What do I do with the Olympus 45mm?

Ddeveryday · May 18, 2014

Hey guys, I have been using the Panasonic 20mm since I got my first camera, the GF1. And the 20mm is pretty much the only lens I use for the past 3 years. Now I want to try something different. So I just acquired an Olympus 45mm. And I'm unable to adapt to the new focal length. Normally when I see something, I picture how the photo will come out in my head, then I proceed to take the picture. Now I'm completely clueless.

What do you shoot with the 45mm? Under what situation and environment? Can you guys show me sample pictures of what the 45mm is good for?

I just feel that the 45mm focal length is too close. And I'm torn between keeping it or return it to get a wider lens instead.

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barbosas · May 18, 2014

You can get an idea here: https://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=16610

I used it especially for head shots and subject isolation at short distances.

Examples:
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbosas/8755284614" title="_EPL0591 by Pedro Barbosa, on Flickr">

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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbosas/12707240893" title="AMS_20131229_163831_P290395_copy by Pedro Barbosa, on Flickr">

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spatulaboy · May 18, 2014

It's great for portraiture. If you don't shoot portraits it's usable as a long general lens, you just need to adapt to it.

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The other side of you by Vincent-F-Tsai, on Flickr

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345/365 Mother's Day by Vincent-F-Tsai, on Flickr

Why don't you pop in to the Oly 45 image thread? There are examples of every subject taken with this lens. https://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=16610&page=339

darcius1 · May 18, 2014

Have you checked the sample image archive https://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=16610?

This is a "classic" portrait length but may be used for a wide variety of purposes. I shot with 20mm and 45mm mostly after initially starting with the 20mm much like yourself. I think just getting out there to shoot, you will adapt to the new perspective in the same way you learned to frame with the 20mm in your mind's eye.

You have a great 2 lens kit.

GFFPhoto · May 18, 2014

If you have used the 20 for 3 years, ANY lens will be hard to adapt to. You see at that focal length. A wide will seem too wide, a telephoto will seem too close.

Here is what the 45 is better at: You can take portraits with less distortion. The 20 will subtly distort facial features on close portraits (especially face shots), the 45 will give a more accurate rendering; The 45 is better able to isolate a subject with bokeh. Shoot with a wide aperture and you can get the subject in focus, and the background more blurred the with the 20; and of course, the 45 will bring things closer and frame tighter.

My suggestion: Put the 45 on your camera for a week and don't take it off. Go out and take a lot of pictures. Experiment with isolating your subject, experiment with framing, maybe take a few portraits. Even though it will seem awkward after 3 years with the 20, keep the lens on the camera and let yourself become accustomed to it. Go ahead and curse it when you back into a wall trying to get the framing you are accustomed to, just keep getting the feel of it, and try and use it in ways you wouldn't use the 20 (experiment with isolation, it does it much better than the 20). It may take longer than a week to really appreciate it, but its a good focal length, and a week of general shooting with the 45 will help. Its not the standard walk around focal length that a 35-50 mm equivalent is, but it is still a very flexible focal length.

oldracer · May 18, 2014

Ddeveryday said:
What do you shoot with the 45mm? Under what situation and environment? Can you guys show me sample pictures of what the 45mm is good for?

As barbosas pointed out, it's a classic focal length for portraits, especially ones like he shows. For tight head shots I prefer something slightly longer like my old Nikon F 105mm, which would be equivalent to 52.5mm in M43.

I also used mine for this:

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That's a four or five shot stitched panorama. I have it printed 42"/~1 meter wide and the detail of the flags flying from the rightmost tower is amazing. I could probably print it 60"/1.5 meter wide and still have very satisfactory detail.

orfeo · May 18, 2014

Think of your 45mm as a subject isolation lens. Be it detail on a building, doing a portrait or photographying shoes... you get the idea, all the detail get shot with this lens. Keep your 20mm "normal" field of view focal length for subjet that requieres context and more things in the frame. And have fun, it's one hell of a lens!

barry · May 18, 2014

I used an adapted 50mm for an indoor dance concert recently; I was seated towards the front and it was good for capturing 1/2 or 2/3 or the stage.

Barry

CiaranCReilly · May 18, 2014

It's great for standing off from subjects in low light, replacing say a 70-200 type lens if you have the patience and willingness to crop. I do a little soccer photography and can keep shooting after the pros with zooms give up (although there are very few if any pros at the games I tend to shoot), here's an example with the Olympus OM 50mm f/1.8 (very similar in principal) - https://flic.kr/p/evWRr6

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RevBob · May 18, 2014

As with any lens, it's helpful to shoot with just that one lens for a couple of months. That should help you see the possibilities and get used to the lens. The 45mm is fast and sharp with excellent contrast. I love mine.

LowriderS10 · May 18, 2014

I loooove my 45. It's so capable and surprisingly versatile...from yesterday in Korea:

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EDITVOM5282 by Tamas V, on Flickr

From my trip to Taiwan a couple of months ago:

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EDITVOM3639 by Tamas V, on Flickr

and

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EDITVOM3765 by Tamas V, on Flickr

From Europe last summer:

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EDITVOM1909 by Tamas V, on Flickr

and

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EDITVOM0563 by Tamas V, on Flickr

Last one...near Jungfrau in Switzerland:

View attachment 362279 EDITVOM0781 by Tamas V, on Flickr

dornblaser · May 18, 2014

Add extension tubes and shoot macro.

Bif · May 18, 2014

Your 20mm is what I call "wide normal", normal (sees spatial relationships in much the same perspective as the human eye) for the Micro Four Thirds format is approximately 25mm so your 20mm perspective approaches that of the 135 film format's 35mm.

This was a focal length the photojournalists loved because as long as you didn't try to photograph people too close (foreshortening caused the distortions mention in a previous post) it gave a tremendous flexibilty in working distances and perspective without being obviously wide angle.

You have a lot of good suggestions already, go with them for awhile and try to learn to appreciate the ability to explore confined detail, portrait like images of people. I'm a retired portrait photographer and the perspective of the 45mm is something I lived with and worked in for decades. It's a better lens than most of what I used even on medium format cameras like Mamiya RB 67 and Hasselblad.

fransglans · May 19, 2014

When u use it think of your self stranded on a island with just one lens and this is it!

Work with what you have and your eyes will get used to the new fl...

Rickf · May 20, 2014

Of all the lenses I recently got with my EM10 the 45/1.8 is the one I'm having the most fun with at the moment:

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Rick

zap · May 20, 2014

how about set some time to really get acquainted with it? really wonderful lens when you give it the chance...

JHM · May 20, 2014

I like it for portraits, weddings and also like it for street photography if you want to catch people from a distance so you can take a picture without people knowing you're taking the picture.
Last year in Jerusalem I walked the Jerusalem March. I shot amazing pictures with the 85mm which I could not (or very hard) have made with a 50mm.
Both FFE 85mm and 50mm are my favorite focal lenghts.

Bokeaji · May 20, 2014

my brain has a hard time seeing from 26-69
i can see with my pl25 just fine, and the wide end of my 4/3 70-300 just fine. and am good with the -300 part as well.. but theres a blind spot in my vision! and that blind spot includes my o45! lol

zap · May 20, 2014

Bokeaji said:
my brain has a hard time seeing from 26-69
i can see with my pl25 just fine, and the wide end of my 4/3 70-300 just fine. and am good with the -300 part as well.. but theres a blind spot in my vision! and that blind spot includes my o45! lol

Deleted member 20897 · May 20, 2014

Any focal length can be used for anything. I've shot street with 24/35/50/90mm lenses on FF, so transitioning over to MFT equivalent FOV is not that difficult for me. As stated previously by another post, don't expect to understand a lens or focal length completely after just having shot it for a few days. It can take weeks/months/years to "get it". As you've stated, you can pre-visualize the scene just fine with the 20mm but you've stated that you've been shooting with it for years. Makes sense and you'd need to allow that same amount of time to get in the same kind of sync with the new lens as well.

I love using my Oly EM5 for shooing street, which is then coupled with either the 17/1.8 or the 45/1.8. If I am shooting on the same side of the street, I'm using the 17mm, if I am shooting a scene across the street, I'm using the 45mm.

Here are some examples: