that logic F5 would be midway between F2 and F8, but we know that between F2 and F8 theres a 4 stop difference and so the midway point would be two full stops above F2, which puts us at F4. F4 is exactly 2 stops above F2, and 2 stops below F8, right? This is because its not linear.


Every full stop is a factor of the square root of 2. Plug into any calculator the square root of 2 [1.414213562] If you have a graphing calculator then store that value as a variable, say "x."

So take X and put it to the ZEROth power, and like anything to the 0th power you get 1. X to the 1st gives you ~1.4,
x^2=2
x^3=~2.8
x^4=4
and so on

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave6223

I bow to your knowledge.

However look at the difference between zuiko 50mm 1.8 and 50mm f1.4, its double the cost at least. For "less than one stop"?

Incidentally, he says he already bought his lens. Seems a bit pointless to ask him to buy another so soo, wouldn't you thiink?

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I was just posting to to say its worth the money in my opinion if you were to be buying it now.

Anyway either way these lenses are not very expensive to begin with. I had a 58mm F2 already when I bought the 55mm F1.4 and im really glad I did.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atomic2

Pretty much, but thats a rough approximation. Its not linear like that: By that logic F5 would be midway between F2 and F8, but we know that between F2 and F8 theres a 4 stop difference and so the midway point would be two full stops above F2, which puts us at F4. F4 is exactly 2 stops above F2, and 2 stops below F8, right? This is because its not linear.


Every full stop is a factor of the square root of 2. Plug into any calculator the square root of 2 [1.414213562] If you have a graphing calculator then store that value as a variable, say "x."

So take X and put it to the ZEROth power, and like anything to the 0th power you get 1. X to the 1st gives you ~1.4,
x^2=2
x^3=~2.8
x^4=4
and so on

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It's not a rough approximation; it's been properly calculated in excel


in 1/3 stop intervals, the pattern is:

1
1.122462048
1.25992105
1.414213562
1.587401052
1.781797436
2

in half stop intervals

1
1.189207115
1.414213562
1.681792831
2


whole stops

1
1.414213562
2

the f1.8 and f1.7 are merely rounding to 1 decimal place