Help deciding.... Panasonic 25mm 1.7 or Olympus 25mm 1.8........Portrait Lens

[DlanorSekao]

Would like one relatively inexpensive 25mm dedicated Prime lens for Portraits mainly , and have found myself absolutely "Stuck" deciding between the two !
I have a Olympus EM-10II and am currently leaning towards the Panny 25mm 1.7 based solely on the review images posted on this forum. Looks like it might have slightly better color rendition over the Olympus ? But also the corners and edges might be a bit worse than the oly version ?
Will be buying from the used market and only need to decide between the two......descisions….descisions…..lol.
This will be my last lens for a while as I have a nice kit going on without breaking the bank.
I currently have the Panny Lumix 14mm , 20mm and 12-32 …. and the Oly 14-42IIR , and 40-150 R
The 20mm lens is just a bit wide for my tastes in a portrait lens.
Any help deciding is appreciated.

 

[skellington]

Traditionally, portraits are with a bit longer lens (i.e. 40-70ish in mu43.) And while a 25 is wider than the 20, it's more of a normal field of view than the more typical "short telephoto" used for portraits. The longer focal length makes it easier to blur backgrounds and provides less distortion of the subject.

Have you set your zoom to 25 (and 42) and done some shooting?

As to those lenses, I haven't shot with the Olympus 25, but I felt that the Panasonic 25 f1.7 was too large; and I'd rather have the Olympus (smaller) or the PL 25 (f1.4) if I was considering larger. (And in fact, I ended up going P20 and S30-f1.4, plus have the O45.)

 

[Mountain]

Would like one relatively inexpensive 25mm dedicated Prime lens for Portraits mainly , and have found myself absolutely "Stuck" deciding between the two !
I have a Olympus EM-10II and am currently leaning towards the Panny 25mm 1.7 based solely on the review images posted on this forum. Looks like it might have slightly better color rendition over the Olympus ? But also the corners and edges might be a bit worse than the oly version ?
Will be buying from the used market and only need to decide between the two......descisions….descisions…..lol.
This will be my last lens for a while as I have a nice kit going on without breaking the bank.
I currently have the Panny Lumix 14mm , 20mm and 12-32 …. and the Oly 14-42IIR , and 40-150 R
The 20mm lens is just a bit wide for my tastes in a portrait lens.
Any help deciding is appreciated.

I have the P 25/1.7. It's ok. I use it quite a lot because it's a convenient length, but for portraits I prefer my 42.5/1.7 by a pretty big margin (or even my 12-40Pro at the long end). I don't have any experience with the Oly lens, but it seems like a good option, as well. You seem pretty sure that it will be one of those two lenses, so take the following with a grain of salt. I think that the 20/1.7 is a better lens than the 25mm. Since you have that and 2 other lenses that cover the 25mm range, you might widen you search to include one of the longer lenses in the range. The sigma 30mm, oly 45mm, and P 42.5 are all very nice lenses, though none are quite as a affordable as the 25mm lenses that you're looking at. The P25mm is so inexpensive, you won't lose much if you decide on it and then move to something different later. Another note is that the P25mm is actually a pretty big lens, all things considered, and feels cheap/plastic (though it is quite durable given my unscientific abuse). I also seem to miss focus on this lens more than any other in my quiver. There was some talk of focus shift issues, perhaps that's the cause. It hasn't stopped me from using it, however. Hope that helps.

 

[skellington]

I think the P25 is reported to have "focus breathing" issues.

If the lens focuses at one aperture, and then the aperture adjusts to take the shot, the focus distance changes slightly.

There's also a great deal of variation between copies.

Lens rentals did a review on a bunch of 25mm lenses for m43 (although couldn't do the P25 f1.7 for technical reasons), and liked the O25 f1.8 a great deal.

 

[LilSebastian]

I love my Olympus 25mm f1.8 for in the house photos of the family. It has enough isolation to be pleasing but allows me to get two kids in the shot, whereas a more traditional 42.5/45mm portrait would not. The 25 is more of a person plus environment kind of lens. If you have working room to back up and/or want tighter body and head shots, consider the 45mm f1.8 or similar. Your 20mm Panasonic can stand in for the 25.

 

[DlanorSekao]

I love my Olympus 25mm f1.8 for in the house photos of the family. It has enough isolation to be pleasing but allows me to get two kids in the shot, whereas a more traditional 42.5/45mm portrait would not. The 25 is more of a person plus environment kind of lens. If you have working room to back up and/or want tighter body and head shots, consider the 45mm f1.8 or similar. Your 20mm Panasonic can stand in for the 25.

Ive pretty much decided on a 25mm lens for my style of a Portrait lens for this very reason you mentioned above.
I have other adapted lenses from Pentax , Minolta , and Konica to fill the need for an 85mm equiv head shot lens that work very nice. Keeping with the M43 system of tiny and light Im lacking in that specific department of a decent prime.

 

[Glawsder]

The Oly 25 on my EM10 was one of my favourite combinations, and a joy to shoot with.
I seem to use it a lot less on the EM1ii that replaced the EM10, and I am looking to buy an EM5 to use it more often again and size plays an important part in that decision..

When I bought the 25, I was going to buy the Panasonic, but ended up with a good deal that made it £20 more than the Panasonic and it felt like a no brainer at the time. After using it and even though the Olympus is now £60 more expensive, I would still go with the Olympus.

But if you want it mainly for portraits then 25mm is a bit too wide, especially as you have the 20mm for general purpose shooting, so I would suggest that you get a portrait lens and keep your 20mm for general purpose shooting and that will give you a better range of primes.

I am currently in love with my Sigma 56 which is admittedly £100 more than the Oly 25. The 56 replaced my previous beau the Sigma 60 2.8 which is cheaper than both the 25's and a cracking portrait lens.

In your shoes, I would get the Sigma 60 (before they are all sold out) and save money unless you really need the faster aperture in which case buy an Oly 45 (priced between the 2 25's)

 

[mawz]

I've owned both. The Olympus would be my choice for general use. It's sharper for sure.

The Panny is pretty good and has a lovely rendering. It's probably the better people lens of the two.

But I agree with Glawsder that you would do much better with a longer lens for portrait work. The 45/1.8 is the same price as the 20/1.8 and is much better suited for portrait work. The Sigma 60 is also excellent, but may be a little longer than you want. The Sigma is in between the Oly 25 and Panny 25 in price.

 

[ac12]

I'm puzzled.
You have the 20 now, so why the 25? It is only a bit longer than your 20, and not enough to make much of a difference.

 

[Glawsder]

The Sigma is in between the Oly 25 and Panny 25 in price

In the UK the Sigma is cheaper than both, hence my suggestion. If the o45 is the same price as the s60 where you are, then the o45 makes more sense, as it is a bit more general purpose focal length and faster

 

[Mike Wingate]

I don’t use mine much. I seem to gravitate to my P42.5mm f1.7.

 

[DlanorSekao]

I'm puzzled.
You have the 20 now, so why the 25? It is only a bit longer than your 20, and not enough to make much of a difference.

True....its not much of a difference , but for me it IS enough to justify a purchase.

 

[DlanorSekao]

I don’t use mine much. I seem to gravitate to my P42.5mm f1.7.

For that focal length I have several lenses such as the Pentax SMC-M 40mm 2.8 , and Minolta 45mm MC Rokkor !
However they perform nicely but are manual focus.

 

[Acraftman]

Would like one relatively inexpensive 25mm dedicated Prime lens for Portraits mainly , and have found myself absolutely "Stuck" deciding between the two !
I have a Olympus EM-10II and am currently leaning towards the Panny 25mm 1.7 based solely on the review images posted on this forum. Looks like it might have slightly better color rendition over the Olympus ? But also the corners and edges might be a bit worse than the oly version ?
Will be buying from the used market and only need to decide between the two......descisions….descisions…..lol.
This will be my last lens for a while as I have a nice kit going on without breaking the bank.
I currently have the Panny Lumix 14mm , 20mm and 12-32 …. and the Oly 14-42IIR , and 40-150 R
The 20mm lens is just a bit wide for my tastes in a portrait lens.
Any help deciding is appreciated.

I am pretty sure he reviews both lens and is also very unbiased as far as manufacturers are concerned.

 

[speedy]

I'm puzzled.
You have the 20 now, so why the 25? It is only a bit longer than your 20, and not enough to make much of a difference.

He he he. I'll really blow your mind. I have the Lumix 14mm f/2.5, PL 15mm f/1.7, Lumix 20mm f/1.7, Lumix 25mm f/1.7, & PL 25mm f/1.4 I got the Lumix 25 for free, so probably doesn't count. They're all good. Buy whatever you like & can afford.

PS plus the Lumix 12-32, but that's a zoom

 

[mawz]

In the UK the Sigma is cheaper than both, hence my suggestion. If the o45 is the same price as the s60 where you are, then the o45 makes more sense, as it is a bit more general purpose focal length

Over here the P25 is the cheapest prime available for m43 right now ($150USD/$200CDN). The o45 and o25 are on sale (for the same price) but still a tad more than the S60.

 

[ac12]

He he he. I'll really blow your mind. I have the Lumix 14mm f/2.5, PL 15mm f/1.7, Lumix 20mm f/1.7, Lumix 25mm f/1.7, & PL 25mm f/1.4 I got the Lumix 25 for free, so probably doesn't count. They're all good. Buy whatever you like & can afford.

PS plus the Lumix 12-32, but that's a zoom

GAS

I have that "problem" with zooms.

 

[agentlossing]

Sigma 30mm f1.4 for a bit more telephoto flattening and a lot less dof when needed.

 

[tkbslc]

Agree with agentlossing.

I think since you already have the 20mm, you should get the Sigma 30mm f1.4. Just a little more "oomph" than a 25mm for background seperation. And then at least you have a 50% progression from the 20mm instead of a paltry 25%.

When size is important, you'd bring the 20mm anyway, so I don't think the fact that it is heavier should be a deterrent.

 

[skellington]

Reconditioned Olympus 25mm is on sale for $160 from Olympus today:

https://www.getolympus.com/us/en/ou...s/m-zuiko-25mm-f1-8-silver-reconditioned.html