Camera Labs

Hello to everyone what a nice and informative forum & website! Thanks to you especially to Mr. Gordon Laing I've learned a lot about cameras & photography! I am from Malta (EU) and I just a few days ago I've purchased an Olympus E-520 this is my first ever DSLR (after having a Kodak Z812is) and now I'm very thrilled & pleased with the photos Olympus is giving me. At the moment I have just 2 standard kit lenses 14-42mm & 40-150mm and I like to take landscape and macro photos. Is there any need to upgrade my lens?

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Olympus E-5 Olympus E-520
50mm f2.0 Macro 14-54mm f2.8/3.5 II
50-200mm f2.8/3.5 SWD 70-300mm f4/5.6
Hoya Filters CPL, UV, IR, ND8
Olympus FL-50 Digital Flash, x2 Vivitar 285HV x2 Yongnuo YN560
Manfrotto 055XPROB & Lowepro Mini Trekker AW
My fotostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/omarbongailas

welcome to the forum and congrats on your recent purchase!

if you're trying to take some good macro shots, i would suggest the olympus 35mm macro, which can give great results @ a great price.

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www.iandavisphoto.com
aim s/n: idotddot

Hi zazu, welcome on-board! I have a few Olympus lens review in the lenses section which you might find useful...

For landscape, your 14-42 can do a decent job. But if you want something spectacular in terms of capturing lots of stuff, a couple of forum members here love the 9-18. It's a superwide angle lens, and more affordable than the typical superwide angle lens (relatively speaking).

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

zazu,

Welcome to join Oly family! Feel free to ask your questions here.
Hope to see your beautiful work soon!

I will suggest upgrade the lenses later. I think there is no need to worry about the limit of the lenses at this moment. The kit lenses from Olympus are great and have excellent imaging quality. I will enjoy the step-by-step upgrade and make full use of each lens.

Back to your question, for macro lenses, 35mm 3.5 and 50mm 2.0 are all good lenses. I haven't used 50 but it is said to be the sharpest in Oly lenses.
I will also suggest 70-300mm lens for its versatility. It's not only a telephoto lens but also a nice micro lens, for just around $300.

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Please forgive my poor English...
My camera gears
Sony M1
Olympus E-520
14-42mm, 40-150mm, 70-300mm
Wish list for now:
12-60mm or 14-54mm II, a decent tripod
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donalone/
design portfolio: http://www.id.iit.edu/~chlee
blog: http://donniett.spaces.live.com (Chinese)

hi guys....!i am also new to photography.i got this olympus e520..courtesy of gordon laing's extensive review and after my thorough research of the product.i was in the crossroads between pentax k20d,canon xsi...final verdict....OLYMPUS E520 kit.i just recently added a 40-150mm lens.now,i want to expand my arsenal so to speak....which one should i acquire next between this two...a flash<FL-36R> or <70-300mm lens?

this is for the following purpose:

TRAVEL
NATURE
LANDSCAPE
BIRDS

any response would be greatly appreciated...thank you!

Thanks for the welcome!

@ Grodon Laing: Great reviews on dslrtips.com hope to have more reviews in the near future!

As for the lenses I'm going to order 70-300mm lens kit because the wide angle lens are a bit out of my budget at the moment ! For now I'm getting accustomed to my camera netx month I'm planning to go to Gozo (small island near Malta) and then I will post my photos here for sure!

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Olympus E-5 Olympus E-520
50mm f2.0 Macro 14-54mm f2.8/3.5 II
50-200mm f2.8/3.5 SWD 70-300mm f4/5.6
Hoya Filters CPL, UV, IR, ND8
Olympus FL-50 Digital Flash, x2 Vivitar 285HV x2 Yongnuo YN560
Manfrotto 055XPROB & Lowepro Mini Trekker AW
My fotostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/omarbongailas

Before you get the 70-300, ask yourself if you REALLY need it. Do you find yourself limited by the 150mm? having a big zoom seems really exciting, but I've only had a use for such zoom in two situations since I bought it last july, and it underperformed both of those times. There are a lot of people on this site that swear by it, but as soon as I get my Sigma 70-200, the 70-300 is getting dropped faster than a baby.

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E-3!
12-60 2.8-4.0
12-60 2.8-40 [Also going]
40-150 3.5-4.5
70-300 4.0-5.6
Fl-48

I'm interested in getting something longer than my 40-150. The 70-300 looks ideal because of the price (relative to other telephoto lenses), which is about $340. I'd love to get an Oly 50-200, but with the price increase, $1100 is a little bit too steep. Especially if I am only getting an additional 50mm over my 40-150. Obviously, the IQ on the 50-200 is better than the 40-150.

Atomic is right though about thinking carefully. Make sure that the 40-150 is really not sufficient length for you before spending $340 in the 70-300 (or any other lens). Keep in mind that shooting photographs with the 70-300 at 300mm, you will need some steady hands even with the IS on your E520. Hence, the difficulty in getting good results with the 70-300. A tripod of course will solve any camera shake issues.

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

Hey Gaucho. Are you from Rio Grande do Sul? Or Argentina?

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

Yes I agree with Armanius and Atomic. I have 70-300mm as my second dSLR lens after 14-42mm. It's good for some wild life photos but not as easy as 40-150mm, which you can just point and shoot. 70-300mm works great only under some certain conditions- the light is perfect and you have enough time to focus.
I brought this lens with me on my trip to Puerto Rico. I was walking in the forrest and suddenly a beautiful bird stopped in front of me. But it quickly flied away when I had changed my lens from 14-42 to 70-300. I mean, it's very easy to find the best occation to use this lens, unless you have it on your camera for long and wait for the best shot. I still use it more for macro shots of the flowers.
Anyway, I love this lens because it's less expensive, and good for both macro and telephoto shots.
Good luck with any decision you make!

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Please forgive my poor English...
My camera gears
Sony M1
Olympus E-520
14-42mm, 40-150mm, 70-300mm
Wish list for now:
12-60mm or 14-54mm II, a decent tripod
flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donalone/
design portfolio: http://www.id.iit.edu/~chlee
blog: http://donniett.spaces.live.com (Chinese)

I am thinking about getting the 70-300 though ... so much cheaper than the 50-200 ...

Wondering if the Sigma 55-200 is worth considering. It's only $130.

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!