Rethinking the O75 ..........

I have both the 75mm f1.8 and the 35-100mm f2.8. I bought the 75mm first only because I stumbled on a good deal.

The church I usually shoot in is small only ten rows of pews front to back. The 75mm will give me a full length portrait of a person in the vertical orientation from the back of the church and from the 4th row of pews from the front I get a head and shoulder crop of a person.

The 35-100mm allows for greater flexibility in framing but because my church isn't always well lit I quite often need the extra stop of light the 75mm f1.8 provides in order to get a high enough shutter speed to spot subject movement. I don't like shooting the EM5 above ISO 3200 and I don't use flash during a typical service only on rare occasions and sparingly.

If you have a well lit church I'd say go for the 35-100 if the lighting is questionable I would get the 75mm f1.8.

When shooting in church I have with me the two panasonic f2.8 zooms and the 20mm f1.7, 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8.

I had the primes first and have only in the past 6 months added the two f2.8 zooms.

I'll try and post some photos later

 

Barcelona

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Camera OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. E-M5
ISO 1600
Focal Length 75mm
Aperture f/4.5
Exposure Time 0.0125s (1/80)
Name P8050086.jpg
Size 4490 x 3368
Date Taken 2013-08-05 15:56:47
Date Modified 2013-08-05 15:56:47

File Size 5.33 MB
Flash flash did not fire
Metering pattern
Exposure Program aperture priority
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Exposure Mode auto
Light Source unknown
White Balance auto
Digital Zoom 1.0x
Contrast 0
Saturation 2
Sharpness 2
Color Space sRGB

 

I don't know about churches, but the 75 is an excellent lens for shooting low-light indoor events in general. It works really well in theatres, sports halls etc. I don't see why it won't be just as good in a church (unless the almighty is a Nikon user perhaps?)

 

every quarter of a stop counts when shooting in these conditions. the 75 gets the job done for working distance and large aperture. i've been dreaming to get one even if i have the 35-100. good luck.

 

Have you considered getting a legacy lens? In poorly lit church at a longer shooting distance focus assist is useless and you will probably have greater success with manual focus anyway. Many good old 85 f1.8, 85 f1.4, and even 85 f1.2 lenses by Canon, Nikon, Olympus and others available for much less than the O75. I picked up a Canon FD 85 f1.8, ex- shape, for $75 plus $15 for a Fotasy adapter (much better quality adapter than the others I've used). My 50 f1.4 was $59, ex+! These two have proven themselves in my F-1n film days and have been well worth the re-investment in the digital age.

 

I violated photography prohibition during a friend's son's Bar Mitzvah. One shot with the 75 obtained a keepsake they will treasure for a long time. That of mom and dad accompanying the son speaking at a lectern. Lighting was moderately dim, not dim. Lectern's reading lamp furnished a nice reflected up-light for subject's faces.