The 45mm might work....I'm just on the fence about selling my Nikon dslr, which i know is capable of good portraiture....and going to a new system. Just want a more portable system, but one that is fully capable of doing family/kid portraits, such as several coming up this weekend. Just cannot afford to have 2 different systems.

You have nothing to worry about. The PEN system is more than capable for portraitures, and with native lenses there aren't many DSLR systems better. Can I ask what your Nikon system is?

Here's an article which may hit home to you, from Scott Bourne who calls the E-P3 and m.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 his favorite portrait camera. He's no longer using his Canon 1DIV, Nikon D3s, or Leica M9 for portraits anymore. In fact, he's selling his Leica kit in favor of his E-P3/45mm lens combo, including his Leica M9 and his 35 and 90mm lenses (all quotes from the article).

My New Favorite Portrait Camera « Photofocus

I am a professional photographer myself and shoot primarily product, portrait, and fashion. I've pretty well ditched my clunky DSLR kit as well, although I still use the same lenses (plus some! I have the same larger digital commercial lenses, plus a lot of new legacy primes for compact, efficient travel). The PEN does all the same things, but in a much smaller package with less overhead... and even expands my range of lenses (rangefinder, cine, and old Pen F lenses can be used, and all legacy lenses operate better because of the bright electronic viewfinder).

You can check out the type of work I do with the PEN here: http://cyclopsphoto.ca/
(Not all the photos on the site are from a PEN, but those that aren't are from an Olympus E-System DSLR. I don't have any work from other systems that is as good or worth showing. Recent photos are pretty much all PEN.)

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Olympus E-3 | Olympus E-PL2 PEN | Olympus E-PM1 PEN | Zuiko ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD | Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 | Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135mm f/2.8 | Konica Hexanon 50mm f/1.4 | Konica Hexanon 85mm f/1.8 | G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 | Zuiko 35mm f/3.5 Macro | Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 | KMZ Jupiter-3 50mm f/1.5 | E.Zuiko 200mm f/4 | Zuiko 75-150mm f/4 | Olympus EC-14 teleconverter | VF-2 and VF-3 Viewfinders | EMA-1 Mic Adapter | Olympus FL-36R and FL-50R speedlights

cyclopsphoto.ca

Ned, currently have the D5100 with only the 35mm f1.8, so I'm not heavily invested in Nikon..yet..that's why I'm leaning towards the EPL3.

Had the chance to play with it and the 20mm and the 45mm...it was fast and discrete.
For your portrait work are you using the VF-2 or 3?

I use the VF-2. However, for most portrait work (particularly in the studio) I use the LCD on the back of the camera. This gives me much more freedom to control the camera from any angle and interact with my subjects better. People used to laugh at me with all the awkward positions I put myself into to get the right angle on my DSLR, lol (though the vari-angle VF-2 is still a lot better for that than the old DSLR eye-level finders). For most portrait work I'm dealing with controlled lighting and don't need the VF-2.

Where I normally use the VF-2 is when shooting in ambient light, in particular with manual focus lenses. For those situations I adore the VF-2, but I also like the fact that it's a modular system and I can take it off when I pack the camera so it's not so bulky for travel.

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Olympus E-3 | Olympus E-PL2 PEN | Olympus E-PM1 PEN | Zuiko ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD | Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 | Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135mm f/2.8 | Konica Hexanon 50mm f/1.4 | Konica Hexanon 85mm f/1.8 | G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 | Zuiko 35mm f/3.5 Macro | Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 | KMZ Jupiter-3 50mm f/1.5 | E.Zuiko 200mm f/4 | Zuiko 75-150mm f/4 | Olympus EC-14 teleconverter | VF-2 and VF-3 Viewfinders | EMA-1 Mic Adapter | Olympus FL-36R and FL-50R speedlights

cyclopsphoto.ca

At outings with my own family, I almost exclusively use my Olympus E-PM1 with either the Panny 14mm f/2.5 (for group shots) or the Oly 45mm f/1.8 (for portraits). I have the Panny 20mm f/1.7 as well, but I almost never need anything beyond those first two. And I have the VF-2 for use outdoors or when I want/need to manual focus.

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Panasonic G5 and Panasonic GX1, Lumix 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6, Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6, Lumix 100-300mm f/4-5.6, Lumix 14mm f/2.5, Lumix 20mm f/1.7

Olympus E-PM2, Zuiko 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6, Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R, Zuiko 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6, Zuiko 40-150 f/4.0-5.6 R, Zuiko 15mm body-cap lens, Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, Zuiko 45mm f/1.8

Ned,
Do you have the 45mm? You are right, If I'm shooting outdoors, I can back up to get all three subjects in the photo! Thought the Pana. 25mm would work until I saw the price...
I don't do many portrait sessions other than now, that's why I was considering the 20mm, since much of my photography involves outdoor photography, buildings, old downtowns, etc. Maybe I can find a suitable adapted lens instead of the 20mm?

Maybe it would be better to find an EPL2 2-lens kit, and use the money I save on the 45mm and the 20mm? What do you think?

Jet

I don't use the m.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 myself, but I use many older 50mm f/1.4 lenses instead (like the Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 and Konica Hexanon 50mm f/1.4). They are pretty much the same thing except without Autofocus, as the older f/1.4 lenses need to be stopped down to f/2 anyways to compare in quality with the newer 45mm/1.8 (though I still like the option of f/1.4 when I need it). These lenses all work great for portraits. The 25mm range is fine for full body shots, but is too short to be comfortable for headshots and bust shots. The 50mm range works good for group headshots, but for group body shots you should go a lot wider.

For the 20mm range though, you won't find an inexpensive adapted lens unless it's in a rangefinder mount, or another short-register mirrorless mount. Going wider than 50mm in an SLR mount requires retrofocus design, making wide angle legacy lenses more expensive and not very fast. Since the nifty-fifty design can be used as a short telephoto on a m4/3 body, the advantage goes to legacy primes in that range. For wide angle lenses, you're better off to stick with native lenses like the m.Zuiko 12mm/2 and 17mm/2.8, Lumix 14mm/2.5 and 20mm/1.7, Leica 25mm/1.4, or even the Zuiko 25mm/2.8 (for Four-Thirds) for that range of primes. You probably won't get much wider or faster than a 24mm or 28mm f/2.8 anyways in an adapted lens anyways, unless you go with cine lenses which aren't made for the high resolution of our sensors.


I think this is a very good idea. :)

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Olympus E-3 | Olympus E-PL2 PEN | Olympus E-PM1 PEN | Zuiko ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD | Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 | Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135mm f/2.8 | Konica Hexanon 50mm f/1.4 | Konica Hexanon 85mm f/1.8 | G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 | Zuiko 35mm f/3.5 Macro | Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 | KMZ Jupiter-3 50mm f/1.5 | E.Zuiko 200mm f/4 | Zuiko 75-150mm f/4 | Olympus EC-14 teleconverter | VF-2 and VF-3 Viewfinders | EMA-1 Mic Adapter | Olympus FL-36R and FL-50R speedlights

cyclopsphoto.ca

The 45mm f/1.8 is a great portrait lens and excellent value for money. For wide shots, you cannot beat the 12mm f/2 and that is the lens I use the most but probably not as suited to your needs.

As an equivalent to the 35mm on the Nikon, probably the 20mm Panny is the one but on my E-P3 seems a slow and noisy focussing lens compared to other more recent lenses.

If you don't yet have the body, buy the twin lens kit with the 14-42 and 40-150 zooms. You won't get better value.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Christmas comes once a year, so I would pick the most versatile lens for your general shooting needs. I vote for the 25.

What about the kit lens? It's not that spendy gives you from WA (14) to medium tele (42) and can give you a good way to explore what you like focal length wise.

If you are looking for a native portrait lens than the Oly 45/1.8 is your only real option. There are a TON of legacy lens options however. Pick any fast 50. I like the OM50/1.4 (lovely bokeh and color), Super Takumar 50/1.4 (lovey bokeh and sharp) and Konica 40/1.8 (soft wide open but sharpens up nicely stopped down)